Engine Bay - Part 1

Slowly, very slowly, the bodywork is reaching its end. There's a long way to go but when I consider where I started, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. If I sound a bit buoyant today it is because I started work on the engine bay.

Looking rather sad.

This is the last large area to be tackled, and will be a real shot in the arm when done. Somehow it is the heart of the car and it being all scabby has always been an elephant in the room. So, out with all sorts of abrasives, forward I went to sand back the last of the Flamenco paint.

Nice legs!

I am really surprised with this area, as it could have been awful. Yet the chassis legs are mint, as are the turret tops. How can a car that was so rotten in other areas have turret tops so good? I remember the nightmare that lurked below the passenger seat (see pic) and thank my lucky stars that the engine bay is in such good condition.

How can one notorious rot trap be so bad...

...yet this be so good?

After much rubbing, sanding hot-air-gunning and general scraping, I put on a coat of primer. This was then rubbed down again, to feather in the edges of any residual Flamenco left behind.

Paint off, primer on..

This area is going to take a bit of time to get right, particularly in the flitch repair panels. These were welded in some time ago (I would do it better these days) and although strong they do need some attention, like dressing down the welds and generally shaping up the arches. How I am going to get to some of the welds with a grinder baffles me - any ideas?

Left-hand turret top looks good, but those welds definitely need sorting.

The inner flitch panel was, I think, pretty much the first repair panel I ever welded in and it shows. Again, it is going to need a lot of grinding with a small grinder (I wonder if Fisher Price make one of the right size?) if it is ever to look good. There is also a seam where the bulkhead meets the inner wheel arch which is sound, but a bit messy. This is going to need some cleaning.

Inner wing to bulkhead seam.

Finally, the left side engine mount was given a good rub down, followed by some rust eater, a coat of primer and some steel wheel paint. I read somewhere that it is a good substitute for the bare metal finish of these components ex-factory.

Rusty engine mount.

Primed...

...and painted.

Horn Mounting Panel

Actually I don't think this panel is actually called the horn mounting panel. It probably has some formal name, like "Inner Sleeve Sounder Stub Flitch Panel (RHD, replaces XKC548C", at least that's what I imagine it might be called in the catalogues. But as it is a panel, and the right-hand horn mounts to it, we'll just call it the horn mounting panel.

Right, now we have that out of the way, I'll tell you a little about it and I don't think it will take very long, to be honest. When the car was stripped down I removed the left hand horn with no problems, but the nuts and bots on the right hand side had rusted solid to the body. Being a sensitive soul I wrenched them off with a mole grip, which ripped open the steel around the mounting holes. Oh dear.

So, getting bored of the longest rear wheel arch repair in history, I decided last weekend to have a go at fixing this cute little panel. Using a thin cutting disc on the grinder, I cut out a rectangle (with a bit of a spike on the end of the shape) to leave a gaping hole, the edges of which were then ground down to make them ready for welding. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of this operation, but I do have some of the repair piece being held in for welding with insulating tape.

 Once a couple of tack welds were made to hold the new metal in place, it was very carefully stitched in, avoiding excessive heat build-up. The welds were then ground down using the grinder, and the Dremmel in the tight spaces.

Once the area was solid again, a paper template of the opposite horn mounting panel was made, with the holes marked on it. To transfer the correct hole geometry to the other side, the template just needed turning upside down and hey presto I had my reference points for the centre punch. A couple of quick taps followed by some work with an 8mm drill and the holes were back where they should be.

All that was then left do was add a thin skim of filler, rub it down and apply a coat of primer.

 

The pic was taken when the primer was still wet, hence the different shades.

Right, now that's done, I'll get back to fixing (sigh)  XKC190. That IS the correct catalogue number...the rear offside wing. By the way, looking at the Rimmer Bros price list these are unavailable now, with the near side listed as £525. Yikes! I'd better put the NOS one I have in cotton wool!

Rear wing, offside - Part 6

I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't too happy with the wheel arch on this panel, due to the way I welded it. Having skimmed it with filler, I ended up losing the curvature of the panel where the flare of the arch meets the lip. It just wouldn't do, so I started again.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the "during" phase, so you will have to imagine the filler being stripped out again, the welds being re-dressed and the high spots being beaten in gently with a metal beater's hammer the plastic handle of a socket wrench. This got everything to the same level - the problem I had before was that I was having to build up the filler to meet the metal high spots, which then just got sanded away again leaving me right where I started.

A nice thin skim of filler, following the curve of the panel, was applied then sanded using 120 grit paper wrapped around an aerosol can. This worked a treat and stopped the area being sanded "square" again, and helped recreate the ski-jump effect. Once I had the basic shape, a small block of wood the size of a matchbox was used as a sanding pad, to ensure that everything was flat where it should be.

A nice ski-jump effect to the outward curve

The shape of the arch still needs a bit of work to make the crescent uniform, and there is still some very small skims of filler to rub down, but it's getting there. I am happy.

Still some fettling required.

Feeling a little rejuvenated by this progress (and my goodness has it taken an age to get here...this work has really had me in the doldrums. At one point I seriously considered cutting off the whole wing and replacing it), a couple of other jobs were tackled.

The top rear of the rear wing needs blending in to the rear lamp panel, but it is ever so fiddly and one of those jobs that has to look awful before it gets better. The area concerned needs making into a gentle corner with a tiny amount of filler, but to do it the filler had to be splodged in with a view to reshaping it when it is cured. I haven't done the reshaping yet, but I guarantee that what looks like chewing gum in the photo below will look fine once sanded and shaped.

All in the name of perfection. Wrigley's eat your heart out.

Another job was to tidy up the joins oat the bottom flanges of the "A" and "B" posts, where they meet the top of the step/sill. They have been welded to the new sill and again given a light skim of filler, but in the process lost their "join line". I can't even remember if the sill finisher will eventually sit over this area, but in any case I am a stickler for detail so I chased in a couple of false joins. These areas still need a little tidying and the welds at the bottom of the "A" post (around the door aperture) require some cosmetics, but these are nice little jobs to play at compared to the nightmare of the wheel arch. I had a full head of hair when I started that job (not any more).

False seam 1

False seam 2

In a few years, someone may ask me about my overarching memory of this phase of the restoration. I could tell them about the fortune I have spent on filler, or my sleeves being soaked from dunking blocks of wet & dry in a bucket of water, or actually quite liking the smell of Halfords' high build primer. But what really sticks in my memory - and in my ears, nostrils, eyes and clothes - is the dust. Everything is covered in filler dust, including the Bond Equipe.

The Bond is covered in dust...

but the TR7 quite likes it.

Rear Wing - Offside - Part 5

Hi folks and apologies for the lack of posts. I have had a great summer just pottering about, but only recently have I gone back into the garage to play with the TR7.

There is an old adage that goes something like "if I job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly" and this certainly applies to my replacement of the offside rear wheel arch. I like welding in new panels, and in the opposite corner I fitted an entire rear wing, which went like a dream. But on the nearside I decided to stitch in a new wheel arch lip, which I hadn't done before. I made a mistake in that I didn't butt weld it, which meant that the weld sat high on the panel and no amount of filler would get the profile right.

I thought it would be easy, but the old adage has really rung in my ears with this one. The time taken to get the profile right has taken an age, with the whole area being flatted, filled, flatted and filled over and over again.

First try.

It probably doesn't show on the photos, but no matter how much I tried to blend things in, the second lip (going up from the first) just wouldn't respond to my critical eyes. The rule I applied was that if I could feel any undulations with my hand (with my eyes closed) it wasn't good enough.

So, in the end, I stripped it all out again back to bare metal and ground down the welds. This caused some very thin areas and holes, which I then had to in-fill with more weld, but in the end I managed to get rid of the "high" areas where the original weld was, basically leaving correctly profiled contours onto which the thin skim of filler could sit.

The overall result was much better, with clearly defined lines.

I am responsible for keeping Halfords in business

Some minor profiling was still required.

But in the end I have something which held its basic shape and will be properly flatted etc when I finally get around to doing the paint prep.

It still needs some detailing, but the basic profile is about right.

Roof repairs - Part 1

Hello readers and apologies for the gap in posts, caused by a long holiday and the acquisition of another Jaguar XJS. I bought it on a whim with a view to getting it on the road and selling it on, but it is giving me all sorts of electrical problems. And who says it is just TR7s that suffer from this?

But as this is a TR7 blog, here's what I have been up to.

When I pulled the car out of storage some time ago, some kind soul had been crawling around on the roof, leaving two or three dents. So today I sanded down the area and applied some filler. It is going to take quite a bit of fettling to get it right, but P60 grit on the DA sander, followed by 120 and 180 is bringing it into line nicely.

Some areas blended, some not.

I have had to apply a few skims, and these photos show a new layer atop a recently sanded area. They'll look fine when blended properly.

Wiper Motor

They say that variety is the spice of life and it is certainly required when restoring a car. There was a great comment in Practical Classics recently from someone who had spent ages fixing up an old motor, which basically said "when you get fed up, just try to imagine yourself driving the finished product". That made me think, because I had been getting fed up, so it appeared a good idea to do something different and break the monotony. So, the diversion was the wiper motor assembly.

Looking rather tired.

 

What do you think of the colour?

The motor was looking a bit scratty, so it was cleaned up with lots of petrol and a wire brush after which it was painted with etch primer, followed by a coat of grey paint. I am not sure if that is original but it should look ok when on the car.

I should also say that I took the thing to bits and re-greased everything.

Additionally, the motor boxes were stripped down and re-greased, painted and put back together. The only problem was that I could not quite remember how it all went back together, so maybe when I put the whole thing back it will need some "adjustment". We'll see.

Painted in silver.

Bodywork

When I was little I would spend many a happy Sunday helping my dad with his car's bodywork. I loved being let loose on such a big and expensive thing, and that he trusted me to fill his Renault 20's sills with chicken wire. Even better, I got to play with fibreglass matting and - even better - plastic body filler.

To this day I love using filler, even if I only now use it for its proper purpose of subtly re-shaping panels or filling the odd dent. So, you can imagine how much I enjoyed this weekend as I did a bit of TR7 bodywork fettling.

The work is mainly around the arches and rear lower sill areas, which need some attention after new panels have been fitted. By the way, being able to turn the car upside down for this does have its considerable advantages, although I concede that the photos might look a bit odd.

One upside down TR7.

Blending of the rear lower sill and the wheel arch.

And the other side.

Looking into the near side rear wheel arch. The right way up.

I also finally got onto an outstanding job, which was to strip out the underseal from the nearside front inner wheel arch and get it painted up. Once again Hammerite was used over seam sealer and zinc primer.

Sealed and primed.

Painted.

Door - Offside

The driver's door on RJW307R was bought many years ago from a nice man in Swindon who had a load of '7 spares to get rid of. As far as I recall his was an unfinished restoration, but in any case he had done a great job with the door I bought. Using a sound white shell, he re-skinned it very professionally and even left it unwelded, so that it could be fettled into place.

For some reason it grabbed my attention today, so I had a go at getting the door into shape and producing good door gaps. It was proud of the B-pillar at the bottom, but by pushing hard on it and then clamping up the skin where it meets the top of the door, I got them about right.

Just a think skim of filler to blend things in, and it should look ok when finished.

Steering

Watching the first grand prix of the season today got me thinking. Whilst we all waited to see what the new cars would look like, I have a very clear vision of my TR7. That is - original. Ok, that is a contradiction in terms where restorations are concerned but my car is going to be as near to factory fresh as I can get it.

So, this morning was all about making nice things to go back on the car and I started with the steering column and brackets. These have had never been taken out of the car and were the only fittings left inside the shell, and gosh were they a mess. Oil, paint, dust and rust had all made their mark so it was time to clean up.

The steering column was split at the various universal joints and disassembled, wire brushed and given a coat of etch primer. Once this was dry, good old Halford's satin black paint was sprayed on.

The garage's wooden beams are ideal for hanging things off.

Tidying Up

As the welding stage comes to an end, we get to the "it is starting to look better" phase. It really is amazing how much of a boost can be had by getting things into one colour. I am blessed here as, by some miracle, the red oxide primer I am using has a striking resemblance to the TR7's original Flamenco paint.

TOP TIP! If you are feeling down because your car looks like a jumble sale of colour, rub it down and apply some paint (preferably red oxide, but not if your car is in Triton Green as that will induce nausea). It will make you feel like you have made massive gains.

Oh, and buy a vacuum cleaner from a car boot sale and keep it in the garage for sucking up the dust that inevitably accumulates in your restoration project.

Headlamps

Is it me, or are my sheds emptying of TR7 spares? I guess you wouldn't know but it certainly appears so to me. Wandering in to the outhouse these days is a joy, as I am starting to take an interest in the various spare parts I have amassed over the years.

And so it was over the last couple of weeks as I decided to rebuild the headlamp motors. Here is a snapshot of the procedure:

Unbolt the motors from the lift mechanisms > Wire brush them > Disassemble them > Try to follow the procedures in the "How to restore..." book > Get totally baffled about how to set everything up > Grease everything in site > Repair the wiring (using solder and heat shrink tubing > Put it all back together > Seam seal the gaps > Spray them in zinc primer > Spray them with stone chip paint > Spray them with satin black paint  > Hope to God that they will work when reconnected to the car in many years' time.

That was pretty much it  for the motors, but I did mount them on new lift assemblies which was the icing on the cake. These have been sitting in unopened BL boxes for many years, and now I don't want to throw the boxes away. Is that a bit weird?

Halfords made a profit today as I spent a small fortune on paint and anti-rust products. The nuts, bolts, washers etc from various parts of the car were dunked in a solution of Kurust gel and left to behave overnight. This stuff is supposed to remove rust in this way, but the instructions were rather difficult to implement. Given that I was de-rusting in an up-turned aerosol can cap, how on earth was I supposed to measure the "one part Kurust, nine parts water" thing? With a teaspoon? In the end I just mixed some of the stuff up and chucked in the metalwork. We'll see how it does - I will either end up with my entire garage dissolved, or nuts more rusty than I started with.

Finally, I decided to strip one of the headlamp pods so that I could paint it. Stupidly I used a cup brush on the angle grinder, which removed the paint very effectively but also cut grooves and scratches into the alloy surface. Again Halfords provided the U-Pol etch primer in a can, which was applied to good effect. The next job is to spray this one with lots of high build primer.