Recreating Beatrice

[George Smathers]

Since Fin is off at college I thought I should start another American restoration thread. My goal is to recreate Beatrice which was a four door my parents bought new in England and brought over to the States in 1958.
The plan for Beatrice is to keep her stock except for the Escort disks that are already on her and a 1275. I previously hot-rodded a TR6 http://www.britishv8.org/Triumph/GeorgeSmathers.htm but this one will be the car of my childhood.

I found this 1967 last month with hardly any rust. Today I took off the axle and started cleaning up the underside. I'll flush the dampers, put in poly bushings, and use new springs.

I know many in the UK are upset about the end of the MOT but one advantage of no MOT in the States is that many old cars are completely unmolested. (Of course the downside is some are dangerous basket cases). I won't know about the body work until I get her sandblasted, but the underside is pristine. No one has even put on undercoating. I just removed a little surface rust and she looks new - not a weld to be seen. You can see the "after" left side that I wire brushed using a grinder and the "before" right side.

George[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[Fingolfin]

Looks like a marvellous project, George, and I'm very glad to see another American digging in to a restoration! Was Beatrice originally driven on the streets of Britain, then, considering the funky license plate bracket? But I see she is left-hand drive...

[George Smathers]

Thanks Fin. Yes, my dad was studying in Manchester and they bought one for export. They took delivery and drove all over the UK but I think the deal was they had to ship her out within a certain amount of time to save on taxes.

I found a letter my mother wrote to her parents and her description was "Very powerful and reliable".

I got a new license plate made:[frame][/frame]

[irmscher]

George where in manchester was it bought from ?? J Cockshoot Ducie street

[George Smathers]

I'm not sure but isn't that a London issued license plate?


George

[George Smathers]

More progress. I applied a POR-15 type product (Rust Bullet) on the rear underside. I'll pull the gas tank when I get the boot sand blasted. I also flushed the rear dampers (40 wt oil) and put on new springs, bushings, bump stops, damper links, etc. Reading online I was worried about presenting the axle and spring assembly up to the shackles but it went together very smoothly. I assembled everything on the ground, attached the front shacked, put a jack under the differential and everything went in without trouble. One caution is I bought the kit from BM and one of the nuts of the shackle bolts stripped. Luckily the threads on the bolt were fine so I just used a nut I had. I think the nut was inferior because I hadn't put it on that tightly. Also the old shackle nuts were Whitworth but the new ones are metric (14mm).

Actually I bought two spring kits from BM because I misread the website. I wondered why shipping was so much!

I also swapped out the old 4.2 differential. I got a 3.9 differential on ebay which I brought to a driveline shop along with new bearings, shims, and crush piece. Thinking about a future 1275 I wanted a 3.7 but I was unable to find one. I also replaced the rear rubber brake pipe (just forward of the differential) with a steel braided one. I purchased a wheel bearing kit but the old bearings felt OK so I got lazy and decided to leave that job for a future date.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

George

[alexandermclaren]

hi George
looking real good so far
you seem to have a real car solid body to work on
and with it being your moms it makes the restoration a much more personal and rewarding project
well done
only one pointer George
although the axle stands are the way to go
its always a safer option to add further a safegaurd by placing say your wheels or several one piece large blocks of wood
under the car that just in case
recently one member was killed using just axle stands
we want to follow ur project to the finish haha
take care
and keep posting those pictures

[LouiseM]

with it being your moms it makes the restoration a much more personal and rewarding project

It's not the same car - the original Beatrice (UGK 449) was a 4 door - this is Beatrice number 2

[alexandermclaren]

with it being your moms it makes the restoration a much more personal and rewarding project

It's not the same car - the original Beatrice (UGK 449) was a 4 door - this is Beatrice number 2

yea he is recreating it in the style of his mothers car to make it the car of his childhood
sorry if i gave you the wrong impression that you read it as his mothers car

[George Smathers]

Well, you both may be right. English ex-pat moves to the States, eventually winds up in California, has some plastic surgery to remove a few doors, tarted-up with a little red paint, and lies about her age - it's not like it hasn't happened before…

Thanks Alex for the advice about safety. I do sometimes keep stacked tires under the body especially when doing things like using the wire wheel. But you are right, I should be more careful.

Here's a picture of my latest. I know interior trim should come after mechanicals and paint but I couldn't resist getting some BM leather seat covers. This is a 1960-62 seat pattern but I had to go with it since my 1967 seat frames do not fold like 1958 frames. I had to weld the driver's seat where it had cracked but otherwise the frames were in good shape. A local shop did a really good job putting them on. [frame][/frame]

[George Smathers]

I got my propshaft in yesterday. US$62 for two new u-joints and a spin balance (thanks David53:
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40927).

After putting the halfshafts in for the the 10th time I have now realized that there has to be a cosmic rule stating that a finger must be pinched every other time you slip home a halfshaft.

George

[George Smathers]

I need some help please. I renewed a few things on the front suspension but now I have some problems.
I replaced the steering gaiters, upper trunnions and bushings, eyebolt bushings, tie rod bushings and the tie bar bushings. All bushings are poly. I would have replaced the lower trunnion but the previous owner put on Ford disks and the trunnions would not unwind without hitting the disks. I just removed and regreased the lower trunnion pin. I could have taken the brakes apart but they work so well I didn't want to mess with them.

I test drove it and it drives nicely but there is a slight intermittent nocking sound from the left front (driver's side in the States). It almost sounds like the torsion bar is loose. In the picture you can see how the big rear bolt of the torsion bar has shifted (I undercoated the rear just before working on the front). I measured the height of the car. The driver's side is now about 5/8" lower than the passenger side. I'm pretty sure the lean is new because it was the first thing I noticed when driving.

While apart I added a 1/8" washer behind the eyebolt on the driver's side to get some negative camber. I was also going to do the passenger side but there was already a washer on that side. That worried me since I also noticed that some metal behind the bumper attachment was bent. I think the car had an accident at some point and someone put the washer behind the eyebolt to compensate.

After the test drive I measured the camber. Both front wheels are slightly positive (top of wheel leaning away from car) at about 1-2 degrees. You would think I would have measured everything before doing all this work but alas I never learn.

Question 1: when I slid the rear wishbone back on the torsion bar did I slide it too far? Is this why the height changed?

Question 2: To adjust the height do I have to fiddle with the short rear arm of the torsion bar? I'm kind of scared of the torsion bar.

Question 3: Can I take out the eyebolt (for more camber washers) while leaving the lower and upper trunnions attached? I.e., can I just slide the rear wishbone back?

Thanks a bunch,

George[frame][/frame]

[jaekl]

The washer you show on the end of th torsion bar should have a shoulder that sits in the hole of the cross member. Does it have a shoulder?

[MarkyB]

You might get away with just putting a jack under the torsion bar until it lines up then tightening up the nut.
There needs to be a grommet where the brake pipe goes through the chassis leg or chafing may wear a hole in it, highly NOT a good thing.

[George Smathers]

You guys called it; thanks MarkyB and Jaekl!

I can't tell if there is a shoulder but I loosened the big nut and got a jack under the torsion bar. The whole car lifted at first but the nut slowly slid in place. The ride height is now only 5/16" lower on the driver's side which I assume has always been there.

I also realized that the exhaust pipe was very close to the torsion bar so I bent the pipe slightly. I just used my hand since that pipe will get replaced when I put in the 1275. This stopped the knocking noise.

So now I'm down to one question: Can I take out the eyebolt (for more camber washers) while leaving the lower and upper trunnions attached? I.e., can I just slide the rear wishbone back?

George[frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

No! You have to release the tension that will still be in the torsion bar first.
Have a good measure up so you only have to do it once.

[George Smathers]

I got two more washers behind the driver's eyebolt (still enough thread showing) and I went from +3deg camber to 0deg. I wanted -1deg but this will have to do. The passenger side is at +1 so I may do that side too.

I was able to take things apart by taking off the tie-rod connection, the tie-bar, the front wishbone, the bottom trunnion pin, and sliding the rear wishbone back. The top trunnion I left alone.

I also adjusted the ride height on the driver's side. I only had one hole left at the rear of the torsion bar but it bought me 3/8" of a gain in height. It also raised the passenger side by 3/16" which I didn't expect. The driver's side is now just 1/16" lower than the passenger side. It is probably worse when I am in the car but it doesn't seem like enough of a problem to fiddle with the front splines. If I decide to do the passenger camber then I will lower the passenger side. Do you guys think it is worth doing the passenger side camber and height?

The first picture is before and the second is after.I guess I flipped the bolt around.

George
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[George Smathers]

I went ahead and did the passenger side. Now all heights are the same and I have 0deg of camber on both front wheels. Once you've done this a few times it really is pretty simple. I timed it and it took 65 minutes. That included answering a few questions from my five year old daughter. I need to take it to a shop to set the toe.

Now there is a pause until the snow comes. Once I can't drive her I'll pull the body panels and the engine/trans. Then she's off to the sandblaster and my paint man. I'm leaving her as a rolling chassis so it won't be a total sandblasting. I'm hoping all will be back by Spring. Then I'll put in a 1275, new wiring, and interior.

George

[George Smathers]

Well I finally started taking Beatrice apart. I think she is one of the most rust-free examples out there.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

One problem I am having is getting the right (passenger in the States) door latch off. The left door latch came off easily but the right side has that little lever for locking the door from inside. Is there some trick to getting the latch out? Everything else is out of that door.


[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Thanks,

George

[Splitscreen48]

One problem I am having is getting the right (passenger in the States) door latch off. The left door latch came off easily but the right side has that little lever for locking the door from inside. Is there some trick to getting the latch out? Everything else is out of that door.

The small internal locking handle is removed first. It's held in place by a small spring loaded button/plunger. You'll need a fine gauge drill bit or something to push that in so you can remove the lever & thence the lock itself