April 2nd 2015, Hood cover, instruments and starter heat shield.

Now the roll hoop had been repositioned the top could fold back at last which was great to see. All we need now is some nice weather to enjoy it.  The hood cover still needs to be modified properly to fit around the bar but I was able to attack it with scissors enough to get a temporary fit.

Now that is how a convertible should look.

With the roll hoop done I was able to concentrate on refitting the dash instruments.  I had ended the day before with it half finished but all the covers and screws are now done.  Momentary problem when one of the indicator repeater lights in the dash wasn't working but that was just a bulb holder not seated correctly.

We have instrument lighting.

 The green LED illumination bulbs work really well and replace the standard white bulbs with their green plastic covers.  The other warning lights I have left with standard bulbs for the moment.   I tried some LED's in them but was not convinced they make a worthwhile improvement.

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The oil pressure gauge I use is a Smiths full scale mechanical one so the feed pipe needs to be connected to the engine.  This connects to the oil transfer cover by the filter via a T-piece.  I do have a modified transfer cover with fittings for an oil cooler but I don't think its necessary for the moment.
I also took the opportunity to do an oil change.  The new oil is Millers Classic Sport 20-50 Semi-synthetic which I have seen good reports about.

Not the best picture but the oil T-piece is clearly shown.

With it all fitted and working this is what the working instruments look like now with the engine up to temperature and ticking over..

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When we transferred the Sprint engine from the old car, I took the opportunity to fit a new modern High Torque starter. This spins the engine over really well but the old heat shield no longer fits.

Powerlite High Torque Starter RAC406

 The TR7 heat shield clips onto the solenoid but the new starter solenoid is different so the shield clips do not fit.  I could have made a nice one out of aluminium sheet but found a really nice universal one for sale quite cheaply.  These consist of a kind of aluminised blanket that wraps around the starter and fixes with Velcro.

New starter heat shield.

New heat shield in place round starter.

 

March 2015, Indicator Warning Buzzer

Now most of the car is working OK I thought it was time to start on changing the instrument cluster to the one with an oil pressure gauge from the old car. This one also has LED bulbs so you can actually read the instruments in the dark.  At the same time it was a good chance to add the indicator warning buzzers because I find I do not hear the indicator "clicking" with the top down sometimes.
The clever types manage with one buzzer by using some kind of diode arrangement but I find it easier by just using two buzzers - one wired into each indicator circuit. The cost is next to nothing and I can understand how to do it.

Indicator warning buzzer wiring adapter, one red tail to feed each buzzer.

To join the buzzers into the car wiring I used an idea I copied from Odd Hedberg. Its a very obvious and neat adapter which just plugs into the car loom where the column stalk joins. You don't have to use Scotch locks or cut the wiring and it can also be removed leaving the original loom intact as well.

I also called on my long suffering mate Chris Riley to give me a hand adjusting the roll hoop mountings so that the soft top could be folded down past it. Mission accomplished as you can see. 

The hood folds down over the roll hoop now.

2012 Sprint engine update and Oil Pressure gauge

 Running around trying out the Sprint engine was good fun. It is a smooth torquey engine and I just love the way it revs.  The only thing I started to notice when the initial grin started to fade was a few rattles and noises that weren't there before. The exhaust system would knock on the floor sometimes and I had also found a mark on the inside of the bonnet (hood) where the oil filler cap was just touching.

Several attempts to rearrange my cobbled up exhaust system proved useless, and it was too close over the axle area,  so I decided to buy a complete new system that I knew would fit properly.  S&S supplied a very nice complete new stainless system including manifold and mounting rubbers, but at around £500 it was not cheap!
Fitting the system was very easy apart from the manifold.   The new engine has studs in the head instead of bolts which I think is a good idea, but the clearance issue ( see picture ) means there is not enough room to

 Nice new stainless manifold - but close to chassis

get the manifold on/off the studs.  The only way is to undo the engine mounts to tip it over and then it would just go on.  I also used brass nuts on the studs to avoid any sticking problems later.

When I asked S&S about the clearance to the chassis rail they told me that folks tend to use a bit of heat and a hammer to "modify" the manifold.  I thought this was a bit brutal having just paid good money for it but found another way on one of the forums by a small machining job on the right side engine mount - see pictures below.

engine mount before - block side

and after

engine mount before - chassis side

and after

About 5mm is machined off each side of the mounting as shown in the pictures.  The effect of the machining is to make the engine "lean" slightly to the right and away from the chassis rail.




Enquiries about the bonnet clearance revealed that the usual trick is to use TR8 spacers between the subframe and chassis rails.   These are basically just a thick washer (about 10mm) which drops the subframe by the same amount relative to the body. Easy fix and took less than 30mins to do.

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Forgot to mention earlier, somewhere in amongst all these goings on I managed to find time to fit an oil pressure gauge in place of the clock. The car always had a gauge fitted low down by your left knee - a useless place - so I moved it to somewhere you can now see it.. I used a old Smiths classic full scale 0-100 psi capillary. gauge. Quite a simple job, just a bit of fitting/cutting out some plastic in the back of the instrument pod to get it sitting nicely in place..

Oil Pressure now clearly visible.