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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 1:06 pm
by DAVIDMCCULLOUGH
Great progress! :D

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 7:46 pm
by Ian46
Phil - you were right in that there is no gearbox cable restraint bracket on the gearbox crossmember so I've removed it from the back of the gearbox.

However there is a 'normal' engine steady bar arrangement fitted but the bulkhead attachment holes are not level and the vertical 'notch' at the end of the battery tray looks a bit amateurish. As the holes are already made I'm going to refit the refurbished steady bar.

Looking around the engine bay all the panels look remarkably sound if a little tatty. I haven't cleaned anything yet but the patches of surface rust are going to stand out more when I have. Not sure how I am going to tackle the paint yet to achieve a uniform finish?

Also the paint texture in the engine bay is quite rough (see photos). I am assuming the car came from the factory like that?

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 8:00 pm
by Ian46
All the parts that have been blasted/primed so far have now received their first coats of black paint which makes things look a lot smarter before reassembly.

I have tried not to achieve a glossy shine (not hard to do in this weather) so the parts hopefully won't look 'restored'.

I have a box of very rusty nuts and bolts to deal with next. Can anyone recommend a suitable product I can leave them in for a few days to see if I can reuse them again?

Cheers!

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:56 pm
by stevey
Great progress. The engine bay would have just had a blow over from factory, covered in over spray.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 11:01 pm
by jagnut66
The engine bay would have just had a blow over from factory, covered in over spray.
So, based on the above statement then, all you need to do is neutralise the rust and then give it a few 'blow over' coats to seal and protect the metal, which will freshen and tidy the engine bay at the same time.
That must be a bit of relief actually, given how much harder it is to achieve a perfect finish with black.
Best wishes,
Mike.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:26 pm
by Ian46
The front bumper was still attached to the car came off easily. It broke down fairly easily too with just three bolts snapping in the process. The chrome blade is scratched to varying degrees along its length but it did respond with some chrome polish so I will use it again.

The front valance is in excellent condition with the only issue being metal fatigue where the number plate attaches. I know this is quite a common fault so when it comes back from blasting it will be repaired with new 'metal ends'.

The rear bumper which was off the car already has suffered a rear end shunt at some point with the passenger side end of it being broken off completely (valance and chrome blade). The chrome blade cannot be used again and the valance is bent all over the place so I will be looking for good second hand items.

I am reusing both the bumper irons after blasting and painting.
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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:49 pm
by Ian46
The front grille was only held on with a couple of bolts so off it came to give me full access to the engine bay. The photo of the back of the grille and the radiator support panel show just how sound these panels are despite not appearing to have much paint on them. They will both be blasted and painted before going back on the car.

The second photo shows what was revealed visually once the valance came off the car. Black cars of this era usually have a contrasting 'painted' area to highlight the grille. The remnants of this can be seen in the light grey stripe under the raised grille section. I believe the grey is 'Birch Grey'?

The last picture shows a shallow dent in the bottom curve of the grille panel which I will look at when the panel is 'clean' after blasting.

The chrome section above the grille/below the bonnet again came off easily. It is very pitted but could used again. My dilemma is - the 'hockey sticks' are both broken and will have to be replaced with new, so should I replace chrome section between them with new to match?

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:17 pm
by Ian46
I had a detailed look at the underside of the bonnet today and followed that with a test clean of a small area. It cleaned up well so I need to get it out of the garage and lay it down to work on the underside properly.

The general state of the engine bay is amazingly sound however it is the battery tray and areas immediately below it that are the worst visually. To me it looks as though acid has dripped from where the battery sat, down the body crossmember and splattered widely on the paintwork below. I think I am going to have to paint these areas as a 'whole' such as the whole of the crossmember, battery aperture and the lower sections of the rear panels in the engine/gearbox area.

I've started to clean the inner wing panels and they are responding which is great as I really don't want to disturb the paint here as it is the rough finish from the factory which I don't think I can match.

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:55 pm
by stevey
Fantastic condition, yes front grill would have been birch grey.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:21 pm
by Ian46
Inspecting the water pump after cleaning and removing the pulley, I can see it is painted green which means it is a replacement for my 'blue' engine but how can I tell if it is sound? It turns easily enough but I think there is a gland inside which is crucial to it being water tight?

Any pointers greatly appreciated.

I have removed the pulley for blasting. It also has traces of blue paint.

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:37 pm
by philthehill
Unfortunately there is no way of checking the gland/seal other than filling the cooling system and putting the water pump into use.
If it does not leak it is ok. If it does leak you will have to refurbish or replace.
See BMC wksp man section DD6 for a sectional drawing of the Ser 2 water pump.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:41 pm
by Ian46
A couple of days ago I posted that I thought the rear bumper valance and chrome blade were too damaged to be saved. I have broken them apart today so I could get at the bumper support iron which is to go off for blasting. All the chrome headed bolts had to be drilled through from the outside to release them.

The chrome blade is 'toast' as I thought but on seeing the valance I think it might be salvageable and used again. The first photo shows why I thought I might have to find a replacement.

The second photo is taken after a good hour of metal bashing and it is a lot straighter so it too is now off for blasting. :D

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:43 pm
by Ian46
Thanks Phil,

That has been my previous experience with these pumps and I didn't find out until I started the car. Doh!

Just wondering if things had changed.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 8:22 pm
by Ian46
A relatively quiet day today methodically sorting through storage boxes of Minor parts that I have accumulated over many years hoping I might use one day.

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2020 10:28 pm
by DAVIDMCCULLOUGH
Quite a stash of windscreen clips there, you could corner the market!

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 12:29 am
by jagnut66
Quite a stash of windscreen clips there, you could corner the market!
Indeed! Now we know why people been struggling to find them! :lol:
Best wishes,
Mike.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2020 6:51 am
by Ian46
Ha Ha! You make it sound like I’m some kind of hoarder.

One pair is for this car I’m working on now and if you look at my ‘signature’ I need pairs for my 52 and 49 projects when I get around to them.

That leaves one bottom clip spare.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:15 pm
by Ian46
The restoration was going pretty well until I decided to try and clean up the existing nuts and bolts that came with the car for the sake of originality.

They were all badly rusted so I have invested in a large bottle of Jenolite rust remover and set up a derusting process using dishes of derusting liquid which appears to be having some results.

After wire brushing any flaky material off the bolts and degreasing them they go into the first dish of Jenolite for twelve hours, taken out and dried off before giving them the wire brush treatment again and going into dish no 2 for six hours after which they are wire brushed yet again before being washed in clean water to neutralise the acid.

So all in all a bit of a time side-track at the moment but I hope this speeds up the assembly later. :o

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Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:39 pm
by jagnut66
Don't forget a generous helping of copper grease when you put them back, it makes life so much easier in the future. :D
Best wishes,
Mike.

Re: 1953 (March) Series II Restoration

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 1:32 pm
by Ian46
After a long search on the internet, the heat resistant enamel engine paint I ordered has arrived and I have now put the first coat on.

I guess there are a number of different ‘blues’ as well as ‘greens’ that have been used on engines over the years, but this perfectly matches the areas of original paint colour left on my engine so well chuffed.

Onward and upward.

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