Well, after a delay of some months, not helped by moving-house, family commitments, private-vendettas, alien-invasion, brexit and suchlike, work finally resumed work on the Project-Car last Tuesday.
The primary objective has always been to restore braking-functionality in some form, and we are tangibly close.
Handbrake cables were replaced (not without issue) last year, and the rear callipers refurbed & new pads fitted. All (bar one) brake lines were remade also, but outstanding work remained on the front callipers, which have recently been completed. (delay caused by myself)
Tuesday afternoon saw something of a Coupe-fest, in that as an entré, we investigated the appearance of a hitherto unknown sprint-blue VT which has appeared locally, and also attempted a bodyshop-quote for one of our number, who's Portofino car has suffered a misfortune.
First task on the car, was to install the NS front calliper back on the hub, and to join it to the incoming brake flexible with the remade S-hardline. New securing-clips were hammered onto the flexible line mounting points on the hub and inner wing, and we then discovered we had the wrong brake pads and so couldn't fit them.
Thanks to the generosity of others, we have assimilated (as they say in Star Trek) a couple of sets of brand-new & boxed Coupe front brake-pads; all of which are incorrect.
Furthermore we discovered we've lost the calliper spring-&-two-pins that each side uses to secure the pads.
Undeterred by these trifling details, we refitted the road wheel and lowered the NS side of the car to the ground for the first time in 'some' months. Much creaking ensued as the replaced NS lower wishbone and anti-roll bar drop-link started to earn their money. The door functionality certainly felt better for the presence of ground under the wheels.
Working on the OS front, a repeat prescription was in order, but with the addition of the painting Hammerite onto the incoming brake hardline, from the engine bay, as it is the sole remaining original line. Interestingly, during an attempt to replace this line last autumn, it was observed that passing along the rear of the engine bay (as it does) it must have been fitted, BEFORE any of the A/C or clutch pipework was added during production. This line really is pinned to the firewall.
A recent conversation with a specialist revealed that it is effectively 'never' replaced.
The OS road wheel was added and the car lowered to sit on all four wheels.
The car was then engaged in reverse gear, which without the presence of the clutch slave cylinder, is something which nods to race-car credentials, as you just have to go straight-in! Then the NS side was jacked 'high', and axle-stands were added front & back.
The final remaining brake hardlines running from the front to the rear of the car were added in.
A complication for the removal or refitting of these lines is where they pass over the exhaust before the rear brake-compensator. Some exhaust 'slack' can be gained by removal of the two M8 13mm hex bolts which secure the combination handbrake reaction-point & mid-box hanger to the underside. 'One' then has to pull the exhaust down onto one's chest to gain space above it, to thread the lines across.
This task has been hanging over us (literally) for some months and so it was good to finally confront it.
Although significant effort was made to pattern-match our re-made front-to-rear lines from the originals, and great care was made with documentation, in the final throes, it seemed more ambiguous than I had hoped for in the match-up with the lines from the rear brake compensator.
Legacy documentation will confirm whether we got it right.
At this point we discovered we are also missing a final female-to-female M10 brake line coupler for the join between the front to rear lines and the feeding pair from the engine bay. (which takes place behind the front subframe, under the passenger footwell)
This single item will complete hydraulic tightness of the system.
A follow up trip is to ensue shortly to fit this coupler, front brake pads, and pad-retaining calliper springs & pins for each side.
In the meantime; the car sits on all four wheels, and we all slept a good sleep on Tuesday night.
The immediate future holds the clutch slave-cylinder, replacement of lost gearbox-oil, and the manual rotation of the engine crank.
(Text courtesy of dante giacosa)
