Monday 28 December 2015

Subframe Part 2, Steering Rack & Anti-Roll Bar Parts 1

So, Christmas has come and gone, thank goodness. I spent most of it in the garage, fiddling with my TR7. The subframe is now finished, having been painted with etch primer, stone-chip on the underside and then finished off in some lovely satin black. I'm really pleased with it.





Various bushes turned up from Rimmer Bros, which got assembled on the bonnet of the Bond Equipe (it makes a great work bench) along with the contents of a nut & bolt kit I bought some years ago. It is lovely when you can go into the shed and retrieve something you have been saving there for years, for just that purpose. The only problem is locating them, and they are usually found inside the lawn mower. Last time I tried to cut the grass, it spewed out three distributors. Only joking.

Bond Equipe work bench
I also found an anti-dive kit and spent many hours sorting bolts, washers and nuts into piles. Some of them even look similar to the ones coming off the car!

The anti-roll bar got the same treatment as everything else, i.e. rub-down, primer and satin black.
Can you spot the anti-roll bar?



The next time I write about the subframe will be when the front suspension is going on the car, I hope. Then we can talk bushes properly.

Right, onto the things fitted to the subframe. Dammit, my subframe silence didn't last long, did it? Anyway, the steering rack was given a thorough clean and its internals ignored, as when it was last driven it worked fine. Back in 1994 my mate Neil used to reckon that the car had a "quick rack" fitted, such was the precision of the steering. I have no idea if the rack is anything other than standard (the only part number I can find on it is BEX3018RH - any ideas?) but it is going back on the car as-is.

The alloy steering rack clamps cleaned up well with a wire brush and some thinners nicely removing years of muck and that weird white powder which accumulates on aluminum parts. 



A coat of etch primer and some silver paint brought them up like new. Once the rack was clean, it was stripped and cleaned in the same way, and masked up for painting. The slightly brown centre piece and the track arms got a coat of rust eater, which made them look blue for a while.
The steering rack after a good rub down
  The alloy parts were first painted in two coats of etch, followed by silver paint.
Rust eater applied

Etch primer

The bellows are being used for masking and will be replaced

Next time I'll be painting up the centre piece and track arms in satin black, ready for their new bellows and track rod ends. But that's next time.

Monday 21 December 2015

Subframe - Part 1

What do you think of my subframe? I hope you like it, as I am really pleased with it. The grotty old thing was degreased, then gone over with a flap disc in the grinder.

Incidentally, I saw one of these on ebay at the weekend, second-hand and from a dealer, at an asking price of circa £150. It was very secondhand. Isn't that astonishing? It made me think how much can be saved by re-using the car's original parts.

On a similar theme, and digressing for a moment, I want to tell you a story. Many years ago I restored a Rover 2200TC, which was a fab car. I replaced everything and improved it in every way, even down to putting in a leather interior. When it was painted it gleamed and drew envious looks. But do you know what? I couldn't bond with it after that because I had "restored out" all of its character. It had none of the original car's personality left - it was like I had erased its history and memory. It was sold within weeks of completion.

I mention that story because I learned a lesson, and am applying it to the TR7. So, for example, the subframe isn't new - it is the one that came with car and it still has some dents from where it has been jacked up in the past. Sure, when the subframe is painted it will be totally lovely, but its history will remain. All those little dings tell stories of the past, and I won't rob the car of them. The same goes for as much of the car as possible.

Anyway, once the frame was rubbed down a couple of coats of etch primer had it looking smart again. Next step is to spray it satin black, with some stone-chip on the side which faces the road.



Sunday 6 December 2015

Front Suspension Strut (4)

Long story short, the second strut all went together again fine and looks as nice as the other one.

So, onto the sub frame. It all came apart quite easily, apart from one of the track arms, which was seized into the bush's metal sleeve. Nothing for it but to cut it off with the grinder, which was quite satisfying.

It was worrying that this track arm was now scrap, but one dusty box undone a few minutes later after a quick shufty around the shed produced a brand new one. I had bought this about ten years ago for a fiver or something, and it was still in its BL box with waxy wrapping. Even better, it had the ball joint fitted.
New track arm on the right
So, next stop was to strip everything down and get it ready for a jolly good clean. The anti-roll bar and steering rack came away very easily, probably because I have been dousing the nuts and bolts in oil for the last month or so.



This is going to be another of those satisfying total repair jobs, where everything gets a coat of paint and new bushes etc. I will use the original rubber bushes, for originality's sake.
More next time!

Sunday 29 November 2015

Front Suspension Strut (3)

What a rainy day! Nothing for it apart from to potter about in the garage playing with suspension parts.

What's left of the strut components. The bump stop (far left in the tray) has disintegrated

Actually, this post is about the other suspension strut, so I am afraid will be a bit boring as it is exactly the same as the previous suspension strut. Main points:

  • Disassemble the strut
  • Wire-brush the components
  • Etch prime them
  • Paint some silver and some satin black
  • Dunk the nuts, bolts etc in de-rusting dip
  • Order a shed load of spares costing circa £200 and await their arrival
  • Have a bath in Swafega.
Disc shield painted in satin black

Caliper and hub painted in high temp paint
Top strut mounting in etch primer, ready for silver paint

Upper spring pan
Top mounting locating cup
MMMMmmmm.

Sunday 15 November 2015

Front Suspension Strut (2)

I am quite getting into this being oily lark. After what seems like years (coz it is!) doing bodywork, it is nice to be working on mechanical things again.

Last time we met I had just put together the new strut, but couldn't finish the brakes as I needed new pistons. Well, they duly arrived and I had a box full of bits to play with.

The pistons were more fiddly than I thought they would be, but in the end they went in ok with a bit of extra brake fluid to help them over the seals in the calipers. It was lovely to see the new brake pads, shims, split pins and retainer-thingies all in place and bolted to the strut.

So, today was all about stripping down the other suspension strut, ready to do the same job all over again. I don't have the parts yet to complete the rebuild, but I did enjoy taking everything apart.

The two ball joints took a lot of heat and hitting with a splitter to seperate them from the mechanics of the sub-frame, but in the end they relented and came free. That left me with the strut, which was very tired.

I had already removed the spring, and incidentally was amazed at how the bump stop under the gaiter had absolutely disintegrated. Hub and disc, and then the disc shield were all removed to make it lighter, and then I got on with the horrible job of removing the top collar/nut which holds the damper in place. This took an awful lot of heat but eventually it came free.


I must admit that I like stripping things down, and one of the things I have learned is never, ever throw anything away until it has been replaced by its new counterpart and confirmed satisfactory. And so it was today that my box full of new bits became the box of grime, and started to fill.


Having removed and split the calipers, the pistons just wouldn't budge. Hitting them with a hammer did make them move, which gave me hope of a successful outcome plus had the added benefit of squirting residual brake fluid three feet into the air each time. A combination of compressed air, mole grips (they will not be re-used - the pistons, I mean. Mole grips will have a place in my heart forever) and rather a lot of foul language saw them eventually come out.

So, the calipers went into the box of grime ready for next weekend and I got on with the job of cleaning and painting the bare strut. As before, I used a wire cup brush in the angle grinder and it came up well. A coat of etch primer, followed by satin black from a can saw it looking lovely.

I should say that I regret painting the other (completed) strut in Hammerite. Is it just me or has Hammerite gone off the boil recently? It is incredibly gloopy yet has the covering capacity of tracing paper. Plus, of course, the strut should have been satin black all along. What was I thinking? Oh well, this TR7 will have one gloss and one satin suspension strut. I hope that baffles her new owner long after I am gone. On that note and just for fun, I might leave a note in the strut where the damper goes: "John woz 'ere."



Sunday 8 November 2015

Front Suspension Strut

Isn't it amazing the difference a day can make? Yesterday I started to reassemble the strut assembly and to begin with everything went well, mainly because I started with the brakes.

Having stripped and painted everything last weekend, it was time for reassembly. It took me a while to work out that the caliper piston seals and dust seals didn't clip into the existing rim in the casting, rather, and that the rim itself was removable. I wondered what the extra bits in the repair kit were.

Once the seals were done, I greased the bearings before driving the smaller one in with a 30mm socket. However, I didn't have a socket large enough for the bigger bearing, so here's a top tip:


*** TOP TIP ***

Use a scrap Triumph TR7 caliper piston to drive home the larger bearing. It is EXACTLY the right size.


 *** END OF TOP TIP ***

So there you are. Now I just need to get some new pistons, fit them to the calipers and put them back together before fitting to the rebuilt strut.

Ah, the strut. Sounds like a 70s dance, doesn't it? Well, yesterday I was honestly ready to dance the funky thing into a skip, such was my frustration. I had reassembled everything but nothing would go right.
First of all the big nut/collar thing on the damper insert just wouldn't tighten fully. In, out, shake it all about and it still wouldn't go. Lots of thread cleaning and re-screwing eventually saw it rotate home, and I even managed the quite ignominious feat of quite literally punching myself in the face when my fist fell off the wrench I was pulling hard towards me. To add insult to my injury, the whole lot kept falling off the bench and thudding to the ground, damaging the lovely paintwork I had applied. That put me in quite a bad mood, I can tell you.


Finally I got everything reassembled using spring compressors and looked lovely, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the gaiter to attach to the spring pan. There just wasn't enough "give" in the rubber and the compressed spring made access difficult. "It's impossible" I declared, and turned with a swish of my imaginary cape leaving the garage in a huff.

This morning I was back in the garage at nine and everything felt better. The strut was still there (I was glad it hadn't got up to any more mischief in the night) and I had another go.

Yes it was fiddly, and I could have done with a couple of extra arms, but the gaiter finally hit home after about ten minutes. Not wanting it to escape, I quickly cable-tied both ends.


That done, I was on a roll and quickly offered up the new hub and disc, which went on a treat. What a difference a day can make.

Next stop will be putting the calipers back together, and then starting on the remainder of the old suspension.