Fettling and tinkering

Much fettling and tinkering today on PMW. First off, the repeater lamp on the driver's side was missing a lens but thanks to Mike W I was able to fit a new one which was a very nice easy way to start the day's proceedings.
Then I moved on to emptying the boot completely to get at the rusty boot floor in the spare wheel well (actually this was after getting a new spare tyre this morning). Thankfully it was all surface rust so I gave it a wire brushing followed by blue smoothrite and you'll see the result further down the page (along with the new spare tyre).

The spare wheel well wasn't the only place with some rust issues though. Under the rear seat there were a couple of areas - this one was metal wleded in from the outside in the past but not treated in any way! So it got a covering of dynatrol and other places not seen in this photo also got the blue smoothrite treatment.
Whilst all the paint was drying out though I switched attention to a service and a chance to use this bit of kit for the first time. This is a syphon pump thingy which sucks the oil up through the dipstick pipe and it works really well, as long as you don't believe the instructions that it only takes one lot of pumping!

Also changed the plugs, cleaned and painted the battery tray as well as fashioning a rubber insulation for the battery fastener from an old inner tube ( it came too close to the battery terminals for my liking).

At the same time my thoughts are turning to the trip to Italy and carrying spare fuel just in case. I was really pleased to remember a spare fuel can which is very shallow and fits in under the boot "floor boarding".
This final picture shows the spare wheel back in with the fresh blue smoothrite visible below it. At the same time I have started packing spares which will all sit below the boot floor boarding still leaving the carpeted boot available for tents, sleeping bags, luggage and tools. What great cars these 2000s are!

One last thing, I have refitted the original licence plate which is very faded but somehow I felt the black and white plates were actually too "new" for the look of the car. I might change my mind on that one yet though.

PMW's MOT

So, we have an MOT now! Just headlight adjustment, a new flasher relay and rear wheel bearing adjustment needed.
I have ordered replacement wheelbearings tho as I want to be sure of them on a trip to the Alps!

Here's the car back home by the way.

PMW looking good

A day of cracking progress! Here's a picture first though of the new steering rack gaiter and track rod end fitted to the off side front last week (same near side).
Then on to today - I had the old tyres from the 2000 wheels removed and scrapped, my good new Michelin 185/70R13s removed from the TR7 alloys and fitted to the 2000 wheels so now we have good quality rubber for our trip and the MOT man should be happy.

Meanwhile, Bryce continued with the bodywork and here you can see the offside front wing having been repaired, "made to shape" and primered up.


Followed by DA sanding including some quick repairs to a couple of dents in the driver's door - Bryce at work here whilst I was fighting the rear brakes. Eventually, a new set of brake shoes were fitted and the brake drums back on.

Painted near side front wing. We could have gone for £130 worth of paint and really gone to town but opted for 4 aerosols at £9 each! The colour match is pretty good though as can be seen here and two cans will have done what we need for the two wings and the driver's door. Other offending bits will get attention whilst the paint holds out!


And finally at the end of the day a struggle to get a seat bolt in but then we could stand back and look at the result of our efforts. Really great to see the car back together, the bodywork much improved, decent tyres on and the wheels back on with the original wheel trims.

Let's see what the MOT man thinks!

Further progress on PMW

A good days work today.

Bryce has done some great work with the front wings and wheel arches - now made to shape and sprayed in primer.

At the same time I have replaced the steering rack gaiters and the track rod ends as well as checking gearbox and rear axle oil levels.

Next week we want to have paintwork done as well as rear brake shoes replaced and adjusted with any other service items we can manage.

Then it's off to see what the MOT man thinks

What might have been

Ho hum - the Manx is on right now.

Looking at my planning we would have arrived on the Isle of Man yesterday with the full service crew, spares, car etc etc

Today would have been for scrutineering and doing some of the recce for the pacenotes.

Tomorrow is when we would have started on day 1 and all the planning etc paid off.

Sod it.

I'll be there in 6 years time now, all being well, reading the pace notes in BRP for Sarah

A nice steady run with CT support is something to look forward to

Progress on PMW

Bryce and I have had a good day on the 2000 having got really stuck in.

The 220 turbo seats are in after Bryce made some alloy brackets which have worked out really well.

All the metalwork is now done too. There is no intention of restoring the car to showroom condition or anything like it - just solid and presentable providing the car is structurally sound.

So, both front wings now have metal repairs where they join the front panel/valence under the bumper, the offside wing has a metal repair to the wheelarch and we (Bryce actually) have also repaired a rear coil spring mounting.

Next will be some filling and painting with (lookaway now purists) a rattle can or two to make it look presentable and cover any other bare metal as there are quite a few scrapes on the car. Paint is for protection here, not for show. The car is in incredibly good condition though and I am very pleased with how sound it is.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from today but I'll try and put that right next week.

I'll need to replace 2 track rod ends and a steering rack boot followed by completing a service and getting an MOT as soon asw e can so that Bryce can get some miles on it before we head off for the Alps in 6 weels time (gulp).