1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
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jagnut66
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by jagnut66 »

Looking at the amount of effort you've put in so far I reckon it'll work a treat once you've reassembled it.
Best wishes,
Mike.
1954 Series 2: 4 door: "Sally" -- Back on the ground with (slave) wheels and waiting to be resprayed......
1970 Triumph Herald 1200: "Hetty" -- Driven back from Llangollen in Wales (twice.....)
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

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Well after this morning's activities I can highly recommend the SU H1 Rebuild Kit as supplied by ESM. It had all the parts needed and the rebuild has gone very smoothly in the end.

I thought the best place to store the rebuilt item was on the engine!

Next task - Install the new universal joints to the propshaft.


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Pete Bags
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Pete Bags »

Hi Ian,

Watching your restoration of this car has been a joy to follow. Out of interest, when you fit the engine and radiator, will you be tempted to use a waterless coolant (such as Evans Classic 180)?

Part of me wishes I had after my engine was rebuilt four years ago - already my brass heater tap is corroding, and I was surprised how much the thermostat housing had started to corrode when I needed to replace a stuck thermostat fairly recently.

Looking forward to your next instalment!

All the best,

Pete
ManyMinors
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by ManyMinors »

Your engine looks a work of art, but if you'll allow me to comment on one detail: I notice that you have chosen to fit one of those "easyfit" bypass hoses. Experience has taught me never again to fit one of those because they tend to perish and fail, and I just use a length of heater hose instead. Also, you seem not to have any securing clips on it :wink:
It is going to be a great car once finished :)
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

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Afternoon Pete, Thanks for your kind comments regarding my diarised restoration and the possible future content of the cooling system.

When I do get around to starting the engine, it will probably just have plain water in it as I am not sure the 'replacement' water pump that came with the car is sound and I don't want to waste any expensive additives.

If the pump is good, I will drain the water out and refill with a modern antifreeze/water mix which should be all this engine and it's alloy parts require to stay 'healthy'.

Cheers Ian
Busy collecting parts for my '52 MM Convertible and 1949 Saloon restorations. :o
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

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Hi 'ManyMinors',

Hopefully, I have answered your query regarding the bypass hose in the post above which is why I haven't installed the hose clips.

I'm not sure what an 'easyfit' bypass hose is other than the lightweight hoses that you can install whilst the head and water pump are in position and I would agree with you that they are useless.

The hose I have fitted is a very old (but brand new) original canvas (period) type which I have had in my posession for years. It is extremely rigid apart from the bellows and I wouldn't be able to get it into position with the head on.

If the water pump leaks on the initial start up then the pump will have to come off (rather than dismantling the top end of the motor).

Ian
Busy collecting parts for my '52 MM Convertible and 1949 Saloon restorations. :o
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Put the prop-shaft back together today.

I thought this would be fairly straight forward but found early on that the circlips were too 'thick' to install back into their respective 1953 yoke 'grooves'. Dimensions appear to have changed slightly since 1953?

One circlip would go in but trying to pressurise the second to go in resulted in the UJ's swivel movement locking up which isn't desirable.

For just such occasions (where I need a perfectly flat surface) I keep an old split-screen front windscreen glass pane in the garage. The glass, with a sheet of 'wet or dry' on it, has made it possible to 'sand' down each side, of each circlip, (that's 8no in all), so that in effect I have thinned the circlips to fit the yoke grooves.

Time consuming, but satisfying hearing the 'click' when they fit.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?

My original propshaft didn't have any balance weights on it and I was always going to get it checked for balance. To that end I have just sprayed the ends of it and will finish the black paint after the balance weights have been welded on.

Ian

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Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

I may have gone a little too far today?

I decided to build up the recently purchased reconditioned steering rack and complete it by adding the new track rod ends, ready for installing in the near future. (The existing rack had water inside! See my earlier posts about about water in engine/gearbox etc).

Overspray paint had been flaking off the rack bellows every time I touched it, and now when I tried to fit the track rod end locking nuts it was obvious that threads on both track rod ends were clogged up with whatever the 'gloopy' paint was that had been applied in the reconditioning process. The nuts wouldn't turn!

I made the decision to strip all the paint off the rack and removed the bellows to rid them of all the flaky paint.

When removed, it became clear that the paint on the metal parts had been hiding a lot of surface rust under it so I am glad I bit the bullet and got rid of it all.

The original steering rack gaiters had been fitted with the original 'circlips' which I had previously saved. They now reside on the reconditioned rack and will soon to be back on the car, so another item of originality saved.

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Richie B
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Richie B »

Hi Ian,
Many thanks for all the sharing of your progress. I am also at the stage of either replacement of steering rack or refurbishing it.
Looking at the results of your hard work Im encouraged to keep as much of the original as I can. Only hope I can get mine finished to the same standard. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Thanks for your kind words Richie and glad you are enjoying the ride.

Ian
Busy collecting parts for my '52 MM Convertible and 1949 Saloon restorations. :o
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Just a couple of photos of progress - this time concerning the refurbishment of the 'gold' painted parts on and around the early Series II dashboard.

Boy! this has been time consuming but all these parts are on view when driving the car so I think it has been well worth the effort.

I've used ESM's recommended 'gold' paint for this job and hopefully you will see that it is quite a good match against the Series II heater which I didn't want to (and haven't had to) paint. I didn't buy the 'recommended' ESM clear lacquer at the same time as I thought the gold paint would have it's own 'shine' but in reality it does need a clear laquer to bring the gold paint 'alive'.

I had the glove box and instrument panels shot blasted as they were very rusty and carefully removed the silver alloy borders to the instrument apertures so they wouldn't disappear in the blasting process. They were subsequently re-attached when the final lacquer coat had dried.

I used paint stripper on the split-screen internal 'bar', steering column, steering column support bracket, centre dash panel, steering wheel boss, parcel tray support bar and the cover on the back of the badge on the glove box lid. These were prepped and sprayed in the normal way so there is a uniform colour across the interior.

I discovered a couple of additional holes drilled into the parcel tray support bar so it is away having these 'filled' before being painted in the same matching gold colour.

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Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

The next few jobs will be those associated with the dashboard. This morning it was the turn of the choke cable which wasn't working as I expected.

Early Series II's have brown push/pull knobs with 'cream coloured' lettering and not wanting to buy a later 'black' replacement I decided to investigate what was going on inside mine. The mangled end of the inner cable that attaches to the carburettor was a good clue.

The first photo shows all the components laid out and by the time I remembered to take some photos I had already swapped out the old inner cable for a new one which was the problem. The inner cable is soldered into the end of the pull mechanism/knob and was removed by heat, with the new one being attached in the same manner. Job done!

One issue to look out for when disassembling is not to lose the minute 'crescent' shaped piece of metal which is located in the slot in the main body hidden under the black sleeve. This small piece provides the 'ratchet' mechanism to the choke pull.

Another item ready to go back on the car.

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pgp001
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by pgp001 »

Hi Ian

I hope you dont mind me asking, but if you still have your propshaft out would it be possible to measure the outside diameter of the spigot where it goes into the gearbox please.

I am just fitting a new bush to my spare gearbox and could do with an accurate diameter to machine it out to.
I understand they are nominally (1 3/16") 1.1875". from another member but a double check wouldn't hurt.

Thanks
Phil
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Hi Phil, measuring with straight edge rule the nominal diameter is 1 3/16” on the 803cc gearbox.

Hope that helps?
Busy collecting parts for my '52 MM Convertible and 1949 Saloon restorations. :o
pgp001
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by pgp001 »

Thanks Ian

I will assume it is actually 1.1875" and make the bush a couple of thou bigger for clearance.
(Unless anyone has any better suggestions before I do it :-? )
Cheers
Phil
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Carrying on with the dash, I have tackled the three instruments this afternoon. None of them were in the car when purchased and all had interesting and varied issues.

The speedo first - It was unusually dirty with a film of old oil on the front and rear of the glass. Taking the glass off and unscrewing the mechanism from the housing it was clear that there had been oil all over the inside of the unit for some time. It was 'washed' off with a degreasent and wiped clean. The glass took longer to clean as the 'oil stain' was rock solid and hard to shift.

Next, the oil pressure gauge was cleaner with the issue here being flaking paint on the needle. All the flaky paint was scraped off and I just happened to have a red touch up stick in the garage. Who would have thought that Audi Misano Red would be a good match? Again the glass was thoroughly cleaned before reassembly.

When I tried to clean it the fuel gauge's clear plastic dust shield, it disintegrated. So what to do? Looking around the garage for a 'fix' I found some clear plastic sheeting as used in the presentation box for my timing gun which I thought I could make use of. I cut around the original plastic shape and bent the right angles using hot water to soften the plastic. Result!

The fifth photo shows the instrument panel 'restored' and ready for assembly.

Last photo shows the dash ready for install. Pretty pleased with the results!

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Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Just the air silencer de-rusted and painted today. There are several dents remaining in the top casing but I suppose that is all part of the car’s history.

Next on the list is the horn.
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DAVIDMCCULLOUGH
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by DAVIDMCCULLOUGH »

I re painted needle on my tourer an when I went to start it after its rebuild I had no oil pressure, this was a couple of issues the first one being that the paint had stuck the needle to the stop!! A knackered oil pump was another cause but at least when the glass was taken off the gauge the needle was easy to sort! :roll:


Too many Minors so little time.....
Redmoggy
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Redmoggy »

Little of topic but I am currently having to brake up my early 49 saloon. Are you looking for anything specific?

Rod
Ian46
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Post by Ian46 »

Hi Rod,

Thanks for your post regarding '49 parts. I've sent you a PM.

Regards Ian
Busy collecting parts for my '52 MM Convertible and 1949 Saloon restorations. :o
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