Chapter 13 – Cleaning and Trial Fitting

March 22, 2003

Rear Seats 

The rear seat pans were very rusty and pitted to some degree, but given that they are completely covered by upholstery we decided to reuse them. The bottom exposed side of the seats was painted with a rubberized undercoating paint. 

Rear Seats 1

Rear Seats 3

May 16, 2003

Canadian Delivery! 

Martin Jansen delivered the healey from his shop in Canada on the back of his pickup truck! Big day!

May 16 Arrival Day from Martin 1

Rough Body 2

Rough Body

Rough Body 3

The frame and superstructure looked great. The fit of the wings will have to be improved upon. Door fit is pretty good, but will also need additional work. New edges were put on the rear shroud and rough repairs to the front shroud lower panel were made as well as around the rear shroud taillight area. Seeing the interior panels without rust is hard to believe, but they sure look good now! One disappointment is that mounting holes for a number of things are not located on new panels installed by Martin. Seat rails, exhaust mountings, insulation panels and etc will need to be aligned and drilled.

Firewall 3

Firewall 2

Boot 1

July 15, 2003

Maple Hill Restorations 

After consulting with Jeremy Turner from Maple Hill Restorations we have decided to completely assemble the car while in primer to be ensured that EVERYTHING fits properly. This will prolong the project, and will probably lead to some short term frustration, but should also minimize problems with assembly once body work and painting is complete.

My first step is to determine proper fastener sizes and replace all original hardware with stainless steel, with the exception of higher load locations such as shock absorber and other suspension bolts. Those will be replaced with new grade 8 zinc plated hardware. Then we installed all of the rubber grommets in the firewall, footwell and other locations.

The Scientist at Work

Chased Threads and rubber grommets

Installed pedal box

Steering Bracket and Brace

Boot Grommets – The grommet for the battery cable and other bulkhead grommets were installed in the boot. The anti-theft battery switch and bracket were also installed.

Boot grommets

Battery box and switch

Bump Box

Boot Tire Buffer

Insulation Panels – Some of the mounting holes for the heat insulation panels on the firewall and footwell were also not drilled. We located the proper locations, drilled the holes and mounted the panels without difficulty.

Insulation 1

The Oil Pressure Line – The line was located and installed although new clips will be ordered.

Oil Line

The Dip Switch and Parcel Tray – These components were also located and installed. Note the original water bottle.

Parcel Tray & Bottle

Installed dimmer switch

Radiator Brackets – The brackets were cleaned and painted and were installed on the crossmember, and the painted air intake flange.

Radiator Mount 2

 

July 23, 2003

Hardware Reassembly

Door Staps – The original door straps (catches) were cleaned, re-zinced and installed on the door pillars.

Door Strap 1

Door Strap 2

Bonnet Hinges – The bonnet hinges were cleaned, primed and new stainless hardware was installed, and then mounted to the car.

Bonnet Hinge 1

Bonnet Hinge 2

March 22, 2003

More Cleaning 

Bonnet Latch Hardware – Disassembled and cleaned the bonnet latch assembly and the bonnet opening rod assembly for Jeremy Turner to media blast and paint.

Bonnet Rod Spring

Bonnet Rod Bracket grommet

Bonnet Latch A

Bonnet Latch B

Bonnet Latch C

Also cleaned the bonnet rod clip, the catch bracket, two safety latches, the brake reservoir bracket and two shroud brackets.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8 – Disassembly

Fresh Air Intake Assembly –  Three screws, two with nuts and one welded onto the tube secure the assembly to the superstructure. Disconnected the air control cable.

Fresh Air Intake Assembly

Fresh Air Intake Assembly

Flasher Relay –  Two cross head screws on top, one on bottom. All have nuts welded on the outside of the wheel well. The bottom screw also holds a wiring harness clamp and the ground wire. Starting from top left and going down – first wire is green with pink stripe, second is green/white stripe, third is white/brown stripe, and fourth is green/yellow stripe. Starting from the right top and going down – first wire is green/brown stripe, second is green/red stripe, third is white/purple stripe and fourth is green/? Stripe. Black ground wire is at bottom.

Flasher Relay Wiring 1

Flasher Relay Wiring 2

Flasher Relay Wiring 3

Bonnet Latch Support Bracket, Lever and Spring –  Note that the left side of center has a rubber tube over the spring and extension rod.

Bonnet Latch Return Spring

Bonnet Latch Rod

Bonnet Latch Support Bracket – The bracket is secured by two bolts and nuts.

Bonnet Latch Support Bracket

Bonnet Latch Return

Wiring harness extension for lights and horns – Two clamps located by screws and nuts at the front of the car.

Wiring Harness Clip Screws

Wiring Harness at Front of Car

August 3, 2002

Rear Axle and Related Assembly

The Bump Stop Boxes –  were removed from both sides of the car. Two large pozi-drive screws with large washers and nuts located by the rear occasional seats hold the boxes. Two bolts and nuts must also be removed in the side of each box that secure clamps for wiring. In our case the bolts were all broken from wear and tear.

Rear Axle Bump Stop on Car

Rear Axle Bump Stop Removed

Mounting Holes

The Fuel Pump   was removed to get it out of the way of the axle. Disconnected 5/8” in and out fuel pipes to the pump. Remove 4 7/16” bolts into fixed nuts on the rear bulkhead wall. Finally, disconnected wire at knurled fixing knob.

Fuel Pump Mounted to Bracket at Rear Kick Panel

Disconnected White Wire to Fuel Pump

Fuel Pump and Bracket Removed

Boot wiring harness extension –  Wiring goes to the fuel sender and lights. We clipped the wire at the bulkhead for easy removal since we knew we would be replacing it. Two clamps with split head screws secure the wiring through the bulkhead wall. Additional connections are then made to route to the tailights.

Fuel Pipe to Pump and Wiring Harness

Wiiring Harness to Boot

Wiring Connector for Lights in Boot

Wiring Clip

Wiring and Handbrake Cable

Wiring Cable Removal

Handbrake cable –  The cable was removed from its axle attachment. To save time we just cut the flexible brake line hose to the junction.

Handbrake Components

Handbrake Components at Rear Axle

Rear Shock Absorbers – First removed nut to axle link. Then removed two nuts and bolts to rear bulkhead for each.

Rear Axle –  Drain differential fluid from the rear end. Place jack under differential to take pressure off springs. Loosen the four nuts on the U bolts under the mounting bracket. The nuts should be loosened gradually to avoid too much pressure on the spring. Disconnect tramp bar at mounting bracket on axle. Rotate axle and lift and slide out to the right.

Rear Axle U Bolts

Rear Axle U Bolt Mounting Plates

Panhard Rod Mounting

Rear Axle Removed

August 4, 2002

Steering Assembly

Steering Column Support Clamp – There are four holes available for the bolt and nut on the steering column bracket. The bolt was found in the 2nd hole from the firewall. Bolt heads were to the right, nut to the left.

Steering Column Mount

Steering Column Bracket Mount

Steering column bracket –  Removed the bracket by loosening four bolts and nuts.

Steering Column Bracket Removed

Steering Column Rubber gasket

Steering Shaft Bracket to Frame Mount from below

Steering Shaft Bracket to Frame Mount from Above

 

Bonnet Catch/Latch

Bonnet Catch/Latch

Control Wire, Complete, Operating Bonnet Lock

My original control wire plastic cable casing was in pretty bad shape so I replaced it with a new one from SNG Barratt. It is very close to the original although the cable casing did have to be trimmed a few inches.  I cleaned up the components including the adjuster, for bonnet lock control; the Abutment, for cable adjuster; the plain washer, the shakeproof washer under the nut, and the 1/4″ -28 nut. These items were then zinc plated. This is an image of the components after plating:

Bonnet Lock Control Wire Abutment and Adjuster

Bonnet Lock Control Wire Abutment and Adjuster

Bonnet Catch Plate, Striker Plate, Base Plate, Bonnet Latch and Return Spring

These components of the bonnet catch assembly were cleaned and zinc plated. Two spacing bushes fitted between the catch and latch were also cleaned.

New Zinc Finish Bonnet Catch Components

New Zinc Finish Bonnet Catch Components

These are the assembled components:

Assembled Bonnet Catch

Assembled Bonnet Catch

Bonnet Catch

Bonnet Catch

Bonnet Catch

Bonnet Catch

This is what the assembly looks like when mounted to the vehicle:

Bonnet Catch/Release Assembly

Bonnet Catch/Release Assembly

Bonnet Catch/Release Assembly

Bonnet Catch/Release Assembly

This image shows the bonnet release remote control cable pull knob mounted below the RH side of the dash. Not very convenient for the LH drive American market!

Remote Control Bonnet Release Cable Knob under dash

Remote Control Bonnet Release Cable Knob under dash

This view of the RH side of the engine bay valence shows the routing of the remote control cable to the front of the car.

Remote Control Bonnet Release Cable on Valance

Remote Control Bonnet Release Cable on Valance

I chromed the the safety latch that is attached to the Bonnet because the paint never seems to hold up on these items.Chromed Bonnet Safety Catch

The spring and rod that hold the safety latch to its mount were cleaned and zinc plated.

New Zinc Finish Bonnet Latch Components

New Zinc Finish Bonnet Latch Components