Great SC rebuild.......

[Chris Spencer]

Tony - 2.5 litres of self etching primer, about 10 litres of hi-build primer filler, 0.5 litres of black guide coat, 200 ml 2 pack stopper, 8 litres of top / colour coat and about 25 litres of thinner in all. About 20 sheets of P80 production paper, 5 sheets of P240, 10 of P400 & 4 sheets of P1500, 1 litre of G3 liquid compound and 2 litres of T Cut and a bale of mutton cloth - endless blocking and rubbing down by hand and acres of hand polishing ( I doubt that all the polishing will get completed by the rally ) This is all based upon surfaces that had been previously taken to bare metal before I commenced the paint preperation.

Spoke to Keith about the subject of bodywork restoration / paintwork last night - Although for the last 20 years I have been employed in the management of waterway / waterbody environmental restoration - the first 10 years of my employment was in vintage / classic vehicle bodywork / paintwork restoration - and have since owned / raced many vehicles over the years.

So all being well - coming to a Jowett website soon will be the 'Bodywork Agony Aunt' - where all your bodywork / paintwork questions / problems can be answered - watch this space !!

[Jack]

Keith,

Last night I worked out why the horn didn't work, while enjoying the delights of a sleepless night while people who really aren't very interesting read out names and numbers, one after the other, and pundits on the BBC and ITV try and keep up with what is going on. The guy reading them in welsh was fun, but otherwise very dull.

The bullet connector in the back of it had to be removed to fit the glovebox. If you reconnect it, I suspect you'll get the horn back Sorry, too tired at 10pm to remember the previous evening's fettling.

Keith has skimmed over the major milestone for me - seeing a rev counter flick up and down, a speedo counting up to 30mph+, and all the other gauges reading correctly. I am just a little bit impressed with my own work, though it has taken a very long time. It has to be said that the dashboard lights are a little dim, thought with modern LED bulbs in there I suspect that we could get more light and not risk the problems of hot bulbs and various very old plastics. This is very much an upgrade for later in the project, after the rally.

We also know that the gearbox works, with all gears tested and working ok. There was a bit of grumbling about getting into second, but I think a tweak on the rod should make this significantly easier. Personally I am particularly surprised that everything has just gone together, the clutch works, no major issues with the gearbox, and generally all ok. A lot of time and effort was put into restoring and fitting the thing, it's just that there seems to be a great deal to go wrong in parts like this.

More time spent working on the engine, and I have to agree that the water leak isn't a leak, that's a huge amount of water pouring out of the thing - it would probably empty the water system in about half an hour. Something has to be done to rectify, we are scratching our heads a bit because this may also be the cause of some of the overheating we seem to have going on at the moment - it certainly gets very hot very quickly, and water flow doesn't seem to be happening, so there's definitely something up.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Bonnet support and innards of petrol cap have arrived.

Thanks Drummond.

[Jack]

25 litres of thinner
20 sheets of P80 production paper
10 litres of hi-build primer filler
10 sheets of P400
8 litres of top / colour coat
5 sheets of P240
4 sheets of P1500
2.5 litres of self etching primer
2 litres of T Cut and a bale of mutton cloth
1 litre of G3 liquid compound
0.5 litres of black guide coat
200 ml 2 pack stopper

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

You can spot a Yorkshireman - he knows exactly what he's used, and I'll bet he could tell you exactly how much each line cost

Jack.

[Chris Spencer]

A Yorkshireman can also peel an orange in his pocket - in doing so it is not on display hence he need not share it with anyone !!

[Forumadmin]

Oh is that what you were doing?

[Forumadmin]

Now midnight and children have just left; but we left Chris spraying the rest of the panels.

The last few blemishes have been stoppered and rubbed down.

I started stripping the water pump and found the cause of the leak. The seal face on the impeller had corroded across the whole face. So a phone call to Bill who is bringing a pump with him up the M40 where I will intercept him in the early morning.

Took the opportunity to also remove the radiator. After a phone call with Jim Miller in CA, I decided to drill out heater hose entry and rethread. After much discussion and searching in plumbing spares eventually had the brainwave to use a water pump heater tap. Then spent ages trying to find the correct threading tap. Luckily had an odd 5/8 BSP. So drilled out the hole and tapped it.

Jack meanwhile fitted the cigar lighter, tested and fitted horn relay, washer bottle that Amy had cleaned and completed the glove box.

Amy also cleaned and painted the washer jets.

[Chris Spencer]

Friday evening - 7th May: The 4 wings which are in primer were flatted back with wet & dry along with the boot lid. Also reflatted was the O/S door which had already been top coated - however a blemish was showing through the paint and I was far from happy with it so it was back for remedial work.

The boot lid was showing some minor defects with the detailed swage lines so again this also attracted the attention of a 2 pack stopper and careful flatting back to acheive the detail required. Before leaving (late again) all the panels were sprayed again with 2 coats of high build primer.

Saturday - 8th May: Keith, Amy & Jack will update you with mechanical & wiring / odds progress. Jack was again AWOL for most of the day - duly noted and written up on the charge sheet - he had also left a trail of shortcomings - again duly noted - we are far to busy to administer punishment at present but at some stage we shall be throwing the book.

The wings were flatted back and painted into final colour coats - apart from the odd dust speck and some minor paint reaction on one of them they are very good and far better than the battered lumps of metal I started with a few weeks ago. The boot has recieved further attention and shall be painted today along with the door. Keith has had no end of trouble with a not one but two water pumps that were supplied but I think that it is now resolved - I took the fan and painted it up at the same time of the panels.

Late last night the windscreen frame was fitted - the seal between the bulkhead and the frame proving awkard as always - this was new and I had to cut it in - working from one side of the car to the other. it is 90% complete I just need to carry out some alterations to it this morning and another job is complete.

Right - must get going - this is my last weekend as I go on holiday next Friday - providing dust clouds allow the plane to fly and that Greece is not bankrupt. Further updates tonight.

[Forumadmin]

Met Bill and Diana on their way to Prescott to pick up new water pump. However, on inspection found ther to be 2mm, yes 2mm, of play in the fan bearing. So none too happy took it apart to find the shaft was narrow.

Much discussion and review of all available alternatives concluded I needed to change the impellor on the original pump supplied by Bill. Not confident of doing this I phoned Bill Maris who came around and offered to make a sleeve for the offending shaft on the 'new' pump supplied. We also discovered the fans had different tapers, so Bil M. took a suitable fan from stock whilst Chris painted the offending red fan to matching green.

The change of impellor was no mean task as it was well and trully rusted on the shaft. Much heat and pulling eventually removed it but not without it cracking. A good impellor was fitted from stock. I had previously ground the sealing faces so was confident, touch wood, it would be better than the last.

Also discovered the helicoils in the 'new' body were not properly bedded so had to refit them. There was also no circlip on the front bearing. Decided to use the 'new' pump body as at least the shaft had oiling points.


Refitting the water system is on hold waiting for the paint to dry.

So then tackled the bonnet support which also prooved difficult. I had to cut the brass ring on the top so as to insert the inner tube. Then reclosed using a terry clip. I may braise this later! The outer tubes are handed (Sod's law saying I had two the same) so had to drill out the pin on the lower body fixing and rotate the fixing 30 deg and repin. The split pin hole on one side of the body had to be redrilled, which required a cobalt drill as the metal was so hard (assume it was either work hardened or stainless). Stays now fitted waiting for bonnet to be fitted today.

Amy continued work on lights and was pictured soldering with the yellow tongs of death. Jack arrived after dinner having been diving since 5.30 a.m. so came in for a lot of stick from us all. He did a few bits on the dashboard and cleared the way for the floor and seat fitting today. We did not give him anything difficult to do as he was still detoxing. I think he went to 60m today.

Chris finished the next stage of painting and, whilst the paint was drying, started to fit the windscreen.

Finished just before midnight this time.

[Tony Fearn]

Keith said:-

'whilst Chris painted the offending red fan to matching green'.

Having owned a pre-war thermo-syphon model Jowett for some years now, it's quite a novelty when you buy a 'classic' that has a fan mounted behind a front-mounted radiator (Sunbeam IIIA).

Rather than paint the fan a matching dark green (as is the body) I've painted the blade tips white with a fluorescent red edge just to remind me that it's there!

On another tack, Hilary came over to the motor houses (ok. - garages) whilst I was working on 'Mary Ellen's' doors and took the attached photos.

Thought I'd put them in this thread to show you all that other things are going-on in the Jowett renovation world, although as stated before, we can't hold a candle to what's happening in Kings Langley.

[

[Alastair Gregg]

You say you can't hold a candle to the Kings Langley mob but you do run a full apprentice training scheme. Poor old Jack was just dropped in there and now they are threatening to throw the book at him!!!!

[Jack]

More progress from the little shop of horrors (and injuries) and despite requiring the assistance of the shop steward to try and make out it wasn't me that scratched the paint, dropped hot solder on it, scratched it, and put the wrong wire to the wrong thing, we are getting there. Slowly

I spent today waking up much later than planned, being dropped off for an hour of doing something this morning, but no idea what.

At 1pm I was required to go skiing at the Hemel Snow Centre. An hour on the slopes turned into two for the girls, so some car time was lost and I managed to get a late lunch and head back to the workshop for 4pm(ish) to get to work.

Major job for today was to get the floorboard in and get the seat fitted. Unfortunately the floorboard took a bit longer than planned, but we now have a board ready to drill for the bolts, with chamfered edge at the front and sides, plus routed the back edge so that it would sit over the bottom of the panel I lovingly made that goes behind the seat. I also had to cut out a lump for the raised part of the floor that goes over the prop shaft - but a carefully crafted panel will cover this, probably never to be seen again as it will be hidden under the seat, but I'll know it's there, and every time we drive through a puddle I'll be happy knowing we're not going to get a bunch of water in the footwell, and that the edges of my panel is beautifully crafted. Perhaps.

Anyhow, after having inhaled about three square metres of wood in the form of sawdust, and got a fair old chunk of it in my eyes, the floorboard is almost complete, and nearly ready to be painted and fitted. Which is nice, because a floorboard is quite probably a requirement for the MOT.

Chris' work on the panels continued with the rear wings getting fitted with the temporary beading, though they do look very good as they stand. The rubber beads will be covered in leather for the final trim and fit, for the moment we are going with what we've got.

Chris also has done an incredible job on the windscreen. You will have to see it to believe it at the rally, but it really is doing a great job of taking attention away from my work on the dashboard New glass fitted, chrome fitted, and rubber trim in place. Another major milestone, and it's quite something. Hopefully Keith will upload some photos of it, along with the other work we've been doing today.

Keith spent a lot of time today working on things at the water pump end of the project. It seems to be coming along, and hopefully all this hard work means we will have the best water pump in the world and we'll never need to go through all this again. I'm sure he will be able to tell you what he's done in more detail, but it did at one stage involve putting helicoils in things which was interesting.

Just having dinner now, not sure if I will be back in the garage tonight as we have visitors who have basically painted most of the flat, so I guess I'd better stick around and be nice to everyone. Finally the bathroom seems to be complete.

Another interesting note for the week, somebody has left a note on the Capri asking if I'd be interested in selling. Will have to consider this carefully, as current advice is that trying to run two old cars is rather hard work, and I've had the Capri long enough to have fun in it, but it's probably about time it goes to somebody who can finish it off and use it more often than I've been able to this year.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Not much to add. Just come in from the garage. After knocking off work at 6 on Friday have done 35 hours on the car mostly on the water pump! The final job was repairing a poorly inserted helicoil. The previous attempt had failed to recognise that the hole had been stripped so much there was not enough meat for the thread of the insert. There was just enough for a 5/16 helicoil. The bolt head was ground down as it fouled the pump pulley.

Did some work on the gearbox and shortened the link rod. I will try adjusting again as now Chris has finished fitting the rear wings and he objected to me spinning the rear wheels to test the gearbox!

Carb filters are on. Windscreen washers in. Will need to test them all though.


Found the tonneau which is in good condition.

Will upload pictures tomorrow.

[Jack]

Well, last night was one where I think everybody was incredibly tired, but things were happening.

The bonnet went on. Another major milestone. We have fitted the centre of the bonnet without the wings, and the wings will be fitted to the bonnet now it is in place. Gaps were checked, and we seem to be pretty close after a fairly quick bit of adjusting and bolting.

Me and Amy spent the evening working to get the floorboard bolted in before painting, this sounds like a simple job but in fact was rather hard work as much of the metal frame under the floor has been replaced, and therefore the original holes are no longer there. With some work we have managed to get 4 bolts done, passenger side is basically done, a few more holes to drill but hopefully these won't be too problematic.

We did identify a slight problem while fitting the bonnet, which cost us more time to resolve - the bonnet strut wouldn't go all the way down and the plunger seemed to be hitting something solid as it went down. Keith investigated and we started rebuilding the strut. Unfortunately this is a fiddly job, with a fair amount of spring pressure pushing against you while you work, and was generally a pain to sort.

Chris will have to tell you the detail on what he was up to, there seemed to be more filling and sanding going on behind the curtain but I'm not entirely sure which parts were getting done. I think it was earlier in the evening the drivers side rear wing went on, it is now looking like a car again and the finish is quite something.

Hopefully tonight we can put the floorboard to bed and move on to getting the runners for the seats in, more important milestones ahead.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Started the evening solving the gear selection issue. Also had to adjust clutch which was not quite disengaging. Rigged a mirror up to see which way wheels were turning!

Both seem OK now. Engine appears to be leak free.

The bonnet strut supplied by Drummond had part of the old inner tube rusted into it, so took some removing. Also the inner tube had half a very rusty spring and a bolt inside. So that was what was stopping the bonnet going down! Braised up the top bush on the inner strut. But the middle bush on the outer strut had to be removed to get the rusty bit out.

We did struggle getting the two springs in. Jack pushed whilst I held the compressed spring in the inner tube with a screwdriver through the locking hole. Did the same on the spring in the outer tube, so now all our hands were busy and my stomach was likely to be impailed on a bonnet strut. Tried a Terry clip on the top of the outer tube to hold the inner tube in; but it is decidedly dodgy. So it was put in a place that if it exploded, it would not do any damage.