Stephen Brockwell's Journal

14 January 2019 Painting Update

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 08:47:35 -0600

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

I started the paint job in August of last year before the holidays and bad weather (no heat in the shop) and problems with COPD. These pics are from about September. One is 6 coats of paint and my second youngest grandson Dalton posing. The other is the car with 10 coats. I've done some sanding in between coats but not the finish sanding and buffing. Too cold in the shop (no heat). I think I may put it back together and finish the sanding and buffing later. I'm pleased with how easy the paint job was. Each coat only took about an hour from start to finish and very little mess. In all I used about 2 and 1/2 quarts of paint with 2 quarts of Penetrol and about 1 and 1/2 gallons of mineral spirits. One foam roller per coat. More later. I'm going to work on and install the windshield wipers next. I want to drive not paint!

<6coats with Dalton>

<tencoats>

Posted 2019-01-14 08:47:35 by Stephen Brockwell

FINALLY - PAINT JOB !!!

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 10:54:07 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Finally dived in on painting Lilith. Decided to go gloss white partly for visibility and partly because a white MGB with black rubber bumpers just looks good to me. Followed Curtis Wright curtis7420 writeup because he seemed to have it down well. Carl French also painted his GT white and it looks good. As of 28 august I have 3 coats on it and with painting the inside of the boot as well as three coats of paint, I've only used 1 quart of paint.

<1stcoat>	<2ndcoatdone>	<closeup2ndcoat>
<Coat 3 with Dalton>

Posted 2018-08-28 10:54:07 by Stephen Brockwell

Emergency Boot Latch Cable

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 08:32:02 -0600

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

29 Jan 2018 Made an emergency boot latch cable from a design by Pete Williams. Thank you Pete!! Works great. Plan to use Velcro to hold the pull end of the cable under the rear deck for hiding.

<boot release>

Posted 2018-01-30 08:32:02 by Stephen Brockwell

Hood Latch - Exhaust Clamp- Moved Console

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 09:40:39 -0600

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Sunday 13 Dec 15. Moved my radio console 2 inches toward the front of the car and (I have no radio in it anyway), now I don't hit my right knee on it. The armrest console is out and may not go back in. Now I have 5.75 inches between the shift base and the radio console. I was going to build a small console to incorporate the electrical cutoff switch but saw that this would allow more room for my knee and only take about 10 minutes. Replaced a single clamp piece on my exhaust (fell off somewhere) so my TT stainless system is more secure. Made a short cable from the driver wheel well into the hood latch for emergencies. Will be doing the same for the trunk latch. Found the ferrules at Home Depot for 1/16 inch steel cable so I can make my own. Will be using bike brake cables to hook it up. Removed the long console/armrest to recover the armrest and fit a homebuilt centering guide with magnet to hold it closed.

Posted 2015-12-14 09:40:39 by Stephen Brockwell

Spare Upside Down In Boot

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:17:08 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Flipped my spare upside down in the boot and used a 3/8-24 3.5 inch long bolt with a nut on it and a piece of steel 1 inch wide and 4 inches long tapered at both ends to hold the spare down. Pics below. (taper on the metal ain't straight......I wear glasses)

<Just 4 inch long 1 inch wide tapered at ends>

<wheel (dirty) in place with holder>

Posted 2015-09-15 10:17:08 by Stephen Brockwell

Changed The Weber Carb - Now Have 2 HIF4's

Thu, 28 May 2015 08:07:22 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Sometime during the winter I had bought a pair of 1973 AUD 550 SU HIF4's with a manifold and they just sat in the shop. I took off the Weber with its manifold and put on the SU;s and the difference was amazing. Remember this is a klutz working on the car and really just learning how to do it. With no adjustment on the SU's I just bolted them on and hooked them up. Fired right up. Later in the winter I started tuning the airflow and adjusting the linkage. With each step the car got better. It may survive my attempts at being a mechanic. 18 Jun 18 After several days of turning the mixture control leaner on both of the HIF's I filled up with gas and it seems that I got 22.8 mpg on this tank. we'll see how that works out. Need to take the carbs and manifold off and redo all the seals as well as set float height and jet settings.

Posted 2015-05-28 08:07:22 by Stephen Brockwell

New Paint Started For Lillith

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 10:59:27 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Right now I have both doors, boot lid and bonnet sanded and primed. Although the boot lid looks pretty good, it'll take some sanding and I still have to correct the bad curve on the drivers side where the prop rod bent the lid. I welded some on the broken area but I'm no welder and its bowed a little too much. May use some screws and a piece of curved metal to get the right shape and then weld it. Piece by piece. Pictures taken on Sunday 26 October 2014. I'm going to put the heater back in next.

<2>

<3>

<STEVE78B>

Posted 2014-10-29 10:59:27 by Stephen Brockwell

New Booties For Lilith

Sat, 26 Jul 2014 22:51:55 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Took about 2 hours to put on new boots or gaiters on the 78. Undid the lock nut and tie rod ends after measuring wheel to wheel distance and counting (4 times each) threads out of the tie rod ends. Put on the gaiters and then had to go to a cousins son birthday party. Take a shower get dressed and spend an hour outside in 100+ heat in a park. Then back home. Put on the old clothes still wet with sweat. Put on the steel clamps and then filled the steering damper with 8 oz 90 weight oil. At 10:27 tonight took it for a run and the steering is completely different. Feels great. Oh... the relays on the headlights doubled the light output and the relays on the stop and turn signals made them much brighter. Lilith is getting better all the time.

Posted 2014-07-26 22:51:55 by Stephen Brockwell

1 June 2014 --- ITS ALIVE

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 08:44:13 -0500

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Fired LILITH up this afternoon. First time in over a year. I'd taken off the OPUS electronic distributor that had the package in it and replaced it with a new 45d distributor copy (made in china- I think) and cleaned up wiring. Mostly simplified the wiring. `19 jun 18- I think the dizzy is the 41427 from Northwest inports. a 45D type. Seems to be a solid distributor and very reliable. I had to replace my small electronic fuel pump as it died last winter during testing so I got one on Amazon of the exact type. Kinda like the one from Autozone or Napa. Replaced the ZS carb with a used Weber that looked to be in good shape. Just bolted it on with a little cleaning. Cobble together an exhaust header with a piece of flex pipe and some adapters with a muffler ordered from Advanced auto (I think). The engine would backfire terribly and I checked and rechecked the valves and distributor setting until I saw a post titled - DISTRIBUTOR 180 on the forum. Thinking my drive dog may be 180 out I set the number 1 plug wire at the 8 o'clock position and arranged the others counter clockwise in the right order. Put the dizzy in without timing or care and turned the key. FIRED RIGHT UP AND RAN BETTER THAN WITH THE ZS CARB AND OLD DISTRIBUTOR. Screeched the tires taking off several times without meaning to and really had a grin. The holding plate (?) for the drive dog has a screw that seems to be kind of buggered up and I didn't want to try to move it. Breaking a screw there means a hard time getting it out. for now I'll live with it. Maybe some winter I'll fix it. Now to clean up and time it and retape wiring harness and.........finish the relays on the rear lights. Just occurred to me that my rear lights COULD NOT have been working as I was driving on my street. I have not finished that job. SHEESH.....

Posted 2014-06-02 08:44:13 by Stephen Brockwell

Relays For Brake And Turn Lights

Thu, 02 Jan 2014 21:36:04 -0600

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

Working now on brake and turn lights (adding relays). Since the headlights worked so well I wanted to do the same thing here and improve visibility in the rear. Will change bulbs and add third brake light. I'd rather be seen than rear-ended. 8 June 2014 - update - Yesterday I finished the brake and turn light relay project. Does make the lights brighter. Running wiring under the trunk area was a bit tricky. Need to clean up some more wires under there to include the fuel pump wire. Newsflash- I had a problem with my hazard lights flashing very fast even though the turn signals worked fine. Now with the relays on the turn signal lights, the hazard flash rate is fine. Did I accidently kill a gremlin or just fix a faux-pas?

Posted 2014-01-02 21:36:04 by Stephen Brockwell

Relays For Headlights

Thu, 02 Jan 2014 09:36:26 -0600

Stephen Brockwell's Journal --

I know I did this in February 2013. Installed a relay for the low beam headlights and one for the high beams. Also added one for the cooling fans. At first it was hard to understand until I put one in.

Anyway the pics show what the difference was with about a 30 minute difference in time. At the time I tried standing at the same point beside the car. These are cheap standard sealed beam headlights.

I couldn't believe the difference in the lights with/without relays. Getting the right power to the electrical devices matters.

On to other things.

<Before relays added to headlights (low beam)>

<After relays added to headlights (low beam)>

Posted 2014-01-02 09:36:26 by Stephen Brockwell