A B20 Story

[Tony Stephens]

David, I think you mean Winston Teague and Matthew Blake. However I do recall being told by Matthew's father John that after he had done his (John's) B20 he swore never to do another!

[the.cern]

Well Tony you rotter, that fills me with confidence when I am just about to embark on my little venture!!!!!

Tomorrow Mike, auto electrician will come to look again at the car. He had previously agreed to help me install a new loom, but will now need to look at again with a view to helping me make up the loom. He has checked the dynamo and it appears there are no real problems, the starter motor is waiting in the wings.  Maybe tomorrow I will get a report.

In the meantime Jim has been tackling the paint stripping of the trim bits, at the moment the steering column is getting some attention.

I have a new bit of kit which is very good, but is demanding a lot of my time on tasks that are not on the critical path!! It is a bench polisher kit bought from 'thepolishingshop.co.uk'. For less than £100 you get a 6" (150mm for you smug young ones) bench grinder, wheels removed and replaced with spindles, three polishing mops and three bars of Menzerna polishing compound. Then there is a pair of gloves and a little face mask. The kit is very good, if only I could say the same for the operator. There is quite a bit of skill involved, not so much in actually using the kit, but more in judging the best combination of mop and compound for the situation. Also, I started off with what I am told is a common error in using too much compound. Now I find I am tending to use too little. I reckon I will get it sorted just as I finish the last bit of polishing. Sounds familiar ... I am working on the trim pieces, seal mouldings, windscreen seal inserts etc all of which are aluminium, so there are some small areas of bad corrosion with pitting and protrusions as well as the general thin grey corrosion layer. I have learnt to start off (cautiously) with 'wet n dry' 380 grade, then 600, then 1200 before using the polisher. It is difficult to represent properly the outcome in photographs, but I hope the following give some indication. The first photograph is three of the door opening trim pieces, one 'as found', the middle after the 1200 grade 'wet n dry' and the final one is finished. The second photograph shows the trims on the side panels adjacent to the rear seat, one 'as found' the other finished. I should state that my 'finished' standard is not concours standard, but what I consider to be 'good usable', but with indications that these parts are 59 years old!!

                               Andy

[Tony Stephens]

Sorry Andy, didn't mean to discourage, especially since my car was done for me!

We obtained a loom premade from John Savage who has a lot of experience, not sure if he still does these but it's worth trying him.

I was happy with the loom, but less so with the installation work,as almost all the problems I have had since have originated in loose connections (ie not finish tightened) and I have gone through most of the car again myself, which is not what you expect when you paid for it already.

When the Lambda and Aprilia get to that stage, if I don't do it myself I will certainly call Winston and see if they are willing.

[DavidLaver]

Mine was done by John - it was an amazing rats nest that came out.

The polishing looks OVER done to me, but the way ali is by tomorrow morning it will look fine again

David

[the.cern]

I can assure you David that, once seen in the cold light of day, you will not think the polishing is overdone. Yes, in the few places where the metal has been protected, it has been possible to get an almost chrome-like finish, but elsewhere the ravages of time are evident. As you say, after a few days it will calm down anyway.

The wiring ..... still not totally decided on this, but it is looking most likely I will be following the DIY route ...... I am alternating between thinking  'yes I can do this, what's the problem'  and  'I must be bloody mad taking this on'.  Time will tell!!!!

Jim's around to day so another day of progress ....... and probably abuse!!

                                    Andy

[chugga boom]

Andy, bite the bullet and do it yourself, like I said I was terrified at first but actually ended up enjoying it , its very rewarding watching everything work in the end , its not rocket science honest !!

[the.cern]

Well, that is a quick six weeks  since my last post, but things have been happening.

I have polished all the bits that I can find that should be polished, except the bumpers. I am not sure what I will do with them.

I have stripped the paint from all the bits that I think should be sprayed with the shell, so that element of work is out of the way.

That brings us to the wiring loom, I am beginning to think it should be called the wiring doom as that is all I seem to get. My auto electrician has been sidelined by family matters which  means there really is only one option, the DIY route. I have been trying to avoid this, but it seems I have no choice. One reason for re-wiring the car was that it would make the respray an easier and better job, thus the 'replace the loom in-situ, one wire at a time' is not possible. The whole loom has to come out, a new one made and then that installed in the newly painted shell. I have posted photographs of the several birds nest that pass for the under dash wiring, that around the fusebox is not dissimilar to several highly compressed birds nests. Was I daunted? Yup very!!! 

However, last weekend was time to start the loom removal process. Numerous photographs have been taken (but there will be so many things that I will soon find that I missed), detailed notes have been written, wires have been labelled and still I am finding myself flummoxed. Jim was around at the weekend and we made good progress, I have managed to get three good days of work in since then and now the whole loom has been removed and attached to boards mounted on a workshop wall. It all looks quite straightforward, but many wires pass through the fusebox mounting board and must be stripped out of the PVC sheathing, pulled through the board and then re-attached to the sheathing to help make sure nothing is missed when making the new loom.

The photographs show the existing loom mounted on the board in readiness for the new loom to be copied from it. That will be built up in the top half of the board and hope fully will look like a neater and cleaner version of the existing. It is quite horrifying to see how many wires have been damaged over the years, I am sure some exposed cables date back to the original installation process. As for some of the repairs, they are woeful. if nothing else this has made me realise that the decision to re-wire was really the only sensible option. Time will tell whether or not the DIY choice was sensible!!

There we have it, family health matters will deal a severe blow to progress over the next couple of weeks, but hopefully Jim will be able to finish the last niggles on the shell in readiness for the spray shop. Then I must sort the engine re-build and get on with the new loom. Chugga had some brilliant advice ........ shut the doors, don't let anyone one in to distract you and simply concentrate on the job in hand!!!

I will keep you updated.

                         Andy

[DavidLaver]

You know it had to be done - and can imagine the issues and perhaps consequences of not.

It's got to beat being on you back on a cold floor with a face full of under seal.

Just keep at it...make yourself comfortable and don't run out of tea.

What are the bumpers like?  In the Flavia news letter the advice was to get any chrome you need done pronto before the regs change.

[simonandjuliet]

I like the idea of pinning it all to the wall and copying it. As suggested elsewhere, lock the door and concentrate ...... I have done several re-wires ( complete houses not cars ) and I do the same.

[neil-yaj396]

That's a pretty complex loom for a '50's car. I remember fitting the loom to my Frogeye which was probably more akin to a 1930's car. You really are logging some great progress though!

[the.cern]

You know it had to be done - and can imagine the issues and perhaps consequences of not.

It's got to beat being on you back on a cold floor with a face full of under seal.

Just keep at it...make yourself comfortable and don't run out of tea.

What are the bumpers like?  In the Flavia news letter the advice was to get any chrome you need done pronto before the regs change.

I have not told Jim yet, but he is the one that will be on his back with a face full of underseal .... actually, in reality I don't think he will, I will suggest it and he will tell me where to put said underseal!!!!!!

Thank you for the tip re the bumpers, what is the significance of the regs change?

With regard to the on-the-wall process, I must admit it was Jim's suggestion and does seem to be a very good way to go. I have drilled two pieces of wood to replicate the fuse box, I thought a good idea, but in practice they are too big and cumbersome. There are ten fuses, for the new loom I will buy 20 screw eyes, two pairs of ten which will allow me to keep the wires to the two sides of the fuses separate.

Today I propose to tidy things up, look for more unmarked wires and identify them. Undoubtedly I will still find some rogue wires, but I hope there will not be too many.

Sorry that the last photograph is upside down, but it gives a feel for the job.

                                                     Andy

[fay66]

At Bedford trucks they had to build very many special vehicle order wiring looms using a similar idea to Andy's, however it was made up on a board lying flat, with lots of nails to exactly trace the routing and lengths for individual components, then all was gathered together when complete for taping up.
It might also be worth putting rubber grommets in holes where possible to avoid any damage to the harness & individual cables when being pulled through.
When re-running the harness runs through small holes and behind panels they used an old inner speedometer cable with a small nearly closed hook on the end to pull the cables through, very flexible!

Brian
8227

[Parisien]

Brilliant Andy, great to see you forging ahead, keep up the magnificent work


P

[the.cern]

At Bedford trucks they had to build very many special vehicle order wiring looms using a similar idea to Andy's, however it was made up on a board lying flat, with lots of nails to exactly trace the routing and lengths for individual components, then all was gathered together when complete for taping up.
It might also be worth putting rubber grommets in holes where possible to avoid any damage to the harness & individual cables when being pulled through.
When re-running the harness runs through small holes and behind panels they used an old inner speedometer cable with a small nearly closed hook on the end to pull the cables through, very flexible!

Brian
8227

Thanks for the inner speedo cable suggestion Brian. I will bear it in mind. To date I have got away with using a set of Aldi (good old Aldi) cable threading rods, but your speedo cable will be far more flexible. Also, where necessary, I pulled a drawline through when I pulled a length of loom out. Theoretically I have it covered, but we all know, to our cost, the difference between theory and practice!!!!

                                              Andy

[the.cern]

Just a line to let you know that I am still alive and kicking!!!

Lynn now has a new knee and I have made a little progress on the loom. I could not get a speedo cable inner so I have made do with a length of plastic covered net curtain rail. It has proved to be invaluable. Also, I have proved the value of using draw cables.

I reckon I am not yet half way through, but I have worked out a system. Every wire that I put in is tagged at both ends with the label stating to what it is attached and what it has come from. The wire in the original loom has both ends tagged with green insulating tape to show it has been copied into the new loom. In addition, each wire, as it is installed in the new loom, is marked off on a copy of the wiring diagram . Thus, theoretically, when I have finished, every wire in the original loom will have a green tag at each end and every wire on the wiring diagram will have been marked off. It will be interesting to see how it works out in practice.

If I were to start again I think I would try to make a better job of the disposition on the board of the various elements, such as switches, relative to each other to help get the cable lengths correct and get a better feel for how it will all fit together on the car. Some things are a concern, such as where is the water temperature sender located? Also, the reverse light switch?

Anyway, that is how far I have got so far. I do need to get to see a 4th series in the flesh quite soon, but how the weather has turned. Unfortunately all I want to do is to stay in the warm. What the heck am I going to do when winter comes!!!!!

More to come, hopefully with some photographs.

                                           Andy