Black Friday progress

I did get the main front to rear brake line installed.  It was a hell of a lot easier than I expected but not without its challenges.  I wound up using a line I bought from ISP several years back that I forgot I'd purchased.  The location of the rear mount for the T is a real unnecessary bitch.  If it were moved over to the center about two inches, it'd be a straight shot out of the pan and would make reaching everything a lot easier.  I'm thinking about moving the bracket on Ferris when it's time to put it back together.  The current parking brake cables are about 40 years old and are going to need to be replaced since the adjustment is gone from them - and the drums are off, this looks to be the right time.  I don't think I have the cables so I'll have to order them...and wait.

I pulled out one of the two late divider panels that I bought and cut it down to make a bracket to fit the 67 only reservoir.  The test piece turned out okay but I'll definitely want something a little better when the restoration is underway.

I wound up spending the rest of my time cleaning the garage because it was filling up with random shit from the yard and the house.

Turkey day progress

Pulled the rear drums off today with the hope of them being in decent shape so I could help out a fellow T3 owner...alas, they're in rough shape, so they're going into the scrap bin - the NOS drums will go on the car as I've all but abandoned the idea of swapping over to rear disc brakes for now.  Who knows, by the time I get around to getting Ferris up on tires, I may change my mind and shift the lightly worn NOS units to Ferris while I put rear discs on Nigel.  Time will tell.

In other news, I also pulled the main brake line out of the center of the car.  I forgot just how much stuff is crammed into the left side of the rear of the tunnel - it's pretty tight.  I got the main line out and found these two crusty individuals as the grommets at the rear end - they don't look anything like their identified replacements, which have a MUCH smaller diameter midsection.

Because I think I've got at least two of everything - I actually have the exact replacement for these two worn out bits and they'd be a lot easier to deal with since my brake line is already assembled vs. the newer pieces.  Someday in the future, I'll be pulling this pan apart to get the floors welded in so they'll get replaced well in advance of ten years from now.  I'm hoping to have some time in the morning tomorrow to tackle some more work on the car.  All I've managed to do so far is take more parts off of the car - I've got to start putting them back if I stand a chance of putting it back on tires again.

NOS Left front indicator housing

Left side NOS turn indicator housing...now I have 3 pair in NOS condition.  I'm going to go through them in the Spring and sell off one pair, put a pair on the car and keep the last pair for the finished restoration.

3 bolt pulley shroud is added to the pile

Picked up an early 3 bolt pulley shroud from a parts pile ad in the classifieds.  It'll eventually replace the super dented one that was slated for Nigel's restoration - I can either fix that one or sell it down the road.  I've now got three lids for these shrouds.

One broken part delays the process yet again.

I bought the small clamps and straps from a guy in New Zealand who is restoring a T34 a few months ago.

I installed them today after having to concede defeat yet again with the brakes.  The car has never had a solid pedal like it should.  An attempt to bleed them today yielded another disappointing result.  Instead of just saying 'fuck it' and blaming myself for not doing something right, I examined the whole system, inch by inch, and I found the problem: The main line from front to rear has three tiny holes in it...just enough to cause havoc with both successfully bleeding the brakes and, likely, successfully stopping the car.  Since I don't have one of these lines handy, I had to stop this process - knowing that I'll have to order / find one and start again.  Since I'm at this point, I'm going to pull the whole system apart (something I tried REAL hard to not do) and replace all of the hard lines (soft lines are brand new).  I've ordered completely new hard lines for both cars (or for me to screw up once and try again).

To make myself feel slightly better, I installed these clamps and did some interior cleaning so that I could accomplish something with the time I had available.  I'll have to remove the seat belt adapter so that I can remove the rear section of the crispy rubber mat...which will then allow me to get to the rear portion of the brake line.  I'm not really looking forward to this repair.

A million little things...

 The car is back up on jack stands - which is both a good thing and a bad thing.

It's good because I was able to address a few things that needed attention.

Up front: Adjusting the steering box because it wasn't quite on the mount where it belonged - unfortunately it didn't 100% solve the alignment issue but I'll get back to that, drain the fuel tank, assess the situation with the brake reservoir and centered the steering wheel once I aligned the center mark on the box.

 In the rear: Replaced the fuel line and filter between the pan and the engine and install the balance of the fuel line on the engine along with the check valve.

There are still a few things missing on the engine but it's closer than it was yesterday.  I've got some clamps to install around the fan housing to heat exchanger yet.  Once I've made it back to the interior of the car and I can get the brake pedal rod adjusted properly, I'll come around back and hook up the accelerator cable and clutch cable.

I still hold out hope that I'll be able to get all of that done AND bleed the flippin' brakes.  It'll be a hell of a lot easier to do with the wheels off (bonus: the car is level right now).  If the weather stays mild, I might fire it up and go for a drive...but I'm not feeling quite that ambitious or hopeful.  It's tantamount to buying a scratch ticket - knowing full well that I don't stand much of a chance of winning while secretly 'wishing' that I could...wishing that I would.

NOS front indicators w/Italian spec lenses

 Last week I sold a bunch of random parts that I'll never use.  That money sitting in my PayPal account was used to buy this pair of NOS housings with Italian lenses today.

 One more thing to scratch off of the list.   Hopefully, they're packed well and arrive in good condition.

The seals look pretty crunchy but they'll come up for sale soon enough.