JGJ - 1975 Dolomite Sprint

[xvivalve]

His reasoning was skew gears always 'ride' and with the jackshaft having no end float its the other two that will rise and fall

[James467]

It's sound reasoning, the complete water pump assembly including the gear is new so all I'd need is a new gear for the dizzy which is readily available and easy to swap.

I'll do that when I strip and inspect the dizzy.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I have one somewhere.

[James467]

It's all kicked off!!

First off, the engine is back from Classic and Modern Engine Services, it looks superb!

Block has been bored and decked, new pistons as well. Crank has had a 10 thou grind, flywheel faced and the whole lot balanced. The rods have had new small ends and have been balanced as well.













I have everything to assemble the engine including the new club timing chain guides (thanks Nigel and Matt Cotton!) not going to build it yet though, I don't want it hanging around, plus there's some vapour blasting needed. That's next weeks job!

On to the main part of the show....

She's back from paint!! Yes, the rear panel and sills need painting, not worried about that at the moment.















Time to get reassembling, first job - rear axle, because I keep tripping over it! All freshly powder coated and new bushes fitted.









Nuts are all finger tight, I'll need to drop it to fit the exhaust.

Picked up the vapour blasting as well



Front subframe next

[James467]

As part of reassembling the front subframe I needed to refurbish the rack.

I've done a more detailed write up on this in NWL's thread.

All stripped and cleaned...



The old bearing vs the new, it did have play in and wear can be seen. I did soak the new one in oil before I installed it.



I have a tool to knock the new one into the end of the rack.... like so





New o ring and pinion bearing



Installed, rack centred and locked off



Cleaned the tie rod threads



Don't forget the nylon plug!



A lick of paint and it's all done, just waiting for the correct clamps for the rack gators.

[James467]

With the rack refurbished I can reassemble the subframe.



With a click of the fingers it's all back together!



And back on the car











Next job - brakes! I hate bending brake lines, but this tool makes it so much easier to straighten pipes. You have to disassemble it when you have pre made pipes though.





Anyway, they're all done, seem to be longer than needed so I will fit them, trim them down and re-flare the ends as needed.

Whilst the pipe bending tools were out I did the fuel lines as well, all ready to be fitted with the brake lines.



Just need to stick the bulkhead pad down, reassemble the LSV now and install the brakes.

Plan is to have a car ready for its MOT by the end of June.

[Bish]

I don’t think I’ve even got the patience to lay parts out like that for a photo! Exceptional attention to detail as usual. Lovely stuff.

[James467]

I don’t think I’ve even got the patience to lay parts out like that for a photo! Exceptional attention to detail as usual. Lovely stuff.

I mainly do it to make sure I have all the parts.

Then Alun gets a text message, "Alun, have you got one of these?"

[xvivalve]

Where did you get the bulkhead sound insulating panel?

[James467]

Where did you get the bulkhead sound insulating panel?

Looks like it's a Robsport one. Came with the car

[James467]

Time to glue the bulkhead pad in, one of the jobs I haven't been looking forward to!



It went better than expected!



I used TrimFix, which is a high temperature spray adhesive, very well regarded in the campervan world. If you're in any doubt to it's effectiveness, the inside of my van has been lined using this stuff, including the headliner. It has been in there for years and survived some very high temperatures, Bucharest was 45 degrees outside when we parked! That said, I'm not sure I'd use it on a vinyl roof though.



Started fitting the brake system including the LSV.







I drew this when I did NWLs LSV and it's been invaluable! I'll put it here again in case anyone needs it.



Just waiting for some clips to arrive but all the engine bay pipes are in.



As well as the steering column which I have stripped and rebuilt.

[James467]

Right, back to the project plan.

The engine block has been thoroughly cleaned then painted and is ready to be assembled.





Whilst that's drying the next job is to rebuild the carbs and have them ready to be fitted to the engine when it's built. As with most SUs the spindle bushes were tired and has a lot of play so I have replaced them.

Before you tell me that I haven't done this right - you have to make sure they're aligned. Trust me I know what I'm doing here, I have a tool and if you buy me enough beer I'll tell you how to do it!



Anyway, that's done, and the bodies have been put through the cleaning tank. Everything is ready for reassembly.

If you know me, then you'll know I hate polished dashpots — they're pointless. Unless you keep polishing them, they tarnish. I prefer the original look.



There are some other bits that I have cleaned but pretty much everything else is being replaced.

[yorkshire_spam]

I find the return springs and linkages on twin SUs a pain when re-assembling - looking nice though!
As you say, polishing is pointless. Whoever "restored" my Spitfire and showed it at concourse events had PAINTED things like the dashpots and alternator metalwork in silver. Yuck.