And on the 6th Note...

Success! Unfortunately, due to camera issues, I don't have a pic. But, this time, I did the flare for the female end of the line (single flare).  Did a fit test and, sure enough, the flare was lop-sided which I could feel as I rotating the female fitting in a circle while it was in contact with the flare. In a moment of inspiration (these happen to me from time to time), I put the line back in the flaring kit, but rotated it 90 degrees and compressed it again. Not much additional flaring, but just enough to seemingly make it more "true round". Rotated another 90 degrees and did it again, then another.
In the end, I had a pretty good flare that looked like the factory flare on the other end and I was pretty confident it would hold.

Sure enough, it did. I made it through an entire bleeding process with the help of my oldest. After that, I just sat there for a good 5 minutes with my foot pressed firmly on the pedal to try and hydro the brake lines as best I could (along with all the other seals and what-not). I had a bad dream last night where I was driving the car and the brake line that I made failed...wasn't pretty, especially with a single-piston M/C. But my restoration job on the rest of the car was awesome...can't wait for that to actually happen!! No leakage this time from any joints that I disturbed or any others that I looked at along the path.

That was really it for today (and with rain yesterday, for the weekend) as soccer and post-soccer ice cream took up most of the day. Tomorrow, it's time to get back to the real world and start my new job, so updates will become more sporadic. However, I do intend to move the car into the garage soon. This will enable me to work in the evening and will also allow the kids to play basketball (the car takes up the driveway basketball court) as that season is starting here soon. So, another order to SpitBits tonight for handbrake stuff (and a few other things) and that's about it.

I have a line on a new-to-me tub that may help alleviate a significant amount of worry about the body cancer that I have. If I can secure the resources to get the tub to the house, I may save myself a lot of work in the long run and have a more solid car to enjoy, but we'll see how that works out. Crossing my fingers!

Unrelated, but, an early temp gauge that came as an "extra". Think I like this one.

Maybe 5 Notes?

This morning was spent trying to get a CT driver's license since I have to become a resident now. I cannot believe how much they require to prove that I am a resident here...passport, social security card, two pieces of mail, marriage license, blood sample...oh, and about $120 for each one. And, if you don't have everything they require...come back when you do. If I was an illegal alien...yeah, I'd get a license WITHOUT any of that stuff. That's all the politics I'll say about that.

Turns out my wife had a "prior" from when we lived in Charleston, SC about 12 years ago and they suspended her SC driving privileges (she never had a SC-issued license). Either get it resolved or pay them $100 to "make it go away". And CT, being the stand-up state that it is, won't give her one of their driver's licenses until it is resolved. Of course, she has renewed her NJ driver's license THREE times since we left SC with no issues, but then again we all know that NJ is rather shady. We came home empty handed and quite frustrated. But, USAA (the best company EVER) took care of the "prior" thing (an insurance mis-understanding) and we should be good the next time we try.

Sadly, however, there was no joy on the brake line. Guess my flare wasn't as good as I thought. Think I'll give it one more shot of brake line and then I'll break down (ha, get it?) and buy one. The Roadster Factory are the only guys that I've found that seem to carry that single line, however. But, it's about $14 and with shipping...talking about a $25 brake line. That's like $3.50 and inch. Maybe, though, I'll just put my gifted one back in and call it good for now. Not like I'm driving her anywhere soon.

The rest of the day I went about figuring out why the speedometer didn't work. That took about 30 seconds and was quite obvious.

Well, there's your problem. Sorry about the crap focus.

Because the oil light in the speedometer no longer had the green "crystal" over it (I found it in the bezel), I decided to take my spare one apart and see what I could see. Cleaned her all up. The rubber in it, however, was shot. So, taking a cue from the forum, I emailed Nisonger Instruments to get a quote for both dashboard and bezel rubber. I can get dashboard rubber at a few places, including SpitBits, but I'll see what Nisonger has to offer on the "whole package". The green crystal on the one I was cleaning up had been glued at some point using some nasty epoxy. Got most of it off, but I want something that will look better. Any ideas for gluing plastic to painted metal that won't destroy either and that I don't have to glob on?

My cleaned on on left. One from car on right. I just love the look of the old gauges!

The two were very similar in condition before I started. I used steel wool on the bezel. There are some pits and stuff still there, but most of it cleaned right up. The one that came out of the car has a bit more personality to it, however. Some "petina" on the odometer and trip meter, so I may clean that one up and see how it goes and then make my choice. I would like to reset the odometer to 00000, but I don't want to sit there forever nor do I want to do it wrong and end up breaking it. Any ideas on an easy way to roll it back since I'm much closer to 00000 than 99999 on both. Also, the main beam crystal in the original has faded to a "no longer blue" color so I may have to swap them out...without breaking either, of course!

Final question. What's up with the rubber in the picture below?! I've found this on several areas of the car. Enough of them, and in unique enough positions that I find it odd. This is the bottom of the wiper motor. I've found a few grommets that looked like this and part of the old trunk seal. Also, the original speedometer rubber seal on the inside looked like this in spots (second picture below).

What happened to the rubber?

More leaking rubber...held upside down, sorry.

I've never seen anything like it and, frankly, it makes me a bit nervous. The car was a FL/GA car for almost all of its life as far as I know...and coastal at that. Maybe some odd salt-spray and heat reaction? Just too many odd places, I think (like the speedometer) it may be something the PO sprayed or otherwise applied. Other pieces, however, like the speedometer cable grommets I yanked out today, were just old, hard and crusty, like I would expect. Curiosity!

Back to the Real World

Today is my first "real" day of retired life. For the last several weeks I've actually been on terminal leave. But, as of midnight and after 24 years, 2 months and 8 days, I am now officially retired from the United States Navy.

On a brighter financial note, I start work on Monday as a prospective Nuclear Shift Test Engineer at Electric Boat Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. From one side of the military-industrial complex to the other, I guess.

Weather here has been an absolute mess for the last two days and I don't think tomorrow is going to be much better. Friday is supposed to be nice, but that's the day I'm going to get my CT driver's license. Figure it's time to actually become a resident of the state where I live and pay taxes and all. But, I don't really have anything on my agenda to do to the car. I have lots of stuff to do, of course, but I either need parts (like to repair the e-brake, redo the front and rear suspension rubber, etc.), or need the skill/tools (like for body work).

Therefore, I will take stock of what I have, what I need, get the priorities straight and go from there.

After the first trip on the street...showing that it was parked in the opposite direction. Just couldn't do a post without a pic!

I Can Build that Brake Line in 4 Notes...

...or, no I can't. So, today I didn't really have anything to do on the car. Hopefully, this is the last full week that I will have to work on the car and will be starting my job next Monday (yes, I know this sounds like I'm crazy, but a steady income stream would be nice).

Without any new parts or new learned skills, there wasn't much that I could do (or much that I wanted to tear into). I will eventually pull apart the transmission (another job I've never done) to see what the metal squeal is about in 1st gear. I'm pretty sure it's a synchro or something, but we'll see once I get the guts to tear into it.

Though I had a perfectly good brake line provided by a kind gentleman from the forum, I wanted to see if I could make one myself. First, I started with renting a flaring kit from Advance Auto. This was a P.O.S and didn't work at all. I had to tighten the thumb screws so much to hold the pipe in place that I ended up pinching said pipe, preventing the unions from seating properly.

A vise and some vise grips...still not good enough!

The evil kit...may just have been too worn out.

I took that back and lodge a complaint...they didn't see any problems with it, of course. Then off to a local machine shop to inquire about converting the head to "unleaded" valves, guides and seats. They will do no problem. However, they don't turn rotors or drums (this surprised me, but I learned why later). They said they farmed that out to the local Bumper-to-Bumper. So, I went there to see what they had for flaring tools. No different than my FLAPS. I also inquired about turning my drums and rotors. While they will turn rotors, it turns out that the price of both has come down so much that it's just not cost effective to turn them anymore. As a matter of fact, the counter guy said they sell about 10,000 sets of rotors a year, but only turn about 20 or so.

While I thought that the argument to buy new rotors/drums was because it was "safe"...turns out that another reason may also be because it's hard to find anyone to resurface them. Kind of a bummer for me, in a nostalgic way, because I used to be able to turn my own rotors and drums on a lathe in auto shop when I was in high school...sad that this skill has been lost to modern auto mechanics (probably not the restoration shops, though).

Anyway, I went to Harbor Freight and bought their flaring kit, fully expecting it not to work. However, I was pleasantly surprised and turned out what I thought was a few good flares.

My final product...as long as it doesn't leak.

By the time I got that all done and got the line installed, however, it was pushing 5pm. Weeknights are bad to get work done because of soccer, so I bolted everything up and I'll try to bleed the brakes tomorrow to see if I have any leaks. Of course, now, I can bolt down the 3-way splitter, which was the whole point in the first place.

New brake line installed...whether it leaks or not is, as yet, unknown.

Step 3 of 3 Complete...Sorta

First on the agenda today was a visit to a local car British Wheels On The Green in Madison, CT. This was hosted by The Jaguar Club of Southern New England so the vast majority of cars were Jags. My oldest and I made the 40 minute trip.

Some very beautiful specimens. Lots of E-Types, a few XK-120s and -150s, a few later model Jags (XKEs) and two brand new ones the local Jag dealer was showing. There were a few old MGs, a bunch of Austin-Healy 3000s, some Morgans, Lotus, TVRs, Aston Martins and, of course, some Triumphs. I was disappointed that there were only FIVE Triumphs there. A TR4, TR250, a GT6 (Mk 1, I think) a 1500 Spitfire and two TR6s. I really wanted to find an old Spitfire there so I could take some pictures and looks at where everything is "supposed" to go, but it wasn't to be. After that, a soccer game took most of the rest of the afternoon.

The E-Types are NICE!

However, I was able to get around to bleeding the brakes with the expert help of my loving wife (bet she didn't think she would be doing THAT when she woke up this morning!).

This was the result of bleeding. I bled until the fluid ran clear through the tube. Another flush or two probably a good idea.

So, after bleeding, I was confident enough in them and, with some imprecise static tests, decided to take a quick trip up and out of the driveway. I had intended to go further than I did, but the brakes seemed like they were starting to fade pretty good and it's a different perspective when you are actually driving the car.

I also discovered a pretty ugly noise in the transmission. Sounds like metal-on-metal rubbing. Stops when I push in the clutch, so I know its the gearbox itself. Will have to look into that. I never got out of first gear so I'm not sure if its common to all gears or not.

You may notice my workbench on the ground in front of my garage door in the video. Since my driveway slopes downward, I hoped if the brakes totally gave out, the car wouldn't be able to make it over the workbench and hit the house. Thankfully, my theory didn't require testing to validate.

Where you going?...No where!

Pardon the The Boondock Saints reference...if you haven't seen that movie, you need to. Like, stop reading and go watch it.

I've convinced myself not to make plans for the future. Or at least not be public about them. Today was supposed to be "Around the Block" day. I had the front calipers all rebuilt yesterday in the rain and they were ready to bolt in. But, I wanted to get at those rotors and at least clean them up to see if they needed to be replaced or if I thought I could get away with turning them. I have no micrometer, mind you, nor any specs on how thin they can get, but I remember my Midget could get thin...scarily so, and these look pretty thick.

Inside of rotor (hub still attached) as it came off the car.

Holy grime, Batman! Lots of cleaning to do. The more cleaning I did, the more I became concerned with the condition, or at least the greasing, of the bearings. There was grease in them (and out of them, obviously) but it was very much like a liquid vice a grease. It almost flowed like cold oil and looked the color of motor oil that was well past its prime (i.e., black).

A few days ago I noticed that I could rock the passengers side wheel/tire top to bottom...like you could rock it back and forth a bit, pulling it away and towards the car. I figured this was a worn bearing and that I would get to it eventually. Well, eventually came today.

I tore apart both front assemblies and cleaned everything up "adequately". I say that because it wasn't my best job. I didn't want to dismantle too much stuff because I don't have any parts for anything that I cannot get a True Value or NAPA (which means...cotter pins) that I may render inoperative. I do want to get this thing into my garage soon and figured on four wheels was the best way.

Yuck! Before cleaning, obviously.

I can actually read the serial numbers and patent numbers and all of that. By the way, what's up with all the patent numbers? Seems like everything I clean up has a British patent number on it of some sort...was there a patent scare in the mid-60's or something? And, yes, anything on this car that is rubber needs to be replaced.

Better. The rubber under that upper ball joint is...sorta there.

So, I got both sides cleaned up and got both inner and outer bearings repacked. The bearings and races looked in surprisingly good shape.

Inner race..can't remember which side. Pretty good shape. This was typical of all of them.

Went to NAPA and found a bearing packing thing. It wasn't too cheap (~$24 on sale), but it looked better than the other one they had there (some large syringe-looking thing that I didn't think would be very stable) and it worked very well.

NAPA (and probably every other generic brand) bearing packer. Red thing is a "dust cap"

I got all of the inner and outer bearings repacked and re-assembled and it was MUCH better. Got the front calipers connected and ready to go as well on both sides. A nice mix of new and old parts. I also discovered that those steering rack boots are merely there for show...they are both shot and provide no real function at all. I guess the steering rack will require a once-over, if not full rebuild, at some point. I did feel a little "clunk" today and I pulled it (using the rotor) from side to side. SpitBits, here I come!!

Passenger's side.

Otherwise, that was about it. I had intended to get the front calipers installed, brakes bled, and get her around the block. Instead (and time better spent, I think), I did something that I've never actually done before and that was clean up, remove, repack and replace the front hub and all of that. Both hubs spin much more smoothly and they both look better (if requiring more cleaning) than they did before I started. All of that grease in the first picture came from somewhere!

About the size of a brake pad, ya think?

The above shows the worst, by far, of any damage to the brake rotors. These are about the same depth as the brake drums from yesterday. They all need to be turned, but this one may actually not make it. The other side needs a turning, but is otherwise pit-free.

I need to get new hub seals and washers, but otherwise, I think the front hubs are good. The washer's were pretty well grooved from contact with the outer bearing (must be past bearings, because the grooves on the washer would have translated into MUCH wear on the bearing...and I didn't see any). The hub seals look like an expendable part. Felt and metal, I think, though what I had on the car was only felt...no metal backing. Not sure about that, but I'll get the correct stuff pending recommendations from the forum.

Caliper Day

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for today called for "rain, heavy at times". Not good for car work. The rain did hold off until mid-morning, but my plans already were in place for the rain.

Curse you, rain!

Some quick errands in the morning and a trip to NAPA and I was ready to tackle the caliper rebuilds. I don't think I like dual pistons very much, especially ones that are so small. Took a lot of cursing and what not, but I finally got the things done.
First, the trip to NAPA was for their Sil-Glyde. I had read about this stuff on the forum and figured it would be my best best. Maybe I should try this on the windscreen install? However, TRF back-ordered the windscreen seal, so that will be a while yet. That's my biggest complaint with them...you don't know if something will be back-ordered until your order has been processed.

Slippery stuff, but easier to work with than that "personal lubricant"

The first thing was to get the inner rubber seal into the piston cylinder of the caliper itself. This was easy. Then, I lubricated the pistons and inserted them. At first, I left them pretty far out, but over time it became clear that fully inserting them was the way to go. The seal between the dust boot and the caliper body was the biggest pain. I used a lot of the Sil-Glyde...

Directions...Use sparingly. Haha, silly Sil-Glyde.

and finally got it worked around. I had to take a small pair of needle nose pliers (with jaws taped) to help me spin the seal around the retaining ring of the caliper. Doing this along with gently pulling the seal outward and then releasing it and it eventually threaded itself completely around. I would not have been able to do this without lots of Sil-Glyde.

Sealed to caliper. Piston had to go all the way in (unlike this picture) to get the seal piston to mate.

The next painful part was mating the seal and the piston. I compared the new and old pistons and it seems that the new piston's groove for the rubber seal was more narrow than the old one. However, doing dry fits confirmed that it would work. But, it wasn't until I full inserted the piston (even using a C-clamp) and used lots of lubricant that the mating was successful (wait, mating...lubricant...what kind of post is this?!).

Seal to piston mating

However, this seal seems very easily disturbed. There were several times where just handling the caliper caused this seal to dislodge. Hopefully, once the pads are in and the whole thing is installed on the rotor it will be tight enough in there to prevent this. I'll have to check on it periodically to make sure until I'm confident that it will continue to hold.

So, after all was said and done, I am pretty happy with it. I attached the new hoses along with new copper washers to the calipers and they wait, on my workbench, for installation. I've already told the wife that she may have to help me bleed the brakes...we'll see how that goes, but I don't really expect any issues...unless I have them, of course.

Pliers' handle just keeps the pads from falling inward.