Getting back on the road

I gathered you'd fitted it from your previous post. They must make a difference as Rover wouldn't have gone to the trouble of designing and fitting it if there was no need, but just how noticable any vibrations would be without one I don't know.
 
Rockdemon, good to know on the damper. It always fascinated me how a 3lb lump of iron could make such a difference. Such is the wonder of harmonics I guess.

Well, before work yesterday I was able to adjust the handbrake cable to ensure the self adjust mechanism is free to move and there's a little slack in the cable when the handbrake lever is down. Also connected the prop shaft and replenished the EP90 in the diff. God I hate how they stuff smells. It's so cloying too.

Last jobs are fitting the trailing arms, dion tube, springs wheels

Then car back on the ground, torque up the suspension bolts and bleed the brakes.

Say it like that and it's easy! Mrs SD has volunteered to help with bleeding the brakes. (Volunteered maybe too strong a word :) ). The NADA twin circuit system can be a bit of a pain. Both servos are about highest points on both circuits, so there's a definately technique. I've found the workshop manual method of one full stroke followed by 3-4 rapid half strokes followed by letting your foot slip off the clutch pedal works best, but even then it can be troublesome.

I'm away for the weekend seeing an old friend in Austin, he's just got a 66 Austin Mini Cooper S so we shall be having some fun there.

Stay tuned for more news next week!
 
Well, got back from a very trip to see an old friend who now lives in Austin TX on Sunday night. He's finally got the car of his dreams after 20 years of waiting. a 67 Mk. II Mini Cooper S. We had a lot of fun with it too! I might post a few pics on the lounge later.

Managed an hour under the car on Monday morning before work. Got the trailing arms, shocks, springs and De Dion tube back in place! The back end is beginning to look full again. No pics as I was running late due to spannering too long! I have to reconnect the half shafts, put the wheels on and get Beryl back on her own four feet. Once there I can torque the suspension bolts correctly with the car sitting at he right height.

Then the brake bleeding. I am being very nice to Mrs. SD as I will need her help with that :)

I found that row had fitted rather nice Koni classic adjustables all round. I wound them all the way out and gave each one half a turn back in. So on the softer side of the range available, but at least even and a little stiffer than standard from what I've read. That may well help combat some of the body roll we get on P6's.

One other thing I picked up from Texas, a nasty cold. So I'm working on the laptop from home today. I get more done and don't infect my workmates.

Roll on rolling!
 
Great news! I'm on the road again! Managed to fit the last parts and torque everything correctly. Diff flanges in the air, suspension bolts while on her wheels.

I had some time to bleed the brakes before the missus came home from work last night. I had invested in automatic bleed valves when rebuilding the calipers, and they really paid off. The have a small spring loaded cone internally that keeps the valve lightly closed when you open the bleed valve. Hydraulic pressure, when bleeding, opens it and it automatically closes when pressure is absent. As a precaution to reduce bubbles in the bleed tube and help me see when I have a clean bubble free flow of brake fluid I use some PTFE plumbers thread sealing tape on the threads of the nipple, it also will help stop the nipples seize in the future.

Using the Rover workshop manual method of one long stroke to the bottom of the brake pedal followed by 3-4short half rapid strokes before sliding your foot off the brake pedal to release worked like a charm, even on the tricky rear calipers and servo. It went much easier than ins ever had it before and heartily recommend them.

I realize I might be coming to the party late with these guys, but thought I would share I case I hadn't.

After the test drive the car felt pretty good.. Temperature was about 80°f , gear lever might need to be realigned slightly as second gear needs to some concentration to find, new front tyres will be fitted this week align with getting the tracking sorted. The old tyres show some toe out wear and it feels a little vague straight ahead. I have a rebuilt steering box in the basement but I will most likely fit that this winter when I pull the engine and gearbox to clean up the engine bay. I thinking will use my 'special engine' I rebuilt as a 2200 the also. I managed to find some HIF6 carbs along with linkages for the car, those with the 2200 engine should make for a fun driver.

Of course I need to practice my welding for the rust I found. I think I will most likely find more when I delve into it, don't you always? But for now I plan to enjoy driving it for a few months.
 
So, after a week or so with Beryl running I've found a couple of things to fix. One was the ing light wasn't working. I found the 3AW warning light unit crushed against the inner wing which explained that! I ordered an electronic replacement for the notoriously fragile Lucas item from Cool Cats Corp in upstate NY.
http://www.coolcatcorp.com/Merchant5/me ... ry_Code=EL

I fitted that and I had a working warning light. Unfortunately it wouldn't go out! So After some testing and tracing I found that the negative field wire was hanging off the alternator with the spade connector attached but it was loose so I snugged it up a bit with some pliers. The positive field wire was loose but the spade connector had gone completely. So I crimped and soldered a new insulated spade to it. I now have a battery charging at 14.2v at 2k RPM. The same company (Cool Cats) have a very good guide for trouble shooting AC series alternator systems here:
http://www.coolcatcorp.com/faqs/Lucasalternators.html It's based on E-type jags but is just as applicable to us.

One other issue was the throttle linkage would stick at partial throttle. It was disconcerting to lift off the accelerator and not slow down to say the least! I found that the bushing that holds the throttle linkage off of the steering box had been replaced with a rubber grommet. The friction there would stop the throttle dropping back to idle. So, I went to the drawing board and came up with a design for a plastic assembly I could retro fit onto the bracket and make a nice bushing for the shaft. I guess it would work on RHD drive cars too. I'm just not familiar with the set up there.

So I designed the bush assembly in a 3D CAD software to look like this:

I'm lucky that I have access to an industrial 3D printer that prints in PC/ABS plastic. So I printed the three parts last night:

I used a 10/32 brass insert pressed into the back with a cap head screw. First step will be to put the small segment into the bracket:

Then I will assemble the shaft in place and put the back onto the bracket:

Final step is to screw the front on capturing the shaft in the bush:

I'll try and put it in place tonight and will report back on how it goes. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the design.

- Steven
 

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Fitted it last night and took Beryl for a test drive. Feels much better now, better throttle response because it's not wobbling around in a grommet and nice return to idle when I lift off the accelerator. I guess the next thing is to see how it handles wear and heat.
 
This weekend I noticed that Beryl was becoming incontinant. There was a significant oil leak under the engine. I drove her up onto some Ramos and took shifty underneath. It seemed to be coming from the area around the oil filter and auxiliary drive. After cleaning up the area it looked like it was coming from the oil line that goes to the chain tensioner. I took it off only to find that it only had one copper washer at the bottom of the banjo union and not at the top. After going to a few places on a Sunday afternoon I was able to get a pair of new ones. Great I thought, be back on the road in short order. Put back together only for the leak to get worse than ever! This time I could see for sure it was leaking around the crimp. Fortunately I had a spare on my special engine waiting in the garage. Swapped it over and all is good. The engine had been supposedly rebuilt at some time in the past, but the guy had obviously missed out at least that washer, what else I wonder?

While I was under the car I noticed where the knocking noise I had upfront was coming from. It seems when a 'pro' garage had fitted Beryl's front shocks they had only put the split pins in the outermost holes of the bottom shock mounts instead of the correct inner holes. So I could grab the shocks and move the bottoms about 1/4" with no help from the rubber bushes. I quick bit of work with two screwdrivers, a 1/8" Allen wrench and new split pins made for a silent front end! All in all the car is beginning to feel tighter and more reliable I go along.
 
Things are continuing nicely with Beryl. Last night I went out for a cruise with a mate up to roads near some local lakes and ponds. I always miss his house first try and sure enough last night was no exception. I take a side road to to a 3 point turn. Go for reverse and it all goes floppy! I knew the acorn had gone for a Burton. I was able to keep going as I had this happen to me before and knew how to play the lucky dip of first gear game. It did damp the driving pleasure some though.

Anyways, before work this morning I went up to the attic, after a quick rummage around in one of my spares boxes I found a good gearstick. Half an hour later I had the two sticks swapped. Not only was the acorn gone, the ball joint bushing was in a terrible state. Gear selection is lovely now! Way better than before.



I had another rattle to sort out last night before I left too. The exhaust had started knocking over bumps. Sure enough the bolt was missing from the last mount above the tail pipe. All fixed now, with that and the fixed front shock mounts she's beginning to feel more Rover like.

I've still got to sort out carb tuning. She's able to idle at close to the correct speed now. Before I fixed the big vacuum leak in the servo line nipple on the intake manifold I couldn't get her to idle below 1200rpm! But she feels rich. Her fuel consumption seems high too. I haven't done enough miles to be sure yet on that though. I lean out the mixture and she feels lacking bottom end grunt. I guess I need to go through ignition and valve timing to be sure on fuel mixture too. Oh well, another fun bit of spannering in my future.

At least she's getting back to being fun to drive.
 

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In other news I've ordered a proper MIG welder (one with provision for gas shielding instead of flux core). It should arrive late next week as it's being shipped by ground from the other side of the country. I'm looking forward to sorting out the rusty bits on Beryl this winter/autumn, I know the end of the sill on the right hand side needs help and I'm sure that once I remove the sill covers I will find more. There's what looks like a dodgy repair on the sill on the left too. Not to mention the seem of the inner wing and D-post bottom. Wish me luck .....
 
I am jealous at the lack of rust on your car - as I suspect are other UK owners.
It looks like the rust should be localised from the pictures you posted - good luck.

Mark.
 
Don't be! I've found some at the back end of the right sill, on the seem of the D post and inner wing and I'm scared what I'll find under the sill covers! NJ has some nasty winters, and they're not afraid of salting the roads! The left hand side sill has been 'repaired' by someone, but it looks like a dodgy job. I've decided to enjoy the summer and autumn in her then get stuck in as winter approaches. I in fact I got a nice shiny new MIG welder for just that. Although, I think it's still better off than how I remember battling rust on my cars when I lived back home in London.
 
Well, I've finally got her idling better. I'd found the O-rings between the carbs and the inlet manifold had been poorly fitted. Once I pulled the carbs it took me a good hour to clean out the insides of the manifold. Got her tuned and things were better, until 15 mins later. Idle was awful again. I felt the coil and it was really hot. Swapped it with a spare and all is good.

Next on the list will be replacing the dead wire from the dizzy to the coil. At the moment there's a jumper directly between th instead of via the tachometer. I guess stripping back the wrapping on the loom, put in the new wire and replace everything. With luck I'll find time this weekend.
 
And I have a functional tachometer! I ran the new wire following the existing loom to the dash from the dizzy to the coil. In the process I found two butt crimped joints in the old wiring. No wonder it was so unreliable. I had one false start where I had the wire going the wrong way through the induction pickup on the back of the tachometer, but all seems good now. Next will be fitting the Pertronix module and finding out why I can't get the idle smooth below 900rpm. I wonder if I need to examine the valve clearances.
 
I don't know what type or carburetors are fitted but it could be that the throttle stays open a little and this could be caused that the throttle disc are not correctly fitted on the throttle shaft. On some carbs these discsdon't fully close when the disc are fitted the other way around

Peter
 
TCs with HS8s never like to idle too much.
Tappet clearances should be spot on, and the mixture not too lean to stand a chance for a decent idle.
 
Yep, I've actually found a pair of HIf6's to put in at a later point for that reason. Plan is to use them with the engine I've bored out to a 2.2 this winter. I'll keep this engine as it's the matching number to the chassis number.

Sure enough when I checked the valve clearances this morning they all seemed a little tight. Also found that the check valve on the intake manifold port that goes to the servos had a significant induction leak too. I replaced that with a spare and things seem a little better, especially after I leaned the mixture quite a bit. A relief as I was only getting 15mpg.

Everything that's been touched by the PO's mechanic I've had to rectify. Unfortunately he also rebuilt this engine.
 
Used Beryl last weekend only to find a massive amount of oil from the bottom of the bell housing leaking out when I got home. Looks like another victim of the dodgy bloke who 'rebuilt' the engine for Rowland the previous owner. I have decided to start prepping the spare 2.2 engine for going in this weekend. Plan is to pull the old one, clean up the engine bay, replace the tired idler and steering box (I rebuilt that a while back) and put it all back together. Not sure how long it'll take but I think it should make a good difference. Shame really, I'd finally got the current engine running better. I'll keep it and probably go through it and redo any dodgy work correctly. It's running nicer but the oil seal problem and a number of other issues make me cautious of it now. Hey ho
 
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