Sort of a big update today because things are going quite well. Over the hump of everything being in bits it's now the more pleasant task of putting the car back together again. First job was to get the shocks swapped over, I was struggling to get tools and hands into the gap so Mike kindly got the old ones off and the new ones on. The old ones were deader than a dead thing, all the rubber parts were just flat and deformed.
New ones fitted and everything went together fairly easily. I couldn't get the bolts I wanted for the ball joints today because it's bank holiday Monday, but when I do get chance to get them I'll go round the car and replace the ten that I need to so that the ball joints are held in with proper bolts and not the rubbish that was supplied.
Of note is the outer driveshaft boot on this side. The old spring wire clip thing had lost its spring and we didn't have a suitable clip in to replace it so I used a tie wrap instead. As far as I know this is perfectly fine as a solution, it holds the boot in place and keeps dirt and oil on the correct sides of the rubber. I'm going to order some new CV/driveshaft boot clips anyway but again, Bank Holiday Monday put paid to getting any today.
The temperature sender was reconnected, the bolt for it was even still in the head. Bit of a bugger to do as access isn't great, but it's done.
Alternator fitted and new drive belts on too. Couldn't fit the tensioner because I dropped the nut and it vanished, you wouldn't think it could, but it did. I'll get a new nut, I didn't have any in stock.
Just plonked the radiator in the hole to keep it out of the way for now. I've got some wires to connect, the radiator to flush and connect, and a new clutch cable to fit under the bonnet. Once that's done I can actually test fire the engine, which I still haven't done. I want everything to be right first and with the engine having lots of lovely oil in it I'm not worrying about it seizing or anything in the meantime.
Took the spotlights I was given apart to check them out. They're past the first flush of youth but serviceable. Used the Rover to provide power and they work perfectly fine, don't even need bulbs.
While the Renault has been in the unit drying out and being bashed about there's a lot of dirt appearing on the floor. Quite a lot of it is in the rear of the bodywork so all of this will need a really good clean out. I need to clean up and refit the mud flaps too, they're both fine it's just that one fell off and one has nearly fallen off.
Since I'm down to much smaller jobs now I started checking various little things. I noticed the rear lights didn't look quite right, look at where the screw holes are in the passenger side lens.
That would be because it's a small back and the lens doesn't fit it. I reckon this is an earlier style light cluster with a later lens bodged on top. I'm seriously tempted to fit an early light lens this side just because.
The other side hasn't got extra holes, but it looked like there might not be reflector fitted.
Nope, no reflector! I can cut a new one from a spare Princess lens I've got, seems like a sensible solution to that problem. I don't know where the old reflector has gone and this is the first time I've had the rear lights apart so I suspect it's not had one on this side for quite some time.
Because I had so few things left to put on the car now I cleared it out, put the rear seat back where it should be and put the mat back down.
Persuaded the driver's door card to sort of go back on. I've got a better card on my spare door that I'll fit because it's the same colour and nicely aged.
What's left of the front mats were plonked in too. I need to buy a scrap of carpet to redo the carpet bits, that shan't cost me much.
Loosely put the lower cowling back under the steering column, all the screws for it have gone missing. I'm still trying to figure out what the neat rectangular hole in the side of the dashboard is for where those wires are coming out. I haven't found any likely spare parts or switches for it, my suspicion is that someone had a fan over ride switch installed and have since removed it.
This is all that's left to go on the car now.
Loosely put the sill trims back on. They really need a clean and some of the wire clips replacing. I've got all the end caps too, they're in the boot.
The front end sits higher than it did, I'm sure of it, and is much firmer than it was since fitting the new suspension parts. I didn't disturb the torsion bars so I hope it's just that it now sits at the normal height rather than it's sitting too high.
The wiper arms were removed - the easiest I've ever removed on any car - for when I test the electrics. I don't want the wiper arms accidentally mangling things or themselves if there's anything wrong with the wiper motor.
Next big mechanical job is the exhaust and front brakes. I have no idea if the master cylinder is any good and won't find out until the new brake pads arrive. The discs I bought do appear to be the correct ones, we compared old and new before refitting the driveshafts. I've brought the old headlining back to see if I've got enough fabric in stock to redo it and, since I want to take the windscreen out to cure the leak it strikes me as sensible to do the headlining at the same time if I can.
To my knowledge, for the MoT I only need the following, providing everything else I've fixed is good:
Headlight (sourced)
Throttle cable
Battery
Brake fluid (in stock)
Gearbox oil
Tyres
