Outlaw Anglia - took it racing & lifted the wheels!

[jimi]

Jul 12, 2024 14:34:28 GMT kevins said:

if the ign loads are managed by a relay you might want to put a diode in the wire too, the 12v from the alternator through the bulb can be enough to hold the relay closed when you key off and it keeps running.

Or combine the two by using an LED instead of an incandescent lamp

[blackpopracing]

good progress today, too tired to post it now, but I'll just leave this here

[blackpopracing]

Had a good nights sleep so time to update.

As mentioned, good progress was made yeaterday. I started by assembling the headers on to the engine, gaskets cleaned and some gas tight paste smeared on to ensure no leaks.

Then oil added to engine followed by transmission fluid. Then it was fire up time as you saw in the video, I did not run it long as there was no water in it.

Andy & Kim popped over then to drop off the wheel with the new tyre fitted - its very hairy!!!



I fired it up again for Andy (it's was on open headers at the time) and he had a massive grin on his face He was very happy that it started instantly every time. The video does not do it justice, it sounds as good as my Chevy - not bad for a Rover!

We then messed around with steering wheel positions - we are still looking for a 2" dished steering wheel - does anyone have any ideas where any are available nowadays?

With Andy & kim off home after that I could get on with fitting the complete exhaust system back on, this went fairly smoothly though fitting the centre rubbers back on was a challenge - but some spray oil to lube them saw them slide on with a lot of levering.



Then I started on the water - the neck out of the block had a small weep that another of Andy's friends had tried to fix with some really sticky goo - took ages to remove it all. They had assumed it was the electric fan sender wire causing the leak, but in actual fact there was a big knob on the bottom of the stat housing (I assume to stop the hose going on too far) but it was quite near the end (about 20mm) so after a lot of filing in a tight space it is now gone and the hose can slip on properly. The hose clamp was sitting on the knob before so leaving a small gap either side.

There was one hose (bottom hose) that was a very loose fit on the water pump (the hoses were 44mm for the rad & couplers but the water pump is approx 38-40mm) so I used an old trick of slipping a couple of sections of bike inner tube over the water pump outlet which makes it thicker, and then sliding the hose over those. It was now a nice fit and all were clamped up tight.

Coolant was added and it could now be fired up to get to operating temp. This all went well and no leaks were found anywhere. The lifters were a bit chattery for a while but once it started to get hot they fell silent - probably took a while for them to pump up fully after sitting dry for a couple of months.

Ran the gearbox through the gears and checked trans fluid levels, once it was brought up to the correct levels it all worked properly, and no leaks anywhere on that either.

One big problem is the Smiths oil pressure guage, it was all new from car sos but it wont work? If I ground the sender the guage works ok, but connect it to the sender and nothing? Senders are about £60 so I'm loath to just change it as its new - is there any way of testing them?

With that all sorted I got around to trimming the window rubbers ready for glass fitting,





After that I spent some time removing the glue & roof lining where the trimmers had wrapped it around the bodywork to the outside flange it should only bond onto the inside of the bodywork. This did remove some paint in places, so this was all touched in with basecoat and clear so it will be dry enough to fit the windows tomorrow (today).

Then the car was stripped out prior to the (almost) last bit of welding - fitting the seatbelt mount points at the top of the B posts. These have been prepped and Phil (grey pop) will help me with this later today as plenty of shielding will be required to not burn any of the headliner or carpets.





The final but of welding will be making the new mounts at the bottom of the B posts - but this may have to wait till after the NSRA Supernats in 2 weeks as I don't think I'll have time to do those before - it's now a race to get it drivable for Andy to take it there - it will be unfinished but at least he can enjoy it properly.

[jimi]

Is it an analogue or digital (stepper motor) gauge ? Is the sender just a single wire connection ?
IIRC single wire ones work on a varying resistance, something like 300 ohms at 0 psi dropping to around 10 at full scale, if it's that type then a multimeter will do for testing, also worth checking the sender body has a good ground connection ( to much teflon tape or sealant could insulate it)

[blackpopracing]

Its the old style needle (analogue) guage with the single wire sender.
It does have a load of ptfe tape on the threads, but I ran an earth wire from the sender body to chassis and no change?

I tried my multimeter on it and there is no ohm output that I can measure.

Is it possible they (car sos) can damage it somehow - I cant understand how a new sender/guage would not work?

[glenanderson]

Those senders will either work for years, or fail straight out of the box.

As has been mentioned, thread seal tape can stop them working.

[jimi]

Had a look at my info and there's 2 types 1 uses a resistive sender and the other a bimetallic sender both are not interchangable and matched to the guage. Any part numbers on the gauge & sender ? I'm wondering if they have the correct sender for the gauge? You'd expect that to be correct if they were bought as a set ?
Running a ground wire to the body should have eliminated any possible insulation problems from tape etc.

[blackpopracing]

[blackpopracing]

Jul 14, 2024 12:07:55 GMT glenanderson said:

Those senders will either work for years, or fail straight out of the box.

As has been mentioned, thread seal tape can stop them working.

Hmmmm...it is looking like a new sender then, expensive little buggers 😞

[jimi]

According to the part numbers they are a match, sender is a bimetallic type (so no ohms reading as such) not sure how you would test it but I see what I can find out. Is the gauge getting a full 12v feed ? i.e. from before any voltage regulator (if fitted)

For general info I've uploaded 2 pdf's on Smiths Gauges to my website downloads LINKY in case anyone wants them The gentleman's guide has a lot of good info on how the various gauges/senders work

[glenanderson]

You could always swap out the whole lot for a capillary gauge…

[Darkspeed]

I would be inclined to speak with the manufacturers - tell them the story behind what you are doing and could they test the gauge and sender if you return them.

[blackpopracing]

That's a good call andrew, I was going to ask them why a sender would not work when new anyway.

[blackpopracing]

Another excellent if not tiring day on the car today.

Phil came over to give me a hand with stuff. We started off with the welding of the seatbelt bungs in the B pillars, much use of big sheets of carboard ensued and spark blankets over the floor of the car.

The welding went well enough, but I could have done with a spark blanket over me - I have several burns where sparks burnt through my overalls ouch!

Trim resting over the welded bung here, not glued back yet.

We then got on with the job of bleeding the brakes. This also went pretty smoothly and once done I stood on the brakes hard for a bit and then checked for leaks. on all the joints. All good under the car, but both front caliper feed line joints were a little wet - a quick nip up tight fixed this as I had not done them fully tight on assembly. Another pressure test and all good.

We fired the engine up to see if the servo pulled the pedal down  - it didn't, but on testing the car later I can say the brakes are excellent and the servo definitely works! locking the front tyres into a little skid at only 2 mph going back into the garage when I pressed the pedal firmly.

Then the next big job, refitting the glass. Arbormast added to the rubber before fitting and string wrapped around ready for fitting to the car.

Rear screen in;

and front screen in;

The car out of the garage at last - under its own power as well.

Sealant added between rubber & bodywork on both screens and cleaned up, with the glass getting a polish as well.

and the same on the front.

The drivers B post had the 'stuff' missing (no idea what it was originally - compressed leather??) that the original tacks went into, but I found a suitable peice of wood that with a bit of planing fitted in nicely, and the tabs hammered back over it.

Another job was fitting the rather nice bonner rod support that fellow rodder Mike had machined up for Andy, Rivnuts were added to the bulkhead and it is now bolted on.

Close up of Mike's machine work. He made this himself.

[blackpopracing]

Ps, anyone know where I can buy more of these? They are the lock on covers for 6.4mm female spade connectors.

Running out of my stock and having trouble finding them.

[v8ian]

have a rummage thru here, they keep a lot of kit,
www.3waycomponents.co.uk/product-category/automotive-connectors/6-3mm-multi-connectors/6-3mm-connector-housings/

[jimi]

Any use ? Linky

[blackpopracing]

Thanks Both, Jimi - perfect.

[glenanderson]

I have got this here that you’re welcome to if you want it.

New and unopened. Capillary type, so no sender issues. 

[blackpopracing]

That's a very kind offer Glen, but Andy really wants to keep to the smiths guage.