She's back on the road !!

Last weekend didn't see a lot of time being spent on the car apart from a massive thanks to Tim Ban(dit)croft for helping change the diff. Tim was set up for a day long job, but it ended up only taking 4 hours which was brilliant.

This week... well, a productive but knackering weekend...

Thursday night saw the long awaited cabinets destined for my garage, transported back from Sussex to my place... with big thanks to fellow TR7 freak Darren and my trusty co-driver and fellow drinking comrade Keith C-B.

The entire weekend was spent refitting the garage apart from a minor indulgence of getting the diff oil in, fitting a new brake pipe then bleeding the brakes... A short test drive proves the car is running better than I ever remember... Tim, you're a diamond for helping, because the new diff has transformed the car !!!

Anyway, thought I'd get the TR7 MOT'd as well... errrr maybe not... pulled it off the driveway and kept on going... Hmmmm, think the brakes might need bleeding before I take it down, but I'll leave you with this, the running fleet, side by side !!!

Oh, must get a new number plate for the Bus... your gaffer tape has given up Mr Reeks !!!

Rear brakes...

Well, I managed to fit new rear wheel cylinders and new shoes today. Also freed up the handbrake... Unfortunately as the nearside brake pipe refused to budge, I had to cut it off, so have got to wait for a new one to be delivered to bleed everything through, but if the handbrake is anything to go by, it feels a hundred times better...

During the proceeding, I may have been questioning the cars parentage and started to attack a rusty bit of the inner wheelarch... Why oh why do I do this... The result is another two holes that have to be welded, right by the fuel lines, so that going to be an interesting one !!! ARGHHHH !!!

Oh... and the last thing I learnt today... don't try and put down an aluminium gazebo/car port by yourself... the legs are weak and they will bend... D'oh !!!

Update to the list...

So a month has past, how much has moved on the list ???

Well the long and short answer is not very much and certainly not as much as I would have liked...

Things sorted or at least started so far include:
The starter motor (believe me, this was one of the most annoying faults) - it was a sticky solenoid as suspected, but due to the tubular manifold the job was an absolute pain, but after removing the inlet manifold and unbolting the starter motor, we managed to swing it round enough to unbolt the solenoid and clean appropriately.
Front brakes - new discs required, old ones were ridged badly, hence the vibration - awaiting delivery...
Rear brakes - new shoes required and as I suspected, one was sticking. Upon stripping the brakes down, one of the cylinders was stuck. We also found the other one to be leaking so new cylinders all round...

I've also found a couple more jobs to add to the list...
Replace steering rack gaiters
Replace track rod ends

The joys of owning old cars eh !!!

In true rally style, we carried on working through the rain...
Did someone mention beer ?