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Hi Hazen Your multi-dented panels came to mind the other day when I came across this YouTube vid.  https://youtu.be/Dod6merNvL0 Takes a while of blather before he gets to the good stuff, (actually most of his vids are rather good, if verbose) but struck me that that little stud welder could solve a lot of your problems.  Ive just ordered one myself on the strength of it, and while obviously I can’t give first hand assessment yet, at less than £300 inc shipping here to the UK, think it’s worth a try.  I assume they are available in the US too, and probably cheaper, most things seem to be.. regards j  

Phil As I understand it, Fitchetts bought all the original tooling from the Canley factory when it closed down, and make limited runs of panels from them as the market requires, and supplies them to most of the usual dealers . I’m unsure of the origin of the “steelcraft” and “heritage “ branded panels however. Perhaps someone can tell me who actually makes those   Bear in mind however that much of this tooling has been in use for over 50 years and is frankly knackered so it’s hardly surprising that the fit may not always be perfect, if it ever was. With the surprising sole exception of my Spits boot floor, I’ve yet to find any aftermarket body panel, even supposedly NOS OEM ones, that didn’t require a certain amount of “fettling” to fit well, to some extent or another. We forget that in those pre robot production line days a large amount of human interaction with a large hammer went into body making.  In short, I think almost all body panels on the market are made by Fitchet’s.  But I could be wrong. I was once before.

Colonnade in Wembley were incredibly slow on the jobs I gave them, (7 months..), not particularly friendly, and some items are showing surface rust three years later,  without the car involved having ever even seen the road.  I wouldn’t recommend them. 

Absolutely yes to getting imperial AF sockets and wrenches. While a couple of size have exact metric equivalents, most don’t, and the slight difference is enough to  round the corners of bolt heads in no time. And get spares of 7/16, 1/2 and 9/16 inch if you can. It’s incredible how these most used sizes slither away and hide when you need them.

Love a happy ending :) Same to you Ian, and get well soon. J.

Well, that wouldn’t be me then..

    I had to read this, just to find out what the heck Whige Pins are... :) My sympathies, not only on your injury, but also in empathy with yet another little job which should take minutes, becoming a nightmare. All too familiar.. A few thoughts, possibly unhelpful : Freezing the pin first might just give you that extra thou clearance you need. Heating the plates would probably be counterproductive in actually closing up the hole through expansion.  I’m surprised the head has mushroomed. I am no metallurgical guru, but would have expected the pins to be made of a hardened steel in view of their function. Could we be looking at dodgy aftermarket parts yet again?  When I did mine I drilled the holes out to fit the smooth shanks of some high tensile bolts used as pins, with some securing splines chiselled into the end. Redrilling the plates also overcomes any wear they may have.  Lastly, if you have that one pin in 3/4 of the way, is it well into the bottom hole? If so, and it’s that tight, I’d be tempted to say, good enough, and just cut off the surplus protruding pin. You risk destroying the whole thing in getting the pin out again, and if it’s secure, and the empty part is at the bottom, who’s to know  :)   cheers

I was in a similar position, though probably worse as my engine has been sitting in a crate for 30+years  In my case some of the oil has deteriorated to the point of clagging up in places to a waxy consistency that took some removing, and fearful of blocked oilways I asked the same question.  One suggestion was to make a first fill of 50-50 light oil and diesel, pump it throughout with the drill down the distributor hole, leave to soak, repeat, etc etc. Did this over a few days,, then obviously drained it thoroughly   Seems to have worked. Might be overkill for you. 

Slightly surprised no one has responded to you before Matt, and seem to recall a discussion on this or something similar a while back, but probably like me, you can’t fight your way through this new site to find it. I believe the original sealant was Expandite Seelastic SR 51 or possibly M1 mastic, but I doubt  that exists anymore.  I’ve just used a generic black non-hardening windscreen sealant, also used for guttering, though I can’t recall the brand. I don’t think it’s crucial though, just something that stays flexible, doesn’t harden and isn’t silicone. 

It’s in our nature as (mostly) grumpy old men to complain and be wary of change, and here I fear we have grounds. But I’m sure the wonderfully talented and hardworking gurus behind the cogs and pistons of this new site are aware of its less than wholehearted reception and are working feverishly to improve it. We must be patient, and appreciative of the herculanian effort that has gone into the long overdue overhaul of it. When fixed I’m sure it will be a huge improvement on the old one. 

Colin, it looks and smells like regular oil, just darker and much thicker. Someone earlier mentioned these gold seal engines were bench run for a while after rebuilding so I’m guessing it was filled with regular oil then, rather than it being some preservative stuff. Probably explains why it came with plugs fitted too. Wish I’d kept the oil I drained out of it for testing now, but there may be a bit more drained into the sump now that I can play with re disolvability.   Good call on the engine flush and/or diesel Clive, I’ll experiment with those. It’s the first few minutes of running I’m concerned about, especially on the cam, and while I could of course dismantle it down to assembly lube them first, I’d prefer not to unless you guys think it necessary.

Shamelessly bumping my own thread, have now taken a look at this engine, given the issues I’m having with my 1147. Still in its factory crate, it had 30+  year old oil inside, which while having prevented any corrosion has congealed somewhat within all the bearings I’ve checked so far, to a slightly grease-like consistency while remaining liquid in the sump. I’ve drained this, dropped the sump and cleaned up the big ends followed with a good slather of assembly lube, put some oil down the bores and now it turns, albeit stiffly. Not forcing anything, just good to know nothing is corroded seized. I can continue cleaning up the cam, rockers etc but suspect the “grease” will be lingering in the oilways etc. Short of total dismantling and tanking can anyone suggest anything.? Toying with the idea of filling with a light oil, pumping it through periodically by driving the oil pump with a drill, over a few weeks, (or months..) and hoping it will dissolve into it. Any better ideas?

Touché Paul

See, told you he was fussy. 🙂 Apologies for my poor phrasing: the Spax  did indeed come from elsewhere.

Hi Paul No offence, but does your keyboard possess a full-stop key? 🙂 I ran out of breath reading that... Others here much wiser on suspension, but to me sounds like your springs are way too long or strong. I can only speak for what has worked for me, which is slightly uprated springs from Dave at Canley Classics who is very fussy about what he sells, coupled with adjustable seat shocks (Spax in my case, though I know others don't care for them)  so I was easily able to get the dimensions I cited above.  Have yet to give it a brutal workout, but she sits nicely and alignment is spot on, so Im pretty confident.. There seems to have been a spate of certain aftermarket sellers (mentioning no names) selling shocks and springs that just aren't to spec just because they vaguely fit into our cars, but like brakes and tyres, safe handling is just too crucial to skimp on.