Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Bleak Midwinter

Not much happening lately.  We've had a succession of snowstorms that have cut into the available time for the Spit, and what time remains has been further eroded by work responsibilities.  It's hard to work on a car outside, in Colorado, in January.

But I did luck into a warm Saturday last weekend, and took advantage of it to get a little work done.  The new front brake rotors are installed, and, in the process, the front wheel bearings got a good cleaning and a dose of fresh grease.  The hub adjustment process is a bit arcane, and the end float (or bearing play, as I would call it) is a bit different from one side to the other.  I need to grab new cotter pins anyway, so I'll redo the adjustment once I have the new pins, and see if I can get better results next time.

While I was under the hood, I pulled out the battery so that I can begin the assault on the surface rust in the battery tray and the rest of the untreated right side of the bulkhead.  The rust in the battery tray looks significant, but not structural yet.  We'll wire wheel it down to bare metal, hit it with the rust converter fluid, prime, and paint.  I expect the job to stretch over the next couple weeks' worth of stolen winter work sessions.

And while I had the battery out, I hooked it up to my battery charger and received an unpleasant surprise.  The battery seems to have drained and been damaged by the cold.  It's not accepting a charge now, which means I probably need a new $75 battery.  And I suppose I also need a battery disconnect switch so it doesn't happen again.  I have one of these on my battered old 4Runner:






It would be nice to have a switch within reach of the driver's seat, but I'm reluctant to drill new holes through the firewall/bulkhead.  Perhaps one of these two options at right, if I decide the under-bonnet location works. 

Oh, and while I'm listing faulty parts, I noticed that the positive battery clamp is cracked and will need to be replaced.  That's a minor annoyance compared to the battery, but it still adds one more item to the to-do list, which was already frighteningly long.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Paint

My dad called today, and, in the course of describing the progress on the Triumph, I talked myself into not leaving the bulkhead in primer.  When am I ever going to have both master cylinders off again?!  This is a great opportunity to do this right, and the delay is negligible since it's not likely to be Triumph weather until March at the absolute earliest.

So...  where does one find #82 Carmine Red paint?  Well, there are plenty of places on the internet willing to sell you a spray can of it for $25-30 each.  But everybody wanted another $15 for shipping for a single can of spray paint, and several of them auto-added a bunch of other things to your shopping cart, like dust masks and scratch pens and masking tape. The whole thing comes across as kind of a racket.  

None of the big Triumph parts suppliers in the US seemed to want to sell body paint.  They'll all happily sell brake caliper paint, or engine paint, or wire wheel paint, but not the OEM body colors.  Rimmer Bros. (UK) was selling it for GBP 12.50 or so, which is less than $25, but shipping from the UK seems unlikely to make it worthwhile.

On a lark, I called our local British car shop, The Motorway. They recommended a particular paint shop who could mix up matching paint.  So I called them, and found out that #82 Carmine Red corresponds to PPG code # 72065, and they could have a spray can of it mixed up before quittin' time tonight for $15.  Sold.

I'll post some pics of the paint process as it unfolds.  Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of a carburetor rebuild, and I've got brake parts waiting for their turn to get installed.  Need to get cracking....

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Parts!

My order from Victoria British arrived today, containing a front brake parts kit (rotors, pads, hoses, caliper seal set, mounting hardware....) and a pair of motor mounts.  I now have everything needed to complete the brakes, right down to the DOT5 fluid.
We'll get the caliper rebuilds done, and then it's time to install the entire brake system!  Kind of excited to check that off the list.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Brakes


I went after the front brakes a bit more today.  In my last wrenching session, I'd noticed that the hard lines were badly corroded, and that the P.O. had purchased an expensive set of replacement copper hard lines for me.  So with no cost to me, the old lines definitely had to come out - there's visible pitting on the exterior, and who knows whether there isn't similar deterioration on the interior as well?

I removed the scary old lines and set them aside.  Prior experience on other vehicles has taught me that it can be tricky to figure out exactly how the new lines should be shaped, so it's handy to keep the old ones around for reference.
Rusty brake lines... <shudder>

With that done, I turned my attention to the brake rotors (or discs, if you prefer).  Removal involves pulling the front hubs off of their axles, and then working the rotors free of the hubs on the workbench. The hardest step turned out to be removing the grease caps - they're supposed to "tap" out according to the Haynes manual, but I'm not sure how you tap something out when its shape and position leave no way to get behind it.  

Google turned up a Triumph Experience post on this very topic, in which more experienced mechanics basically gave the rest of us permission to do whatever violence was required in removing the things.  Giant pliers?  Sure.  Smack 'em with a hammer until the shape gives you something to grab with giant pliers?  Sure.  Smack the giant pliers while squeezing the cap?  Sure, have at it.

So I had at it.  They came out pretty quickly, with not too much distortion.  Once they were out of the way, it was a simple matter to remove the cotter pin, castle nut, and then pop the entire hub and rotor off.

Even scarier: dry-rotted fuel line,
ready to rupture and spray gasoline
all over the engine bay.
They were in a sorry state, though.  There are four bolts that hold each rotor onto its hub, and they were all a-flower in rust. I hit them with WD-40 and let them sit for a bit.

While the penetrant was penetrating, I took a few minutes to replace some of the old fuel line.  It was badly cracked and dry rotted, a complete liability.  I'd purchased about 8 feet of new line at AutoZone recently, and it went on without any hassle.

Humidity, time and neglect have done a
number on this brake rotor. 
Back to the brakes, I used my trusty pickle fork against the wheel studs as a lever, and the breaker bar in my other hand, and gradually broke free each of the 8 bolts holding rotors onto hubs.  With the bolts removed, there was nothing but rust left holding the rotors on, but the rust had a pretty tight grip.  With the light fading, I hit the edge with WD-40 and began packing up while it soaked in.

Just a little while later, I'd managed to knock both rotors free of their hubs.  Loose now, I tilted them in the glare of the porch light to determine whether they could be saved.  The verdict:  I don't think so.  One disc was pretty badly grooved... before it began rusting.  And both showed heavy pitting from rust on the braking surface.  I'm going to need to replace both rotors, along with the pads and the rubber innards of the brake calipers.  

It's expensive, replacing all of this stuff.  At the same time, though, there's a lot of peace of mind to be had in knowing that I've gone through the entire brake system.  If I can ever get the car rolling, I can at least be confident that it will stop when I ask it to.

As I was putting my tools away, the milkman pulled up.  It's not the first time he's caught me working on the Triumph, and he complimented me on how it's coming.  It's gratifying to know that he sees the progress I'm making - though, as I pointed out to him, that progress is still in the wrong direction:  every day's work finds the car further disassembled, at this point.  Hopefully I can get these brake parts ordered and begin to reverse that trend soon.