Interior trimmed

With the doors and inside body waxoyled the trim could be attached and carpets fitted.

Some of the carpet is glued to the bodywork.

I started with Copydex on the RH wheel arch and found it didnt like being repositioning while I was adjusting the carpet, the LH wheel arch was done using Evo-stick Timebond which worked well but I used too much, so I then used a tin of aerosol carpet spray glue, on the "chassis" rails, which was easy to apply but again, didnt like being repositioned.

The rest was held on by the usual press-on fasteners.

The door panels were a bit awkward as the door had been fitting nicely since fitting the cloth weather strip. These panels fit so they close on the weather strip - so the door fit has been pushed out again. All the other panels fitted nicely and stay put using velcro rather than screws.

The seats had been recovered before we moved house - which means that was done about 8 years ago. The drivers seat was bolted in place and we were able to sit in her properly for the first time in 20 years.

If the starter motor had worked we could have tried to drive her!

Maybe tomorrow.

Waxoyled (some)

After the smell of spilt fuel was aired from the garage it was time to contaminate the atmosphere again with waxoyl.

I decided to use Waxoyl because it has worked so well on this car before. The bits that were treated have survived, the bits that weren’t have turned to dust. This time I was going to use a compressor wax injection kit and really get into the nooks and crannies.

The Spray gun took some time to tune correctly, in fact for ages it refused to blow out anything but air. Eventually, more by luck and a hacksaw to open up the spray nozzle, I had a high pressure wax mist perfect for the cavities.

The left chassis rail was done, the sills, doors, rear wings, rear box section, jacking point and crossmember. The right chassis rail was missed as the hole I had drilled in the front wasn’t in quite the same location as the left and the nozzle wouldn’t bend over the bumper bolt reinforced tube. I'll do it next time when I do the other exposed areas.

Now I can start to trim the doors and fit the carpet.

Oh, and the starter motor has failed again!

Petrol leak

On my way to work I found the garage floor was covered in petrol. The tank had leaked.
I mopped it up and checked for drips and went off to work.
When I got back another gallon or so was on the floor.

The leak was coming from the outlet pipe area. I drained the tank properly and remade the tank connection. Easier said than done.

I had to make the first part in 6mm pipe then upsize to 8mm. This was because the nut for 6mm pipe was too short and was fully in before the pipe was clamped tight. The nut for 8mm pipe was a lot longer, so the 8mm pipe was bored to accept a bit of 6mm soldered into it. The 6mm olive would then seat inside the tank and make a good connection.

That was the plan and it seems to have worked so far.

Engine running problem solved.

I discussed my engine problems with the chaps at work. One contacted his brother in law who suggested it was a leak between the carburettors and the inlet port.

I had a look at all the connections and they looked fine and tight. So it could be the vacuum advance or the engine breather. A finger over the vacuum advance port had no effect so the breather was removed and a 3/8” socket extension stuffed in the hole.

Eureka – the engine runs at a constant speed - very fast but the idle speed was adjusted quickly and Jemima was left to idle and warm up for the first time in 20 years.

The garage filled with smoke from the oil that was burning of the outside of the engine, the exhaust was emitting less smoke now. Actually I’m using leadfree with a slight diesel contamination due to a mistake at the pumps several months ago so a bit of smoke is expected.

The BMW thermostat finally switched on at 99˚C but it was connected to the slow side of the fan so it didn’t have a great effect at first. The lower temp switch doesn’t seem to be working. I switched Jemima off and allowed her to cool down.

Next day I came back to start her up again and all I got was a click from the solenoid again. Out with the starter motor and a recrimp of the stud-winding connection got her restarted again. I’ll change the motor next time.