Has your classic car been in storage over the winter months? If so, it’s time to wake it up for another summer of motoring pleasure.

Every autumn, aware of the onset of another bitterly cold UK winter, my grandfather would carefully lay up his Sunbeam Alpine, placing it into storage until the following spring and restricting his driving to his second car – a MkI Cortina. He hated driving the Sunbeam on wet, icy roads and, unless you wore many layers of clothing, a top-down winter drive wasn’t always a pleasant experience.

Anyway, have you ever tried buttoning up a vinyl convertible top on a freezing day? It’s virtually impossible as the vinyl becomes stiff as a board.

For most North Islanders – unless they live around the Central Plateau – truly freezing winters shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but there are other places in New Zealand where the winter temperatures can be trying on a classic car.

So, if your classic car has been hibernating during the winter months – or has simply been in dry storage for an extended period – what are the steps required to get it up and running?

Fluid Response

One of the simplest checks to see how your car has coped with a lengthy stay in the garage is to have a peep underneath. Leakage from the cooling system could mean a split or rotted hose, a leaking gasket or water pump seal or a compromised radiator. If you’re unlucky, you might even discover oil leaks from the engine, transmission or differential. Check also for power steering fluid leaks if appropriate, and brake fluid leaks.

If your car has been in storage for a long time, it’s probably a good idea to drain and replace all its fluids, but if it has only been in storage during the winter months, you don’t need to be quite so thorough.

As the minimum, it would normally be a good idea to do a complete engine oil change, including the fitment of a new oil filter. Next up, drain and flush the coolant system. Even if the engine in your classic car doesn’t feature aluminium construction, it’s always a good idea to make sure the replacement coolant includes a good dose of anti-freeze in order to combat any possible internal corrosion.

Another good idea would be to drain the fuel tank of any stale petrol, clean out carburettor bowls and flush out the fuel lines just in case any debris has accumulated in them during the period of storage.

Check all other fluid levels and top up as required.

Hopefully, like my grandfather, you would have put the car on blocks to avoid any tyre flat-spots or, at the very least, periodically checked tyre pressures. Either way, it’s now time to check those tyre pressures.

Battery Checking

When my grandfather prepared his Alpine for hibernation he always removed the car’s battery and placed it in separate, dry storage. This method is still recommended for lengthy periods of storage although, nowadays, a modern auto-battery charger could also be used if the car is only being stored for the winter. Modern auto chargers allow the car’s battery to remain in place while it continually tops up charge levels during storage.

If you removed the battery prior to storage, give the battery posts and terminals a good clean with a solution of baking soda and water, check to make sure it’s properly charged and reinstall in the car.

If the car has been stored for a lengthy period with the battery installed, it will probably be wise to buy a new battery. If this is necessary, new battery cables should also be considered as they can deteriorate over time and lose their conductive properties.

If your classic car has been sitting idle for three to four months, the next step will be to remove the spark plugs so you can get some upper cylinder lubricant into the engine bores. This will get things moving freely and will help clear any sticky piston rings.

When you remove all the spark plugs don’t forget to label the leads so you can later reinstall them in the correct firing order. Once the plugs have been removed, check them thoroughly and replace if they look oily or fouled.

Once the spark plugs have been removed, turn the engine over a few times with the ignition key to allow the oil to lubricate the cylinder bores – this will also prime both oil and fuel pumps. Keep cranking until the oil pressure gauge reads normal. If your car doesn’t have an oil pressure gauge, crank until the oil pressure light goes out.

You can then replace the spark plugs and leads.

Starting Up

If you drained old petrol from the tank, it’s now time to add some fresh fuel. As there’ll be no petrol in the fuel system, you might need to spray engine starter fluid into the carbies in order to start the car – this will usually mean that you’ll need to remove the air filter.

Hopefully, the car will now spring into life. Once it’s started, avoid the urge to rev the engine and just allow it to tick over at idle until everything gets up to normal temperatures.

You can now return the air filter to its housing and check out the underside of the car to make sure that there are no leaking fluids. If everything looks okay, turn off the engine, check all engine hoses for signs of rot and make sure that engine drivebelts are not cracked or too loose.

Check the car’s lighting system is all functional – you may need an assistant to help you ensure that indicators and brake lights are all functioning correctly. Replace any blown bulbs and re-check.
Before you take your first drive in the car, it would also pay to re-check all fluid levels, and check out the suspension system for signs of leaking shock absorbers or damaged bushes. Some older cars will have grease nipples for lubricating main suspension points – so now would be a good time for a thorough lube job.

Finally, a thorough check of the brakes is essential. Check brake linings or pads, drums and rotors. Be aware that mineral oil-based brake fluid will attract water during storage and this can lead to corrosion and subsequent leakage from callipers and wheel cylinders. The best method of checking brakes is to jack up the car so that each wheel can be rotated by hand. Use an assistant to apply the brake pedal – each wheel should brake and release properly.

The First Drive

Once you’re satisfied that all checks have been completed, it’s time for a first drive. Keep this first trip short, perhaps just a 15-minute tootle around the block. Keep your ears open for any rattles or engine misses and monitor the gauges carefully to make sure everything is working correctly.

With all your checks finished, you can now drive the car with confidence – and, while the above may seem like a lot of hard work, you know it makes sense. My grandfather went through these very same procedures every spring during the time he owned his Sunbeam and, as proof of his diligence, it gave him many years of enjoyable, trouble-free motoring.

Words: James Black

If the correct identification of the various types of bolts fitted to classic cars drives you screwy – read on…

Following on from last month’s musings about tools and setting up a home workshop, a friend asked me to identify the difference between a BSF and a BSW bolt. Apparently, after reading my tooled-up meanderings, he believed I was some sort of mechanical expert. Not so! When I was a young lad my father was continually exasperated by my clumsy grasp of how to correctly use a hand-tool. I suppose he had good reason to be frustrated with my slow uptake of technical knowledge, as our family included a plumber, several skilled carpenters, a fully qualified electrician, a capstan lathe operator and a tool and die maker. Alas, even when it came down to the practicalities of the three ‘Rs’ at school, I failed miserably at ’rithmetic.

Even today the old man is still inclined to give me a clip across the ear if he catches me using a hand-saw improperly or screwing up a screw without the correct screwdriver.

However, going back to my friend’s question, I dredged up some of that old knowledge my father had, mostly unsuccessfully, tried to hammer into my brain back in the mid ’60s. Alas, all I could recall were my father’s jokey definitions – i.e: BSF = Bloody Stupid Fred (so named because these bolts were easy to cross-thread) and UNC = Unduly Coarse. I’m sure he had similarly inaccurate names for other types of bolts, but my memory has failed me on his nicknames for BSW or BA. Naturally metric bolts never came into the equation, being the virtually exclusive preserve of foreign cars, at least until the years following my ‘apprenticeship’ with my father.

So, in the interests of research – and just in case any of our readers are in the same boat as me – let’s have a look at the various types of bolts you’re likely to find holding together the important little (or big) bits in your classic car.

(For the purposes of this short article, I’ll ignore metric bolts; which didn’t really feature on British cars until the mid ’70s.)

BSW & BSF Bolts

Nuts and bolts on older, classic cars usually feature one of two standard threads. Ignoring my father’s terms, these two types of thread are British Standard Whitworth (BSW) and British Standard Fine (BSF). These are for bolts of quarter-inch diameter upwards.

When you know what to look for, it’s pretty easy to distinguish between these two types – BSW bolts have fewer but deeper threads than a BSF bolt and are normally used to bolt up cast-iron or soft metal parts. The finer thread of a BSF bolt offers better strength and improved locking due to its shallow pitched threads.

Time here for a little aside concerning the size of a bolt’s hexagon head, or nut. The size of these is related to the diameter of the bolt itself, with bolt sizes increasing in 1/16-inch increments. Although the same type of spanners can be used on both BSW and BSF bolts, BSF bolts have a different bolt-head size in relationship to the same diameter of thread. Normally, spanners are marked with both sizes. For instance, 7/16-inch BSF and 3/8-inch BSW.

When it comes down to the bolts holding together electrical equipment, the most commonly used type of bolt will be British Association (BA) units. These are smaller than BSF or BSW bolts and have a rather limited range of diameters, hence their popularity for electrical fitments such as distributor terminal nuts.

UNC & UNF Bolts

If your classic is of the more modern type, you’ll probably discover American, or Unified, threads on bolts up to ¼-inch diameter and beyond. Like BSW and BSF bolts, these also vary in size in 1/16-inch steps.

The two types are Unified Coarse (UNC) and Unified Fine (UNF) – both easy to recognise from each other due to their thread pitch. These hexagonal-headed bolts should not be confused with the very similar BSW and BSF bolts – you’ll need American Fine (AF) spanners to work on these types of bolts.

Spannerman

Of course, now that you’re an expert on identifying different bolt types, you’ll then need to think about the types of spanners required to use on them. If you don’t already have a good selection of spanners, you can keep your initial outlay relatively small by simply purchasing essential sizes. For most classic cars, this would mean a range of AF spanners from 7/16 to ½-inch. If you’re really pushed for cash, pick 9/16 and 5/8-inch spanners, these two sizes will make a good beginning.

When it comes to spanner types, the choice is between open-jaw and ring spanners. Open-jaw spanners can be used for most nuts and bolts although, due to their tendency to slip, they’re not always the best choice. Ring spanners are normally stronger and lighter and allow you to turn a nut in more restricted spaces. And, because their open holes are 12-sided, they’re much less likely to slip. However, ring spanners are not much good for pipe unions or in situations when you can’t get over the head of the bolt or nut – but for all other times, a ring spanner would be preferable to an open-jaw spanner.

Although the jaws of an open-jaw spanner are usually set at 15 degrees to the shank, some have one jaw in line with the shank while the other is angled – these types having been designed for tappet adjustment. Additionally, both types of spanner are available with cranked shanks – handy for awkwardly placed bolts, and you’re bound to find a few on older British cars.

For those who have to own everything, combination spanners – open-jaw on one end and ring on the other – can also be very useful.

Box and Socket Spanners

You don’t often see box spanners with their accompanying Tommy bar these days, but it’s a pound to a penny that the spark plug spanner in your classic car’s tool-kit is of the box type. If you’re lucky, it might even have an inset rubber collar designed to protect the ceramic parts of a spark plug. If it doesn’t, it might pay to pick up a proper spark plug box spanner.

Socket spanners are much more common as an essential tool for any home mechanic along with an appropriate ratchet handle and fixed or jointed extensions. Although generally purchased as a set, sockets can be bought singly – the same comments about sizes apply to our previous comments concerning AF spanners.

Socket spanners are limited by the actual depth of the socket, although special, deep sockets can be purchased if required.

That’s about it for spanners – although you’ll probably also need at least one BA spanner if you plan to work on your car’s distributor. The most useful size is a 4BA.

If all the above hasn’t sent you nutty then perhaps, unlike me, you were born to be a good home mechanic!

Words: James Black

This article is from NZ Classic Car issue 237. Click here to check it out.

Ashley talks to the experts to find out more about preparing a classic car for Targa, rallying and circuit racing.

Preparing a Targa car is a bit like determining the length of a piece of string. The variables are infinite, depending on budget, choice of car and so on. In this article we’ve focused on a classic car as the basis for a Targa car, providing some information that’ll help you make the right choices when building a car to compete in Targa events.

I’m no expert when it comes to building competition cars, so I contacted Paul Madeley, owner of Motorsport Fabrications, who is not only building a Porsche 944 Turbo for this year’s Dunlop Targa, but has years of experience and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to motor sport.

Selection

First item on the agenda is choosing the correct donor car. It may be an old favourite, such as an Escort, Fiat 124, BMW or Porsche, but take your time to ensure you buy the best you can afford. In other words, your chosen car needs to be structurally sound and straight, you don’t want to spend a large portion of your budget straightening chassis members, repairing rust or any other major issues just bringing the car up to scratch before you even begin. A good suggestion would be to stick with the type of drive-line you prefer, front or rear wheel drive, especially if this is your first attempt, as the car will be easier to drive without the expense associated with four-wheel drive vehicles.

Once you’ve purchased a suitable donor car it’s not a bad idea to sit down a break the project down into stages to determine exactly what you want to achieve. The two common denominators in building a car for Targa are safety and reliability. Remember, the Dunlop Targa NZ is a gruelling event comprising up to nine stages on each of the six days over some of the country’s most demanding and remote roads. So, safety and reliability are paramount when constructing a car for this event.

Caged

The roll-cage will be one of the most important items in the car. It not only provides you and your co-driver with a secure barrier in the event of any accident or roll-over, but it should also assist in stiffening the car, resulting in better handling. The roll-cage should be strong in itself, without relying on any of the car’s body for that strength.

When constructing the cage from either chrome-moly or roll-cage quality tube, it has to include a main hoop, lateral bars and back stays, but should also include such features as side and wheel intrusion bars for total safety. When designing the cage several factors such as suspension and engine location, seating position, fuel tank, and even spare wheel location should be taken into account as basically all these things are mounted from it in one place or another. Also entry into and exit from the car should be made as easy as possible, with the layout of any door bars and comfort with the seating position identified prior to the cage being designed, as well as visibility with the position of screen bars etc within the parameters of the rules. Only a certified person should weld the cage.

Travel

Suspension options are endless, but plan to spend as much as you can afford on suspension components because they are what keep your wheels on the ground. The car doesn’t want to sit too high – or too low for that matter, as ground clearance is an important consideration when setting up a car for any tarmac rallying event.
The same philosophy should also be applied when selecting a brake package for the project. Choose the very best you can afford.

In most cases the most expensive exercise will undoubtedly be the engine and gearbox. Again, it’s entirely an individual choice depending on budget and how much power you ultimately want. Make sure that all necessary ‘serviceable’ components are easily accessible. The service stops allocated during Targa don’t provide an abundance of time, and there is virtually no time between stages, so consider making your service crew’s life easy. Remember, reliability over performance is the key to competing in Targa.

Another thing to remember, if you decide to fabricate a new exhaust system, and chances are you probably will, make sure it’s tucked up close to the underside of the car, is easily removable, and not too noisy. The last thing you want is a constant deafening drone for days on end.

In terms of gearbox selection, again reliability is the key ingredient, but also you’ll make thousands of changes during the event so a top quality synchromesh ’box is a very useful item. Gearboxes take a real hammering during a Targa event, so ensure that whatever you use is in good operational condition.

If possible put your car on a diet, as a light and modestly-powered car is far less taxing to drive than a heavy, high-powered car.

Targa is not about fronting up with the most power; good torque and drivability is equally important. In other words, all your effort shouldn’t be concentrated on trying to control the car, it’s more important to be looking at what’s ahead of you, and listening to your co-driver’s instructions.

Comfort

There are several items inside the cabin to carefully consider when building a car for such an event as Targa. Firstly, make sure you select a seat that not only complies with all safety regulations, but is mounted to provided maximum comfort and safety for both you and your co-driver. The safety harnesses also need to be the best you can afford, and Paul reckons you should try and get the widest strap possible, as it will provide extra comfort during those long days in the cabin.

Choose instruments that are clear and easily read at a glance. Keep the cluster simple and uncomplicated and make sure dials are located in a position where you can see them easily. The same applies to the co-driver’s instrumentation.

Another good point to remember, Dunlop is the major sponsor and its tyres must be used, so when selecting wheels make sure there is a suitable Dunlop tyre available.

There are a few other things – such as good heating and ventilation – to consider also. While they may not sound important they can make life just that little bit easier whilst concentration, nerves and adrenaline are all working furiously together. One minute you can be starting a stage in a mild to heavy snowstorm, only to finish in brilliant sunshine, so you don’t want to be in a position where a fogged up windscreen is causing unnecessary problems. Also consider investing in a good set of windscreen wiper blades and make sure your head and taillights are working efficiently. Again, it’s all about preparation, and it’s often the little things that can let you down and cost valuable seconds when you least expect it.

Enjoy

Building a suitable car for the Dunlop Targa is very much up to the individual in regards to their taste in car, budget, and what they want to achieve from the event. In many cases teams enter for the camaraderie as much as the competition and are happy just to enjoy the event as opposed to those more serious competitors, who are focused on winning their particular class.

Words: Ashley Webb Photos: Adam Croy

This month we take a further, more in-depth look at carburettor maintenance.

Variable Jet Carburettors

The two most popular types of variable jet carburettors, SU and Stromberg, both work on very similar principles, although there are a few differences when it comes to tuning and maintenance.

When carrying out any work on carburettors, the ignition contact breaker should be correctly set and the spark plugs cleaned. The engine should then be warmed up to normal operating temperature.

If your car is fitted with SUs, the first thing to do is to check the piston to ensure it is returning correctly to its seating. If the piston is not returning properly, loosen the dashpot screws and reseat the dashpot. Then tighten up the screws evenly. If the piston is still not operating correctly, it will be necessary to remove the carburettor and clean it. If this still does not eventuate in a properly functioning unit, the main jet will need to be adjusted and realigned. Although this is fairly simple to accomplish, this type of adjustment should only be considered by those with good mechanical skills.

If you don’t feel your skills are up to the task, now is the time to seek specialist assistance.

However, if the piston returns satisfactorily after removal and cleaning, you can move onto the next phase.

With the engine idling, raise the piston around 0.79mm via the piston-lifting pin then release it. If the mixture setting is right, engine revs will rise slightly and then settle back to idle. If the mixture is too rich, after the revs have risen they will not return to a tick-over idle. To adjust, screw the adjuster nut up slightly upwards – this will weaken the mixture. Once the adjustment has been made, repeat the piston-lifting test. If you have gone too far you will know if the mixture is now too weak, because engine revs will drop after completing the test. Readjust the adjuster nut until everything works correctly.

Finally, top up the piston damper chamber with oil – SAE20 engine oil should be used for this. Some tuners recommend automatic transmission fluid, but if you plan to use this rather than oil, check with a carburettor specialist for their advice.

Stromberg Carburettors

The method of tuning a Stromberg instrument is very similar to the techniques for tuning SUs – however, the Stromberg is fitted with a diaphragm in the suction chamber. These rubber diaphragms should be checked regularly for damage and replaced when necessary. If the main jet needs to be realigned, as with the SU, this is best done by a specialist if your mechanical skills are not up to the task. The actual tests are the same as those on the SU, and you should get the same response when the piston is lifted.

Fixed Jet Carburettors

Unlike a variable jet carburettor, adjustments to fixed jet types will only affect slow-running and idle. This is due to the fact that fixed jet units have their jet sizes determined by the manufacturer, and are not affected at higher speeds by any mixture adjustments made at idle. By comparison, variable jet carburettors have only one jet, and any adjustments will be felt throughout the operating range.

Before making any checks, ensure the engine is up to normal operating temperature, then adjust the throttle stop screw so that the engine’s idle speed runs slightly faster.

Next, adjust the volume control, or mixture, screw in and out. Engine revs should start to ‘hunt’ and the engine will tend to stall. As soon as this point is reached, turn the volume screw in the opposite direction until the same effect is produced. The halfway point between those two settings will be a reasonable setting. Note how many turns the screw requires from one stalling point to the other – at the midway point the engine should run smoothly.

The engine can then be brought back to normal idle speed by slightly adjusting the throttle-stop screw. If necessary, fine tuning can now be achieved by a slight, further readjustment of the volume-control screw.

Fixed Jet Hints and Tips

Never be tempted to use undue force when adjusting the volume-control screw, it should never be tightened home hard. The screw has a tapered end which fits into a small hole, and undue tightening can easily cause damage.

If a smooth running engine cannot be achieved, remove the entire volume-control screw and its associated spring. If the tapered end shows signs of wear or damage it will need to be replaced. Once a new screw has been obtained, lightly turn it into position as far as it will go, then slacken it by one and a half turns. Start the engine and carry out the adjustment procedure detailed above.

Compound twin-choke carburettors only have one adjusting screw, so they are tuned in the same manner as a single choke unit. However, twin-choke instruments will have a mixture control screw for each choke. These units require much more careful setting – definitely a job for a carburettor specialist.

Words: James Black

This article is from Classic Car issue 235. Click here to check it out.

A vital part of any car – unless, of course, it’s fuel-injected – the carburettor mixes fuel with air in the correct ratio, before allowing the mixture to enter the cylinders to power the pistons during the burn and expand period of an internal combustion engine. As such, it is important to keep carburettors in good order so they can maintain the balance between fuel economy and performance.

Fixed and Variable Jet Carburettors

There are two basic types of carburettor (if we ignore some of the more basic drip-type vintage carburettors); fixed jet – such as those units produced by Weber and Dell’orto, and variable jet – as in the instruments manufactured by SU and Stromberg.

However, each type has certain things in common – a reservoir, or float chamber; a float and needle valve to control the amount of fuel in the carburettor; jets to accurately regulate fuel flow; a mixing chamber, or venturi; a choke to enrich the system during start-up from cold; and a butterfly-type throttle control valve.

Common Carburettor Problems

One of the most common reasons for carburettor woes is dirty petrol – most often caused when filling the fuel tank from a can.

As well, especially with older classic cars, dirt and sludge can build up in the fuel tank – so it’s always best not to run the fuel level right down the limit, as you run the risk of sucking up that sludge.

Mind you it is unlikely that dirt will actually affect the carburettor itself – the air and fuel filters should stop dirt being ingested by the engine – therefore, most carburettor maintenance chores involve keeping everything nice and clean.

Keep it Clean

If the air filter or, if fitted, the fuel filter elements appear dirty or clogged, they should be replaced. When replacing the air filter, be aware that once its casing has been opened you provide a clear path for foreign objects to fall into the carburettor – if not removed, these can enter the engine and cause serious damage. So be careful.

Most carburettor jets can be removed and cleaned, but do not be tempted into poking wires through them to clear any blockages as this may widen or distort the fine jet hole. If you suspect a blockage, use compressed air to clean out the jet.

The carburettor float and needle valve can also be removed for inspection. It should move freely and should not be sticky.

When checking the float it’s always a good idea to give it a gentle shake – if you hear something sloshing around inside the float then it’s obviously developed a leak and is full of petrol. In this case the float should be replaced.

Some Points to Remember:

• The choke control on most classic cars will be mechanical and controlled from the car’s interior – although more modern cars will invariably have an automatic choke control system. The setting of these latter choke systems is best left to a qualified mechanic.
• When working on any carburettor be aware that the instrument’s body will usually have been manufactured from a light alloy, which is easily breakable if handled roughly. Screw threads can easily be crossed due to softness of the alloy, so take care when re-installing screws into the carburettor body.
• Removing the air filter casing to expose the filter element. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended replacement schedule – but if you habitually drive over dusty, loose metal roads cleaning and replacement intervals will need to be shorter than those specified by the manufacturer.
• As well as the more common paper element air filters, wire-mesh or gauze-type filters are also quite common, such as  pancake filters.
• Wire mesh filters can be cleaned in petrol to remove dirt – but  it’s advisable to wear protective gloves when cleaning filters in this manner. After cleaning, dip the filter in clean oil and drain thoroughly before refitting.
• Removing the top of the float chamber – check valve operation by lifting the float. The valve should open and close smoothly.
• The float chamber can be cleaned with a cotton rag soaked in petrol. If you encounter more obstinate particles, scrape them off with a piece of wood – do not use a metal scraper such as a screwdriver.
• The main jet on the twin-choke carburettor is usually at the bottom of the float chamber and, with care, is easily removed.
• Jets should only be cleaned by blowing air through them, do not use a piece of wire to remove dirt.
• After replacing the float chamber, it’s always a good idea to clean and lubricate pivot points and linkages.
• When fitting a new gasket between the carburettor and manifold, ensure that both mating surfaces are clean.

Words: James Black

This article is from NZ Classic Car issue 234. Click here to check it out.

If your classic car refuses to start, the problem may be as simple as a blocked fuel line.

One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, one of my neighbours dropped by to elicit my help as was experiencing problems starting up his 105E Ford Anglia. Knowing this particular neighbour wasn’t very mechanically minded, I grabbed my emergency tool-kit from the boot of my car and wandered up the road to his house.

Sure enough, the little Anglia refused to start, although it was evident that the starter motor appeared to be doing its job properly, and the car’s fuel gauge was on half-full. I popped off the distributor cap for a check; everything seemed A-okay – indeed, my neighbour assured me that the Anglebox had only been thoroughly serviced the previous month.

I began to suspect a blockage in the fuel line – my neighbour is into hobby farming and, as such, keeps several large cans of diesel and petrol in his barn to supply his farm machinery. Typically, these fuel cans are old and quite probably full of contaminants. Yes, he had topped up the Anglia’s fuel tank from one of those cans the previous week.

With the evidence building up in favour of a fuel-line blockage, it was time to go through a series of routine tests to determine if petrol was getting through to the Anglia’s carburettor.

Fault Finding

The first thing to check is the fuel pump – is it actually pumping? It’s pretty easy to check on an old SU pump; if it’s ticking away merrily it’s doing its job. If it isn’t, a light tap on the pump body will usually get it going again. It also pays to check the pump’s earth lead, if the earth connection shows signs of rust, it needs to be cleaned so a good earth can be achieved.

In this instance the Anglia was fitted with a good old mechanical pump which appeared not to be working, even after the usual checks. However, before condemning it for a replacement pump, I decided to make a few more checks.

First, I disconnected the fuel inlet pipe from the carburettor and pushed the end of the pipe into an empty jam-jar. With the ignition turned on, the engine was cranked over from the starter. It was now time to see if any petrol was being pumped through – some older fuel pumps have a manual primer which is very handy for such checks. If no petrol is coming through, either the fuel pump is shot or there’s a blockage somewhere. If petrol is being pumped through, then it’s time to check the carburettor.

In this instance, no petrol was coming through the pipe.

Just to make sure that the pump was indeed working, I disconnected the inlet pipe from the pump. Then you simply wet your finger – it helps to make a good seal – and place it over the inlet hole. If everything is working you’ll be able to feel suction.

When carrying out this check with the Anglia, I could feel some suction, but only weakly. It looked to me as if some debris from one of those old fuel cans might be causing a blockage in the pump.

The next step was to blow through the fuel pump. If you’re attempting this yourself, remember to only blow towards the carburettor – otherwise you may blow debris down the fuel lines.

A small length of pipe was attached to the petrol supply pipe from the fuel tank and then the blowing began. After the second hard blow the fuel pump suddenly sprang into life – the blockage which had obviously been stopping the pump’s valves from correctly seating having been blown out.

The fuel lines were reconnected – and the Anglebox sprang into life after a few cranks. Job done!

If the pump had been found to be defective, it’s a relatively simple task to fit a replacement. However, if you’re carrying out the above checks and your fuel pump is merrily squirting through petrol, then it’s time to check out your carburettor.

By James Black

This article is from NZ Classic Car issue 233. Click here to check it out.

Most modern cars – and many classics – employ disc brakes; a big improvement over earlier drum-type brakes. However, did you know that automotive disc brake systems were being developed as far back as the 1890s? The first manufacturer to use a disc clamped by pads and callipers was Frederick Lanchester, who patented the system in 1902 and fitted them to his Lanchester cars. Copper was used as the braking medium, but this wore quickly, especially considering the rough state of British roads in those early days. As a result, the widespread use of disc brakes would have to wait for around another 50 years.

The Crosley Hotshot of 1949 is usually credited as the first car to be fitted with modern-style disc brakes, but they were dropped in 1950 due to inherent design problems.

The modern disc brake was developed in the UK by Dunlop and, of course, made its famous debut on the C-Type Jaguar in 1953. Interestingly, the first production car to be fitted with four-wheel disc brakes was the Austin-Healey 100S in 1954.

Since those days, disc brakes have been adapted globally by all auto manufacturers.

Checking Brake Pad Wear

How do you know when your disc pads need changing? There are two ways of checking, the first option being visual.

You can check for pad wear by viewing the pads from outside the front tyre – on the majority of cars it is possible to look through the openings on the outside of the wheel/rim assembly to see the pads; although sometimes it may be necessary to remove the road wheel to get a clear view.

Look at the calliper from the top, and the pads should be seen pressed against the rotor. Check the pad depth, if it is less than 6mm (1/4 inch) they’ll need replacing shortly, if less than 3mm, then they require immediate replacement or you’ll run the risk of damaging the brake rotors. These depths may vary slightly for some cars – check your service manual – but generally hold true for most.

The second method of checking is by ear. Most disc brake systems incorporate shims which will squeal when the brakes are applied – an indication that the pads need changing. If you hear a metallic grinding noise when you apply your brakes, then you are already damaging your rotors and a pad change is essential.

Changing Brake Pads

ONE: Jack up the car on a level surface. If replacing the front pads, apply the handbrake. If replacing the rear, chock the front wheels and release the handbrake. Remove the road wheel and tyre.

Note: Always use axle stands and never attempt to work on an elevated vehicle held in place only by a hydraulic jack.

TWO: Clean the calliper (brake cleaning fluid can be used to get rid of stubborn grime). Depress the pad retaining springs, if fitted, and use a pair of pliers to pull out the clip on the retaining pins. You’ll probably need to wriggle it around in order to free the clip.

THREE: Pull out the retaining pins – if they can’t be removed with a pair of pliers, use a small screwdriver to gently tap them out Some calliper systems use split retaining spins rather than solid pins – undamaged solid pins can be re-used, but it is best to replace split pins even if they appear to be in good condition.

FOUR: The old pads can now be removed from the calliper. Make sure that the brake pedal is not depressed when the pads have been removed. At this stage, it also pays to check the disc rotor for any signs of damage – if the rotor is scored, it may be possible for the damage to be removed by a specialist machinist. If it’s too badly damaged, a replacement rotor will be required.

FIVE: Clean any brake dust or grime from the pistons, which will now be visible. Check for fluid leaks, if any are evident new seals will be required – this is normally a job for a brake specialist.

SIX: The pistons will now need to be pushed back to allow fitting of the fatter new pads. Before doing this, loosen the calliper bleeder nipple and keep one finger over it to prevent air being sucked into the brake system.

SEVEN: With your finger over the bleeder nipple, push back the pistons. A special tool can be used for this or, if one isn’t available, use a smooth piece of wood. Do not use a screwdriver, it could damage the piston face. If you haven’t opened the bleed nipple, when you push in one piston, the other will move inwards.

NINE: Close the bleeder, check to make sure you have the correct replacement pads and then insert them into the calliper. If fitted, make sure the anti-squeal shims are also inserted – ensure they are fitted correctly. Some shims have arrow markings, which should be pointed upwards when refitted. Push the shims in so that they line up with the retaining pin holes.

TEN: Replace the retaining pins and refit the clips. Check that the bleeder nipple is fully closed, and pump the brake pedal to locate the new pads properly. Check the brake fluid level in the master cylinder and top up if required. It’s now time to move to the other brake on the same axle – remember, always replace brake pads in axle pairs; replacing one side only will result in unbalanced braking.

Once finished, if everything has been done correctly it should not be necessary to bleed the brake system – but if you get a spongy brake pedal after replacing all the pads, refer to our guide on brake bleeding. A road test will then ensure that all is working correctly.

Words: James Black

This article is from NZ Classic Car issue 231. Click here to check it out.

While most of us would love to own a twin cam-powered classic, we can’t all afford to buy, run and maintain cars with this type of high-tech engine. Instead, a lot of our readers are probably more than happy with a less highly specified pushrod motor. And there is, of course, an upside — pushrod-equipped engines are simpler and easier to maintain and tune than their twin-cam (or quad-cam) relatives. Indeed, they are perfect for those who love to tinker with their cars.

Adjusting Tappets

While pushrods form a very simple part of a car’s valve-train, correct adjustment is critical. The pushrod itself is a tube with a fixed cup at its top end. This fits onto one tip of the rocker arm while an adjustable cup on the bottom end fits onto the tappet. Adjustment, achieved through screwing the lower cup in or out, simply increases or decreases the useable length of the pushrod.
Of course, when we say that we are adjusting the tappets, this is not actually true — we are actually adjusting the pushrod length or, indeed, adjusting valve clearances.

It might sound complicated, but the actual method of adjusting valve clearances is relatively straightforward, and only requires a minimum of tools — a screwdriver, appropriately sized spanners and a feeler gauge.

Making a Start

The first job is to pull out your owner’s handbook (or workshop manual) and discover the correct valve clearances. Most manufacturers will list both hot and cold valve clearances, but in practice, the hot settings are the best ones to use — which means, of course, that the valves will need adjusting on a hot engine. So, be careful if you don’t want to burn your fingers, and make the adjustments quickly before the engine cools down. You can always practice the technique on a cold engine beforehand.

On some makes, inlet and exhaust valves may require different clearances — check with your handbook. And if you can’t work out which valve is which, simply use the inlet and exhaust manifolds as a guide — each port should line up with its valve.

In order to check valve clearance, you’ll need to turn the engine over (if this proves difficult, remove the spark plugs) until the valve you’re checking is fully closed. A useful tip here is to remember the rule of nine, which is applicable to four-cylinder engines. As an example, if you turn the engine until valve two is fully open and as far down as it will go, minus two from nine and valve seven will be fully closed. For a six-cylinder engine, the rule is 13 — in the above example you would then subtract two from 13 and valve 11 would be fully closed. (This, by the way, won’t work for V-engines — check your handbook for the maker’s recommended order.)

The Procedure

Once you have ensured that the valve is fully closed, check the existing gap with a feeler gauge.

To make the adjustment, loosen off the lock-nut — do not unscrew it completely. You can then adjust the screw until the correct gap is obtained. Check again with the feeler gauge and when satisfied that everything is correct, hold the screw with a screwdriver and tighten up the lock-nut with a spanner. Do not over-tighten. Once set, it pays to recheck the clearances one more time just to ensure that nothing moved during the final tightening of the lock-nut.

If the engine has been allowed to cool appreciably during the adjustment procedure, the setting will not be satisfactory — so make sure you’ve practised enough times to handle the adjustments quickly and efficiently.

Once finished, you can check your adjustments by turning the pushrods one full rotation — checking to see if the resistance alters at any place during the rotation. If you do encounter resistance, this could mean incorrect adjustment or either a pushrod or adjuster could be out of true — the latter will, ideally, mean replacement of the affected parts.

Do’s and Don’ts

A few final tips — when adjusting valve clearances it is important to get them correct. If the pushrod is adjusted too tightly it will hold the valve away from the valve-seat. This will be felt as either very low or zero compression in the engine. That will make it very hard to start the engine, and the valves will become vulnerable to the hot gases exiting around them — which, in turn, will lead to burned valves.

Go the opposite direction with an adjustment that is too loose, and valve lift will be reduced. Probably not a real problem — providing you don’t use your classic for racing — but you’ll soon get fed up of listening to the tappet banging the pushrod into the rocker. As well, over a period of time loose adjustment will inevitably lead to distortion and run-out of the pushrod — and that will make future adjustments difficult.

Words: James Black

This article is from Classic Car issue 230. Click here to check it out.

If you want to continue driving your classic car, it’s crucial that your brakes are in tip-top condition — and one way of ensuring proper braking functions is through regular brake bleeding.

Bleeding the brakes on a classic car is a relatively simple process, and it should be a very necessary facet of any regular maintenance programme. The reasoning behind regular brake bleeding —  most auto-makers specify that brakes should be bled every two years — is also simple. Brake fluid is hygroscopic — which means that, over time, moisture can be absorbed into the fluid through brake hoses and callipers. When water is absorbed, the brake fluid’s boiling point is gradually reduced — with consequent brake fade and a horrible, squishy brake pedal. Additionally, air bubbles will begin to form in the hydraulic fluid and this can lead to a dangerous situation, with the brake pedal sinking into the floor — simply put, air is compressible and hydraulic fluid is not.

As well — an important factor for any well cared for classic car — all that moisture in the system will promote corrosion. Leave it too long and you could be looking at having to spend considerable amounts of cash on replacing or repairing brake master cylinders or callipers.

Correct brake bleeding will remove any air bubbles from the hydraulic system by ejecting the old fluid as it is replaced by fresh fluid.

The Technique

My grandfather always reckoned you should bleed brakes in a specific order. He would always start with the right rear, the wheel furthest away from the master cylinder, then left rear, right front and, finally, left front. This is the system that is required for most classic cars although, for more modern classics — which have separate brake circuits — it is less important. However, most mechanics will normally say you should always start with the rear brakes, and on the passenger’s side of the car when bleeding brakes.

For the average brake system, you’ll probably need around half to a litre of hydraulic fluid — although newbie brake bleeders some times require more.

As for the bleeding method itself, this can be made easier by a number of brake-bleeding kits currently available. These kits are designed for single-handed operation and, while they’re excellent for replacing old fluid, I still believe the old two-handed system works better — and if you can’t whistle up a mate to give you a hand, then perhaps you should get out more often!

How To

Using a suitable piece of wood, block a front wheel to stop the car from rolling, then raise the rear of the car, carefully position your jack stands and gently lower the car onto them. The rear wheels can then be removed.

Open the brake fluid reservoir and suck out as much of the old fluid as possible. You can buy suction tools for this job, but I use an old turkey baster; essentially a glass reservoir tube attached to be rubber bulb. Don’t nick the baster from the kitchen — unless you want your next Christmas turkey to taste of hydraulic fluid!

I usually wrap an old rag around the neck of the brake fluid reservoir just in case of accidental drips — remember, brake fluid is not kind to paint.

Top up the reservoir with fresh hydraulic fluid.

Using a box wrench — special brake bleeding spanners are available through most reputable auto accessory shops — fit it onto the bleed screw on the rear calliper. If your car isn’t fitted with rear-wheel disc brakes, open the bleeder nipple on the rear of the drum-brake’s back-plate. Attach a clear plastic tube over the nipple and run the pipe into a catch bottle. Once again, catch bottles and pipes can be purchased from your local auto accessory shop.

Now it’s time for your mate to lend a hand — or, rather, a foot. Asking ’er indoors to help is generally not a good idea, as this process can lead to premature divorce.  Ask him to pump the brake pedal a few times until the pedal becomes firm. If there’s too much air in the system to get a firm pedal, simply move onto the next step.

Next, get your off-sider to push hard on the brake pedal and hold it into place. Quickly open the bleed screw about a quarter turn. Fluid will flow through the plastic tube into the catch bottle — probably with the addition of air bubbles. Keep talking to your mate so you know what’s happening, and close the bleed screw before the brake pedal goes all the way to floor. It may take a few goes before you synchronise your actions with those of your mate.

Your assistant should now release his pressure on the brake pedal.

You’ll need to go through this procedure about five to six times or until you can no longer see air bubbles in the clear pipe — then quickly re-tighten the bleed screw.

Don’t forget to check the fluid level in the reservoir. Do not allow the level to fall too far, or you’ll end up sucking air into the master cylinder. Top up with fresh fluid as required in between bleeding each brake.

Make sure no brake fluid has spilled onto the brake assembly and clean any spills — a proprietary brake cleaning spray can be used if required.

Repeat the same sequence for the other rear brake. When completed, re-attached the wheels and lower the car to the ground.

Now you can move to the front wheels. Apply the handbrake, pop the car into gear (or Park for an auto), jack the car up, carefully place your stands and gently lower the car.

You can then repeat the above bleeding procedure for the front brakes.

As you bleed the front brakes you’ll see that the fluid flows much more quickly than it did when bleeding the rear brakes — so more frequent checks on the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir will be required.

The traditional two person method of bleeding brakes is the best way of jolting out any air bubbles from the brake system — and, if you follow these instructions, you’ll be rewarded with a nice, firm brake pedal and be safe in the knowledge that the brakes in your classic car are operating as efficiently as possible.

Silicon Brake Fluid

Many classic car owners prefer to use silicone rather than a mineral-based hydraulic fluid. Silicone-based fluids are resistant to water absorption and, another big plus point, will not promote corrosion or dissolve paint when spilt. Silicone fluid is best used in either completely refurbished or new braking systems where there is absolutely no trace of old hydraulic fluid. Critics of silicone fluid dislike the softer, less firm brake pedal this type of fluid promotes — but we’ll leave the silicone/mineral question to a future Classic Home Mechanic column.

Words and Photos: James Black

The cost of a complete retrim is a substantial element when considering the overall price of restoring a classic car — however, from behind the steering wheel, it is the cabin which will be most noticeable so a nicely finished interior is a big plus point.

Of course, a superbly trimmed classic car isn’t going to be a cheap option — especially if your chosen car boasts a full leather interior.

In contrast to leather, a complete retrim in vinyl or cloth will cost rather less but a professional retrim in vinyl or cloth will still eat up a fair amount of any restoration budget. Whilst, generally speaking, vinyl or cloth is cheaper to buy than leather, matching vinyl grains and cloth colours and types may mean an extensive search for the right type of material — and that can mean higher costs.

The Rejuvenation Option

Although it’s harder to refresh vinyl, when it comes to leather trim, there are a few alternative options to a complete retrim; dependent upon the condition of your car’s interior.

For instance; leather which has stiffened with age or started to crack can normally be rejuvenated at very little expense through treatment with a seriously good rejuvenator — such as Connolly hide food. Most quality trimming shops can supply hide food and advise on its use. Of course, you won’t end up with a brand new looking interior but there are some who prefer the patina of older trim to the blemish-free results obtained from a complete retrim.

There are also many specialist trimming shops that can also revive faded leather through their professional recolouring services, usually at very reasonable rates.

Trim Kits

Of course, there is always the option of doing it yourself — although, as few home restorers will have access to an industrial sewing machine, the most popular choice is to purchase one of the many trim kits which available. Handy if you’ve got a very popular classic (such as an MG or Triumph TR or Ford Mustang), but you won’t find an off-the-peg trim kit for more exotic classics.

As an example, complete vinyl (with leather-faced seat covers) trim kits are available for the evergreen MGB and are priced at around $2,000 to $3,500 (dependent upon model and trim colour). Check with the appropriate marque club, club members will be able to advise you on the availability of trim kits.

There’s a certain amount of skill in installing these types of trim kits and, indeed, some enthusiasts will pay for the services of a professional trimmer to ensure proper fit and finish.

Professional Services

Perhaps other elements of a classic car’s interior will also need to be replaced, such as carpets, dashboards and moulded items such as door-pulls and sun-visors. A professional trimming shop will be able to advise you of the best options but if you plan to do the work yourself, specialist suppliers such as AutoDec can provide carpets for most classic cars, included fancy moulded items. Auckland-based company, Dashboard Restorations, can come to the rescue when it comes to repairing vinyl-covered dashboards and moulded items.

However, if the trim in your car is badly damaged then you will undoubtedly require the services of a good trimming shop. If this is the route you wish, or have, to take, contact some of the professional trimmers featured here; check out their previous work — they’ll be happy to show off photographs of cars that they have worked on and, additionally, seek the advice of fellow club members, those who have already restored the interiors of their cars.

Do your research and select the professional who you feel will do justice to your precious classic car — the end result will be a beautifully finished interior that will greatly enhance your classic driving experience.

CH Allen   A professional approach by craftsmen

In the last 25 years since Shane Ward has been in the car trimming and upholstery trade, his professional team at C H Allen have worked on a large number of classics cars — ranging from British sports cars and saloons right out to huge US cruising machines. However, although the craftsmen at C H Allen work on a wide variety of classic cars, the one thing that they all have in common is the joy these cars bring to their customers once their pride and joy has been retrimmed and looks like a million dollars.

Indeed, many of the cars retrimmed by C H Allen went on to become ‘stars’ — being featured in specialist motoring magazines, while others have scored highly in concours and show competitions.

With their our vast experience and matching expertise, the team of craftsmen at C H ALLENS are more than willing and capable of making your car trimming dreams come true. They work closely with their customers, advise them on the best approach to each project and will always work to their customers’ budgets.

So, for expert workmanship and car trimming advice, come and see the team at CH Allen and check out their professional approach.

C H Allen, 243 Rickit Road, Te Awamatu. Ph 07 871 6619

Stock Upholstery Ltd  The Upholsters Upholsterer

Alvin Stock has 35 years of craftsmanship behind him, having served his apprenticeship at the original Henderson Auto Trimmers. Alvin then spent ten years working in the furniture design and manufacturing field before setting up his own business in 1985.

Stock Upholstery provides a comprehensive range of services relating to automobile, marine and furniture upholstery and awning design, construction and installation.

Having a passion for cars, Alvin specialises in convertibles for both classic and modern cars — either factory supplied tops or custom made.

Stock Upholstery can handle everything from full interior retrims in leather, vinyl, cloth or suede fabrics, including carpets, door panels, headlinings and everything else in between.

Boat upholstery services includes everything from fly bridge covers to trailer boat canopies, squab or full wraparound main saloon seating, berths, cockpit squabs, sun loungers, hull and bulk headlinings or capet laying.

Stock Upholstery’s mission statement reflects Alvin’s attitudes — attention to detail and an eye for aesthetics.

Stock Upholstery work closely with their clients to produce design and build quality work that will last a lifetime.

So, whether you require work on a Morris 1000 or a Maserati, Stock Upholstery will work within your budget to create your vision of what you desire, simply and efficiently and with as much pride in the finished product you would expect from a dedicated enthusiast.

Stock Upholstery Ltd, 1 Stock Street, West Auckland. Ph: 09 827 3460 email: alvinstock@stockup.co.nz

Stu’s Trim & Sound – Attention to detail is the name of the game

Employing a team of four craftsmen, Stu’s Trim & Sound has been providing professional upholstery services for 22 years from their base in Manukau City. Originally established in the auto upholstery trade, the business has since progressed to the point where they now offer a full restoration service, specialising in European and US classics.

As an indication of their standing within the classic car community, Stu’s Trim & Sound have already completed major restoration jobs on high-end European sports cars such as a 1958 Mercedes-Benz 190SL, a Ferrari Daytona and a Ferrari 512BB. They are also no strangers to the world of top-end, concours-winning upholstery.

Careful attention to detail means a professional finish and, in order to achieve the best results for all types of clients, Stu’s Trim & Sound have evolved their own 1-10 rating system for projects; ranging from a basic tidy up to a full concours retrim.

Stu’s Trim & Sound also offer a full restoration management service and are meticulous and passionate about their work — if confronted with a car with which they are unfamiliar, they will contact the appropriate marque car club as a first step in the process of thoroughly researching that particular model. In that way they can ascertain that any subsequent restoration work is handled with a view towards authenticity and originality.

Stu’s Trim & Sound aim to please even the most discerning customer by providing a professional service, advising and helping clients set a budget for their project.

100A Wiri Station Rd, Manukau City Auckland Ph: 09 262 1461 Email: info@ststrim.co.nz

Our workshop guru guides you through the use of a compression tester.

Before the advent of computers, the most common procedure for determining an engine’s condition was the compression test. The technique has been around for a 100 years, it is easy to perform, and it is accurate enough to tell you almost everything you need to know about your engine’s top end. But before attempting it, make sure your engine is in proper tune, its valves are correctly adjusted if they use solid lifters, and its battery is fully charged. Otherwise, your readings will be faulty.

Compression should always be checked with the engine at full operating temperature. Take your car out for at least a 20 minute drive so all its metal parts can warm up and expand to their correct clearances. Don’t go by the temperature gauge. That only tells you localised temperature. Next, check a shop manual to verify what the compression should be for your engine.

Shut the engine off, block the choke and throttle wide open, then remove the spark plugs. Have a friend crank the engine while you check the compression. Push the nipple of the gauge into each spark plug hole while the engine turns over several times. Note down each cylinder’s reading, then return the gauge to zero before testing the next cylinder.

As a general rule, a difference of up to six psi is acceptable from one cylinder to another for normal use. If your engine is consistently a few pounds lower than the specified compression in your shop manual it just means it has aged due to use. But if any of the cylinders are more than ten pounds low, your engine needs work. And if they are all ten pounds low or lower, you’re in for an overhaul if you intend to push the engine at all.

If your compression checks out low in any one cylinder, the problem could be rings or valves, or a combination of the two. To determine if you have worn rings, squirt a little oil in the spark plug hole for that cylinder, then test it again. If the compression test comes up to normal, rings are your trouble and an overhaul is in order.

If the compression does not come up on re-testing, burned valves or a blown head gasket are the likely problem. If the compression comes up a little upon oiling and re-testing, but not enough, the problem may be rings and valves. If your engine’s rings are good, all you may have to do to restore your engine to health is to remove the heads and have a valve job done.

If the compression is down in two adjacent cylinders, the problem is likely to be a blown head gasket. Sometimes, re-torqueing the head will solve the problem, but most likely you will need to remove the head and replace the gasket. You can shoot a little silver enamel on the new head gasket if you want to help it seal, then torque the head into place according to specifications.

Vacuum gauge

Because an internal combustion engine is a big hot air pump, much can be learned about its condition by monitoring the flow of air being sucked into it during operation. For that you need a vacuum gauge. What a vacuum gauge does is indicate the difference between the air pressure inside the intake manifold, and the atmospheric pressure outside the manifold.

A vacuum gauge will tell you a number of things about your engine. Not only can it tell you about manifold leaks and burned valves, but it can also tell you about late ignition timing, poor carburettor adjustment and exhaust back pressure problems. For our purposes, we’ll be using a vacuum gauge to determine your engine’s overall condition, but it would pay to learn how to use one for other things too.

Because a vacuum gauge measures the difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure in your intake manifold, rather than measuring from some fixed benchmark or zero, if you live above sea level you need to take into account the lower atmospheric pressure when using a vacuum gauge. Here is a table that tells what to expect at various altitudes. The readings are measured in inches, which refers to the number of inches the pressure would cause mercury to move up a glass tube in an old-fashioned barometric-type gauge.

The Test

To use a vacuum gauge, you will need to remove a plug on the intake manifold or carburettor and install a fitting that will let you hook up the rubber tubing from your vacuum gauge. Set the idle, then warm the engine thoroughly before beginning the test. Use a tachometer if you have one, to make sure your engine is idling at the correct speed while testing (a shop manual will give you the exact figure to expect).

On cars not equipped with a tach, you can simply adjust the throttle so the car will roll along at about seven to ten miles an hour in low gear with your foot off of the gas. Assuming the test is being done at sea level, your vacuum gauge should show a steady reading of from 18 to 22 inches at idle if your engine is in good condition.

Open and close the throttle quickly, and observe the results on your gauge. The reading should drop down to two inches when the throttle is all the way open, but should bounce up to 25 briefly as soon as you let up.

In Fig. 1 we see that an engine in good condition should indicate a steady 18 to 22 inches of vacuum at sea level with the engine idling. On the other hand, if the needle fluctuates below normal (Fig. 2) with the engine idling, it could indicate an air leak at the intake manifold or its gasket, or at the carburettor gasket. It could also indicate a leaking head gasket.

A regular, intermittent drop below normal (Fig.3) indicates a leaking valve. In the case of solid lifters, it will most likely be an exhaust valve that is adjusted too tight, or perhaps burned. Readjust the valves and check the vacuum again.

A rapid intermittent dropping from normal reading (Fig. 4) indicates sticking valves or dirty hydraulic lifters. Next, try vacuum readings with open and closed throttle. If you see fluctuations increasing with engine speed (Fig.5) the problem is weak valve springs.

If, with the engine idling, fast vibrations of normal vacuum are evident (Fig. 6) it is an indication of ignition trouble. On the other hand, slow movement at normal vacuum indicates incorrect carburettor adjustment.

The following figures are for a well-tuned engine at idle:
Sea level to 1,000 feet    18 to 22 inches
1000 to 2000    17 to 21
2000 to 3000    16 to 20
3000 to 4000    15 to 19
4000 to 5000    14 to 18
5000 to 6000    13 to 17

Words and Photos: Jim Richardson

Handy tips and hints for those planning on having their car professionally restored

Although many classic car enthusiasts prefer a hands-on approach to restoring their cars, this is not always possible — lack of spare time or simply lack of skills may prevent a home restoration. If this is the case, then the only way forward may be a professional restoration. Although not the cheapest option, having your car fully restored from top to toe by professionals does have benefits and, of course, a reputable workshop will always guarantee their work.

If you do choose to follow this path, a single company might be assigned to restore the entire car or, alternatively, separate company’s could undertake individual tasks — such as panel and paint; interior and mechanical. Assuming you have already found a suitable project car, here are a few handy tips for picking a suitable professional.

When selecting a professional restorer it pays to inspect some of their previous work. Most restoration shops will have extensive photographs of projects they have completed and, while it’s useful to see these photos, it’s even more useful if you can actually see the cars themselves — that way you can also talk to the owners and gather useful information on the restoration company.

There are advantages to picking a local restoration company, it’ll be easy to visit them to check up on progress. However, having said that, sometimes it pays to pick the best possible workshop, regardless of location, especially if they have specialist knowledge that applies to your car. Reputable restoration companies can provide photographic reports, so it is possible to monitor progress.

Once you have chosen a professional company,  the first step will always be an thorough evaluation of your car — in many ways, it can be to your advantage to select a workshop prior to finally buying a project car; in that way the restoration company can check before you buy. Manage your project in that manner and you may save yourself money later on.

Having said that, evaluating a suitable project car is not always a straightforward procedure. We’ve seen many classic cars which look great but, on further inspection, are full of rot and rust. A professional inspection will reveal this type of damage. However, don’t expect a proper inspection to be free — it could involve partially dismantling some areas of the car. If you proceed with the restoration, any inspection costs will be covered but if you decide not to proceed expect to pay for this inspection. In some cases, a basket-case would be easier to evaluate — the damage will be very noticeable — although, of course, restoration costs could be higher for such a vehicle.

If you want to get personally involved with the restoration, talk to the owners of prospective workshops. Some will allow owners to work on their own cars — usually on non-skilled tasks. Anyone can scrape off underseal or, with a little tuition, handle menial tasks such as sanding. This can save you money as these types of restoration tasks are very labour intensive. However, getting involved doesn’t mean simply hanging around the workshop and getting in the way of tradesmen.

Paying for a professional restoration is rather like funding a new home — once you’ve signed on the dotted line you’ll be expected to front up with an initial deposit, followed by regular progress payments with the final payment due when the car is completed to your satisfaction. Discuss budgets beforehand and make sure everything is affordable — don’t be tempted into viewing the workshop as a storage facility while you find the cash for a progress payment. The economics of operating a restoration business does not allow for non-paying residents taking up space that could be used for a paying project.

When your project is eventually underway, make periodic visits to view the work in progress, keep yourself involved with the project.

Finally, New Zealand is lucky enough to have some exceptional restoration companies and many have enviable international reputations for the quality of their work. But check any potential choices out carefully before you hand over your hard-earned cash — as with picking a car in the first instance, selecting an appropriate and reputable classic car restoration company comes down to you undertaking a spot of homework.

Simo Panel & Paint and Classique Automotive Restorations

Stan started his professional career as a panelbeater and painter for several leading companies in Europe, spending two years in Germany working for BMW and a further three years in Italy working for a business specialising in  the restoration of  top end classics from respected marques such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

On moving to New Zealand, Stan continued working as a panelbeater before becoming the owner and leading hand at Classique Automotive Restorations and Simo Panel & Paint.

Stan brings his long experience and a fine eye for detail to his work, bringing the final product to perfection. His company uses only top quality materials from specialiast suppliersand, as a leading hand with European experience, Stan stands by the quality and professionalism of his work.

Stan’s son, Daniel, began his career during summer vacations when he was asked to work as a mechanic at his father’s business. Daniel has now been working in New Zealand for ten years and graduated as an automotive mechanic specialising in mechanical and electrical diagnostics, repairs and modifications.

Stenly is the youngest addition to the company. Currently he is employed as manager of the parts and supplies department.

Phil McGregor started work as an apprentice panel beater in 1974. Completing his apprenticeship — and earning Trade Certification — in 1978. Phil then worked in various smash repair panel shops but, during quiet times,  he began to get involved with car restoration. Having decided that he preferred restoration work over smash repairs, Phil eventually opened his own business in 1989 and began specialising in classic car restorations.

After five years running his own business, Phil travelled overseas in 1994-95. On his return to New Zealand, he worked for two years in the kit-car industry handling various specialist work, including hand fabricating brass grilles and honing his skills. He also undertook the work of fabricating various classic components and some vehicle restoration.

Phil joined the staff at Classique Automotive Restorations in 1997 when the company was based in Manukau City.

During the last 12 years, Phil has either worked on or totally rebuilt a huge variation of classic vehicles including two XK150 Jaguars, two E-types, an XK120 and an XJ-S; four Austin-Healeys; two Torana XU1s, several Mustangs and even a Mini Cooper or three.

The Surgery

At The Surgery they’re busier than they’ve ever been — repairing, restoring, building and painting gorgeous classic and collectable cars to award winning standards.

So, if you’ve got a project in the making, check them out on their website — www.thesurgery.co.nz — or make the time to talk to them. The team at the Surgery would love to help you realise your vision — and will be happy to provide a detailed plan, costing and a time-frame to suit your needs.

The Surgery prides itself on their communication with clients — providing them with timely, detailed advice, information and a photographic record of progress; from any part of the world, you’re in the picture.

The Surgery’s friendly and skilled team are commited to their craft and to their client’s satisfaction — so all repairs and paintwork carried out by The Surgery are accompanied by an exclusive ten year guarantee.

As well as being one of the country’s leading classic car restorers, The Surgery is also sponsor of The Surgery Intermarque Sprint Series. The concept of this series is a low key, low cost, professionally organised, track-based introduction to tarmac motor sport, with six rounds of dual and multi car sprints every year at Manfeild. The Surgery has been a proud supporter and sponsor for over ten years, seeing the series go from strength to strength.

In addition, November of this year will again see The Surgery involved with the MG Classic Race meeting, with a major sponsorship role and some track participation, all going as planned.

So, if you don’t catch them at their Wellington workshop, go and see them at the track. They’d love to meet you.

Matamata Panel Works

If you’re dreaming of a ‘turn-back-the-clock’ extreme makeover on your classic car — then Matamata Panelworks 2000 Ltd can make that dreams come true!

Matamata Panelworks have restored everything from award-winning classic Ford Mustangs, to every shape of car, van and truck capable of being driven on the road. Virtually the entire restoration process can be carried out in-house — from metal fabrication to a guaranteed paint finish — ensuring quality workmanship on every step along the way to a show-stopping classic car.

Unbeatable Guarantee

Matamata Panelworks have restored vehicles where virtually every panel has needed to be fabricated from scratch or replaced — in some instances, cars have been totally rebuilt from just a handful of original parts. Even if you just need the odd ding ‘removed’ from your classic car, Matamata Panelworks  promise to do the job so well that you’ll never be able to even see the original damage.

Bump, Clang, Prang or Classic Restoration

Has your beloved classic car been in a smash? Matamata Panelworks guarantee to restore your car so close to showroom perfection that you will probably win awards — that’s exactly what happened to one of their recent clients.

Want to put their guarantee to the test? Matamata Panelworks are open to accept any challenge to their restoration skills — although, the reality is that no job is too big or too small; they love a challenge.

Read what past customers have to say about Matamata Panelworks’ previous restorations on www.panelworks.co.nz — their clients are often kind enough to write unsolicited testimonies or allow Matamata Panelworks’ to feature them on their website and other places. There, you can read some embarrassingly explicit praise — and, as owner, Malcolm Sankey says —  “We are such humble guys we are blushing already!”

This article is from Classic Car issue 224. Click here to check it out.

As well as a favourable exchange rate, there are many reasons why enthusiasts ship classic cars into New Zealand. Rarer models may simply not be available in New Zealand and must be purchased overseas; in some cases better availability overseas may mean greater choice and a keener purchase price; or, while travelling abroad, an enthusiast may spot a car that he or she simply must have. Whatever the motivation behind such a purchase, the next step is to get that prized classic car back to New Zealand.

When you start to get serious about importing a car into New Zealand, that’s the time you need to start considering the advantages offered by a professional shipping agent ” preferably one that has experience in shipping classic cars to New Zealand.

The best method for shipping a car between countries is in a container. Sealed from the point of despatch, they are very secure and contents are protected from prying eyes.
Containers come in two basic sizes: 20 feet and 40 feet long. Even the largest US cruiser should fit into a 20-foot container.

Most shippers will cover only the origin port, then subcontract to agents at the destination. The preference here would be to deal with an agent at the destination; it’s far easier to deal with any problems when the agent is local. Many New Zealand-based shipping agents, of course, will have certified agents in Europe and the US.

Know the Regulations

Before you begin the importation process, you’ll need to check with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to ensure that the car you’re considering can be legally used in New Zealand. And while a Certificate of Compliance will be the final part of the car importation process, it makes sense to consider this well in advance.

The NZTA’s website contains all the requirements with regard to shipping a car into New Zealand (www.landtransport.govt.nz/importing).

There are also insurance costs to consider. Marine insurance will cover loss or damage while your car is in transit, while additional insurance may be required to cover the car during loading and unloading ” this is generally not covered by marine insurance, so contact a specialist insurance agency (such as Classic Car Cover, ph 0800 456 254).

Finally, when your container arrives in New Zealand, you’ll need to gain approval from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) before obtaining New Zealand Customs clearance.

A good tip is to ensure that your car was nice and clean when it originally went into the container. A dirty or muddy car will require a full steam clean and fumigation on arrival in New Zealand at your cost. If the car is clean when it arrives in New Zealand, MAF clearance may be smoother.

Once again, a shipping agent can be a real bonus ” some agents have their own certified area and can arrange clearances.

With MAF clearance sorted, Customs takes over and, once everything is properly documented and cleared, you’ll then have the pleasure of handing over more hard-earned cash, generally the GST content of the car’s value, which is determined by Customs from its own depreciation schedules. Of course, if you have already owned the car you’re importing for some time, these schedules will be adjusted accordingly.

While it is possible to arrange MAF and Customs clearances personally, this process is better left to a shipping agent, who will have prior arrangements with both MAF and Customs.

The above is only a very brief overview and our advice is to seek the advice and assistance of a profssional shipping agent right from the start of the importation process.

McCullough Ltd

With more than 17 years’ experience, McCullough Ltd is expert at providing an international door-to-door shipping service. Founded in 1991, McCullough Ltd is based in Parnell, Auckland. The company has always specialised in shipping motor vehicles and machinery from the USA, Japan, Singapore, the UK and Australia.

McCullough Ltd makes shipping a vehicle from the USA easy. The company will arrange pick-up anywhere in the USA and provide pre-purchase inspections (handy for those eBay purchases). Vehicle titles, packing and shipping will all be arranged. Thanks to regular shipments, your vehicle can be in New Zealand within three to four weeks.

Clearances are obtained from MAF, Customs and shipping lines. All transport and unpacking in New Zealand is taken care of. All the importer has to do is provide the pick-up address in the USA and McCullough Ltd will do the rest.

McCullough also provides foreign exchange and marine insurance, giving you an all-inclusive door-to-door package.

If you’re looking at sourcing or importing a vehicle, check out www.mmnz.biz.

Transitainer: The Total Solution

Transitainer has over the years grown to be a significant player in the international vehicle freight business. By utilising its experience, relationships and contacts, the company has developed a custom shipping service that is both proven and flexible. Building on the maxim that ‘every project is a special project and that the detail is all important’ has enabled Transitainer to serve many happy clients. This approach is particularly important when Transitainer is given the responsibility of dealing with someone’s dream car, family motor home, or highly desirable boat or plane.

As many of the clients Transitainer deals with are first time purchasers concerned about what appears a very difficult process, it is very important they have complete confidence in the company’s abilities.

Transitainer was founded by Ian McCallum. Ian has been shipping cars for more than 30 years and knows first hand the many fears a client can have shipping for the first time.

This is why Ian believes in a hands-on ‘total solution’ personalised service, designed to be not only affordable but also easy, a door-to-door delivery. As an example, Transitainer can pick up vehicles with transporters from anywhere in the USA UK or Europe. Transitainer centralises the vehicles to its gateway depots and uses 40-foot high cube containers in which vehicles are mixed and matched to give the most competitive cost to clients. Transitainer does not compromise its customers by using slow trans-shipment services, and only uses direct sailings to New Zealand.

Transitainer takes an enormous amount of care when loading vehicles, blocking and bracing each wheel, then lashing forward and rear on the axles. This method ensures that vehicles do not move during transit. Transitainer unpacks the containers at its depot in Auckland and arranges customs clearance and MAF inspections on site. The company also offers full steam cleaning services on site if required by MAF.  Clients don’t have to worry about a thing ” Transitainer does it all. What’s more, because of its general cargo service, Transitainer can also ship your spare parts, new engines, transmissions and so forth on the same service.

For further information on Transitainer Xtreme Logistics Ltd, phone 09 256 0013, or visit its website: www.txl.co.nz.

CMR Shipping: The CMR Advantage

CMR Shipping prides itself on providing a first-class shipping service to all its principals and shippers, focusing on offering a professional but friendly service. The company will work closely with clients to tailor shipping requirements specifically to meet individual requirements and deadlines, while working diligently to offer the best and most economical shipping solution.

CMR Shipping provides specialised car shipping services to and from New Zealand from all parts of the world, including Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the USA.

CMR Shipping’s specialised service means that the company can ship any type of car ” from a wreck to a brand new car to a fully restored classic; US muscle car or hot rod. CMR can also ship more modern vehicles, including 4WDs and SUVs, motor homes and campervans, trucks and buses.

CMR Shipping can customise each car shipping package to meet individual schedules and budgets, providing clients with either a door-to-door or wharf-to-wharf service, including:
¢ car collection and receival
¢ export customs requirements
¢ marine cargo insurance
¢ car shipping ” roll on/roll off or containered
¢ Customs clearances and deliveries
¢ MAF clearances and required treatments.

CMR Shipping provides a one stop shop for the complete shipping package, managing the whole process and taking all the stress out of shipping a vehicle.
For freight quotes and shipping schedules, contact Craig Randall on 03 328 7031, or email cmr@cmrshipping.co.nz.

Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight

Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight is a name synonymous with the shipping of classic and new cars and parts throughout the world.

Kiwi Shipping was started by expat Kiwi Steve Curle 20 years ago, and acquired by Mainfreight in 2008. Steve leads the team in Carson, Los Angeles, with Rhonda the office manager and Matt, the parts shipping specialist. The team now has access to the Mainfreight worldwide network and as a result can export or import cars and parts anywhere in the world.  The New Zealand team, led by Trevor and comprising Shaun, Chrissy and Joe, ensures smooth and timely clearance of vehicles and parts into and out of New Zealand, and now provides a contact point for local enquires.

Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight can offer car inspection services, secure payments in the USA, internal trucking, insurance cover, shipping and export and import clearances using very competitive rates.
Here in New Zealand, Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight ships into the ports of Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin, using specialist unpacking facilities in all ports.

From a Messerschmitt bubble car to Hugh Hefner’s Mercedes limousines to motorbikes, Kenworth trucks, caravans, fifth wheels, helicopters and aeroplanes ” Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight will move anything.

Shipping parts is a major part of Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight’s business using a consolidation service ex Los Angeles by air and sea. Website tracking is also provided.

If you want it moved, Kiwi Shipping Mainfreight will move it.

Contact: Steve, Rhonda or Matt (Los Angeles), or Chrissy Douglas, (New Zealand). Phone 04 472 2520, fax 04 473 4936. Or visit the website: www.mainfreightinternational.co.nz.

Aironaut Customs Brokers Ltd

Aironaut is a New Zealand owned and operated customs brokerage and freight forwarder. Established in 1988, it has many years’ experience of handling and shipping vehicles all around the world.

As New Zealand agent for Karman Shipping in the UK for the last 20 years, Aironaut has shipped many cars in sole-use containers from the UK and Europe. Karman is a specialist car shipping forwarder, shipping nothing but vehicles, and therefore has a very good record with high value and specialised cars.

Grant Hudson of Aironaut has a passion for vehicles, which is reflected in the service that Aironaut provides its clients. Aironaut can provide a door-to-door service for in- and outbound vehicles.
Aironaut has also arranged and handled many car club group tours into and out of New Zealand, organising all Customs and MAF clearances as required.

The company acts for regular vehicle and vehicle parts importers and exporters and, through its global agent network, can offer services to and from most parts of the world.

Over the years Aironaut has shipped many special cars including models from marques such as McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Audi and Bentley, as well as many race and vintage cars.

For further details of Aironaut’s services, phone 09 309 8814, or visit the company’s website: www.aironaut.co.nz.

This article is from Classic Car issue 223. Click here to check it out.

Having built replicas of a Porsche Speedster and a Jaguar XK120 in his home garage, Dave is well placed to offer sound, practical advice to budding kit-car builders

Deciding whether or not to tackle a DIY car-building exercise is not easy, least of all the decision as to what sort of vehicle to tackle. There is a wide range of possibilities — all the way from a very individual one-off special, through an assortment of variations on the ‘LSIS’ (‘Lotus-Seven-Inspired-Sports’ car), to individually-styled ‘kit’ cars and replicas of famous production cars.

There are literally hundreds of manufacturers around the world from which to choose, even after the basic style of car has been determined — some turning out most of the key components while others produce ‘kits’ that are like a glorified Meccano set, complete down to the last nut-and-bolt.

As always, you pays your money and you takes your choice as the old adage goes, and serious research at this stage is absolutely essential.

The exercise is going to be a lengthy, difficult and expensive one, and you need to be sure this is something you really want to tackle.

Talk to people who have built the sort of thing that you have in mind, ask what they would have done differently with the knowledge they now have, read as much as you can about it all and if, after that, the whole job looks too daunting, then please think again.

The Necessaries

This game may not be for you, but if it is make sure you have available the means required — and I don’t mean just the money, of which you’ll need more than you might expect!

Depending very much on how much you are able and intending to do yourself — like welding and so on, for example — and to what extent you are buying in parts and services, your needs will vary enormously.

While there have undoubtedly been cases of cars being built quite successfully out in the back garden and with the most basic of tools, you really do improve your chances of turning out a decent result if you give yourself a fair go. You must have adequate space, decent lighting, and the tools to do whatever parts of the job that are, for you, truly DIY.

Floor space of about twice the size of the car will enable you to approach work from both sides, and a lot can be achieved with a decent socket set — the next most important thing to a good jack (or even two) and a set of axle stands.

My experience has been that the building of a car is an enormous project which has all the potential to keep you awake at night, while on the other hand if you can reduce it in your mind to a thousand-and-one small tasks to be tackled individually, it suddenly becomes achievable, and even enjoyable in a sometimes masochistic sort of way.

The Bits and Pieces

Unless you take the approach of buying a complete 1:1 scale ‘Airfix/Meccano’ style of kit in which everything is provided except maybe the glue, there will be a need to separately source most of the mechanicals anyway.

The requirements of the individual build will be wide and varied, as will the sources of parts obtained. Trade Me is, as ever, a good place to search, and while it didn’t help me too much it can be a great place to find Japanese parts in particular.

My latest build was a replica of a 1951 Jaguar XK120 with some necessary modifications to conform to local regulations — things like modern door locks, seat belts, windscreen washers, indicators and a high stop light — as well as some optional changes involving better brakes and steering than available in the 1950s, all grafted to a fibreglass body which was imported together with the chassis and some of the ‘shiny bits’.

All this involved chasing parts locally, and I was lucky to acquire a set of original wheels from Bob Smyth that had been put aside when he shouted his 120FHC (featured
in NZCC, May 2001) some shiny new wire wheels.

Ray Andrews of Jaguar Spares & Repairs in Upper Hutt was the source of just about all the other Jaguar necessities — like the 3.4-litre Mk2 engine, five-speed ’box, XJ6 front and E-Type rear suspension and brakes, period instruments (including a lovely old anti-clockwise cable-driven tachometer) and a host of minor parts.

The conclusion I drew was that unless you really want to spend a lifetime hunting for bits and pieces, then it’s well worthwhile getting alongside a friendly and understanding specialist in dismantling the sort of stuff that you’re after. The satisfaction obtained from finding that special part is more than worth the wee bit of effort involved in the hunting, even when a lot of cleaning and refurbishment is required.

The Paperwork

It is sometimes said that a car is ready to go on the road when the paperwork weighs as much as the engine.

While this is untrue of course — even if you use a lightweight all-alloy job — it needs to be understood that there is no alternative to complying with the many and varied regulations that apply to whatever type of vehicle you build, and this includes keeping up-to-date with the changes that take place during however long it takes you to get to completion and certification.

You can be the ultimate do-it-yourselfer with this too, I suppose, but eventually you’ll need the services of a Low Volume Vehicle Certifier, so you might as well make contact with your local man very early in the piece. Try to make time to have a serious chat about what the official expectations of you are, and of what you are doing.

The Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association is one good place to start.

If you don’t get the paperwork properly sorted your car will never be seen legally on the road. This is a serious warning, and I wouldn’t even think of starting the job without a thorough look at what might be involved — beginning with the LVVTA website www.lvvta.org.nz and a good read of the Low Volume Vehicle Code which is available there.

While all working to the same ends certifiers do seem to have different approaches sometimes, and in my case the certifiers from the Constructors Car Club www.constructorscarclub.org.nz) saw me through with a progressive programme, as opposed to their going over the completed vehicle. Their visits and inspections of my handiwork took place at various stages of the construction.

A certification plate was subsequently issued and riveted on by the certifier personally, after which it was possible to register the car, get a Warrant of Fitness and drive the darned thing, which was a wonderful feeling I don’t mind admitting, and far superior to that of handing over a cheque and driving any car out of a showroom.

The Lessons

Now retired, after a working life in what my father would have called a ‘shiny seat job’ behind various office desks, I quickly discovered that there were many skills I had not acquired.

Having therefore established my amateur status in this game and applied some enthusiasm, a lot of reading and much practice to the completion of two cars, I think I may be qualified to offer some advice to others who may be similarly misguided.

In summary, my ‘top 10’ tentatively suggested tips go a bit like this:

Do the Research

The exercise is always going to be long, difficult and expensive. If the car itself is really the objective, rather than the exercise and stimulation involved in the construction, it may be more worthwhile to seek a completed one. Consider carefully why you are really setting off on this journey, and if you decide to do so then jump in with both feet and paddle like hell for as long as it takes.

Check a completed car

Unless you’re intent on producing a one-off, do try to locate and have a good look at a completed car of the type you intend to make, and have a long talk with its builder. If he’s happy to talk about it, that’s probably a sign that the outcome was what was expected; in any case this is the time to try to unearth any potential problems on the basis of another’s experience.

Establish a budget

This is a useful exercise, and at the very least provides a basis for discussion with the rest of the family. My suggestion is that you write down every last thing that you can think of, like the basic kit parts, parts from donor vehicles, paint, upholstery and so on. Make it as full as you possibly can, put a reasonable estimate of the cost of each and, if you can stand the pain, add it all up — and then double it!

You should be fairly close, and if you haven’t already given up on the whole idea let me explain.

Most of us won’t be able to do our own welding to an acceptable standard for example, and you’ll probably have to pay retail for every single nut, bolt, washer and so on that you’ll need to renew, and this sort of thing simply runs away with money when building your pride and joy and wanting to get it right.

Safety, Safety, Safety

Much of a car-building job will be done alone, which is the worst possible time to have a mishap, so safety is paramount. Please do make sure you have adequate lighting and all the usual safety gear, most important of which just has to be a good strong set of axle stands for those times when you are underneath the job.

There’s not much point in turning out a superb piece of motoring magic for everyone else to admire if you’ve done yourself a mischief, and aren’t around to enjoy it.

Do not be too Proud to Seek Help

There are people who can do the whole job unaided, but I’m not one of them. Rather than adopt some macho ‘let’s have bash and see what happens’ style of working, it makes much more sense to talk things through with someone knowledgeable and maybe save yourself a fortune.

Talking things through with a sympathetic partner can sometimes be useful, as even if the knowledge itself is a bit short there is always likely to be another viewpoint — for better or for worse, they say.

The alternative, already mentioned, is to hook up with a club or group whose members are misguided(?) enough to be doing something similar. Chances are that you will find understanding and, almost inevitably, someone who has at sometime faced the very problem that you are struggling with.

Me? I was lucky enough to have weekly visits from a fellow Constructors Club member, one Ian Price, with so much mechanical advice and gentle criticism that he was officially appointed my ‘Engineering Insultant’.

Stop while you are winning – tomorrow is another day

Inevitable problems will crop up, seemingly insoluble at times, and rather than stripping that thread or busting those knuckles it’s often worth while to put down the tools (gently now, not by bunging them through the windscreen) and call it a day.

It’s amazing just how much comes right overnight if you just give it a chance and take time out to think things over.

Take time with the wiring

Electrics are a bit of a mystery to many of us, despite the nice explanations you get comparing the flow of volts, watts and amps to water flowing through pipes. Sooner or later you have to tackle the job itself.

First time around I grappled with several birds’ nests of wires, taping them one by one to the chassis until a workable result was achieved before taping it all together into a loom. It worked, which was some sort of miracle and proved that it can be done that way, but for the later job I managed to locate a commercially made loom that only required some very minor alterations — and it looked a heck of a lot neater too!

Don’t paint the body until you’ve finished

There is no rush to get paint on to a car, and I found it best to leave it until just about the last job, on the grounds that it’s easier and cheaper than putting things right after you’ve drilled a hole ‘just slightly’ in the wrong place.

I must confess to having drilled windscreen mounting holes a wee bit too far forward on one job and having to refill them and try again — fortunately before paint had been applied, so while embarrassing it wasn’t too painful

Record part numbers and sources

Parts are likely to come from a variety of sources, even different makes and models of donor car and, aside from sometimes having to prove their suitability to certifiers, should the time come when a replacement is needed it’s very handy to be able to quote the necessary information.

Enjoy yourself

It has been said that the only reason to build a car yourself is that it’s an ego trip, and that may well be true.

I think there’s just a little more than that to it, and the sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes from seeing steady progress of your project is quite different from that which comes from the refurbishment of a middle-aged production car.

I have done both, and while I’m not prepared to rate the respective levels of pleasure and satisfaction to be derived, it is undoubtedly different.

Building your own car is a tremendous experience in a whole variety of ways; you meet some really enthusiastic people on the way through the job, and at the end of it all you may have something you can be proud to show off.

Yeah, okay — so it’s an ego trip. Why not come along for the ride?

Words and Photos: David Bray

Unlike modern cars with their fancy, set-and-forget electronic ignition systems, the majority of classic cars are fitted with distributors and contact points, giving us all something to tinker with on ‘garage’ days — and something to go wrong if neglected.

However, before we look at fitting and gapping points, let’s run through the way a ‘classic’ ignition system works.

Ignition 101

The essential parts of the ignition system are the battery, ignition switch, coil, distributor, condenser, contact breaker, rotor and, of course, the spark plugs. When you turn the ignition key, low tension current from the battery (at either six or 12 volts) is transformed by the coil into as much as 80 to 10,000 volts, that current is then passed by the distributor to produce a spark for each engine cylinder. The flow of current through the coil produces a magnetic field as long as the contact-breakers (or points) remain closed.

When the contact-breaker cam is struck by the distributor shaft, the breaker opens and the magnetic field collapses and induces a secondary high tension current in the secondary coil. This then travels to the distributor cap, where it is picked up by the rotor via a small, spring-loaded carbon brush. The spinning rotor then distributes the charge to whatever terminal is closest to the rotor in the cap — each terminal, of course, leading to a spark plug.

The condenser manages everything by absorbing whatever currents are induced in the primary circuit at the moment when the circuit breaks. Take away the condenser and the points would arc, leading to premature failure.

To give you an idea of how hard this type of ignition circuit works; a single spark plug produces a minute spark (typically around 0.5mm), at 80 to 10,000 volts 20 to 40 times a second at normal cruising speeds.

Fitting and Re-setting
¢    Distributor contact-breakers consist of two metal points — one fixed and one spring-loaded so that it can open and close as the cam in the distributor spins around. The movable point is insulated so it can only earth through the contact face and complete the circuit.
¢    Contact points should be checked every 10,000km — sooner if you suspect a problem. If the points are burned or pitted don’t be tempted to simply file the faces. That’s okay for a roadside repair, but a new set of contact points should now be fitted.
¢    Many classic cars would’ve originally come with a two-piece contact set, but modern replacement are usually of the easier to fit one-piece type. Here’s how you fit and set a more modern one-piece contact set. (Although most classic car’s distributor types vary in size, shape and brand depending on your specific marque, the following process should apply to most.)

Disconnect the battery first.
¢    Unclip the distributor cap and pull off the rotor. (It’s not a bad idea to check the contact points inside the cap and rotor tip for wear or pitting, or even better, replace both when installing new contact points.)
¢    Use a spanner to remove the nut securing the old contact set to the distributor base-plate.
¢    Disconnect the low-tension lead and condenser lead. (You should also consider replacing the condenser at this point.)
¢    Wipe the new contact points clean to remove any dirt or grease.
¢    Remove the nut on the plastic bush and position the new contact set onto the base-plate.
¢    Replace the clamping screw with its washers in the correct order.
¢    Reconanect the low tension and condenser leads.
¢    Tighten the nut onto the plastic bush — not too tightly. Make sure that the two lead-tags make good contact or misfiring will occur.

Now it’s time to set the points:
¢    With the ignition off and with the distributor cap and rotor removed, turn the engine by hand until the shoe of the moving point is on the peak of one cam.
¢    The points should now be fully open and can be checked with a feeler gauge.
¢    Check your owners’ manual to determine the correct points gap.
¢    Loosen the securing screw and move the contact-breaker base-plate with a screwdriver until the points just touch a feeler gauge inserted between them.
¢    Once the correct gap is set, tighten up the screw.
¢    Re-check the gap — if it has moved, repeat steps four to five again — and re-check again.
¢    Lightly oil the pivot post, making sure you don’t drop oil onto the point. Most point sets comes with a small sachet of light grease, which should be smeared onto the cam.
¢    Refit the rotor and distributor cap.

If you did everything correctly, your engine should now be running smoothly when you take it out for a test-drive.

By James Black

This article is from Classic Car issue 239. Click here to check it out.

How to replace your classic’s universal joints

These instructions are for cars with open drivelines. For cars equipped with closed, torque tube drivelines, consult a shop manual to determine how to remove and replace the U-joints. Even on cars with open drivelines, there are variations on the cross-and-yoke design, and there were also the ball-and-trunnion types used as front joints on prop shafts in ’40s-era Chrysler products.

Out with the old

Put your car up on sturdy jack stands and make sure it is stable before climbing under it. Never work on a car with only a jack supporting it. You invite disaster if you do. Now roll to the rear and, and using a file or china marker, mark the prop shaft in relation to the rear yoke of the universal joint so you can put the prop shaft back in oriented the same way it came out.

Next, roll up to the front and mark the front U-joint as well. It is possible to swap the prop shaft end for end on some cars, with unfortunate consequences, but more importantly you don’t want the prop shaft rotated 180 degrees out from where it was originally when you reinstall it, because the driveline is balanced as it is.

Split the rear universal joint, leaving the rear yoke attached to the differential. Pull the prop shaft back away from the rear of the transmission. There is a splined, tubular slip joint on the front of the prop shaft to allow it to change lengths as required when the axle bounces up and down. At this point, the next step depends on what type of U-joints your car is equipped with. Some types of joints can merely be unbolted and replaced.

On these types of U-joints, you simply bend the little sheet metal locking tabs away, and then unbolt the U-bolts or bearing caps. Tape the old U-joint together as you remove it, so you won’t spill the tiny needle bearings out of it and end up skating around on them in your shop for the next month. Put a little grease in each of the new U-joint’s bearing caps, then bolt them back in place and tighten them evenly. Use new locking devices, and bend the tabs up to secure the bolts.

Install the prop shaft so it is aligned according to your reference marks, and you’re all done.

If your car uses the conventional, cross and yoke type U-joint that is pressed in (and most rear drive cars made in the last 40 years do use this type), to extricate them from the prop shaft you will first need to remove the bearing cap lock rings using a pair of snap ring pliers. Your replacement U-joint kits will contain new locking rings, so don’t attempt to reuse the old ones.

Getting it apart

Before you lift the cross out of the bearing caps, note which way the zerk grease fitting faces so you can put the new universal joint in the same way. If oriented the wrong direction, the zerk fitting could interfere with the U-joint’s range of motion. Next, press the bearing caps out of the yoke by placing one cross of the yoke horizontally across the open jaws of the vice, and then tapping on the vertical cross yoke with a soft brass hammer to drive the yoke down, thus forcing the bearing cap out of the yoke.

Once the bearing cap protrudes sufficiently, flip the prop shaft over and tap the yoke the other way until the bottom cap protrudes. Then just grip each bearing cap in turn with the vice, and worry it out by moving the prop shaft yoke back and forth and pulling up on it.

Once you have the prop shaft and slip joint yoke apart, place the ends of the steel cross on the vice jaws and tap the yoke to drive out its bearing caps. When they protrude sufficiently, grip them with the vice and pull them out. Be careful while you are working that you don’t disturb any balance weights attached to the prop shaft. Inspect the yokes for burrs or ridges that might cause problems when pressing in the new bearing caps. It is a good idea to dress the edges of the holes in the yokes with a fine file. Smear a very light coat of grease inside the bearing cap holes in the yokes.

In with the new

If your new U-joint has a zerk fitting installed on it to allow it to be lubricated (some replacement joints do not have a fitting), remove the fitting temporarily so pressure will not build up during installation. If the new U-joint is not freshly greased inside, smear a light coat of grease in each bearing cap, but don’t overdo it. If you put in too much grease, hydraulic lock may occur when you try to press in the new bearing caps.

Press in the bearing caps using your vice, being careful not to let the needle bearings slip around inside. Use a socket as a drift small enough to fit into the holes for the bearing caps, but large enough to spread the load evenly in order to press the bearing caps in far enough to allow you to install the retaining clips.

Chances are that once installed, your new universal joints will move a bit stiffly. To set them properly, take a hammer and drift and firmly tap once at each intersection of each cross. Test your U-joints one more time to make sure they are free and feel right. Finally, coat the splined slip joint inside, and then outside, with wheel bearing grease before reinstalling the prop shaft.
Take your car out for a test drive. It should be smooth and silent with no vibration. If there is a minor imbalance in the prop shaft causing a slight vibration, a large worm-drive hose clamp can be installed around the prop shaft, and the screw mechanism repositioned until the vibration is minimised.

Click through to the next page for an illustrated guide

Guide to replacing universal joints

File or mark a line in the prop shaft and slip joint yoke so you can reinstall them properly aligned with one another
Use special pliers made for the task, or needle nose pliers, to remove locking clips on bearing caps
Remove grease fitting from the steel cross
Place the prop shaft yoke on vice and tap slip-joint yoke with a brass hammer to remove the bearing caps
Grip each bearing cap with your vice, and work the cap free by moving the yoke back and forth while pulling up
Bearing caps will just pop loose with a little effort
Lift out the steel cross and work the final bearing cap loose using the vice
Take your new universal joints apart and make sure the bearings are properly greased
This is about how much fresh grease should be in each cap
It is not necessary, but I like to give the prop shaft a coat of Rustoleum rust resistant paint to protect it
Make sure grease fitting opening is facing correctly, then insert a bearing cap and yoke
Insert the cross to keep the needle bearings straight. Gently press in each bearing cap until flush using the vice
Use a socket as a drift to push the bearing caps in far enough to install the locking clips
Use a hammer and drift to wrap the cross once at each intersection to set the joint properly
Tape the rear U-joint together to keep bearing caps from falling off before connecting the U-joint at the differential
Use wheel bearing grease to lubricate splines in the slip joints
Grease the outside of the slip joint as well, so it won’t damage the transmission rear bearing seal when you install it
Disconnect the rear universal joint at the differential by removing U-bolts
The front end of the prop shaft just slips out of the rear of the transmission

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Simple tips and hints to help you keep the battery ¨in your classic car in tip-top working order

Let’s face it, many classic cars are not used as basic, everyday transport — they spend a lot of their life safely stowed away in a nice, warm garage, waiting for the next time they’re fired up for a sunny weekend run or a club event. And as long as they get out on a regular basis, they will remain in fine fettle.

However, when that special event or sun-soaked Sunday afternoon beckons, it’s always disappointing when all you get is a loud buzz from the engine when you twist the ignition key. So instead of enjoying a Sunday cruise, you’re left juggling around your classic and your everyday car to get them close enough for a jump start — or you forget about cruising and pull the battery out of the car and plug it into a charger. Either way, your potential enjoyment has been ruined.

You can avoid that scenario by keeping on top of battery maintenance, or by employing an electrical helper.

First off, let’s look at how to check your battery and keep it in fine operating condition, then at the lazy man’s way of keeping a battery up to the mark.

Battery Checking

No matter the quality of the battery in your classic car, it has a limited life — undercharging, overcharging and continuous heat/cold cycles all conspire to shorten it. In older, classic cars, poor connections and earths can also put a battery under stress.

The first step towards battery maintenance is checking open-cell voltage. This can be accomplished with a dedicated battery tester or a volt meter. When an auto battery is fully charged — and with all electrical devices turned off — voltage across the terminals should register between 12.5 to 12.6 volts. When the battery is not fully charged — although still capable of turning over the engine — that can drop to around 12 volts. If on testing your battery doesn’t push out this much power, further checking is required.

If your battery is low on charge, you’ll need to charge it up before checking. Use a slow charger for this — some quick chargers can distort cell plates. Once everything is fully charged, you can go onto the next step.

For this you’ll need a hydrometer in order to check the specific gravity of the electrolyte. To use a hydrometer, pull off or unscrew the battery filler caps. If the levels are down in any of the cells, top up with distilled water — the minerals in plain tap water can slowly reduce the battery’s capacity. (If your car is fitted with a low maintenance battery you may not find any filler caps. These types of batteries are not supposed to require topping up although, of course, they will eventually consume all their water and die. Check under the battery maker’s stickers — sometimes fillers are hidden away.)

Once levels are correct, use the hydrometer to siphon up some electrolyte — it’s best to keep the end of the instrument in the battery filler opening to avoid dripping acid onto the car. We’d also advise rubber gloves and safety glasses; battery acid is very corrosive — it will also eat holes in your clothing, so take care. Spilt acid should be cleaned up immediately with water.

Once you have your sample of electrolyte, tap the hydrometer to allow any bubbles stuck to the float to release themselves. You can read the specific gravity as indicated on the hydrometer’s scale — read from the bottom of the meniscus. If fully charged, expect a specific gravity of at least 1.265. Check each cell in turn — it is important that they all show similar readings. If one or more cells is lower than the others by 0.05 or more, it’s time to buy a new battery.

Checking Connections

If everything tests A-okay and your car is still proving difficult to start, it’s time to check out connections — assuming that, of course, your starter motor is fully functional.

The first items to check are the battery clamps. Residue build-up can be removed by cleaning with a solution of cold water and baking soda — this will neutralise any acid around the clamp. Remove the clamps — if they prove difficult to remove, don’t bash them with a hammer, you may damage the soft lead post. Try some more baking soda and water — failing that, nip down to your local auto shop and pick up a battery clamp removal tool.

Once the clamps are free, clean the posts with baking soda and water. It also pays to clean the entire top surface of the battery with detergent — dust can accumulate water, which will conduct miniscule amounts of power from the positive to the negative post, even when the car is not being used.

A post-cleaning tool can be used to clean up the post; this is simply a small, double-ended wire brush. With this you’ll soon have the lead post gleaming. At this stage, some recommend a thin coat of petroleum jelly be applied to the post to minimise further acid build up.

After a thorough cleaning, re-install the clamps, making sure they are also nice and clean — do not over tighten the clamps.

If your battery clamps or their wires appear tatty, it’s a good idea to replace them. Don’t be tempted into using universal clamps — in my experience they are not good for anything other than a temporary repair. Buy proper, moulded clamps and only use good quality heavy-gauge automotive cable.

It is also worthwhile checking earth connections within the engine compartment as well. There aren’t too many of these on a classic car, and they are usually easy to spot and to check. Undo the connectors and check for surface rust where they meet the car’s body or ancillary — clean up the connecting point and the connecting plate and bolt or screw; these can be easily replaced if they look too rusty.

Once everything’s ship-shape, it should be an easy task to check battery levels at regular intervals and then, next time the road beckons, your classic car will spring into life immediately.

Another Approach

It’s quite common for many classic car enthusiasts to simply disconnect the battery if the car is not expected to be used for lengthy periods. While there’s nothing wrong with this method it can be messy and time consuming — unless a battery off switch has been wired into your car — as the clamps have to be replaced every time you use the car. This is especially inconvenient if a battery is awkwardly situated — buried away in the boot, for instance.

Leaving the battery disconnected will not, of course, guarantee that it will hold its charge indefinitely — so you could still hit the Sunday drive problem mentioned above.

Additionally, if you own a more modern classic, disconnecting the battery could also mean losing electrical settings for items such as seats, security devices and radio/CD players.

A better solution is to use an auto battery charger. This can be plugged into your garage, with the main charging unit mounted to the wall alongside your car. It only takes 20 minutes to attach permanent wiring to connect your battery to the charger — then you simply plug the charger into the car battery.

Unlike more conventional chargers, an auto charger will be of the trickle variety (it should not be used to charge a fully discharged battery) and, because of this, it will not generate dangerous gases during the charging cycle so there’s no need to remove the battery from the car. As a bonus, keeping your battery fully charged at all times will probably also extend battery life.

And, of course, when the next sunny Sunday beckons, you’ll have no need for jumper cables and conventional battery chargers.

NZ Classic Car’s editor swears by his auto charger — he doesn’t always have the time to drive his Lotus on a regular basis so, alas, it spends a lot of its time in the garage plugged into the charger. That way, when he does get a gap in his busy schedule the Lotus is always ready and raring to go.

Words and Photos: James Black

If you’re not sure how a differential works, get out the shop manual and familiarise yourself with your car’s type. Even though the principles are the same for most of them, they can differ in important aspects, such as how you adjust the pinion gear in relation to the ring gear. When you feel sure about what you are up against, here is how to proceed.

Pull the pumpkin

Place a piece of four-by-two between the brake pedal and the floorboard to prevent someone from inadvertently depressing the pedal while you have the rear brake backing plates off the car. Remove the rear wheels. Next, pull off the rear drums, and to accomplish that you may need a drum puller. Which type of drum puller you require depends on the type of car you have.

If your car uses the kind of puller that grips the edges of the drums, you can pound on the centre of the drum puller with a hard rubber mallet to pop the drum loose, but if your car requires a puller that attaches to the studs, don’t pound on the centre of the drum puller. You will damage the thrust block in the differential spider gears if you do.

Disconnect the brake lines from the wheel cylinders and remove the brake backing plates. Save any shims you find between the backing plates and the axle flanges, and don’t mix them up. Next, pull the axles out of the axle housing. On some cars, you will need an axle puller to do this. Finally, split the rear U-joint and wire or tape its bearing cups together so you won’t lose the needle bearings inside them. Pull the prop shaft off the transmission and set it aside.

Wash down the pumpkin with solvent and a brush. You don’t want any grit falling into the bearings or gears when you pull the gear case out. Now drain the gear oil from the differential. Roll the transmission jack under the differential carrier and run it up to just below the axle housing. Don’t be tempted to lift the differential assembly out with your bare hands, because they are heavy and slippery. Cut the heads off of a couple of three inch-long bolts the same size as the ones that hold in the differential assembly to make a pair of studs.

Take the bolts out at the three and nine o’clock positions and install the studs in their place. Remove the rest of the bolts and slide the differential carrier straight forward.

Inspection and repair

Bolt your diff to an engine stand, or mount it in a large, smooth-jawed vise. Inspect the ring and pinion gears. Are they chipped, broken or pitted? Are they worn to a knife-edge? Are they discoloured? If any of these problems exist, you will need to replace both gears. Ring and pinion gears are machined as matched sets, so you can’t replace one and not the other. If they look good, try to move them in relation to one another. If there is a lot of play between them, your problem may be that the bearings are worn.

Grab a punch and hammer and mark the bearing caps and bearing pedestals in relation to one another so you won’t get them mixed up when you reassemble the differential. Also mark the big, disk-shaped bearing adjusting nuts in relation to the bearing pedestals.

Now loosen the bolts holding the bearing caps in place enough to allow you to remove the bearing adjusting nuts. Carefully count the number of turns required to remove each bearing nut, and write it down. This will help you get the bearings back into approximate adjustment when you put things back together. Lift the differential case and ring gear out of the differential carrier.

To get the pinion gear and bearings out, remove the U-joint yoke, then the pinion nut. Save any shims you find. Now slide the pinion shaft out the rear of the diff carrier. Pull the pinion seal out of the front of the casting.

The bearing and adjusting cone (if there is one) should come out next. If, after inspecting the bearings, you decide they must be replaced, you can drive the bearing races out of the carrier casting with a hammer and drift.

Wash out and inspect all the bearings. Shoot them with light oil and turn them slowly. They should turn smoothly and be firmly held in their cages. There should be no pitting, discoloration or galling on the rollers or their races. If you see signs of wear, replace the bearings.

Remove them with a bearing puller. Bad bearings are the most common problem with differentials. They often fail because of neglect and/or lack of lubricant. Take your old bearings to a bearing supply house and have them matched up.

You will also want to inspect the differential spider gears inside the gear carrier, although they almost never need replacing. They don’t turn at all when the car is going in a straight line, and unless you have been doing doughnuts they aren’t likely to be worn.

Reassembly

New bearings will need to be pressed on using a hydraulic press. Many auto spares stores and machine shops can help you with this task if you don’t have a press. If you need to replace your ring and pinion gears, when you install the new ring gear, tighten its bolts evenly in three stages to about 45lbs/ft (this is a rule of thumb for most old car differentials, but check your shop manual to be sure. Yours may differ). If the bolts were wired into place originally, rewire them during reassembly.

Tap in new races for the pinion shaft. Slip it back into place and install the front bearing. Set the gear case back into its bearing saddles and, using new keepers for the bolts, tighten the bearing caps loosely into place. Install the bearing adjusting nuts and turn them back into place the same number of turns as when you removed them.

Adjustment

This is the most critical part of the job. If you don’t get the relationship between the ring and pinion gears just right, they will self-destruct. Also, if the carrier bearings aren’t preloaded properly they won’t last long either. Some differential designs use shims to adjust the pinion gear and shaft in relation to the ring gear; others use a cone of soft metal inside the differential carrier. Be sure to read up on how your car’s diff is to be adjusted before undertaking the job. All we can offer here are general tips based on common designs.

The big, disk-shaped adjusting nuts beside the differential carrier bearings adjust the ring gear in relation to the pinion gear, and they also set the preload on the differential bearings. Check the lash between the ring gear and the pinion gear using a machinist’s dial indicator mounted on a magnetic base (usually, it should be between o.003-inch and 0.005, but check your manual for the figure for your car). Also, use a little methylene blue liquid on the gear teeth to check for proper contact. The chart at lower left shows what to look for, and how to tell when you have it right.

To set the preload on the differential bearings, use a large bull calliper, which looks like an iceman’s tongs, for those of you old enough to remember the iceman. With the bearing caps still slightly loose, check the distance between the bearing pedestals with the bull calliper. Now tighten the adjusting nuts equally so as not to disturb the ring gear adjustment, until a feeler gauge of the correct thickness (0.010-inch is common) will just slip in under one tip of the bull calliper.

Finally, it is well worth the effort to recheck everything one more time before popping your pumpkin back into its housing. As we said at the beginning, if the gear lash and bearing preloads aren’t right, your differential will be noisy and won’t last long.

Guide to rebuilding a rear-end

Things you’ll need

• Jack stands

• Transmission jack

• Brake tubing wrench

• Ball peen hammer, punch, drift

• Bearing puller

• Drum puller

• Magnetic base and dial indicator

• Sharp putty knife

• Methylene blue liquid

• Silicone sealer

• Bearing press

• Seals and gaskets

• Gears and bearings as required

• Hypoid gear lube

Differentials get dirty in service. Be sure to clean yours thoroughly before taking it out. You don’t want grit in the gears and bearings
Mark the bearing pedestals using a hammer and punch before taking the end caps off so you won’t get them mixed up
Also mark the big, disk-shaped adjusting nuts in relation to the pedestals the same way
Bend the keeper tabs enough to allow your wrench to clear, then remove the bearing caps
Remove the adjusting nuts, counting the number of turns it takes to remove them as you do, so you can put them back approximately in adjustment
The rear pinion shaft bearing will have to be driven off with a hammer and drift. A new one will need to be pressed in place using a hydraulic press
Components of a typical differential. The one in your car may differ slightly
Adjusting differential bearing preload Bearing preload is also critical to the life of your differential. One way of setting it is with a bull calliper and feeler gauges
Adjusting clearance and backlash Use methylene blue dye liquid for checking gear teeth contact between ring and pinion gears. Modern hypoid differentials are not forgiving of poor adjustment
Typical Morris open drive differential Morris differential is fairly typical, but check your shop manual before you begin work on your car

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

The clutch is the most problem-prone part of the drive train in cars with manual transmissions. That’s because it must take the heat and pressure for all of your gear change decisions. The gearbox and rear end just go along for the ride

How it works: the flywheel

Bolted to the flange of the crankshaft at the rear of the engine is the flywheel, which is the forward-most part of the clutch assembly. The ring gear for the starter is attached to it as well, but the main reason for the flywheel is to store energy.

The flywheel is the clutch’s driving surface, with the clutch disc being its driven surface. Because the clutch disc slips against the flywheel when the clutch is being engaged and disengaged, a lot of heat is generated. The flywheel also acts as a heat sink to prevent incinerating your clutch lining. As a result, flywheels get scorched, cracked and warped because of the tremendous temperatures they endure; and after long use they must be resurfaced, and in extreme cases, replaced.

The clutch disc

The clutch disc rides on the splines of the transmission’s clutch shaft and is made up of two layers of organic lining similar to brake lining. Sandwiched between these two layers is a set of springs and levers, or a wavy segmented metal disk that helps smooth the clutching action.

At the centre of the clutch disk is the hub assembly. It has springs and pin stops built into it that allow more flexing during shifting. The clutch disk slides on the transmission’s clutch shaft during shifting, but it doesn’t slide far. Even though the clutch pedal swings in a big arc when you depress it, your clutch disk only moves about 0.77mm to do its job.

The pressure plate assembly

In order for the clutch disk to clamp against the flywheel to drive the car, a set of strong springs, pushing against a cast iron ring called the pressure ring, are employed. A set of levers that look like pie slices — in the case of a diaphragm clutch — are moved by the clutch release bearing, and are used to pull the pressure ring away from the clutch disk when shifting gears. The clutch disk and pressure ring are contained in the clutch cover, which is a stamped metal pan.

Diaphragm clutches are  easy to spot because their sheet metal actuating diaphragm (called a belleville spring) looks like a sliced pie. A belleville spring works the same as when you press on the top of a biscuit tin with your thumb. Pressure increases until the lid pops — or goes past centre — after which little pressure is required to deform it further.

Replacing a clutch

A clutches isn’t hard to deal with once you have it out of the car. The hardest part is removal — because it is sandwiched between the engine and the transmission, one of these items must come out in order to get at it. Check you service manual for the best way to do it on your vehicle.

Jack your car up and put it on the sturdy jack stands. Put long pins in place of the top two bolts holding the transmission to the bell housing so you can slide the transmission straight back to avoid damaging your clutch disk. Make the pins from long bolts by cutting their heads off with a hacksaw. You will also need these pins to install your transmission later.

Mark the flywheel in relation to the crankshaft flange, and the pressure plate assembly in relation to the flywheel. These must go back on oriented the same way as when they were removed, in order to preserve engine balance. Save any shims you find between the bell housing and the engine or between the bell housing and the transmission, and put them back in the same places when you button things up, so your transmission will line up properly with your clutch. Evenly loosen the bolts holding the pressure plate assembly onto the flywheel a half turn at a time, so the springs inside it don’t warp the cover.

Inspection

Check your flywheel for discoloration or cracks. Also inspect it for warpage by placing a steel ruler across it edge-wise. If you see light under your ruler at any point, your flywheel is warped and will need to be resurfaced at a machine shop.

A flywheel with deep cracks that cannot be ground-out during resurfacing should always be replaced. A defective flywheel can explode like a hand grenade, with devastating results. After the flywheel is properly surfaced, a new or rebuilt clutch assembly should be attached to it and the whole thing balanced to prevent vibration during acceleration when you drive your car.

It is a good idea to replace your pilot bushing when doing the clutch. Fill its cavity with grease, then tap a drift the same diameter as your clutch shaft into the hole. Hydraulic action should pop out the old bushing. Install the new one using a soft brass drift of the correct diameter, being careful not to distort the bushing or create a burr on it.

Clutch and pressure plate assembly

Examine the clutch disc for oil contamination, glazing and wear. If the friction surfaces are worn thin, replace the clutch disk. If your clutch disk is only a little glazed, use sand paper to roughen it. If it is burned or discoloured, replace it. Never touch the lining surface with your fingers, and if you do create a smudge, remove it with alcohol-based brake lining cleaner.

Give the pressure ring a once-over. If it is burned, cracked or warped, the pressure plate assembly will need to be replaced. If the release diaphragm is worn, the verdict is the same.

Installation

If you removed it during disassembly, bolt the bell housing back onto the engine, making sure you install any shims in the same locations. Bolt the flywheel onto the crankshaft flange with new bolts of the correct hardness (a grade 8 is the minimum requirement) using new locking devices. Evenly torque the bolts to the specs in your service manual.

Using a pilot tool or old clutch shaft, slip the clutch disk in place against the flywheel. Make sure your clutch disk is facing the right way before installing the pressure plate. Attach the pressure plate to the flywheel and tighten its bolts evenly, half a turn at a time. If you don’t tighten down the clutch assembly evenly, you risk distorting it. Remove the pilot tool, then lubricate the pilot bearing with a little grease.

Pack the clutch release bearing with grease and slip it into its yoke. Put a bit of grease on the yoke pivot point too. Make sure you install the throw out bearing facing the right direction.

Transmission

Put the gearbox into high gear. Put your locator pins back into the upper bell housing holes. Slide the transmission into place. You may have to turn the U-joint yoke a little in order to get the splines on the clutch shaft to mesh with those on the clutch disk. Remove the locator pins, and tighten the transmission attaching bolts evenly.

Reattach the prop shaft at the universal joint. Hook up the clutch linkage, then adjust it to allow the correct amount of free pedal travel before it starts to engage.

Adjustment

Start your engine, depress the clutch, and bring the revs up slightly. Shift the transmission into reverse. If there is no gear clashing, adjust the clutch push-rod a little at a time until the reverse gears just start to clash when you shift. Now take the adjustment back out a little to where the gears don’t clash. This will give you a sufficient air gap. This method only works in gears that have no synchromesh, such as reverse.

Guide to rebuilding a clutch

This flywheel has serious cracks and scorching and must be replaced
The Flywheel is reground and balanced with clutch assembly, ready to install
A new pilot bushing is always a good idea when installing a clutch
Tighten the pressure plate in place evenly, a half-turn at a time
Install the throw-out bearing making sure it is facing the right way round
An old clutch shaft is used to align the clutch assembly
Long pins made from bolts with heads cut off help guide gear box back in
Diaphragm clutch
Bork and Beck type clutch
How a clutch engages and disengages
Adjusting the clutch pedal freeplay and travel

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Follow these maintenance guidelines and your classic car will provide longer-lasting driving satisfaction

How often you should change your car’s oil depends on when it was built. With cars manufactured before oil filters were common, you need to change the oil every 1609km (1000 miles) in order to prevent sludge build-up in the sump. With cars from the late ’30s on, every 3219km (2000 miles) was typical between services.

Take your car out for a 20-minute drive so the engine is thoroughly warmed up before draining the oil. Sludge, dirt, water and acids settle out of the oil when a car has been sitting. When you drain a cold engine, some of these contaminants remain in the oil galleries and sump, thus defeating the purpose of the oil change. However, if you drain the engine after it is warmed and the oil has been circulating, these by-products will be held in suspension so they will drain out with it.

Slide a drip pan under the sump and roll under your car, then loosen and remove the drain plug. Wear neoprene gloves so the hot oil won’t burn your hands. Let the oil drain completely. Inspect your old oil for metal particles and coolant. If you find either, you need to make repairs. Metal particles could mean damaged bearings, and water could mean a blown head gasket or cracked head or block.

Check the copper washer on the drain plug to make sure it is not cracked or deformed. If it is, replace it with a fresh one. Also, if your drain plug is magnetic, check its tip for metallic deposits. They mean trouble if you find them. When the oil is finished draining, put the plug back in the pan and tighten, but don’t over-tighten it.

Change the filter

The rule of thumb used to be, change the filter at every other oil change. But if you are driving the car frequently in a dusty area, you should change the filter with each oil change.

On more modern cars that have full-flow, self-contained filters, slide your catch pan over until it is under the filter and, using a filter wrench, loosen the filter and remove it. Smear a little oil or grease on your new replacement filter’s gasket to keep it from sticking, and then screw it back on by hand. Snug it up a half to a 3/4 turn with a filter wrench.

On older cars, the oil filters consisted of cartridges in canisters on top of the engine. If your classic is thus equipped, take off the top of the canister, then grab a rag and catch any drips as you lift out the cartridge. After the filter is removed, wipe the canister out with a rag soaked in solvent. Drop the new filter cartridge into it making sure the filter is right side up. Smear a little oil on the seal, then reinstall the canister lid — don’t over-tighten it though.

Add fresh oil

Which type of oil you add depends more on climatic conditions and how worn your engine is than anything else. In cold climates a 5W-20 multi-viscosity oil may be a good choice. With worn engines that consume a little oil, a 20W-50 is likely a good selection. But for most cars and most conditions, 10W-30 is probably your best bet.

The myth that single viscosity oils are necessary for older cars has been tested and proven untrue. Today’s multi-viscosity detergent oils are much better than anything available 40 or 50 years ago, and better for day-to-day use than single weight oils.

Check the gearbox and differential

If your car is equipped with a standard transmission, grab your adjustable spanner and roll back under the car. On the side of the gearbox will be an inspection plug about half way up on its gear case. Remove it and insert your finger into the hole in a straight and level position. Gear oil should just touch the bottom of your finger.

If your transmission is low on oil, you can use a plastic squeeze bottle to squirt in enough to fill the transmission level with the inspection plug. Some old car gearboxes require heavy hypoid gear oil, but check your shop manual to see what yours needs.

There is often no specified interval in your shop manual for changing the lubricant in your transmission or differential in later cars, but it definitely makes sense to change the oil in them. Cars from the ’50s on back should have the lube changed in their standard transmissions every 16,000km/10,000 miles or so.

Grease the chassis

Older cars have zerq fittings to allow them to be greased. Generally, the older the car, the more fittings it will have. Cars from the ’60s might have only six fittings, but cars from the ’30s or ’40s might have 12 to 16. If you can find a lube chart for your classic, it will make your life easier, but you can do the job without one.

You will find fittings top and bottom on the old-style ball joints as well as on kingpin and bushing steering systems, and you will find them at the ends of tie rods, drag links and Pitman arms. There may also be fittings at the pivots for the clutch and brake pedals. And leaf springs will have them at the shackles.

Clean each fitting with a rag and shoot a couple of squirts of chassis grease into it. Wipe away any excess. And once you have the chassis greased, get out from under the car and smear a little grease on door and hood latches, but be careful not to put on so much that it will get on people’s clothing when they get into the car.

The universal joints on your car’s prop shaft may have zerq fittings also. If they do, you don’t need to grease them at every service interval. But once a year you should gently push a little grease into them using a pump-type grease gun.

Vital fluids

Check the coolant to make sure the radiator is topped up, and if it isn’t, add water. Never add coolant. Many old cars were designed to have water only in their cooling systems along with a rust inhibitor, and if you add coolant to them they will run hot.

On later cars that were designed to have coolant in them, as the coolant goes down only add water. Of course, both the coolant and the water in your car’s cooling system should be changed once a year anyway.

Finally, check your brake master cylinder and top it up with the correct fluid. Incidentally, brake fluid should be changed every two years, though very few people do it. To finish the routine maintenance, grab a squirt can with a little light oil in it and oil your car’s door hinges, bonnet hinges and boot hinges.

You’d be surprised how few service techs think to do this, and how much difference it makes to the movement of these items.

Tips on servicing your classic car

For routine service you’ll need a creeper, jack stands, a grease gun, a catch basin and funnel, a big adjustable wrench, motor oil, brake fluid, gear lube, white grease, and a battery cable cleaning brush
Block the wheels of your car when jacking it up to prevent accidents.
Wear gloves when removing the oil pan plug to prevent burns from hot oil
Check the drain plug for metal filings or a cracked or deformed copper washer
Wipe each grease fitting clean before pumping in new grease
Look for grease fittings at leaf spring shackles front and rear
Kingpins and bushings, as well as tie rods and Pitman arms may also have grease fittings
On standard transmissions, the inspection plug is located half way up the gear case
Stick your finger straight in. The oil should just come up to the bottom of your finger
If the transmission or differential are low on oil, replenish them until a little runs out
Old style oil filters were canisters on top of the engine with filter cartridges in them
When installing a new filter, coat the rubber gasket with a little grease first
Don’t forget to add an extra quart of oil to the filter if your classic has one
Don’t forget to check your car’s brake master cylinder and top it up as required
Put a small amount of grease on your classic’s door latches

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Restoring chrome and stainless trim is easier than you think

Many refer to all the brightwork on cars as chrome, but often as not, much of it is actually stainless steel or polished aluminium. Whatever it happens to be on your classic, you’ll want it to look dazzling if you are doing a restoration — and stainless steel or aluminium trim can be made to look good as new at home, provided it isn’t torn or mutilated to the point of no return. Dents, scrapes and scratches are all fixable, and then you can buff the parts to a dazzling shine.

You will need a buffer, the bigger the better. You can use a smaller bench grinder as a buffer using smaller wheels, or you can even use an old washing machine motor with a collet attachment if that is all your budget will permit. However, a larger buffer means faster buffing.

If possible, find an assembly manual for your car so you can see how to remove brightwork. There are also special tools available for trim removal, depending on make and era. Save all the fasteners in labelled plastic bags, because you may not be able to find replacements. Masking tape is handy to protect paint if you are not going to repaint the car.

Removing dents

Use a body hammer, or one of the special little hammers designed for working stainless to pick out any dings. Work from the outer edges of dents in toward the centre to help draw in the metal. Don’t tap very hard, and use a small anvil or the tail of a vise to back your work so you won’t stretch the metal and make new dents. Wooden dowels and pieces of soft wood are also good for tapping out dents. Do this on a wood surface so as not to mar your trim.

Use a fine file to clean up any pimples. If you find small, low spots while filing, tap them out before going further. Only file enough to level the high spots. And be careful not to take off too much metal and weaken the part. Stainless steel is very hard, so sanding out scratches is time consuming. The fewer scratches you make, the less time you will have to spend getting them out.

Polishing and buffing

Next, take out the file scratches using #220-grit wet and dry sandpaper. Work back and forth across the scratches so as not to make them worse. When the file marks are all gone, switch to #320-grit paper, then finish with #400-grit. Be sure to sand in a criss-cross fashion, moving the part back and forth, to minimise the scratches.

After taking out the dents I prefer to go over all my stainless steel completely again with #400-grit wet and dry sandpaper to get rid of the years of scratches from buffers, polishers and other abrasive items that may have brushed past the stainless while it was on the car. This may seem like overkill, but I have found it actually saves time and gives me a better result. After going over the whole item with the #400-grit I switch to #1000-grit for a final sand. The result is that the part has a uniform satin sheen before buffing.

Use a sisal wheel and preferably a high-speed buffer that turns at 3400rpm to take out the sandpaper lines. Just touch the wheel with a little heavy-duty stainless steel polishing compound, and then start moving the part lightly back and forth across the wheel, letting the wheel — not pressure — do the work. Keep moving the item to be buffed in order to avoid heat build-up and discoloration. Coat the buffing wheel frequently but lightly while working.

Back any delicate strips with pieces of wood to avoid bending or kinking them. Let the part cool after each buffing, then clean it with lacquer thinner so you won’t contaminate the next polishing wheel. If you do happen to scorch and discolour the metal, sand the scorch off with #400-grit and then #1000-grit and re-polish.

Next, go to a sewn cotton wheel and emery compound and work at right angles to your previous polishing. Let the part cool again, then clean it and do the final buffing using jeweller’s rouge and an open, unsewn wheel. Store your buffing wheels separately in plastic bags to avoid contaminating them with the wrong compound or dirt.

Painting

Painting decorative stainless trim in the areas that were painted originally requires a little care. And chances are, if your classic’s stainless needs restoring to look its brightest, the painted areas need restoring too. Fortunately, that can be done easily and quickly. The most important challenge is to make sure the paint sticks. Here’s how to do it.

First, wash the part carefully with hot water and dishwasher detergent to get any grease or dirt off. Then lightly scuff the area to be painted using a grey Scotch Brite pad, being careful not to dull the polished areas. I do this after the part is masked, just to avoid problems. Finally, shoot on a thin coat of primer followed by three coats of colour. That’s all there is to it.

If you follow these simple tips even old, dented and dull stainless can be made to look as good as when it came from the factory. And when you drive your classic out onto the judging field, your stainless trim will look dazzling.

Most buffers are powerful enough to do serious injury, so be sure to follow these safety tips.

1) Dress properly. Fairly tight-fitting leather gloves (available at welding supply stores) are important to protect your hands and to prevent hot particles from burning your skin.

2) A full face shield and a dust respirator or at least a particle mask are also important to protect your eyes and lungs.

3) Hold the part under the wheel, never on top of it. A 0.4kW motor spinning at 3000rpm can eject an item at very high velocity, and do serious injury if it hits you.

4) Brace long, slim items with wood slats as backing to stiffen them and keep them from slipping out of your hands. Never look away from your work while buffing.

5) Never put your fingers in holes to hold parts. Grinders and buffers have been known to rip items out of your fingers, and many stainless steel and sheet metal parts have sharp edges.

6) Never polish or buff a part with its edge in front of the rotation of the wheel. Turn the part around so the edge follows the direction of the wheel’s rotation. Buffers can grab an item unexpectedly and throw it at great speed.

7) If you have long hair, tie it back or wear a cap. Hair can get twisted around spinning shafts with disastrous results.

Press lightly. Let the buffer do the work. If you press too hard you just create more heat, and you run the risk of losing control of the item to be buffed.

Guide to restoring chrome and stainless trim

Dull stainless steel decorative trim can be restored and polished to look better than new
Work in a spiral in toward the centre of dents when picking them out.
Use a fine file to remove pimples from picking, and deep scratches
An electric drill with a sanding bit can be used to take out file marks
Use #220-grit sandpaper to remove file marks or scratches from sanding bit
Buff with a sisal wheel first, then a sewn cotton wheel, and finish with an open wheel
Just touch the wheel with compound. You don’t need to apply a lot, but you need to add it frequently
Use strips of wood to back your work so you won’t bend or kink it
Leather gloves, a particle mask and a safety shield or safety glasses are a must for buffing
Chrome plated parts can also be buffed out if they are not in bad condition
Use a grey Scotch Brite pad to scuff up stainless trim before applying paint
Shoot on a light coat of primer and let it dry thoroughly before applying colour coats
Apply colour coats using a touch up spray gun or special mixed aerosol cans
Wrap restored parts in newspaper to keep them from getting scratched until you can install them

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

If your classic doesn’t have front and rear anti-roll bars, fitting them is a good way of improving handling and safety

Many years ago a 1957 Chev pick-up I owned blew a rear tyre on the highway just outside the town of Kamloops, in Western Canada. I had a fair amount of equipment on board, so the old truck was probably a bit top heavy for the speed I was doing.

As soon as the tyre blew the truck tipped dangerously, while the wheel on the high side in the rear hopped ominously. I corrected, and that kept me from rolling over, but it also lined me up on the gas pumps of a petrol station that just happened to be on the other side of that stretch of highway. A last minute jig of the wheel got me past the pumps and brought me to a stop beside the petrol station.

The proprietor ran out and stood there staring at my truck, scratching his head in disbelief. This whole humiliating episode taught me an important lesson, and that is, no matter what type of suspension your classic has, stabiliser bars (also known as anti-sway or anti-roll bars), can help you avoid humiliation, and possibly even save your life.

By limiting how far your car can lean or sway, these simple additions to your classic’s suspension can keep you right side up and in your own lane through turns and unforeseen mishaps. That’s because with stabiliser bars, if the weight of the body and chassis is pitched to one side, the bars transfer much of the pressure from the weight on the low side back to the high side of the vehicle, and help right it as a result.

Trucks, like many older cars, have chassis and bodies that sit on top of their suspension systems, but most modern cars sit down into the suspension, making them far more stable. Sitting on top of the suspension limits high-speed handling and makes a vehicle rather unforgiving if you get it sideways. Independent front suspension won’t help that situation much — the only way to fix the problem is to install sway bars, and luckily almost nothing could be easier.

Before you get into the installation, take your classic out for a spirited spin and note how it handles. Don’t push it near its limit. Just get the feel for its stock performance through corners. There are two reasons for this. The first is to have it fresh in your mind how your vehicle’s suspension normally behaves, so if something is not right when you finish the installation you’ll know it. The second reason for taking a spin is so you will be able to fully appreciate the difference sway bars make.

A word of caution is in order, though. Adding just a front stabiliser bar can help fight body roll, and is a good idea, but never install only a rear sway bar without a front one, because you will have major handling problems if you do.

When you get your bits or kit(s), lay all the hardware out on your shop floor and familiarise yourself with how things go together. The only tools you need to install sway bars are a set of wrenches, a couple of big screwdrivers for gently prying things into position, and a large, hand-held electric drill.

Rear Bar

Lay the rear sway bar over the rear axle with its arms facing to the rear, and its hump over the differential housing. Slip the U-bolts up under the axle, then place the U-shaped clamping brackets that act as locking devices on top of the axle. At this point you may need to bend the U-bolts in toward the axle slightly in order to install the doublers and brackets.

Slip the doubler, or backing plate, down over the U-bolts. Put the split rubber bushing around the sway bar and slide it over the doubler. Now install the brackets and just snug them into place, but don’t tighten them yet. Assemble the rubber bushings, washers and spacers on the end links along with the attaching brackets that go on the frame of your classic. Slip the bottom ends of the end links into the eyes at the ends of the sway bars, then note how the brackets need to attach to the chassis. Mark the holes for the brackets, then take the end links back off.

Bolt the end links loosely into the sway bar, and then attach the end link brackets to the frame. Check out your installation to make sure it clears brake lines, shock absorbers and springs through their complete range of travel, then evenly tighten all the fasteners.

Front Bar

A front stabiliser bar is no more difficult to install than one in the rear, but you must make sure the steering components and shock absorbers are clear of the stabiliser bar through the entire suspension travel.

Lay everything out on a table, and familiarise yourself with the parts. In addition to the brackets and bushings to hold the bar in place, there are the end links and the L-shaped brackets to which they attach. Make sure you jack up any vehicle with a solid front axle exactly in the centre of the axle, so the suspension will hang down an equal amount on both sides. Put jack stands under the frame, and make sure they are secure before climbing underneath.

The sway bar itself attaches to the front chassis cross member. Place the sway bar under the cross member, then mark where you want the brackets to attach. A cobalt-tipped bit is handy to drill the required holes for the bolts that attach the brackets. Slip the rubber bushings onto the sway bar, move them into place, then, with the doubler on top of the brackets, bolt the sway bar into place loosely.

Loosen the nuts on the front inner bolts of the spring perches, and use them to attach the supplied L-brackets, positioning them so they are pointing in at a 45-degree angle to the frame. Now assemble the end links and attach them to the eyes in the sway bar and the holes in the-L brackets. Check your work carefully to make sure everything clears, then tighten all the bolts.

Before you let your classic down off of the jack, get a friend to climb in and turn the steering all the way from lock to lock to make sure the steering apparatus clears the sway bar in all positions. Next, let the car down off the jack, then get your friend to jump on the front bumper while you make sure everything clears as the springs bounce up and down. If there are any hang-ups or there is binding, make sure you correct it before going further. If things look okay, it’s time for another test ride.

You will be surprised at how much flatter your classic corners, and how much more sure-footed it feels. Sway bars don’t affect riding comfort, but they make a big difference in performance. Coupled with a good set of adjustable shock absorbers, they can make high-speed driving a far more pleasant situation.

Guide to fitting a stabiliser bar

This is all the hardware needed to add sway bars to your car
Start by placing the rear sway bar on the rear axle and arranging it for clearance
Slide on the rubber bushings, then secure the bar in place with the special brackets
Make sure your sway bar will clear any brake lines or shock absorbers before going further
Attach the end links and their brackets loosely, then use them¨to locate where you need holes in the frame
Attach the brackets, then tighten the end links into place
The installation is complete. No more dangerous leaning through corners with this set-up
This is the complete kit for the front sway bar. Never install a ¨rear sway bar without installing a front one
Snug the end links into place so you can do the alignment for the rubber bushings and brackets
Use a cobalt-tipped drill bit to drill the holes for the bushing brackets
Mount the bushings and brackets on the front cross-member assembly
Make sure the steering, brakes and suspension clear your new sway bar, then tighten it into place

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Before you consider rebuilding your classic’s steering box make sure the rest of the system is in good order

Tie rod ends should be in good shape, as should the Pitman arm and the other bits that go into the steering gear. Also make sure your car’s tyres are properly inflated. Then try adjusting your steering box according to your car’s shop manual before you go to the trouble of rebuilding its steering box.

To rebuild a basic steering box you will need to remove it from the car. On early cars with floor shifts, the job is easy. On later cars it involves removing the panels around the column inside the car and disconnecting the shift linkage. Check your shop manual to determine the best way to do this.

Removal sequence

To get the steering column and box out, remove the steering wheel. You will need a steering-wheel puller but, before you pull the wheel, disconnect the horn wire at the base of the steering box. Then attach a two-metre length of sturdy string to it.

Remove the horn button. Often you can get it out by pressing it in and turning it a quarter turn. Other horn buttons come loose by detaching screws from behind. Usually, the horn wire is attached to the horn button. Pull the horn button up so its wire comes out of the tube. Untie the string and leave it in the steering column. (The reason for the string is so you can thread the horn wire back down through the column and box and out the bottom when you put the steering box back in.) Remove the horn contact ring and spring.

Mark the steering wheel and steering shaft so you will be able to align the steering wheel when you put it back on. Attach the steering wheel puller and slowly tighten it. Beware — steering wheels can come off with a lot of force. Remove the spring and small bearing at the top of the steering column jacket.

Get under the car and disconnect the steering connecting-arm. Next, mark the Pitman arm and cross shaft so you will be able to put the Pitman arm back on correctly. Remove the Pitman arm. A gear puller will usually do the job, or you can use a bar made for separating ball joints. Unbolt the steering box from the frame of the car.

Down to business

Clean the box and wash it with solvent — this avoids getting dirt in the bearings and bushings when you open the steering box. When everything is clean, grip the box in a vise by one of its bolt pads so it is approximately level. Remove the steering column jacket tube and clamp.

Remove the plate that covers the Pitman arm shaft on top of the steering box casing. Save its gasket so you can cut a new one later. Wrap the splined end of the sector gear shaft with electrical tape to prevent damage to the seal in the casing. Lift the sector gear shaft out the top of the box. Remove the end plate from the casing and pull out the bearing cup and lower worm gear bearing. On some makes there will also be an adjusting sleeve that needs to come out.

Lift the sector, or roller gear out through the top of the case. Pull the worm gear and steering column out through the end of the case.  Inspect the worm and sector or roller gears. If they are chipped, pitted, or worn you will need to find a new, or good used set from another box.

The sector gear or roller is integral to the shaft on most designs so you will need to change out the complete assembly. The worm gear is usually keyed to the steering shaft and can be pressed off using a bearing press, or get a local machine shop to press it off for you.

Next, look the worm gear bearings and cups over for pitting and wear. The races should be free of discoloration and the bearings should turn freely. The bearings should also be held firmly in their cages. If they aren’t, replace both the bearing and outer cup. In some cases, the inner bearing race on the steering gear is cast integrally with the worm gear.

If you need to change the outer bearing cup for the upper worm gear bearing, you will probably need to have a machine shop pull it out of the steering box casing for you. It is usually pressed in, and difficult to get at from behind. While you are at the machine shop, have them press in the new bearing cup as well. Don’t use a new bearing in an old bearing cup though.

Bearings and races are machined to work as a set. Finally, check the bushings in the Pitman arm shaft housing. If they are worn or damaged, have a machine shop press in new ones, then burnish them to fit the Pitman arm shaft.

Reassembly

Check the steering column seal in the upper end of the steering box casing. If it is damaged, replace it. Smear a little gear oil on the upper worm gear bearing and slide it onto its race. Carefully slip the steering column back up through the seal in the upper casing. If there is an adjusting sleeve in your steering box, put it in now. Oil and install the lower worm gear bearing and cup.

Coat the mating surfaces of the worm gear end plate with sealer, then press on a new gasket. If your steering box employs shims for adjustment, slip them over the horn wire string now. Thread the horn wire string down through the tube in the worm gear end plate. Tighten the end plate evenly into place. Oil its bushings, then slip the Pitman arm shaft down into the steering box casing until its gear or roller engages the worm gear. Install a new gasket and tighten the cover into place.

Carefully slide the steering column mast jacket onto the column and tighten its clamp. Put any felt oiling pads in place, then install the upper steering column bearing. With the steering box still in the vise, temporarily install the steering wheel, then adjust the worm and sector gear lash and end-play according to the instructions in the manual. Install any shift linkage that needs to be added before putting the steering box assembly back in the car.

Bolt the steering box loosely to the frame. Now get inside the car and loosely install the steering bracket. Put the steering wheel on temporarily and turn it all the way to the left until it stops, then all the way to the right. This is to relieve any binding in the system. Tighten the steering box and column bracket into place making sure that the column is properly aligned.

Put any shift linkage back on, then install any jacketing around the steering column. Make sure the front wheels are straight ahead. Then, using your reference marks to orient it properly, slide the steering wheel onto its splines.

Tighten down the steering wheel nut.

Slip the horn contact cup, insulator and spring onto the horn wire. Tie the string hanging out of the steering column to the horn wire, then get out of the car and pull the horn wire down through the column and out through the end plate. Rotate the horn button into place. Reattach its wire to the wire from the main harness.

Fill the steering box with gear lube, then take the car out for a test drive. If things aren’t right, fine-tune your adjustments to the steering box. If the steering wheel spokes are not quite lined up, you may have to remove and reinstall it so it lines up properly when the car is going in a straight line.

Finally, check your steering box whenever you service the car to make sure it is full of lubricant.

This is an exploded view of a typical worm-and-roller steering box. There are three basic types of steering boxes in older cars, and many slight variations on each of them, but the basic adjustments are similar
On some cars the Pitman arm shaft and worm gear end-play can be adjusted without removing shims. On many others, shims need to be removed from under the access plate
Circulating ball steering boxes require less effort to steer
On Ramblers as well as some other makes, you will need to loosen a bolt to replenish the lubricant in the steering box, because no filler opening is provided
Remove the lower plate, then ease the lower worm gear bearing race out of the casing. Remove the lower worm gear bearing
Mark the steering wheel in relation to the column before removing the wheel
Use a steering wheel puller to remove the wheel from the splined column
The worm gear bearings and races should be checked for wear and pitting
If sector gear shaft bushings are worn, new ones will need to be pressed in at a machine shop, then burnished to the correct clearance

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Stripping old paint off a car can be time a consuming and dirty job — Jim shows you how to do it with the minimum of fuss

I’ve been spending time with strippers again as my 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon restoration project was finally mechanically restored, so it was time to do the bodywork and paint it. The problem was the thing had three paint jobs on it already, so all of the old paint had to come off.

I could have media blasted the car — that has its own problems — or I could have paid a body shop to do the stripping, provided I didn’t mind lots of hard-earned dollars flying out of my wallet. If you can do this work yourself you can save money.

Any way you go about it, stripping old paint off is nasty work. The good news is that it involves minimal skill and can easily be accomplished by a home hobbyist. However, safety precautions are paramount because automotive stripper is toxic. It will blister your skin, and the methyl chloride in it will damage your lungs if breathed it — so wear at least a particle mask.

Before you start taking off the paint, remove any chrome — door handles, ornamental strips, emblems and badges. Aircraft stripper can turn chrome a light blue and cause it to lose its lustre, and it will dissolve some plastic parts in no time.

Safety first

Work outdoors on a calm day if possible. Good ventilation is critical. Put a large tarp down under the car to catch the drips. Pull plastic rubbish bags over the wheels and tyres to protect them. Also, put on heavy clothing such as jeans and a long sleeve sweatshirt or coveralls. And don’t forget to wear a pair of safety goggles and a painting mask. Stripper is so toxic that it can damage your eyesight, and your lungs if you breathe the fumes.

Stripper will work more effectively if you sand the car with eighty-grit sandpaper to break the surface of the old paint — if you sand the paint with coarse sandpaper, you increase the surface for the stripper to attack and you break through the hard, outer layer of paint.

Use a cheap paint brush and spread a thick coat on an area about a metre square. Make sure your brush strokes go just one way, and don’t paint back through the stripper, otherwise you will hasten the evaporation. Just slop on a thick coat and keep the surface wet with stripper until the stuff has had a chance to do its job. If you are working on a warm day, cover the applied stripper with sheets of newspaper too, in order to slow down the loss of the active ingredients.

When the paint has bubbled and the stripper seems to have done all it’s going to do — about 10-15 minutes usually — lift off the newspaper and dispose of it in a rubbish bin with a lid. Carefully scrape the paint off using putty knives or plastic filler spreaders. If the paint does not come off to bare metal, don’t keep scraping. Instead, apply more stripper and let it set for another 10-15 minutes.

Wipe your putty knife or scraper onto old newspaper and place the dirty paper in the rubbish bin. If your car has been painted several time before, you may not get down to metal the first or even second time you apply the stripper.

You can tell what kind of paint was on your classic by the way it comes off. Enamel wrinkles and crinkles, while lacquer turns slowly to soup — lacquer makes a bigger mess. Finally, there will be a layer of primer underneath that will need to come off too, and that can be done using coarse steel wool and water.

If you don’t finish the stripping job all in one day, rinse and dry the areas you have worked and wrap them in plastic tarps to protect them from moisture. This is important because even in dry weather bare metal rusts quickly. If you are going to store items for any length of time, you should shoot on a coat of polyester primer to protect them.

Also, any areas you come across in the stripping process that contain plastic filler will need to have the filler taken out and replaced because stripper destroys filler. Grind it out with a heavy-duty twisted wire wheel.

Bare metal

When your parts are completely stripped, rinse them thoroughly with detergent, water and coarse steel wool, making sure to get all the stripper out of every groove and fold. If you get impatient here, any little bit of stripper left behind will eat away at your new paint and ruin your work. Dry your parts thoroughly.

Once you have the car stripped to bare metal, it’s time to make any repairs that might be required. When you have everything the way you want it, go over the car with eighty-grit dry sandpaper to develop a tooth to the metal.

Finally, use a good metal prepping solution to etch the metal and convert any unseen rust.

It is important that you protect all the parts you have stripped as soon as possible. If you don’t, you will soon have to contend with surface rust that will eventually bubble and eat through your new paintwork. One good product for this purpose is DuPont’s Variprime primer — this actually etches into the metal. Such primers protect your parts from rust until they are ready for finishing, and they create a good surface for high build primer.

Follow the instructions on the cans and let your parts cure indoors for a day or two before going any further.

When you’ve finished stripping all the old paint off your classic, the worst is over. The next steps are final bodywork and metal finishing, then comes spray painting and rubbing to produce that show-winning finish. And when it’s all done, you’ll be glad you spent a little time with a stripper.

Guide to Stripping Paint

Rough up the old finish with #80 grit dry sandpaper
Slop on the stripper and don’t paint back through your strokes
Scrape the stripper off using a putty knife or filler spreader
Wipe the stripper on old newspaper and then throw the newspaper into a trash can with a lid
Coarse steel wool takes off lacquer and softened primer quite nicely
Newspaper over stripper can help retard evaporation on hot days
Tailgate is stripped and ready to be cleaned and sanded
An angle grinder and wire wheel removes surface rust and any primer still left
Aircraft and automotive paint stripper, steel wool, cheap brushes, #80 grit sandpaper, tarps and old newspapers are what you need to strip pain
Move fast with wire wheel so you don’t heat up sheet metal panels
Wear safety goggles, hearing protection and leather gloves when using the angle grinder
The old Chevy’s nose is ready to be prepped and primed
Front and rear glass can come out when the car gets to the paint shop
A propane torch will soften plastic filler for removal, but be careful not to go over heat panels
We left the grille in because the hood latch fastens to it, but we will remove it at the paint shop

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Forced induction is not a new idea — the French were supercharging race cars as far back as 1909

When a normally aspirated engine is running, air enters when a piston is pulled down inside its cylinder on the intake stroke because as the piston recedes, it enlarges the chamber, causing a vacuum. This vacuum is then filled by air rushing in through the carburettor, which charges it with atomised fuel. The fuel and air mixture is in turn compressed by the raising piston. Then the mixture is ignited, super-heating the air and causing it to expand and push down on the piston. The hot air is released through the exhaust system. That, in a nutshell, is how a reciprocating engine works.

Atmospheric pressure is about 14 pounds per square inch at sea level, and it is what causes the cylinders to fill with air. So it stands to reason then that if you increase the air pressure beyond atmospheric by forcing more air into the intake system, you will end up with a denser mixture, a bigger explosion in the cylinder, and more power as a result. It’s called supercharging.

Nothing else you can do to an engine will add as much power — and lest you bring up nitrous oxide injection, let me point out that NOS is just a chemical form of supercharging — albeit a temporary one. In fact, power gains of between 30 and 75 per cent are possible just by adding a supercharger to our engines.

Bucks for the bang

The major catch for most of us is cost. Installing a supercharger or turbocharger can set you back $5000 at time of writing, and that is more than most of us spend on an entire engine. There are a few other challenges for the bloke working at home too, such as installation, plumbing, and setting up the ignition. Also, blowers work best with fuel injection, and that is another expense.

And of course, like everything else, there are limits as to how much increase in pressure you can put into an engine. That’s because as you compress air, it gets hotter. And as air gets hotter it becomes less dense, so the power gains diminish. Also, if the air/ fuel mixture coming into the engine becomes too lean or too hot, it may explode on its own and cause detonation, which will ruin your engine in short order.

Too much boost, a high compression ratio, or a combination of the two will cause detonation in a supercharged engine. Detonation occurs when the combustion pressure gets so high that the inlet charge explodes before the spark plug arcs. When this happens combustion takes place while the piston is still moving up in the cylinder, and that causes a tremendous shock to the pistons, rods, and crankshaft.

The flame speed across a cylinder under normal circumstances is somewhere between 190 and 320kph (120 and 200mph). But when fuel detonates — that is explodes under pressure before the spark plug even fires — the flame speed goes up as high as 2000mph, and the shock destroys your ring lands and pistons. A richer mixture (with more fuel in suspension) or one that is less compressed is cooler, so it is less likely to detonate. Also, there are devices called intercoolers that cool the compressed air before it goes into the engine, and they help prevent detonation too.

But even when you can get a cool, dense mixture into an engine under high pressure, you need to take into account whether you engine’s bottom end can handle the extra power. So even though theoretically the more air and fuel you can run through your engine the more power it will make, there are practical considerations.

Four to seven pounds increase in boost is maximum for the street, and if you want a reliable car for daily use, keep it down around four or five max. That’s enough to give you good midrange torque, yet keep you from running over your own engine parts.

Roots-type blowers

Most engine builders are familiar the Roots-type blower, which has been around for a very long time. The basic design actually goes back to the late 19th century, and was developed to pump air into mines. Inside that big housing on top of the engine are two figure-eight-shaped metal vanes that rotate in close tolerance with one another to move air.

Since the device can move air much faster than an engine can consume it, the air in the intake manifold becomes compressed. The blowers you see most commonly were originally developed by GMC for diesel truck engines. Hot rodders were quick to see their advantages, and adapted them to their engines years ago. These old-style crankshaft-driven blowers can give you more boost than you’ll ever need, look impressive, and make a lot of noise, but they are not the best choice for street use.

Big blowers require a fair amount of power just to turn them over, and they don’t fit under the bonnets of most vehicles. They also give you poor fuel economy, because the fuel/ air mixture must be kept rich to avoid detonation. Of course you can mitigate this by driving conservatively, but why would you want a blower in that case? For a dragster there is nothing better than a big blower, but on the street they’re sort of like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

Screw-type superchargers

There are some very nice screw-type blowers available that are a variation on the Roots-type supercharger. They use two rotors that are like interlocking screws. The original design comes from Sweden, and the advantage of it is that the air is compressed before it enters the intake manifold, so there is less heat.

Turbochargers

Turbochargers use the pressure of the escaping exhaust to spin a turbine that drives an impeller to force air into the intake manifold. Impressive power gains can be had with turbochargers, but they too have drawbacks. Like throttle lag for instance. You feel nothing at first, and then the engine comes on all at once when the turbocharger spools up.

Another interesting thing happens when you let off the throttle in a turbo-equipped car. The turbocharger keeps on pumping for a while longer as the last exhaust gas escapes, which is what causes that pop and the shot of flame out the exhaust.

Finally, turbochargers don’t provide boost at low revs, and their bearings and turbines can suffer from the extreme heat generated by the exhaust system if not properly cooled. They also require more extensive plumbing than superchargers.

Centrifugal superchargers

These too have been around for a long time but they have become popular again with American manufacturers. It is probably easiest to think of centrifugal superchargers as crankshaft-driven turbochargers. The advantages to them are that they give you boost at lower revolutions, and back off when you do, so there is no throttle lag. They are also easy to install, and they fit under the bonnets of most vehicles.

Blower Guide

The big Roots-type blower on this Corvette is intimidating, but is gross overkill for street use
Neatly done turbocharger installation gives this Chev 670kW to play with
Pulling the air through the carbs causes its own problems. It would be better if the blower fed the carbs, instead of the other way around
Blown V8 certainly wakes up this old Kaiser, but it’s strictly a fair weather show car
This is what detonation looks like. Explosive shocks to pistons rapidly destroy them
Late model injected small-block engines have tremendous potential thanks to precise fuel metering
Here’s how a Roots-type blower works. Air is pumped into the intake manifold by twin internal vanes
Screw-type blower is a variation of Roots-type

Jim talks to Colin Dray at Conversion Components in Waihi, a manufacturer of custom bell housings

Unfortunately, in a few cases, the only way a collector car can be put back on the road is to adapt a later transmission to it. Besides, some classic era transmissions were marginal to begin with, and as a result are nearly impossible to find today, and are prohibitively expensive when you do locate them. So if you want to drive such a classic you may have little choice but to discretely modify it.

I paid Conversion Components a visit to get an idea of how it makes custom bell housings, with the thought that I might try it myself. However, what I learned was, unless you are an experienced machinist you probably won’t want to tackle it. Nevertheless, I found the process fascinating.

Specialist machining

As any mechanic will tell you, your transmission has to be precisely aligned behind the engine. Run-out must be checked carefully using a magnetic base and dial indicator. Bell housings may look like big, crude castings but they are in fact precision components.

To make a new bell housing Colin starts by cutting off the back of an original bell housing from the engine he wants to mate with a Toyota transmission. This is done carefully and precisely to a dimension he has determined. He then traces out the bolt pattern and input shaft housing of the new transmission onto plywood.

After that he cuts out his pattern and locates it precisely on-centre with the front of the bell housing. Then he builds up the gap from the cut off original bell housing to the plywood template of the back using bits of wood and plastic filler.

The dimensions of the rough casting must be precise enough that a little machining will bring things to within a couple of thousandths of the necessary dimension from front to back. Also, all castings shrink when they cool, so Colin’s prototype must be built up in critical places to allow for that.

Heat treatment

The only thing he doesn’t do himself is the casting. There is a large foundry nearby that does that for him. But he tells the guys there exactly at which place he wants the casting to be poured for maximum strength, and supervises the process. All Colin’s bell housings are made of high-grade heat treatable aluminium, so they can handle all but the most abusive situations.

Once the castings are returned, the mating surface for the engine is cleaned up using a large lathe. After that he sets up the lathe using jigs and carefully checks the run-out and centring of the new bell housing with a magnetic base and dial indicator before machining the opening for the front bearing cover of the gearbox. When this operation is finished, the machined edges are chamfered.

The next step is to make sure the rear surface of the casting is parallel and flat to the front of the bell housing within a couple of thousandths. Colin makes several shallow cuts, checking his dimensions with a vernier calliper each time. Then when he is satisfied that the dimension is spot on, he turns the lathe off and uses it as a vise while he cleans up any rough edges on the casting using a file.

After that Colin selects a carefully made jig that tells him exactly where all the holes have to be drilled so the housing will bolt up to the engine and gearbox, and carefully attaches and centres it on the casting. A large drill press makes the holes exactly where they need to be. A tiny misalignment would make the bell housing unusable.

The bell housing is inspected for casting slag or unevenness, which is removed by hand. Finally, any locating dowels or pins are tapped into place, and the clutch lever pivot pin is installed.

Once the bell housing is ready, Colin pulls together the rest of the kit required to make the conversion. This includes a new throw-out bearing and clips, correct clutch lever, slave cylinder, and the correct diameter pilot bushing for the application.

Custom built

Conversion Components can mate just about any engine to a Toyota or Tremec gearbox if people are willing to pay for the custom work required. This would cost more than Colin’s ready-to-install kits for the cars he routinely deals with, but if it turns out to be the only way you will ever get that one-off 1949 Hardley Abel Saloon back on the road it might be worth it.

Conversion Components also offers a number of top plates for Supra transmissions that will allow you to have your shift lever in the stock position. You only need to measure from the back of the engine to the shift lever of your original transmission, and let it know what you are looking for.

Colin Dray at Conversion Components has spent the last 15 years adapting Toyota gearboxes to anything that moves
The first order of business is to carefully cut off the back of the stock bell housing
Colin checks the run-out with a dial indicator and magnetic base. Precision is vital
A new back of the bell housing is created out of plywood and plastic filler
The newly cast bell housing is attached to the lathe with a carefully calibrated jig
Here is a complete conversion kit including clutch fork, clips, throwout bearing. Slave cylinder and pilot bushing
Opening for front bearing cover plate is carefully machined to size
Dimension to rear of bell housing must be within a couple of thousandths
A special custom-made template is used to locate holes for engine and transmission
You need a big lathe to spin an entire bell housing in order to machine it
Conversion Components has custom bell housings and installation kits ready to ship
The point at which you do the pour is important when making quality castings
Patterns and templates have been custom made as required over the years
Adjustable clutch pivot ball is installed to correct height for the application
Dray offers shifter top plates for far forward to middle to way back for different applications

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

A pitted scratched or cracked windscreen is unsightly and dangerous — replacement is mandatory

Installing a new windscreen is easy on most cars, and requires only hand tools and an hour or two of effort. In fact, once you know how to do it, the hardest part may be to push in the decorative brightwork moulding embedded in many windscreen gaskets. The subject car is my 1970 VW Beetle, but the technique is the same with most other classics. Incidentally, the hard work was done by friend Bruce Haye at HPR Restorations in Whitianga.

Basics

Cars made during the ’30s through the early ’50s were designed to have the windscreen come out from the inside, but by the mid-’50s most were designed to be installed from the outside. Safety was the primary reason. With the windscreen on the outside of the moulding on the body, the theory was, the windscreen would pop out in a crash.

Unfortunately, these old-style windscreens didn’t always pop out on cue, so cars made from the ’80s on have their windscreens pasted on top of the gasket on the outside. These later cars require a different process for windscreen replacement. But for those of you who own earlier collector cars, here is how to install a new windscreen.

Start by ordering the necessary glass and rubber gasket. I got mine from The V-Dub Shoppe, in Hamilton (07 824 1791). But wherever you get your windscreen, make sure you tell the supplier the exact year, make and model of the car, and whether you want tinted glass or not.

The procedure

To take out the old screen, place a blanket on the bonnet of your car to protect the paint. Mark the windscreen wiper arms in relation to their stanchions and then remove them. Some can be unbolted, but others will need to be pried off using a screwdriver.

Next, using a utility knife, cut around the inside of any brightwork strip from the outside of the car. If there is no brightwork strip, just insert the knife until you feel the outer edge of the glass, and then cut around the whole windscreen. Once that is done the windscreen should come out easily if you press on it from the inside. Be sure to have a mate waiting while you do this in order to prevent the glass from denting or chipping your paint.

Of course, if you have an earlier car, you will need to cut around the inside of the windscreen and press the glass into the car from the outside. Once the glass is out, pull the rubber seal away from the pinch-moulding, brightwork strip and all. Lay the gasket out flat and gently pull out the brightwork strip.

Remove all the old sealant left on the pinch moulding using gasket remover. Scrape off any rust, then prime and paint using matching enamel. Holes are more serious. The only proper way to fix them is to get rid of the surrounding rust, then weld in patch sections. This will probably mean that you will have to repaint your car’s cowl.

On many cars the interior headliner is partially held in place at the front by the windscreen gasket, and if it pulls away at all it will need to be reglued using 3M Super Duty trim cement. Don’t use regular trim cement because it won’t hold.

Installation

Once the pinch moulding is prepared, you are ready to put the new gasket onto the windscreen glass. Soapy water placed in the groove of the gasket will make this process easier. Slip the rubber seal onto the corners of the glass first, and then work it into place all around.

At this point it is sometimes easier to put the brightwork strip back into the rubber seal before installing the windscreen in the car.

Next, run a bead of urethane sealant, especially made for installing windscreens, in the groove for the pinch moulding all around. Don’t be tempted to use ordinary silicone sealer because it will not do the job. Urethane caulk is especially designed so it doesn’t harden — and continues to seal for many years.

Find a piece of cord long enough to go completely around the windscreen with about 60cm to spare. Starting at the top of the windscreen, work the cord down into the pinch-moulding groove so that the two ends meet in the middle of the bottom of the windscreen. Tape the two ends to the glass so they will not get in the way inside the car.

Place the windscreen on the lower pinch moulding and have a friend push it in while you get inside the car and pull the string slowly to allow the rubber seal to flop over the pinch moulding. Take it easy in the corners, and use a wooden stick or plastic filler spreader to coax the rubber lip over the moulding as needed.

You may need to use a wooden tongue depressor or plastic filler spreader to work the front of the seal into place on the outside as well. But don’t use a screwdriver for this — you could crack the glass or damage your paint. Clean off any excess sealer with seal and gasket remover.

Finishing touches

Finally, if you were unable to install the brightwork surround moulding with the windscreen out, install it now using a little soapy water and a slothead screwdriver or plastic filler spreader to help pop it in place. Just be careful not to scratch or kink the moulding or mess up your car’s paint.

You will be amazed at the difference a new windscreen makes — you will see much more clearly and summer touring will be more enjoyable.

Place a blanket over your car’s cowl and bonnet to prevent paint damage
Mark your windscreen wiper arms in relation to their stanchions before removing them
First cut around the brightwork moulding using a sharp utility knife
Then carefully push the windscreen out so it does not drop onto the cowl
Pull the rubber gasket off, brightwork and all, but be careful not to kink the brightwork
Rust must be eliminated and the pinch moulding primed and painted as required. Holes require new welded-in metal patch to prevent leaks.
Pinch moulding is clean, painted and ready for the new windscreen
Work the new gasket onto the glass, starting at the corners first
Sometimes it’s easier to install the brightwork moulding before installing the windscreen. But in this case it didn’t work
Work a strong cord into the lip for the pinch moulding all around
Get a friend to help set the windscreen down over the bottom of the pinch moulding
While pushing on the glass, slowly pull the cord so the lip of the rubber goes over the pinch moulding
Carefully install brightwork molding using a screwdriver or filler spreader
Use a plastic filler spreader or a tongue depressor to help ease the lip of seal out over the cowl
Put windscreen wipers back on, and you are ready for summer touring

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

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10 tips for the novice restorer to help avoiding some of the pitfalls that can sabotage the best restoration efforts

I have made many mistakes over the years and have paid the price of my folly. There is no need for you to do the same.

Tip 1

Do not take your car all apart at the same time if you are a first time restorer. If you do that, all you will wind up with is a heap of car parts. Your chances of losing your way and losing interest will be very high if you do this. Even a pro would have a hard time making a car out of a pile of parts. And yes, professional shops with an army of experienced pros do often take cars all apart, but they know what they are doing and besides, no one individual has to do all of the work.

Tip 2

Restore a simple, fairly common car for your first effort. Don’t take on that rare and precious 1939 Lagonda V12 until you have a sense of what is involved. I would suggest you begin with, for example, a Morris Minor, a Mini, or mid-’60s Ford Mustang if you can afford one, because parts are plentiful and not terribly expensive for these classics. Also, these cars are easy to work on.

Tip 3

Do your homework. Gather together a shop manual, automotive books and past issues of NZCC that pertain to the vehicle you want to restore, and read them carefully. You will want to know which models are worth the effort and which are not, and you will want to know if there are any models or years you should avoid.

Tip 4

Join the club. Once you have decided you want to do up a certain car, join the club for that marque and go to its meets and shows. You’ll meet people who know how to work on the car you plan to restore, and how it is supposed to be. And you may just find the very car you are looking for in the club’s publications, too.

You will also develop a better idea of what you should pay for a good restoration candidate. And just what is a good candidate, you ask? Well, it’s a car that is basically all there with no major rust through, no major collision damage, and no terminal mechanical problems. In other words, a sound car that needs to be gone through to make it new again.

Tip 5

Everyone knows someone who has pulled a badly rusted, incomplete derelict out of a riverbed and spent several years and thousands of dollars to make it new again. I respect and admire such people because the challenge is daunting. But don’t try it first time out.

The reality of the situation is that doing such a thing with any but the most sought-after classic will cost more than the car is worth in both time and money.

Tip 6

Start with the mechanical work first. You want to do this for a couple of reasons. The first being that you won’t want to be pulling carefully painted bonnets and guards off in order to re-ring a tired engine later, because you will chip the paint and run the risk of damaging carefully restored components if you do.

Secondly, any component left in a weary state will eventually cause you trouble, so you need to go through the whole machine.

Tip 7

Get a cheap digital camera. And while taking things apart for restoration, take pictures so you will have a record of how things are supposed to be. We all think we will remember, but two months later we aren’t sure just how that throttle linkage went or which bolt went where on that water pump.

Store all the fasteners for each component in separate, labelled plastic bags so you know what goes with what. This will save you hours of searching through tins of odd bolts to find the correct ones later.

Tip 8

Get a computer and go online to search for parts and information. I have been buying parts on the internet using my credit card for years, and have never had a problem.

Tip 9

Don’t try to bash out dents in your guards or weld in patches on your prize classic until you know what you are doing. Panel beating requires skill and experience. Get a couple of old, rumpled, discarded panels or hoods from a local scrapper’s yard or panel beater, and learn on them rather than risk damaging your chariot.

Tip 10

If you don’t want to take the time to learn how to do a particular part of your restoration, you can always pay a skilled professional to help. But even if you can do only tackle a few aspects, you will save yourself a fair bit of money — and you will have the feeling of accomplishment that comes with such endeavours.

As you finish each component and make sure it is right you will gain confidence and skill, so the next task becomes a bit easier. Near the end, things seem to happen fast. And when you are finished, you can stand back and say ‘I did that’ with pride. Instead of a shed full of parts and a feeling of despair, you will have a car you can show and enjoy that will be worth many times what you paid for it originally.

More tips for the novice restorer

Mid-’60s Ford Mustangs are great cars for the financially comfortable novice to restore because they are simple, and parts are readily available
Gather as much information on your project car as you can before you begin
You don’t need a full shop like the author’s to begin with, but you do need at least a two-car garage
Do the engine first, make sure it is right, and then work your way back down the driveline
All old cars that have been sitting idle need their brake hydraulic systems overhauled for safety reasons
Get a cheap computer, and search the internet for hard-to-find parts. The world is at your fingertips
Rare E-model Jag is not for the novice. Note that whole side panel is being replaced due to rust
Front clip comes off of most old cars, allowing easy engine and firewall restoration
Your bare hand is a sensitive tool to feel for irregularities and panel alignment problems
Buffing out paint takes technique and patience. Don’t learn the hard way on your classic
Glass is easy to replace, but be careful of new paint when installing it
To win at shows, the engine compartment must be right, including belts, hoses and even decals

The cooling systems in most 1940s and later cars are actually quite good, but¦

Unless you are dropping in a bigger engine, or adding air conditioning to a vehicle that didn’t have it originally, your stock system should continue to serve you well. On the other hand, if your classic’s cooling system isn’t performing as it should after 50 years, here are some tips on how to get it into shape and keep it that way.

The Radiator

The radiators in earlier cars from the middle of the last century on back are designed for low, or no-pressure radiator caps and straight water (preferably distilled) with a rust inhibitor in it, except in winter. Many hobbyists think a 50-50 mixture of water and coolant plus a high pressure radiator cap is better for all cars, no matter when they were made. Not so.
If you run coolant in a system intended for straight water your engine will actually run hotter, because coolant doesn’t cool as well as water. The reasons for using a 50-50 coolant-to-water mixture in more modern cars are these: coolant prevents corrosion in aluminium blocks; and it raises the boiling point of the coolant in high pressure systems.
The cooling systems in many classics were designed to hold no more than seven pounds pressure, not 14 or 17 or more, as in more current cars. If you install a high-pressure radiator cap on one of these low-pressure systems, you can expect leaks around the water pump and the tank seams of the radiator.

Leaks

When you have a radiator rebuilt, a good radiator shop will detach its tanks; hot-tank it to clean it out; rod out its core to get rid of scale; then solder up any leaks. Radiator stop-leak in a can is only a temporary solution to leaks. The stuff will clog tubes and eventually let you down, probably when you’re at the furthest point from any services.

Clogs

If you have an overheating problem and you suspect a clogged radiator, fill the system and run the engine until the thermostat opens. You can tell when it is open because the water in the upper radiator tank will start moving — as you can see through the filler neck. If the water doesn’t start moving after a few minutes, you have a faulty thermostat. Next, carefully feel the front of the radiator with your hand. It should be hot at the top and cooler at the bottom, with no cold spots anywhere. If you find cold spots, your radiator is clogged. Back-flush it and test again.

Back-flushing

I prefer to remove the radiator for this operation. It’s not difficult on most classics, and doing so saves cleaning all that muck off the engine afterwards. Drain the radiator, disconnect its hoses, unbolt it from its frame and lift it out. If you have trouble detaching the hoses, try slipping a screwdriver under them at the water pump inlet and the engine outlet housing to loosen them.
With the radiator out, wrap rags around the end of your garden hose to stifle leaks, then insert it into the lower opening on your radiator. Have a friend turn the water on full. By reversing the normal flow of water through your radiator, you can get behind the scale and rust, break it loose, and force it out. Keep flushing until the water runs clear.
Before you reinstall the radiator, back-flush the cooling system that runs through engine too. To avoid a mess, attach a radiator hose to the water pump inlet to direct the rusty, discharged water down and under the vehicle. Remove the thermostat housing, take out the thermostat, replace the thermostat housing, then insert your rag-wrapped hose in the thermostat housing and force water back through the engine and water pump. Again, keep it up until the water runs clear.

Thermostats

The thermostat is usually under the water outlet neck above the water pump. This device insures that your engine warms up rapidly and maintains optimum operating temperature. It also functions to slow the flow of water as it goes through the radiator. Some people remove defective thermostats and run their classics without them. Don’t do it. On the first hot day or long hill, you’ll have over-heating problems.
To test your thermostat, suspend it with wire to hold it off the bottom of a saucepan of water on your stove, and turn on the heat. Place a meat thermometer in the pan alongside. Agitate the water so it will be a consistent temperature from top to bottom. The thermostat should open completely at about 180 degrees.
Next, let the water cool and agitate it again. The thermostat should be completely closed at about 140 degrees. If your thermostat doesn’t perform to specs, replace it with a new one with the proper heat range for your engine.

Maintaining a Cooling System

This classic radiator needs to be replaced. Notice the corrosion and damage at the lower end of the tank.
Check your coolant. If it is rusty, back-flush the system. Change your radiator cap every couple of years. Never install a cap with a pressure rating of more than the original. You risk blowing out water pump seals if you do.
Old side valve engines don’t cool as well as later engines, but they will do just fine if you keep the system clean and drive the car within its performance envelope.
To drain your radiator, open the petcock at its base in the front. If there is no petcock, detach the lower hose.
Rust, scale, and corrosion causes your engine to run hot because it builds up at the back of the engine where the water circulation is slowest.
The thermostat is under the outlet housing. You don’t need to disconnect the upper hose to change the thermostat.
Replace your thermostat every couple of years. Make sure it is installed facing the right way.
To verify what your temperature gauge tells you, check your coolant temperature using a meat thermometer placed in the filler neck.
Check your belts periodically for cracking, fraying, and for correct tension.
Chances are your classic’s cooling system was well designed, and should be left unaltered if the car is stock. But if you’ve pumped up the ponies, installed a bigger engine or added after-market air conditioning, you may need an auxiliary fan like this one.
You can tell if your water pump is working effectively by squeezing the upper hose after the thermostat opens. You will feel a pressure and current through it. All hose should be supple, with no cracks.
Make sure the fan is securely tightened into place, and that your motor mounts are sound. This radiator was ruined due to fan damage from the engine slipping forward during a stop.

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson

Most of us know that we need to go through the hydraulic cylinders and mechanical parts of our classic’s brake system periodically, but not as many seem to understand how important it is to replace the system’s hydraulic tubing

Rust and dents on the outside of brake tubing can weaken it and make it unsafe, but worse than that, the conventional DOT 3 (DOT stands for the Department Of Transportation in the United States) brake fluid most systems have in them attracts moisture that rusts out steel brake tubing from the inside, and decreases its bursting point even further.

Replacing the brake tubing should be part of any restoration. It’s easy to do, and can go a long way toward making your classic safer to drive. Replacement is also necessary for cosmetic reasons if you plan to show the vehicle.

All you need to do the job is a tubing cutter, a tubing bender, a flaring tool, the correct brake nipples, and the tubing itself. Tubing is sold in various lengths, but it is generally best to buy it in 10-metre coils rather than trying to piece together individual tubes.

Brake hydraulic lines should always be made of steel. Copper tubing won’t do because it does not have a high enough bursting point. Brake tubing must also be double-flared at the ends for extra strength. A single flare tube can fatigue and leak. Bending steel tubing is easy if you have a bending tool to avoid kinking, and for gradual bends you can even do it with your bare hands. Flaring requires a special tool available from automotive tool stores.

Starting work

Remove each tube from the chassis one at a time, then use the old tube as a template for bending the new one so you won’t get confused. Cut the tubing about three centimetres too long to avoid problems when flaring. Save any clips for holding the tubing in place, as well as any brass tees or other fittings such as are usually found on the rear axle housing and at the front of the chassis where the brake tubing splits off.

Cut the tubing to length, then file its ends flat and bevel their edges. Bend the tubing slowly and gently, using a tubing bender so as not to kink it. When you have it the way you want it, try the tube in its location to make sure it fits properly before adding nipples. After any minor adjustments, you are ready to flare the ends. Pop a nipple on the end of the tube and push it down out of the way.

Now place the tube in the holder part of the flaring tool and make sure it sticks up at the right height by using the forming tool as a guide. Compress the forming tool over the end of the tube, then remove the forming tool and use the compression tool to finish the double flare.

Brake Bleeding: An essential part of any operation on your car’s braking system

The bleeder nipple (on the back-plate of drum brakes or, as here, on the calliper for disc brakes) should be free of dirt and grease before attaching the plastic tube
The free end of the tube should be completely immersed in a jar containing hydraulic fluid throughout the bleeding process. If air is drawn back into the system you’ll have to start all over again
After bleeding each brake, top up the reservoir with fresh fluid (see your car handbook for correct type). Do not contaminate the fluid with dirt, oil or water
When bleeding or checking master cylinder reservoir, always ensure cap is clean before removal or replacement. Also, make sure air hole in cap is clear before replacement

Changing Hydraulic Brake Lines

Tools required to replace brake hydraulic lines are: pipe cutter, tubing bender, flaring tool. You will also want to buy a 10-metre roll of steel tubing, and the required nipples for your make
Cut the tube to length using a pipe cutter. Tighten the tool, turn one full turn, tighten again and turn again. Repeat until the tube is cut
Clean the end of the tube using the de-burring tool on the tubing cutter
File the end flat, then bevel the tubing for flaring
Measure the height of the flare using the bottom of the forming tool in the flaring tool kit as a guide, then clamp the tubing in the holder
Forming tool is tightened into place.
This step creates a rounded bell
Clamp and flaring tool are used to make the final, double flare
Brake line wrench helps prevent rounding nipple flats
Front tubing usually goes behind front cross-member and over to passenger side front wheel
While you are replacing your brake system’s hydraulic lines, replace the three flex hoses as well for safety reasons

Words & Photos: Jim Richardson