I have a few questions for the british-car collective. I'll start with
the easy ones first.
The leather upholstery on my snake is well past due for replacement but
that particular expense is far down on the priority list at the moment
so I'm looking for ways to revive the dried out, somewhat hardened seat
and dash covers. The driver's side seat is a basket case but the
passenger side is still serviceable, or could be if the hide can be
revived. I have a can of extra neatsfoot oil which I've been thinking
about trying but I'm not sure what this stuff will do other than stink
up the garage for a few days. Are there any magic potions that will
give old Connolly leather a new lease on life?
Recently I've noticed a glob of grease collecting on the floor under the
rubber accordion shaped boot that seals the rack and pinion steering
unit. I was at O'Connor Classics recently and asked about this. I was
told that the boot-seal is actually an oil reservoir that's filled when
the rack is installed. The thing is, the blob on the floor looks more
like chassis grease than gear oil to me and there is a grease fitting on
the rack and pinion unit. According to the restoration guide I have,
this is basically the same R & P unit used on MGBs (Cam Gear) if that
helps. The steering seems to work normally as far as I can tell from
just turning wheel back and forth inside the garage. Is this a typical
failure mode for these units? Am I in for a rebuild or do I just need a
new set of boot-seals? And are these the rubber boots people have been
complaining about splitting soon after replacement?
I have two other major items to take care of before I get the car back
on the road. First, I need to either redbuild (or have someone rebuild)
the wire wheels. In either case, the 26 year old Pirellis need to be
removed first. Having removed one, I'm not about to tackle the other
four. Plenty of places claim they do wire wheels but I already know
from experience that Cobra wires are especially difficult so I want to
find a place reasonably close (San Jose/Santa Clara area) that really
does have the right equipment to remove these tires. The wheels are 15
X 6 72 spoke Dunlops with 205/15 tires mounted on them. Any
suggestions. I know British Wire Wheels can do them but the idea is to
not have to haul these four heavy and bulky hulks that far. Any local
suggestions? Zenith Wire Wheel, perhaps? I'd prefer some place
relatively close since more than one trip may be required.
The second major item (actually items) are a radiator boil out and
rebuild. While I'm at it the gas tank needs boiling out and sealing.
Also I noticed that the Lucas heater core leaks a bit. Might just as
well throw in the brass radiator header tank too. Any South Bay area
suggestions?
Finally my major-at-the-moment-problem. Some of you may recall the
brake rebuilding questions I asked the list a number of months ago.
Well, that's all behind me now, I hope. The brake calipers have long
since been rebuilt and I've installed all new master cylinders and a new
clutch slave. The problem is that I've never been able to get the
brakes properly bled. Try as I may, I just can't seem get rid of the
sponginess. I started with a completely dry system. Every line and
fitting had been removed and cleaned and, as I've said, everything else
was either replaced or rebuilt. Cobras with street calipers do have a
reputation for being a bit spongy but I figured the new stainless steel
braided Aeroquip lines would take care of that problem. Besides, this
sponginess seems worse to me; and I didn't have to pump to get a good
hard pedal before.
I started with my trusty Eezibleed which made bleeding the rebuilt
brakes on my VW a breeze. After cycling two or three system capacity
volumes through the brakes without a trace of bubbles, I tried out the
pedal with practically no effect. Pumping only improves things
slightly. Finally, I resorted to the old fashion method of having
someone work the pedal while I bled the brakes. While I didn't see any
air come out of the bleeder valves, this did help quite a bit. At least
there was some back pedal pressure as a result. Next I tried high
pressure bleeding, i.e. I got my son to pump the pedal up and hold with
as much force as he could while I quickly "cracked" the bleeder valve
briefly. The fluid shooting out did appear "milky" in the clear bleeder
tube but this milkiness almost instantly coalesce back into a clear
liquid and I never did see any bubbles emerge from the end of the tube
submerged in the fluid at the bottom of the glass collector. I think
this helped but I'm not sure. Any improvement was very subtle. It also
occurred to me that the milkiness might have been due to turbulence in
the fluid or the very high pressure could have caused a venturi effect,
drawing air in around the bleeder threads. Anyway, my brakes still feel
very spongy to me and I can't seem to improve things noticeably. To
summarize, here what I've done so far:
1. I used an Eezibleed on a new, dry system until completely clear
(bubble free) fluid flowed out of the bleeder valves. At the
rear I started with the right wheel. At the front I also started
with the right wheel. The front and rear systems are independent
of each other with separate master cylinders and reservoirs. The
only connection between them is mechanical and there is no
proportioning valve. The result was virtually no pedal pressure.
2. Pumping (with no bleeding) seems to help a bit.
3. Traditional bleeding help noticeably. No noticeable air expelled.
Eezibleed was attached and pressurized.
4. Pressure bleeding seem to help some. Not sure if any air was
expelled. Eezibleed was attached and pressurized.
5. Determined that the bleeder values are higher than the MCs.
Bleeder valves are at the top of the calipers. Some lines run
above the bleeder valves but it's difficult to see how air could be
trapped in them.
6. The calipers are 3 piston Girling, front and rear. There is no
assist in the system. Reservoirs are of the "glue can" type and are
mounted well above the rest of the system. Flexible lines are ss
braided Aeroquips.
7. Eezibleed worked well for the clutch MC and slave.
8. There are no leaks in the system that I'm aware of.
That's everything I can think of. My theory at the moment is that there
is air trapped somewhere in the system, most likely in the calipers
since the cavities in them are more complex in shape than the ones
inside the master cylinders. One suggestion from a friend was to unbolt
the calipers and to try to orient them in differ positions to encourage
trapped air to move towards the bleeders. I'm really reluctant to do
this because of the difficulty I had getting the mounting bolts safety
wired. Access is really difficult. My latest plan is to tap the MCs
and the calipers with a plastic mallet several times a day in hopes of
giggling trapped air bubbles to the highest point in the system where
they can be bled out but I'm open to suggestions from anyone caring to
offer any.
Thanks,
Roland
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