LLJ 883P - 1850 Carmine red manual

[LewisW]

Better late than never!
LLJ883P.
Having started its life rolling out of Henlys Triumph of Bournemouth on 23/10/1975 after the owner handing over £2254.31 and the £250 part exchange in the form of a D plate MG 1100, it had covered 67649 miles with its one family of owners until it found its way into my ownership in August 2017.
A simple Car and Classic ad with a few photos was all it took, having sold JUD660W to Ian from Sheffield in October 2016 to move to Dundee from Yorkshire I had to have another.
a quick email exchange, some more detailed photos exchanged and it was loaded up on a transporter for the long journey from Somerset to Dundee.






Having being used up until the early 90's where it received a top end rebuild documented in the history it would appear it sat until 2006 where a light overhaul and was used on and off until 2016 where it was put up for sale.
Coming with a boot full of spares, trim pieces, a massive history file (and a crate of cider!) its a good honest survivor with a few battle scars and a few areas needing some attention. some welding will be needed to a small section of the boot floor and the front sills but on the whole its a good solid shell.





So far the front calipers have been rebuilt, front wheel bearings replaced, the typical bulkhead cracking has been welded and strengthened, the engine is partially stripped in preparation for a new timing chain.
I still have the chain to finish, sill welding a tune up and any other things that crop up when its up and running.
Plans include diamond cut sprint wheels, slightly lowered suspension along with polybushes to replace the worn original items and fitting the sports exhaust that has arrived from James.
a quick machine polish brought out a decent shine:






This will never be a concourse example, I don't have an endless supply of funds, this will be a driver and a survivor!
My time is limited to spare weekends that aren't raining and they are few and far between!
hopefully I can keep this up to date, i'm more active on the Facebook side of things but hopefully this will be a good documentation of my progress.
March 1st is my MOT date, fingers crossed!

[GTS290N]

Great to see another car in Scotland.

[sprint95m]

Great to see another car in Scotland.

I can but echo Bill's comment.

Looking through the pictures
I am thinking yours is a crossover model with the later front sidelight/indicator units, black wheel trims
single rail gearbox (reverse next to third)?




Ian.

[LewisW]

You'd be correct Ian, a non-HL with a single rail box, am I right in thinking its a bit of an oddball? Also has the earlier number plate lamp and an under-rider-less front bumper which I personally haven't seen before
Also supposedly never came with headrests from new but has the holes in the seat

[GTS290N]

Mine is the same, build date of September 75. Absolutely was correct for the build time, but I've since ditched the plastic wheel trims......

[sprint95m]

Yes it should have bumper under riders.
There are two types, the rubber on early ones protruding well proud of the bumper whereas later cars had a neater more compact rubber.
(I think your car should have the later type)


I think head restraints were an option at the time your car was sold?
Early cars didn't have them even as an option. Later HLs had them as standard.





Ian.

[LewisW]

Made some progress today inbetween the snow showers!
My initial praise for the last person to work on it by putting grease on the timing case bolt threads soon disappeared when I saw this bodge




A healthy amount of sealant where the timing case had been damaged. Still, the sealant had done well considering it was done in 1990 ( 5 years before I was born!) I'll either source another cover or repair it, I'm undecided yet




Off with the cover and I'm greeted with a black sludgy mess. I'm a fan of the relative simplicity of the setup compared with the stuff I work on daily, some room to work is a welcome novelty!

Under the sludge we have a Renold tensioner, I'll be reusing the body but replacing the the tensioner pad, having got a Rolon tensioner with the kit I can happily say that will be going straight in the bin. A complete lack of oil feed and quality of the part seems like a disaster waiting to happen.



After removing the chain it didn't look in too bad a condition with minmal wear, I suspect the clatter was caused by the tensioner sticking with all the gunk

A quick TDC check of the cam and crank, rotor arm pointing to No.1 HT lead, releasing the tensioner and a few spins of the crank to make sure all was in time was as far as I got.

Next job was a diff/gearbox oil change with some 80/90 GL4 oil, would have been quick but someone left it in the boot of his car overnight in -5 degree weather and the oil had turned to treacle A decent amount of swarf and sludge came out of the box, some miles under its belt should show up any issues

[xvivalve]

There's an 1850 timing cover in Ted's stuff; your's for an offer plus postage at cost.

[LewisW]

Made some progress yesterday, Thanks for the offer Alun, I repaired the timing cover in the end



Seems a strong enough repair for now, if it fails I'll get it Tig welded

Was a mad rush to get everything back together, new none-Rolon slipper pad in the Renold tensioner body, new crank seal, final check of the timing and on with the cover, new 65amp alternator and belt,
Radiator back in along with some fresh coolant and thermostat. Oil and filter had been done in October.
Disconnected the coil and cranked it over as it hadn't been started since October but the oil light wouldn't extinguish, decided to connect the coil and let it fire, eventually started on choke but the oil light still wouldn't go. Plenty of oil at the switch and looks to be throwing it up to the cam, have tested the wiring and ordered a new switch to fully rule it out. Annoying really as it was idling quite nicely!
I'm well aware of the amount of sludge knocking about so I'll be whipping the sump off and having a look at the pump and strainer
Also developed a fuel leak on the rear carb feed pipe so they'll all be getting changed.

Looks strange seeing it back together!

[LewisW]

Replacement oil pressure switch has arrived from Robsport, cranked it over with the coil disconnected and the light went out! On with the coil and she fired into life with no oil pressure light, have finally got round to stripping off the dashboard wood panels for her indoors to refurb

[LewisW]

Headed down to the parents in Yorkshire this weekend in the modern to pick up my spare sprint wheels and a steering column with a working steering lock and whatever else I can find in my many boxes of spares

[LewisW]

Well the March 1st deadline has well and truly been shot down in flames, 6 inches of snow and deep drifts mean its not moved an inch. over the last week or so ive made a lot of progress, boot floor patch welded above where the new rear silencer will sit, Exhaust manifold removed and snapped stud extracted, painted and then new studs fitted



Refit the manifold with new bolts and gaskets and fitted the sports exhaust from James, just needs some final adjustment and a bracket making for the rear box



The Mrs has been busy staining the dash wood with a walnut stain, looks loads better and goes better with the darker browns in the interior




Had a spare few hours the other weekend and made a parcel shelf to hide the hacked up metal on show, bit of MDF from B&Q, some black leatherette and some 6.5" Vibe speakers, looks subtle and should go well with the Pioneer door speakers and the Sharp cassette player



My favourite bit of work is the diamond cut sprint wheels, one was done as a tester to see if the probe on the lathe could get a good profile on the rim but the other 3 are prepped and ready to be cut so should have them on with new nuts and centre caps and a new set of Hankooks