The gearshift was pretty sloppy when I got her, a bit like fishing for a lemon pip in your well iced G&T, lots of play with occasional crunchiness. That was sorted with new bushes in the lever base and in the tunnel, with a new rear coupling topping off what is now a creamy bowl of pre-war egg custard. Then came an investigation into the smell. Yes, that blend of musty socks and oily rag, perhaps with a soupçon of sweaty pit. A quick check under the carpet confirmed it was the original fibre and tar that had now become a repository for everything and everyone that had ever travelled in the car. A weekend of scraping and wiping had that removed and even the floor pans repainted, leaving an altogether more pleasant atmosphere.
That then left a multitude of little jobs, none of which were difficult, but all of which reduced the price I'd paid for her. These included removing paint from the courtesy light switches in the door jambs which then allowed them to function properly. Also the fresh air vent had a selection of brown paper wedged into it, blocking any airflow. Both of these were left over from when the previous owner had had the car painted, in 2005!!! A few other cleaning/polishing jobs and a little light tinkering have brought us to the present, which is where I need some advice.
I knew when I bought her that she'd need some TLC, especially her suspension, which had just been left to degrade into a groaning, clunking shadow of its former self. I'm now in a position to remedy it and I'm of the thought that if you're going to do something then you should do it once and do it right!
A picture paints a thousand words so these should put me well on my way to my first novel....
Too much paint....
That's better....
Let there be light!
Hmmm....
How much was paid for this?.....
The handle throttle didn't work, which I thought was a classic case of the plastic arm being broken, but it turns out I have a metal one and it had just come off the the throttle rod.....which was nice....
This needs a clean...
And that's much better....
All work and no play...
Another easy part to replace...
Another dirty job...
Definitely worth doing, though according to an invoice this was done ten years ago......somehow I don't think so.....
New engine bay sound proofing required!
Getting there....
I'm afraid that I have to disappoint anyone hoping to have one up on their concours buddies as this was immediately binned!....
Another little tidying job...
The adjustment of this linkage was much easier than I was made to believe, perhaps I got lucky?.....
Looking better...
And back in the car...
Rebushed and Reinstalled...
A little present to myself...
Painted and free from smells......
An interesting label inside the driver's seat base, it reads MARKA and below, Mark and George Groningen....google didn't return anything....anyone know anymore about it?
All of which brings us up to today, with a more in depth investigation of the suspension...
Front Left control arm.....if that's the end of the torsion bar?...should there be a cover in there?......
Front left strut and 13mm ARB.....from invoices it's had KONI inserts but are those KONI struts too?......
Those look like they'll be fun!....
It's seen better days....
As have these...
Caliper re-build will be happening at the same time....Classic Brake is just down the road....
Front Right control arm...
And TRE.....
Right Rear Koni...
And the Left Rear one...
Always end on a high note...so this is a label I retrieved off the bottom of the oil tank, must have been there from the mid '70s from when it had the engine changed....
If you've got here, well done and thank you, I now need some advice. I'm up for doing a full rebuild of the suspension myself and have a few ideas of what I want to do. My plan is for a tight steering yet smooth riding twisty road carver. So far I know I need new Konis all round (or is it more cost effective to get the old ones serviced??), for the front I was hoping for the most direct steering and was looking for something like elephant racing spherical bearings but they only seem to be for later cars, does anyone know of something similar for earlier ones? Also are monoball strut tops available for non-camber plate cars? New TREs and ball joints too, is it worth keeping the old style or can I get something more modern? For the TREs do people advise the 930 items with an extension or has anyone experience with the Rover 400 parts which are just slightly cheaper! With the front ARB I was tempted by the Rebel Racing drop links but are there similar bushings for the bar itself? Otherwise will I just be transmitting the forces and overly compressing those bushings and so losing directness? For the rear I was thinking sealed monoball trailing arm bushes with Rebel Racing bushings and spring plates, my thinking they are maintenance free unlike the ER ones. Also new tires will be installed, I'm currently running on 185/75R15 mounted on 5.5J 15 inch steelies. I've heard good things about the Dunlop Sport BluResponse and they're a much better price than the Michelin or Vredestein! The torsion bars are yet to be seen, but if they're toast then something forgiving would be wise I feel. In the rear I don't think its had a change from it's 912 days so perhaps an upgrade is sensible, this could be combined with quick change spring plates, though after the initial adjustment are they worth the money? Apart from new parts the rest of the suspension will be removed, cleaned/blasted and painted with new bearings also. Are there any fasteners, apart from those that I can't save, that I should definitely order new?
Just a few ideas from my admitted slightly loosened mind, it is Saturday night after all!!!
Any thoughts, ideas or criticism is welcomed....
Oli