1964 French "Sharks Tooth" 2000

marc78

Member
Hello,

After my initial presentation 'French touch', opening a dedicated thread to this car's new life seemed then next thing to do.
So I am Marc from France and I have come to realize I have a « sharks tooth » car, is that right ?
And here is the beginning of the adventure :
Sept. 23rd 2019 : We collected the car from very friendly people in southern France and drove a fair distance north without issues. After 55 years, time has come to change accomodation !



Bye Bye…

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And Welcome to your new home !
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And now in for a discovery… . being very familiar with Land rover Series, a rather intense and intriguing journey starts : everything under the bonnet looks familiar with Lucas bits everywhere, all elements located in the same place as is a Serie, yet all components are different but of similar manufacture
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I hope you will enjoy following the next steps of reviving this early car.
 
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Yes, commonly referred to as sharks tooth. If you're not aware, it relates to the style of the front panel under/behind the bumper with vertical slats. From early 1966 (approx February IIRC) they changed to a panel with a more obvious vertical style to it, can't remember why now though. There were a lot of changes in the first year or two of production and it will be interesting to see whether yours has been 'updated' in any way or whether its completely original.

If you can post your engine & gearbox numbers in due course, people will be able to say shether they're the original or not - a lot of gearboxes had been changed by the mid-70s.
 
That looks a wonderfully original car. Is the shroud around the distributor to comply with French electrical interference reguations? Have the body or structure ever been welded? I guess it must be very sound and solid if it has lived in the south of France. Good luck with bringing it back to life, and I look forward very much to reading more.
 
That looks a wonderfully original car. Is the shroud around the distributor to comply with French electrical interference reguations? Have the body or structure ever been welded? I guess it must be very sound and solid if it has lived in the south of France. Good luck with bringing it back to life, and I look forward very much to reading more.
Hi John,
I have no idea yet and this is certainly the first time I see this type of cage or shroud, no matter the car.
It's for sure a bummer when it comes to snap off and even worse snap back on the distributor cap:confused:
Inside the distributor though looks so much identical to a LR serie... Ohh, it's a LUCAS too o_O
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Very nice, and well done on collecting the car.

In the pictures, you have a rope attached to pull the car backwards - where did you attach the rope to? I hope not to the de dion tube..
 
Very nice, and well done on collecting the car.

In the pictures, you have a rope attached to pull the car backwards - where did you attach the rope to? I hope not to the de dion tube..

Oh no:eek:
Actually if I recall well I attached it to the suspension arm
 
So here is a first basic question aiming at the first target i.e. firing the engine :
1. Which battery : Following some internet indications, I procured a BOSCH S4 024, with + on the right (i.e. with + and - on the edge towards me when facing it). But it's not OK since the + is on the left as it is a positive earth it seems. The dynamo, most likely original, is in place.
What can I do to check if polarity is still positive earth in which case I have to procure another battery with - on the right, or if the car has been changed to negative earth. I found a few threads on the forum about this topic but could not really make up my mind...

On the picture below, the connection to the chassis on the right shows no sign on the copper clamp, where as the other clamp has a + engraved...
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Question 2 relates to ignition lead contactors to plugs that are shot. I wondered if the HT lead cable set 2,5 m long cable for sale on JRW***** website together with screw on plastic rings on cap end are fit for this purpose (1964 is really early with metal ends towards the plugs).
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Regarding on how the car is wired, you can check the connections on the coil. If the live feed to the coil is attached to the positive terminal, and the wire that comes from the distributor is connected to the negative terminal on the coil, then your car is wired as negative earth. If they are the opposite, it would still be a positive earth.
 
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As for the plugs; I have a few sets of screw-on plugs, but for ease of use, just change to the later ones. You'll need a replacement distributor cap, and a new set of plug leads - which is a good idea as you don't know how viable the old leads are.
 
Regarding on how the car is wired, you can check the connections on the coil. If the live feed to the coil is attached to the positive terminal, and the wire that comes from the distributor is connected to the negative terminal on the coil, then your car is wired as negative earth. If they are the opposite, it would still be a positive earth.

Hi Demetris,
Excellent suggestion, thanks!
Here is the coil, I am not sure which connection is live feed and negative terminal : SW or CB??
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A Sharkstooth will be positive earth unless the polarity has changed since it was built. So the SW terminal (the live feed from the ignition SWitch) will be negative or minus, the CB terminal that goes to the Contact Breaker will be positive or plus because the current goes to earth when the points are closed. A coil for a negative earth car will either have those markings reversed or, more likely, just have + and - markings. If you want to convert your car to negative earth, you will need to transpose the wires to the coil which means you'll end up with SW to the contact breaker and the ignition switch's live feed to CB – electrically correct but visually incorrect.

If converting to negative earth, for example if you want to fit a negative-earth-only radio, disconnect the dynamo field terminal (the small one) before connecting the battery. Then touch the field wire to its terminal a few times. There will initially be a spark as the field coils re-polarise. Then connect that wire to its terminal. Everything will now work normally (clock included) apart from the windscreen washer pump which will need its connections reversed.
 
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My 3rd question relates to the steering. As previously mentioned in my initial presentation post, the reason for the sale by previous and sole owner of the car (actually the grand son of the owner) is that back in 1990, he found himself in awkward maneuvering to avoid hitting a wall or falling off a cliff as the steering had ceased to respond to his sollicitations...The car was then garaged until now while shy attempts to fix the steering were in vain.
At present, I can turn the wheel 1 to 1,5 revolutions completely free of resistance. Then If I further turn the wheel (very gently), the wheels move, this happens the same left or right. This was actually pretty handy when we went to pickup the car and to take it out of the property as the trailer was to wide to enter in the property.
Pictures below show that the balls in the main bearing are gone which drive a straightforward conclusion as to the cause of the problem. However, here are my thoughts and questions...
1-Am I right with this conclusion or there could be something else to look at?
2-Without knowing the reason why the balls escaped, is it a valid idea to replace these (I saw a sachet of 3/8 balls at JR**** for S/Box available) and is it doable myself without special equipment or is this a bearing specialist job.
3-If changing the box, can I take any steering box from a P6? i.e.. any year LHD or RHD or should I look for a specific model/year?
Many thanks once more for your help!
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