OCC 469 - restoring & running a "sharkstooth" 2000

You may have noticed the courtesy lights at the end of the parcel shelf:

I gave both non-working light units a thorough clean up & put new bulbs in. Now the driver's side works constantly no matter what & the passenger's compensates by not working at all :? Any ideas, anyone please? In the meantime I've removed both bulbs...

The other main reason I had everything apart was to check the fuel gauge which hasn't worked since I got the car. This seems to be a common problem & after checking the gauge itself worked (don't they always...), I took the sender unit out of the tank. Checking the resistance on my multimeter gave very intermittent readings, so after a lot of head scratching & studying what was going on, I came to the conclusion that the arm's pivot needs to have a good connection with the back plate, so by bending the 3 tabs up to remove the cover;

it enabled me to take the float wire arm out & give everything a good clean up with wire wool which sorted the problem. I now have a proper working fuel gauge :p

I had been running round with very little petrol in, pending having to drain the tank, which still went everywhere! I ran out twice, but carried a can just in case. Now I can use the gauge, although the reserve tap is the next job on the list :|
 

Attachments

  • DSC_9221edit.jpg
    DSC_9221edit.jpg
    135.8 KB · Views: 965
  • DSC_9211edit.jpg
    DSC_9211edit.jpg
    164.8 KB · Views: 965
  • DSC_9210edit.jpg
    DSC_9210edit.jpg
    170.9 KB · Views: 966
Very good work! Did not know you could get water stained veneer to look so good again.
Also a good thing you were able to rescue the sender unit in the tank. It is such a pleasure to mend faulty equipment on ones car isnt it.
Regards Barten
 
Useful to see what to expect when the sender is removed (a job I need to do soon). Does only the reserve have a filter then, or am I misintepreting the lower photo? It would make sense as the lower pipe will be more prone to picking up crud from the bottom of the tank. I dread to think what state that filter will be in on mine.
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Does only the reserve have a filter then, or am I misintepreting the lower photo?
Yes Willy, only the reserve does. Remember which is which when you're refitting the unit or if you ever run out of fuel, your 'reserve' may be the wrong one & totally useless!
 
Phil Robson said:
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Does only the reserve have a filter then, or am I misintepreting the lower photo?
Yes Willy, only the reserve does. Remember which is which when you're refitting the unit or if you ever run out of fuel, your 'reserve' may be the wrong one & totally useless!
Definitely today's top tip! :D

Thanks
 
Great work, Phil.....and, I'm sure, very satisfying when repairs rather than replacement come up trumps.
 
Something else about the early vents is that they open 3 'clicks' rather than just 2 - the later ones don't open as far.

Regarding the light, it could be the switch. On mine, I couldn't get either to work, then out of the blue I got in the car one morning and found the passenger one was on. Switched it off and managed to get the driver one working with a bit of contact cleaning and bending. I can switch them on, and if they don't work, a tap of the bulb sorts that out.
 

Attachments

  • 11159527_10205069014942876_5363183153113979036_n.jpg
    11159527_10205069014942876_5363183153113979036_n.jpg
    82.2 KB · Views: 757
Thanks Adam, I'll have another look at the switches. I hope I can get the units out without having to dismantle the whole dash again... :cry:
 
Here is a shot of the revived trim back in the car, before the dash top rail is refitted:


& here is a close up comparing it to the door trim, as yet untouched:


Here's the other side:
 

Attachments

  • DSC_9231edit.jpg
    DSC_9231edit.jpg
    155.7 KB · Views: 755
  • DSC_9237edit.jpg
    DSC_9237edit.jpg
    179.9 KB · Views: 754
  • DSC_9235edit.jpg
    DSC_9235edit.jpg
    135.8 KB · Views: 754
This is the last tax disc that the car had (stamped 'Inverness')...


Here is the corresponding service sticker; it did less than 2000 miles after this before being laid up for all that time. Whilst the car has been off the road for a very long time, it did manage to clock up almost 100,000 miles in its first 14 years. Probably not a lot by today's standards but perhaps a lot in the 60s & 70s, judging by the many lower mileage cars still out there :?. It was after all rust that killed them rather than engines 'wearing out'...
 

Attachments

  • DSC_9234edit.jpg
    DSC_9234edit.jpg
    128.1 KB · Views: 726
  • DSC_9232edit.jpg
    DSC_9232edit.jpg
    123.2 KB · Views: 726
Just to say I've now completed 1,000 miles in OCC :D

Apart from running a bit rich & some pinking at higher revs, they've been trouble-free!
 
Adam Birch said:
You've just done 1000 now? I'm just coming up to 10,000 in good ole' LMD :LOL:
Should have said that's after its 10 year (& ongoing) restoration. Its first outing was when we met you Adam at the P6ROC national last August :D
 
I've had a change of mind recently; I was going to repair the original doors, but quite frankly I'm sick of running round with it looking as rough as it does, so I'm using the replacements Eddie gave me for my 40th, 11 years ago! :roll: I will keep the old shells once I've swapped the innards over.

To recap, I sprayed the new doors some time ago & a bad paint reaction gave me grooves on every panel, no matter how many coats I applied:


I bit the bullet & stripped each panel:


This has really taken some time, but was the only way. There were a lot of coats of paint to remove! I used some pretty anaemic stripper, but with an eye on safety. Planning the work & applying second coats before scraping certainly sped things up & I've nearly got them ready for spraying again.

I've been on with BOP as well & am also tidying up Hazel's rust blebs on the lower flanks (nearly done), so it's been P6 time again after a protracted break.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0402.JPG
    IMG_0402.JPG
    92.9 KB · Views: 534
  • IMG_0408.JPG
    IMG_0408.JPG
    143.5 KB · Views: 533
After a lot of work & some reaction problems again, I've got the wings all to the polishing stage. At least there wasn't so much 'orange peel' this time, but I've still had to flat them all:
 

Attachments

  • DSC_1064edit.jpg
    DSC_1064edit.jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 445
  • DSC_1065edit.jpg
    DSC_1065edit.jpg
    114.9 KB · Views: 444
At long last I got round to replacing the cracked steering wheel with another. I bought a good 2000 wheel some time ago, but also have had a V8 power steering leather one for many years to go on 'Hazel' (a ser 1 V8). Now that I'm likely to sell Hazel, I've put this on to the sharkstooth 2000. I know this is appalling from an originality point of view :LOL: , but I think it looks really good with the strip speedo & early switches:

Icidentally, the centre '2000' badge has always been loose on the 2000's old wheel, suggesting it's been removed before. When I unscrewed it, the steering wheel didn't have a nut or shake-proof washer on! A good job it was a tight fit! Fortunately, I went straight to the right fastenings in my spares boxes (surprisingly, for me!).
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0674edit.jpg
    IMG_0674edit.jpg
    48.6 KB · Views: 265
  • IMG_0673.JPG
    IMG_0673.JPG
    37.1 KB · Views: 262
Phil Robson said:
Icidentally, the centre '2000' badge has always been loose on the 2000's old wheel, suggesting it's been removed before. When I unscrewed it, the steering wheel didn't have a nut or shake-proof washer on! A good job it was a tight fit! Fortunately, I went straight to the right fastenings in my spares boxes (surprisingly, for me!).

When you consider how natural it is to get more comfortable when driving, by pulling on the wheel and shifting around, I'd say you'd been very lucky!

But how could anyone leave a car in that condition ? ? ?

John
 
It just shows that you really need to go over every safety related item when you get a car, certainly where there's been plenty of former keepers...
 
Phil Robson said:
At long last I got round to replacing the cracked steering wheel with another. I bought a good 2000 wheel some time ago, but also have had a V8 power steering leather one for many years to go on 'Hazel' (a ser 1 V8). Now that I'm likely to sell Hazel, I've put this on to the sharkstooth 2000. I know this is appalling from an originality point of view :LOL: , but I think it looks really good with the strip speedo & early switches:

I think it looks great. The sports steering wheel was in design prior to the P6 being launched, so no one can claim that it's not original.
 
Well, another 6 months have passed & very little has been done, however I have had the car tuned & it runs pretty well.

I'm still stuck with the 'pinking' problem though. I'm assured that it isn't actually pinking at all but it still sounds very much like it at higher speeds/revs. When you get above say 50 mph, there is a knocking sound which gets marginally worse when the engine is warm. Suggestions form the experts are either worn little ends or the valve springs slapping, neither of which I changed when I rebuilt the engine :( (I did do the mains, the camshaft bearings & the piston rings!). Incidentally, I always use super unleaded with no additive/octane booster. New valve seats were put in when the head was refurbished.

What do you guys think it is likely to be? I'm not keen on doing one & then finding it's the other...
 
Back
Top