:: Diary - January 2025 ::

:: Thursday, 2 January 2025 ::

And so we complete another lap round the sun, and start a new one... let's hope it's a good one!

I've ordered paint to the right paint code, and also the right primer (after the primer/topcoat mismatch on the Chevy's scuttle a couple of years ago I'm not doing that again!). I don't expect those to be delivered unti after the holidays.

It snowed like the bleeding Antartic here yesterday, and then the temeprature plummeted overnight so everything outside is frozen solid. Not mcsh elso to do, and nowhere to go, so might as well play in the garage...

With the driver's door now off, I can finish cleaning off all the muck inside the front of the door opening, which shows that only a small area around the hinge is damaged, along with the edge of the sill where the door has been rubbing along it. I'm not going to paint the whole sill, I'm going to use this to test how well the paint matches (because if it doesn't, nobody's really going to notice except me...). With it all cleaned up I rub down the sill and the bottom of the door, just to remove the scratched look. I'm not going to fill them, they're all but invisible unless you look really closely, so as long as they are the same colour, it'll be fine.

I also measure the depth of the threaded bobbins in the bodyshell at the top and bottom hinges. the threaded bit is only around 20mm - if the bolts are longer than that, you're only giving yourself more work winding them in until they tighten against the bobbin.. So I cut the threaded parts of the two bolts down to around 20mm and file off the ends so that they thread in nicely.


Next task is to mask off the areas that I don't want painted, and this is where I think of a way to dispose of all the unused Christams paper from last year (or maybe even before that) which has started to go yellow...

Radio on, roll of masking tape at the ready, and a roll of Christmas wrapping paper later, we have this wonder!


It's all very exciting, I can't wait to unwrap it later!


I've also been fixing the wee bracket for the bonnet stay - it had loosened off, so I had removed the gas strut and put back the original bonnet stay to reduce stress on the screw holes. Well I filled in the screw holes with epoxy a couple of days ago, and drilled new screw holes. I refitted the bracket (all newly repainted) and the gas strut. I'm going to modify the gas strut mount though, so that it's "quick-release" with an R-pin when I want to get the bonnet vertical. Just need an R-pin!

That's as much as I can do until the paint is delivered, then the new hinge bushes. I also need to buy an R-pin when the shops re-open (we have longer New Year holidays here in Scotland!).


:: Friday, 3 January 2025 ::

It's currently minus 4 in my garage, so no painting today. I don't even have the paint yet, so that's definitely decided!

First thing I can do is make a new bottom mount for the bonnet gas strut. I take a stainless steel bolt and cut the head off, then fit it to the bracket with two nuts. Then I can put the gas strut on with a couple of washers, and work out where to drill the bolt shank for the R-pin to go through.

And here it is, all fitted, temporarily using a split pin because I don't have any R-pins and I'm not going out to get one.


Next, the hinges... the postman delivers the new bushes, so let's get those swapped over.

I use a smaller bolt and washer as a wee drift, to knock the old bushes out with a hammer.


Here's the old (white) bushes alongside the new (black) ones.


To get the new bushes in, I line them up in the hinge (making sure I'm inserting them from the longer side), give them a wee spray with WD40, and press them in with the vice, using a screw and a big washer to avoid damamge to the bush face.


Then I try the hinge bolts in the bushes - jees they're tight! Not "won't be able to open the door" tight, but certainly tighter than the old hinges were - there should definitely be no door sag after this!

Right, where's that paint and a 10 degree rise in temperature?


:: Sunday, 5 January 2025 ::

It's the first TVR Car Club meeting of 2025! There's another weather warning for more snow for most of the day, so we only finalise plans in the morning - Dave, Eric and I go through in my Range Rover. My street looks like a set for a David Attenborough documentary about polar bears, although after I get about 2 miles from my house, there's no sign of any snow at all.

It's the usual core group of members, no TVRs (unsurprisingly, considering the weather) but plenty of chat - mostly the usual stuff, but we do start plans for attending the first TVR event near Nottingham in April.

We also have an interesting discussion about motor racing (real cars not toy ones) including the heydeys of Ingliston, and the days when the Group B rally cars used to visit Scotland during the RAC Rally, and William Woollard and all that, 40 years ago, when the RAC Rally was a bit of a test of endurance, rather than a leisurely tour with a few special sprinty bits thrown in for the occasional thrill.

I order fish and chips. It comes breaded, not battered, and that's ok. There's tartare sauce with it, and that's ok too. There's also a salad, which is fashionable but a bit out of place with fish and chips don't you think? This salad, though, has strawberries in it. And pomegranate seeds. Main course and dessert on one plate?

After that, we have a bit of a "two soups" episode when the waiter / server / barman manages to pour a plateful of Eric's gravy over our table, while he's clearing the table next to us. All good fun!

We travel all the way back without any sign of snow at all, until I drop off Dave. 2 miles later, there's a sprinkling of snow. Half a mile further up the road, you can definitely see it has been snowing on the fields beside the road. 2 minutes later, it's full-on Ernest Shackleton, the dual carriageway is down to one barely-passable lane, and then when I reach my street, it's a white-out.

How is there a wee snow cloud over here, and everywhere else is fine? Snow fair!


:: Monday, 6 January 2025 ::

I ordered paint from a "we match any colour" online supplier last Monday. I got an email saying it had been posted. I got a message from the courier saying it was awaiting collection.

On Friday, I got a message saying that they were sending me a refund. Confusing or what? So this morning I messaged them and it turns out that "We match any colour" means "we match any colour except the ones we don't".

That's ok though, because I had a bit of a thought on Saturday. Do I want to paint the door and then sill, and then fit the door and adjust it (and probably damage the door in the process)? Would it not be smarter to fit the door and adjust it, and then take the adjusted door off at the two main hinge pins, and paint it, knowing it will go back in exactly the same place? That seems to make sense, no?

Bonus benefit: the car will at least be driveable so I can take it to get spectographed or spectometered or whatever they do, to get matching paint mixed up. I did that with the Chevrolet and it was pretty good. Well, it matched the bit I took (the glove box cover) but not the windscreen scuttle which was decidedly more faded!

So the first step is to remove all that lovely Christmas masking, then bolt the top hinge into the door, making sure it's the right way up, and right way round (the hinge bolt is offset from the centre of the hinge - this is where all these photos during disassembly come in handy!). Don't tighten the bolts up too tight though, so that it can move a wee bit to get the big bolt started in the threads.

Same for the bottom hinge, after re-installing the window runner at the same time.

Then I can lift the door into position, and all I have to do is get the big bolts started. Except I can't - they are too tight in the bushes, and I can't hold the door and push the bolt up or down into the threaded bobbins at the same time, and also turn them with enough force to overcome bush friction.

I take the hinges off again, and check the bolts in the old bushes - the top one was really loose, but the bottom one is tighter. Then I try a 10mm drill through the old ones - it's snug in the old bottom bush, but loose in the top one. The 10mm drill won't even go through the new bushes... they're very slightly too small, by around 1/2 a mm maybe.

I use the 10mm drill to take off the slightest shaving from inside the bush - now the hinge bolt goes through more easily, but is still a snug enough fit, so I mount both hinges back in the door.

Unfortunately, I have a work meeting in the afternoon, so that's as far as I get today - but we'll have another go at getting this door mounted and adjusted, and we'll bring more news as soon as we have it!


:: Tuesday, 7 January 2025 ::

Back to this door... First I loosen the 13mm bolts holding the hinge into the door.

Then I push the door into position, and hold it up with a jack and block of wood, until I get the big hinge bolts in. That takes ages to get them started, because you're doing it blind... but because the hinges are loose in the door, there's a bit of joggle-room.


Eventually, though, the two big hinge bolts are in and tightened up, so the door can hang loosely on its hinges without support.


Then I can support the back of the door again, and tighten up the wee bolts holding the hinges to the actual door. This is as fiddly as hell, again...

Here's the bottom hinge, which also holds the bottom of the window frame...


and here's the top one showing the two wee bolts that hold the hinge to the door, and the big bolt into the body that acts as a swivel.


After a couple of tries and readjustments, I get the door adjustment to here - the first shot was slightly too far forward, the second shot slightly too low at the back. Here, the bottom rear edge of the door sticks out a wee bit (as it always has) and the top front of the door is maybe very slightly too far in, but now, for the first time since I got the car, the door shuts and opens firmly, with no sag and no rubbing at the rear edge (that it had before). Overall, I think that's a success!


I've now spent 2 hours on my knees beside the car today, and about the same yesterday. I have to stop for the day because I have a chiropractic appointment to fix all the damage to me, fixing the damage to the car...

So now I have to connect the wiring inside the door, replace the door trim and speaker, and it should be all good!


:: Wednesday, 8 January 2025 ::

Today's job is supposed to be to replace the door trim, but I can't resist loosening the hinges t try to get the door to fit a wee bit better - and after another two attempts, it does!

Then I reconnect the wiring - 2 wires to the window, and 4 to the mirror, and check that those work and that the wires aren't in the way of window operation etc.

Then I can replace the door trim and the speaker...

All sorted!


Except that I then discover the radio isn't playing out of this speaker... they other one is ok.

I didn't check if the radio was working after I replaced the centre console during the gearbox removal. I can't even remember the last time that I listened to the radio anyway! I don't know if the problem has just happened, or if it was there before... Further investigation required.


:: Friday, 10 January 2025 ::

It has been freezing here, the temperature last night was minus 8, and the snow that fell on New Years Day is still lying.

Here's a nice photo of a TVR getting a sniff of fresh air while it's dry (and while I tidy the garage a bit)!


On to diagnosis of the radio problem. I switch it on, and now it's playing out of both speakers, all seems ok - but then the right channel disappears. So is it the radio output, the wiring or the right door speaker? I pull the radio out of the dash and switch it on again - still no right channel no matter how much jiggling of wires I do.

Now, when I installed this radio 20 years ago, I added in an ISO standard connector (that came in the box) connected to the standard "Ford" wiring loom connector. I did that in case I decided to put the standard radio back. Well I think after 20-odd years, that's unllikely to happen, eh?

So this is the wiring between the radio and the car, that's all tucked up behind the radio in the centre console! So many connections, so much scope for one of them to go wrong!


The first step is to rationalise that a bit, so that it's easier to follow and diagnose what's wrong, and easier to tuck it all in when the radio is repaced.


Plug it all in, switch it back on, and it's still only playing from the left channel. Swap the speaker wires, and now it plays the right channel, to the left speaker. Conclusion: the radio is ok, it's the car wiring or the speaker.

Next step is to remove the speaker and test it with a battery connected to its terminals. It crackls and moves, so is probably ok.

Next step - run a couple of wires temporarily from the right channel output, direct to the right speaker. Everything seems to work fine... so it's the car wiring after all!

Some people say that those crimp-on connectors are crap, and admittedly, they can be if you use the little thin pliers that come in the kits. However, I also read that if they're properly crimped, you gat a better connection (through a bigger surface area of the copper wire) than you do with even a soldered connection. I've got a double-action crimper that grips like a bulldog on a postman's leg, and that's a lot better!

Next step - check the continuity of the wiring, by unplugging the connector and testing between the speaker terminal at the radio connector, and the terminals at the speaker itself. They seem to be ok... So i squeeze up all of those bullet connectors slightly, and suddenly, everything is working again!

Then it isn't... then it is again. I discover that jiggling the wires makes and breaks a connection somewhere. After various checks, I find a wee break in the insulation where the speaker wire crosses from the door pillar into the door. I pull the wire back into the car to give working space, and chop out around 6 inches of wire and reconnect again.

NOW it's working as it should!

All I have to do now is replace the speaker in the door and re-install the radio!


:: Sunday, 12 January 2025 ::

When I was a youth at high school (yes I did go to school, despite the current air of wanton stupidity), my English teacher, Mrs Walker, used to tell us "Never start a sentence with a conjunction such as and, so, but, or when". Well I just did, and it makes perfect grammatical sense, so that's all I have to say about school.

More useful advice might have been to never start a sentence with "all I have to do is..." or end one with "how hard can it be?"

Today, all I have to do is replace the speaker in the door and re-install the radio. How hard can that be?

Well, as it turns out, it can be a feckin' nightmare...

I connect up the radio, and it won't even turn on. Nada. Zilch. Dead as a dodo's grandad. Bollocks!

First possible culprit - the fuse in the back of the radio. Nope, that's ok.

Out with the voltmeter. The radio has two feeds - one a permanent supply to keep the memory alive, the second feeds through the ignition so that the radio only works with the key on. The ignition feed is ok, the "keep memory alive" feed is dead... but why?

Next step - check fuses. They're not labelled, but there's a helpful diagram in the manual that shows what they all do. None say "radio". Did I say "helpful"? So (Mrs Walker might be right on that one) I start to pull fuses, one at a time. The second one is supposed to be "engine fan" but it has clearly blown, so I replace it. Still no radio though...

Onward through more fuses, testing each fuse visually and with the voltmeter to ensure continuity. I find a 7.5 amp fuse labelled for "sidelights" which looks ok, but has no internal continuity, so that gets replaced. Then another 15A fuse for "hazards and interior lights" which has blown...

With all fuses checked and replaced as necessary, the radio now works!

Now, I should have said that I removed the centre console the other day to get to the speaker wiring. Now that I'm preparing to put it all back, I notice that the cigarette ligter is loose, and the feed wire has come off the back... and has been shorting against the case... I tighten the casing up and replace the feed - no more shorting!

By now I'm using many short words that Mrs Walker never taught me, and in fact, went out of her way to strongly discourage.

I reinstall the centre console and then the radio - it still works, and so does the fag lighter - sorry, accessory socket. Push the radio back into place, and re-install the door card and speaker. Everything still works!

Finally, before I put the fuse box away, I check the engine fan with my manual switch - that works too!

The door is now re-aligned, the radio is working again, so is the engine fan (I don't know if that was ever "not working"", but the fuse was blown) and everything else that I try switching on. All is well.

THat's been 2 months of work to remove the gearbox to replace the clutch, then remove and realign the door. At last that's it finished. By coincidence, the temperature here has risen above zero for the first time for weeks, and the snow that fell on New Year's Day has now mostly melted, so the garage isn't freezing cold today. Pity I have nothing left to do out there...

All I have to do now (portent of unknown doom) is find some matching paint to cover the scratches in the door frame and on the edge of the door! I'll leave that until it's a wee bit warmer.

I've also just remembered that Mrs Walker also ran the school's debating society, so she takes the credit for me writing half-decent English while being an argumentative tit.


:: Tuesday, 14 January 2025 ::

OCD alert!

With the door all fitted, radion all working and all, I decide today that the fit could be better. The top front of the door is recessed by around 1/4 inch (or 6mm for younger readers) below the line of the front wig, but is in line at the bottom. At the same time, the bottom rear edge of the door sticks out even more. It always has, but is this not the time to try and sort it? I haven't been able to push the top outwards, an d the bottom inwards, by adjustment.

I think I know what I need to do...

Remember this photo of the top hinge, from inside the door? See how the big centre pivot bolt is offset from the centre of the hnge bracket? Well, I think if I turn that round, so that the pivot bolt is towards the inside of the car rather than the outside, that will increase the available adjustment to push the top of the door outwards, and therefore pull the rear bottom corner inwards a bit.


To turn that bracket, you have to take the whole hinge out though, it's too big to turn while the pivot bolt is in.... so I support the door on a jack and block of wood (remember it's just "support" and not "lift the car by its door hinges!") and take off the speaker and door card, and then remove the big bolt and the two wee bolts.

Turn the hinge bracket, put the two wee bolts in very loosely until I can get the big bolt started, and then tighten it all up.

I then have to go through two or three (or more!) adjustments of the top hinge, then the bottom, then top again, moving it by smaller amounts each time, until the door clears the front wing and shuts in the right place. The top of the door is now properly flush, and the bottom rear is pulled in a bit - still not quite flush, but better than it has ever been!



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