PGY 161L - The Rolling Restoration

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 22nd January 2009

Early Retirement means there’s no excuses now for not getting on top of all the outstanding jobs on PGY 161L, my MkIII of 9 years.

Luckily the car is basically sound and roadworthy although there are lots of jobs outstanding to keep it so and fix all the bits that are worn or have stopped working over the years.

Therefore I thought I’d join the “Restoration Bloggers”and report progress and invite comment and advice along the way. It may also shame me into getting more done.

First job has been to fit an electric fuel pump. Other threads on this forum have identified the best pump and a suitable location. So now we have a Facet Posiflow installed at 45 degrees facing forward at mid tank height.

Adjacent to it I’ve also replaced the broken electric arial with the new one I bouight about 5 years ago but never got around to fitting.

Today’s task has been to attack the electricals for these two devices. The wiring for the previous electric arial was always suspect, I think that’s why it’s taken me 5 years to get around to it again. In fact the whole wiring of the car is suspect with so many loose ends in the loom it’s a wonder anything works. More about that in later installments.

The arial wire itself was damaged at the radio end and the position of the arial, adjacent to the nearside boot hinge necessitated an extension cable. This has been fitted although one task is still to remove the damaged one. It disappears into the base of the door pillar and emerges higher up but somewhere between it’s fixed or trapped. All atempts just to pull it through have so far failed. So do I just cut if off or keep trying to remove it? I want to do the former, as there are already too many redundant wires throughout the vehicle. One coil I found behind the dash was labeled “Warning Light Feed”. I traced it back, or forward, to one of the bullet connection behind the nearside headlamp. Removal does not seem to have caused any issues.

One of the “Features” of my MKIII is that the outer sills are removable. Therefore the task has been to strip out some old unwanted cables, and some very rigid redundant -plastic petrol pipes, from the nearside sill area. Inspection of the chasis in this area reveals at some stage the box sections have been wrapped in some form of cloth tape soaked in oil. Good I asume for corrosion prevention but very messy as a working area.

New power feeds and arial activation cables have been run from rear to front, up the door pillar and ito the dash area. A power feed, live with the ignition, from the fuse box has been run to the lower console then back to the pump. An un-used switch in the dash being used as an isolator/security switch for the feed. Similarly the arial acvtivation supply from the radio has been located.

The radio is a period Phillips 860 with Mechanical pre-sets and discusion at last nights Midland South Regional meeting concluded these are now collectors items. It lacks modern facilities such as an FM band but it looks the Bees Knees!

The existing arial activation was via a large relay of some type, very little instruction or guidance on how it worked, but progressive disconnection does not seem to have caused any problems and the arial now rises with radio switch on and goes down with switch off.

The fuel pump buzzes with ignition and isolator switches on so next step is to re-route the petrol pipes.

My Toolmaker son has been despatched to work tomorrow with a template for a blanking plate for the mechanical pump orifice, but a few days now of babysitting grandchildren, retail therapy for ‘er in doors and the weekly visit to outlaws means it will be next week before any more progress.

Watch this space.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 29th January 2009

As expected, other events have prevented much Gilbern activity this week. I did however get a couple of hours on Tuesday when I was able to re-route the fuel pipes, splicing in the fuel pump to the feed at the rear of the car and by-passing the mechanical pump at the front. Confidently I removed the mechanical pump and fitted the blanking plate.

Turned on the ignition and nothing, battery was completely flat. Seems I had left the radio on when testing the electric arial last week but having also disconected the speakers in the process I had not noticed.

So battery charger out Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning I eventually got back to the garage Wednesday evening to test my plumbing. Iginition on, cut-out switch on and fuel pump bursts into life in the boot. Trouble is it crackles away but no fuel is being pumped? Tried reserve in case I was below the take off level but still no joy

As it was getting late gave up for the evening, but baby sitting again today, funeral tomorrow and Outlaw visiting Saturday means I have time to ponder the reasons why. Do these Facet pumps need priming? Any suggestions what else could be wrong

Plan is on Sunday to remove the pump and test it off the vehicle. Oh well best laid plans etc.

[Tony Hayward]

Derek
Facet pumps don't need priming. Check all your plumbing, and also that your filter, if after the pump, is fitted right way round. Check for air leaks before the pump. Otherwise it should work, I have been using two for years without any problems.

Tony

[craig 12]

derek i dont know if youve covered the subject before but, is it a car youve owned for a long time? was it in a similar condition?

[Greybags]

As Tony says , check the pipe connections from the tank to the pump, if the pump is buzzing then should be working, but if there is the slightest of air leaks before the pump , then it will just draw air rather than petrol.

Apart from checking the pump is the right way round, and the electrical connections are the right way round, there is not a lot left to be wrong..

Is it the old petrol pipe that you have spliced into ... Is it a rubber one .. If it is an old pipe, the extra "suck" provided by the new pipe may have just been enough to collapse the pipe between tank and pump.

Worth a look at ..

Grahame

[Reddi-Eng]

Between us I think we've cracked it lads, Fuel Pump working.

New rubber pipes around the pump and copper pipe running to the engine bay so I did not suspect any problems on that front.

From your feedback I did suspected an air leak on the new flexible pipe I fitted from the Reserve Tap to the pump. As you know this top-front of the nearside tank and when I fitted the pipe I could either get the screwdriver on and turn or hold the clip, but not both at the same time. So it was not as tight as I hoped.

Anyway I removed the connection and tightened up the pipe clip. Problem is with the flexible pipe on its harder to get the brass fitting back on. So to cut a long story short, connected it all up again, switch on, pump clicked away but still no petrol

Next step was to remove the outlet pipe, replace it with and old piece pointing into a jar. Switched and petrol flowed like there was no tomorrow. So I reconnected the proper feed pipe with a view to disconnecting at the filter before he carb. to see if it was coming through there OK. Before I did I though I'd just try it one more time. This time the clicking of the pump changed to a burble and it fired up OK.

I can only think that there was some sort of air-lock or the pump primed itself with a shorter outlet pipe attached. Just need to leave it a few days to see if its still OK. Hopefully that's one job off the to-do list.

Thanks for the advice guys.

[Waylison]

Hi Derek.

I run with a red top facet pump mounted on the cross member behind the radiator ( position chosen by previous owner ). Now these pumps are supposed to not like 'sucking' fuel a long way, they prefer 'pushing' it, especially unleaded, but I've never found this a problem. A short while ago my old facet started playing up with an intermittent fault and after trial and error I found it was the pump, so purchased a new one. On installing it and switching on the ignition it 'clicked' away like mad and I waited.....and waited.....watching the clear fuel filter for signs of life......and waited......and eventually a small trickle came through, nothing more! I disconnected the pipe from the carb and put that straight into a fuel can and tried again, same result, only a trickle. It resulted in me removing the pipe BEFORE the pump and sucking on the fuel line myself......yuck!.....then when the fuel came through I reconnected the pump and still only a trickle! In the end I removed the pump, stuck on a small length of pipe with a funnel, connected to a spare battery, held the pump with the funnel with fuel in it uppermost and finally got the full flow of fuel!!! Then and only then did it work back on the car. I can only think it was an air lock in the pump. A friend says the pumps are supplied with a lubricant inside that stops corrosion in storage and this can stop the initial fuel from passing through.

I know you're now sorted, but thought this might be helpful for someone else sometime.

Keep up the good work.

Wayne.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thanks Wayne,

As you say its a bit frustrating when you do everything right and things don't work as expected.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 12 February 2009

Well I managed to get a few hours in the garage today and it was not too cold to work outside.

The Fuel Pump and electric arial now functioning OK so I refitted the near-side sill behind which the electrical wiring was installed. My sills are held in place by ½ dozen countersunk screws along the top and two L-shaped brackets underneath. The sill fixed I then refitted the rubber mat trim which protects to top surface.

I also refitted the carpet to the boot which involved some re-modelling of the near-side trim as the pump and aerial occupy space adjacent to the LH fueltank.

The MOT is looming in a few months and two of the advisories last time were perished rubbers on the rear engine mounts and the front anti-role bar so I decided it was time to tackle these. I ran he front wheels up on the ramps and supported the rear of the engine with the jack and started on the engine mounts.

As usual the Haynes manta of “Undo bolts, remove mounting “ was highly optimistic as the vertical bolts through the sub frame were well corroded in and the only movement I could get just stripped the bonding between the threaded metal mount and the perished rubber. The two bolts to the block came out OK and I was able to remove the bracket and the upper half of the engine mount. The lower metal part of the mount appears to be cylindrical with no flat to get a spanner on so the question is how to hold this tight enough to undo the bolt

The alternative is I think to drill the head off the bolt. Does anyone have any experience of removing these with the engine in place?

Removed mounting


Temporarily stopped on the engine mounts I addressed the ARB rubbers. Rogerspares had sent by return completed new drop links and central rubber bushes ( Thanks Rogers – excellent service as usual) so I was ready to go.

I managed to get the nut off the top of the near-side drop link and with a lot of fiddling, twisting, pulling, leavering and strainging removed the bolt which was also corroded in. I’ve cut away the perished rubbers to remove them so at this point I thought I would stop and contemplate how to fit the new bushes. (Cue advice from other members ).

I assume the top and bottom drop link rubbers push through he holes with some suitable lubricant (Recommended lubricant?). Before I remove the two centre bushes I’m just pondering how the new ones are fitted? Do they just squeeze over the end of the bar over the flattened ends where the drop-link bushes fit , again with suitable lubrication? I can see no other way unless they are split one side to just push ovewr the bar. Any advice much appreciated.

A few flakes of snow then started to appear and the bulb blew on my haogen work light so I thought that's enough for today. Hot bath, cup of coffee, post this on the forum and await advice from knowledgeable GOC members

[Admin]

In the dim and distant past I think I covered this in part of the Exposing the Mk3 series.
Anyway you might try Mole-gripes, but the better option is (plumbers) Stilsons, the harder you pull the more they bite (make sure you get them the right way around). Though having been soaked in oil (that rotted the rubber), it should undu fairly readily.

[Greybags]

As for lubricant, personally for anything rubber I use the good old fashioned Castrol Red Rubber Grease, especially for lubricating rubber bits.

I know you can get it in large tins, (mine is) but you only need a smear, so if you want some I will drop a bit in the post for you ...

Or just a bit of good old vaseline or even talc, but never, not ever, not even in a moment of weakness or total desperation, never ever use washing up liquid as often mentioned when doing these type of jobs ... Washing up liquid contains very very large quantities of salt, and salt and metal go together oh so well..

Washing up liquid, ordinary oil or grease will also cause most rubber to start to perish sooner as well

You can often tell if the old bushes you are removing were put in with washing up liquid, as the metal inside of the bush housing will be far more corroded and the rubber really stuck to the bush.

Hope it all comes off ok ..

Grahame

[Tony Hayward]

Derek
I trust you will be using modified engine mounts; I used to use mounts as in your picture, until I discovered one hard start could rip them apart. I have been using modified engine mounts (with the steel insert bonded right through, so the rubber acts in shear, not tension) for 20 years, and only changed them because they looked scabby.
You can get these mounts from Jaguar specialists or cheaper, industrial machine mount suppliers.
I can’t help with the anti-roll bar rubbers, I changed to rose joints years ago.

Tony

[Reddi-Eng]

These are the mounts I have. Jaguar E-type from a Jag dealer.



Getting the old ones off is still the more pressing problem.

[mike whiskey]

I had exactly the same problem. A friend in the trade told me about these.

Bolt and Nut remover set

Hammer on the size that just goes over the round head of the stud, then give it some welly on a crack bar (or even better, an air impact driver).

I sweated over mine for an hour with molegrips and achieved nothing. The above combination cracked both off in 5 mins.

Right tool for the job every time!

MW

[Reddi-Eng]

Thanks Mike, one more go with the Stilson then That may be the next step.