26-05-2020, 11:57 PM
The RP saloon, now having covered an indicated (1)02500 miles, I spent yesterday and the day before giving it a jolly good service and got to grips with the jobs that, whilst not urgent, nevertheless needed doing, like removing and cleaning out the kingpin grease passages. I had been concerned that, the last time I greased the kingpins, the grease came out of the brass caps and not from between the joint between the swivel axles and the front axle itself. At least i am now sure that the bottom bushes are getting their share of the grease.
Another silly job (one of several) was that, ever since I have had the car, the cover plate that goes over the window winding mechanism on the drivers door was in the bottom of the door trim. Accordingly, I pulled the trim off to find out why. As soon as I started to pull the door to bits, the reason became obvious. The car is fitted with Hobsons 'Perfect' winder handles that have both lost the little thing that one pulls back to release them and so cannot be removed. When the car was retrimmed, probably about 40 or 50 years ago, the door material had a hole cut into it to just allow the handle to pass through, with a bit of wiggling, whilst the front upper edges had not been glued to the doorcard, but simply folded over the top and side edge so that the plate (which had a slot cut into it) could be slid over the winder shaft. The plate must have escaped at some point and fallen down between the trim and the card. I have managed to put it back, but really and truly the winder handles will need to come off to do the job properly. The trouble is, I cannot see anyway of removing them without destroying them in the process.
If anyone else has come across this problem and has managed to overcome it, all suggestions would be gratefully received.
This morning, I took the little car over to feed the horses on road test. On the way back, I heard an occasional tinkling noise, which gradually became worse. At first i thought it was coming from under the car, but it quickly became apparent that it was coming from under the bonnet. Investigation revealed that little shards of brass had accumulated on top of the dynamo and there was a lot of play in the fan pulley bush. Fortunately, I had done most of the serious hill climbing, so I slipped the belt off and drove home.
Investigation showed that the grease that i had religiously been pumping into the fan pulley bush was, in fact simply filling up the cavity in the fan hub itself, in spite of the fact that the radial drilling that is supposed to feed the bush itself was clear. Fortunately I had a spare pulley in my bits box and cleaned everything up, I made a paper gasket to go between the fan and the front of the pulley and liberally sealed it with silicon gasket cement, Now, when I apply grease to the nipple, it comes out of the back of the bush, so I am hopeful that the bush is now getting lubrication. I'd better order a spare, though just in case....
Another silly job (one of several) was that, ever since I have had the car, the cover plate that goes over the window winding mechanism on the drivers door was in the bottom of the door trim. Accordingly, I pulled the trim off to find out why. As soon as I started to pull the door to bits, the reason became obvious. The car is fitted with Hobsons 'Perfect' winder handles that have both lost the little thing that one pulls back to release them and so cannot be removed. When the car was retrimmed, probably about 40 or 50 years ago, the door material had a hole cut into it to just allow the handle to pass through, with a bit of wiggling, whilst the front upper edges had not been glued to the doorcard, but simply folded over the top and side edge so that the plate (which had a slot cut into it) could be slid over the winder shaft. The plate must have escaped at some point and fallen down between the trim and the card. I have managed to put it back, but really and truly the winder handles will need to come off to do the job properly. The trouble is, I cannot see anyway of removing them without destroying them in the process.
If anyone else has come across this problem and has managed to overcome it, all suggestions would be gratefully received.
This morning, I took the little car over to feed the horses on road test. On the way back, I heard an occasional tinkling noise, which gradually became worse. At first i thought it was coming from under the car, but it quickly became apparent that it was coming from under the bonnet. Investigation revealed that little shards of brass had accumulated on top of the dynamo and there was a lot of play in the fan pulley bush. Fortunately, I had done most of the serious hill climbing, so I slipped the belt off and drove home.
Investigation showed that the grease that i had religiously been pumping into the fan pulley bush was, in fact simply filling up the cavity in the fan hub itself, in spite of the fact that the radial drilling that is supposed to feed the bush itself was clear. Fortunately I had a spare pulley in my bits box and cleaned everything up, I made a paper gasket to go between the fan and the front of the pulley and liberally sealed it with silicon gasket cement, Now, when I apply grease to the nipple, it comes out of the back of the bush, so I am hopeful that the bush is now getting lubrication. I'd better order a spare, though just in case....