July 2007 Loose Ends
As the car is soon due for a Ministry of Transport test (MOT) it's time to tidy up some loose ends so it is safe to drive. This test is an annual UK requirement for vehicles over 3 years old and whereas it used to be a check of basic roadworthiness it has become more rigorous in recent years and is easily failed. For the car restorer this first test is a major hurdle. I've gone through my checklist of; brakes, steering, suspension, rubber gaiters, seat belts, lights, wheel end-float etc and am reasonably confident that it should pass but it will be reassuring to have a second opinion. Between now and the test there are a couple of jobs that I have been putting off and although they are only cosmetic it will be good to get them out of the way.
I had hoped that the boot hinge springs wouldn't need replacing but as the only way to keep the boot lid open was with my head I had to take on what is often regarded as a difficult task.
In fact it's not so hard. The old springs were tired as can be seen by the way they form an opened coil, the new springs are very tightly coiled by comparison. On each hinge 5 springs are required; the difficult part is that they are supplied individually and must be interleaved to form a single unit. A firmly secured screwdriver of the same diameter as the holes in the springs can be used to secure one end.
Tough gloves are a must as the springs are strong and very sharp! A single spring is manageable and can be opened by hand, the difficulty comes as more springs are added. The springs were opened by using a metal rod and then a single spring unwound over the top of them, this is repeated until all 5 springs are interleaved.
It is vital to clamp the springs together before removing them from the screwdriver as left to their own devices they unravel and the holes won't line up, making it impossible to insert the bolt.
On pulling the boot release the lid now "pops up" about 3 inches and stays in any semi-open or the fully-open position.
The original number plate chrome beads were in poor shape so I decided to replace them, unfortunately the quality of the reproductions is lamentable. I sourced them from two suppliers and they both had the same flaws so I guess there is only one manufacturer. The left-hand bead approximates to the profile of the car but the right-hand one is not even close. I finally got it to fit after much bending, during which the chrome came off and it required re-plating. They are also shallower than the originals so the spot welds, which they are supposed to cover, are visible. They will do for now but I'm in the market for some useable originals. Things never go quite to plan so having overcome the chrome trim problem I managed to shear one of the boot latch studs, this was fixed by tapping it out to 10-32 and thread locking in a s/s screw - not ideal but its too late for welding now.
It's looking good but I've yet to go for a drive, that will come next month when I drive to a testing station for the first MOT. They all use a roller brake for checking braking efficiency but as the car has a limited slip differential I've elected to use one that is prepared to test the brakes with a decelerometer. The roller brake subjects the LSD to unnecessary stress and is not a requirement of the MOT for LSD vehicles; further information is here: MOT Testers Handbook. On the plus side the nearest testing station willing to do it the way I want is 10 miles away so I'll get to have a good drive.