Today, it being half term means I can have Wednesday garage action, I did some lovely little things on the car.

I sorted the petrol gauge out, I have a quarter of a tank.  Some idiot had connected the wires to the back of the gauge to the wrong terminals.

I then fitted the new rev and speedo cables and started the car again to see if they worked, they did.  I noticed that the flange coming out of the back of the box turned a little whilst the 'box was in neutral which is odd.  Next was the bracket that connects the exhaust downpipes to the sump.

I then fitted the new UJ to the prop shaft and I can tell you that this was a pig of a job and probably because I didn't know what I was doing.  I also separated the two parts of the shaft to get the arrows on each section to line up.  All cool in the end.

Quiet weekend this time as the Triumph needed a new chain and that is something I haven't done before so it took a while.

I am making some progress with the little things though.  On the AHEXP website Graham Foster heard about my plight with the incorrect thread size on the radiator meaning I couldn't fit the temp sensor and sent me a separate unit to fit in line on the top hose.  Very decent of him.  I have found out the thread size and ordered a fixing on eBay to mount on to it and the sensor.  Just need to get a tap for 5/8 BSP now.

I ordered a new set of cables for the car as neither the speedo or the rev counter worked properly and they were not expense along with a couple of hose clamps for the aforementioned sensor mount and a cold air valve for the bulkhead.  I had been wanting to get this for ages so it is good to have it.  I was a little flummoxed when it arrived though as the lever that opens and closed then valve was on the wrong side.  I was even more disturbed when I called A Head 4 Healey's to outline the problem only to be told that they knew it was an issue but the manufacturer refused to change it.  In other words they knowingly sold me an expensive part that had been made incorrectly.  I had to strip it down drill fresh holes, rub it down and paint it before putting it all back together and pop riveting it correctly.  Anyway, it is done now.

As supplied:

As modified and fitted:

I had a bit of a scare last weekend.  When I went to try to start the car for the first time I discovered that the lock on the garage door had been smashed in with a brick in an attempt to get into the garage.  It scared the living daylights out of me because I would be so devastated if the car was stolen, it has been ten years of my life.  Anyway, I made some effort to make the garage more robust and this took pretty much all of Saturday morning.  I did try and start the car again having checked the basics in line with some suggestions I had received on the AHExp website but I had no luck.

That night, ie Saturday night, I had a few beers and a good meal before retiring to the sofa and a session of surfing.  Now I thought I should go back to basics and one of the basics I considered was that the very front cylinder wasn't actually number 1 cylinder and so I went surfing for details on that.  It was quite late when I came across a post that mentioned that they had been an idiot and assumed that he distributor rotated clockwise when it didn't.  I had done that too, I was an idiot as well.  I said to my wife that I think I may have put the spark plug pleads on in the wrong order and she asked if that was a long job to change.  I said it wasn't so she replied that we should go and try it now, so we did.

I have got to say that my weekend has been heaven sent ever since we visited the garage very late last night.

Today I bent the exhaust around to make it fit properly and secured it to the car.  I tried the engine again and without the smoke it certainly looked better but was raving very high.  I adjusted the throttle stops, took the choke off and moved the distributor around and got it running much better.

I then fitted the clutch lever and tried the gearbox and clutch out.

Boy, am I a happy man.

I have a few little issues that have serviced.  The ignition light doesn't work but the alternator is charging.  The fuel gauge doesn't work and neither does the overdrive.  I am not remotely surprised that the overdrive doesn't work but I am not going to worry about that now.  All in all it has been a great couple of days.  The engine is running really well and the clutch / gearbox working; it is all too much.

Oh, and I finished the weekend off by watch Spurs win this afternoon.  Pinch me, I might be dreaming.

Spent the weekend finishing off little bits then trying to start the engine, it was very exciting.

I made a cap for the radiator temp outlet out of an old nut that was very big, I have no idea what it was fitted on originally.  Then I filled the engine with oil using the kitchen measuring jug.

Almost immediately the engine started to leak oil, looks like I need a new cork seal for the rocker cover.

I also had a few petrol leaks which just needed a few nuts tightening.  I then tried to turn the engine over only to discover that it wouldn't, the starter motor span but the engine didn't.  I then realised that I hadn't fitted the earth strap to the engine.  This sorted that and the engine span up nicely and the oil pressure went up well too, phew.

I had to do some work to get a spark including setting the points but I got there in the end.  I took the car out and tried to start it.  It'd didn't want to know but did splatter back through the carbs so I took the distributor out and moved its drive shaft along one of the splines, tried again and it was worse so I moved it back the opposite direction.  It almost went but by this stage the battery was flat.  Next weekend.

During the week I contacted Brucom, the manufacturer of the power cables and they offered to replace both my cables just to make sure.  They posted a new set which arrived a couple of days later, top quality service.

I've noticed a change in the garage recently.  Now that I am no longer welding, grinding and painting the garage is a little easier to be in and as a result I am starting to notice more long term guests.

Having cleaned up the area under the tank where I stuck a rubber insulation strip, fitted the grommets into the bulkhead and run the wires through into the boot I was able to fit the tank for the final time, I hope.

The new and old cables.

I replaced both the positive and negative cables and generally tided up in the area where the battery is stored and then fitted the battery.

I felt a little tense at this stage as I was about to turn the power on and I dreaded a load of issues with the wiring.  I had the battery isolator switch turned to off and plugged the fuses in before turning the switch on.  I waited for a while without seeing any smoke or hearing any frying noises before I ventured to trying the electrics out.  The first thing I did was to turn on the lights and I was delighted to see the dashboard gauges light up.  I then turned on the ignition and jumped when I heard a really loud noise only to calm down once I had realised that it was the petrol pump.

So now all I need to do is plug the radiator sensor in and connect the oil pressure gauge pipe to the gauge before filling it with petrol, water and oil.  Then I can have a go at starting it for the first time and that feels very exciting.

So before I head out of the garage at the end of Saturday I thought I'd fit the temp sensor when this happened.

I have a little to think about now.

I have been working on small silly things which were quite enjoyable to do but not without their challenges.  I finish the battery tray and installed it which has made me happy for some reason.  I went to connect the battery leads only to discover that the positive terminal was loose and on close inspection it came apart completely which was some frustrating.  I repaired and sent a picture to the company that made the leads for me and they have kindly agreed to replace it which is good.

I have been reading some other posts and articles from people restoring Healey 100's and noticed that they use completely different parts suppliers to me so I checked the relevant websites out.  One of them had a tray for sale that sits in the compartment for the twin batteries to provide an extra storage facility.  I presume they put the battery in the boot but wasn't really sure as the main focus was on the idea itself, it looked very cool.  Making the battery tray has been fun and reminded me of the mucking around I got up to when I was building the kit cars of yesterday year.  It also occurred to me that I should have welded two battery support brackets in for the other side so that I could mount a small storage compartment for tools etc.  Now I have a project for the future.  When the car is finished and I have sorted all the inevitable gremlins out I will make a drop in storage compartment for the opposite side to the battery for tools; cool.

I also drilled the holes for the wiring loom to go into the boot, some holes for rivinuts to mount said loom and a couple more to hold things such as the negative battery lead whilst the tank was out.  This all created a fair amount of swarf which collected in the boot area.  I had previously taped a section of neoprene into the boot on top of the chassis ridges that run under the tank to protect the tank and the swarf stuck to this like glue.  This isn't good as it will rust easily so I ripped out the neoprene, only it didn't come out easily.  I have a clean up job to do and then I will put the tape on the tank rather than the chassis.  I do need to drill more holes for the bracket that holds the spare tyre in place but think I should do that once the tyre is in place with care to ensure I catch all the swarf produced.

Things are progressing nicely.

The drive from Chamonix to London took a little effort last Saturday so I wasn't at my most energetic in the garage last Sunday.  The first week back at work coupled with a requirement to mark the mock exam papers meant I had limited time in the garage this weekend.  However, I have removed the the fuel tank and marked where the holes need to be drilled for the wiring.  I have also made and painted the battery tray.  I have fitted the exhaust only to realise that it doesn't fit and worked out what needs to happen to get it fitted.  So that feels ok.  I have had to sandwich this work between some required work on the daily driver, my wife's Vespa and my Triumph; no rest for the wicked.

It is Sunday afternoon and I am sat on the sofa with a beer awaiting the start of the Spurs vs Manchester United game, COYS.