Smiths heater assembly restoration

After some days off, I am back again. Another mayor component I wanted to restore was the heater matrix assembly. Removing the assembly will also let me rust treat and paint all the battery shelf and surroundings.

Removing the 4 bolts that hold the assembly was a mayor task…. Not because it´s a difficult task it´s self, but because the bolts where very rusty. Using different tip sizes, ended up with a useless bolt head, and there was not human method to remove them. Parting off the bolt heads could have been an option, but because this bolts are screwed to soldered nuts on the body, it was my last option. Finally I figured out how to remove them….. using my trusty Dremel tool and the cut off wheel, I flattened 2 faces of the bolt, and pushing a spanner cup, I was finally able to remove them. That was about 2 hours just for 4 bolts….

Once I had the assembly off the car, It could be clearly seen that situation was very sorry  as all the bottom part was badly corroded and surface rust was severe. The heater matrix was not leaking, so why was there so much rust??? I tend to think it had to do with acid from the battery that some time had come in contact with the battery tray and the heater assembly

Disassembly is straight forward, just removing 5 clips reveals the inside. The assembly is made out of 2 metal sides, 1 main body case, and the matrix. The assembly has inside several foam pads to force air trough the matrix, and some seals on the outside where is rests against the car body. All of them where of course nearly destroyed…..

I first cleaned the matrix from all the dirt, bugs, and old foam. I connected both matrix tubes to the tap and force high pressure hot water for several minutes, until only clean water come out. At the beginning brown water come out, with all the rust deposits. Not flushing a refrigeration circuit every 2 years, leads to rust and scale that will surely make trouble in the future. Once I was very sure the matrix was in good condition, I could pass to the body case restoration. This was the original situation…… no comments….. first step: remove the id plate. The id plate paint has seen better days, and although I could buy new reproduction plates (to which I will need to stamp new ID numbers), I will clean it and use it again.

Restoring the case was an easy job, now that I have my sand blast machine available. You can see the difference between a side plate in original condition, and the other recently sand blasted. The metal surface was pitted on the lower part, but not enough to make complete holes.

On this occasion, I used a different approach to the paint procedure. Other parts on the engine bay, where just painted with por15, as they are not going to receive direct sun light. Por15 will fade with sun light and the colour can become grey… So it's necessary to apply a final coat of paint in case the part is going to be exposed to direct sun light. I just wanted to experiment a little bit, and I had two possibilities to apply the final paint coat: 1-apply final coat when por15 is not fully dry, or 2- wait until por15 is fully dry, scrub all the surface with fine sand paper and apply final coat. Searching on internet, revealed most people will apply final coat before por15 is fully dry, so I made the same.

I first gave a por15 coat to all parts using the sponge brush which will leave a very uniform coat, and some hours later (about 5 hours because there is a very low humidity level in sunny Spain and por15 will cure faster on humid climates), when it was tacky (just enough to leave the finger print but not to get paint on my finger), I applied 2 fine coats of normal enamel spray paint (in this case from the Spanish brand Titanlux)

After letting it fully dry overnight, I was very impressed with final result. The finish is superb, taking in mind that the por15 was not prayed, very glossy, and looks very hard.

Assembly was straightforward: fit the ID plate with new pop rivets and fitting the foam pads to the heater matrix. I could have just got locally some foam and cut it to my needs, but well, I was lazy and when I made my huge MOSS order, I included the 2 foams I would need.

I was so impressed and happy to see the final result, a nearly brand new heater matrix assembly, that new one cost a fortune, and that will look gorgeous one fitted.

Final touch, apart from the 4 new bolts, will be fitting the warning vinyl plate on the case that once was fitted and sometime in the past was lost.

Just another weekend project!!!

Sponge brush supplier

Taking a look at Bricor, one of the big hobby warehouses in Spain, I found that they stock sponge brushes at a great price.

At 4.75 eur the pack of six brushes, looks like a great deal compared to other prices and sources. Only trouble is that at least 2 of the sizes, are very big, more than what I need, but I am thinking maybe I can cut it and make two out of one.

In a few weeks I will make some testing, and will report the quality of the sponge used. If it´s good, I will buy 4 or 5 pack, as they will be used only twice for the two coats. It´s not possible to clean them as the solvent will mostly destroy the sponge. I have already made in the past some testing cleaning them with solvent and finally convinced myself it´s best to use new ones, but needed to search for a very cheap source.

I am thinking contacting the manufacturer, and ask if it´s possible to buy in larger quantities, and if it´s possible to buy only one or two sizes, only the ones I need.


Manufacturers site is http://www.swissinno.com/en/paint-brushes/classic-brush.html

Wiper & heater motor restoration

I'm still waiting for some back order parts from Moss, so I can't take the car to the mechanic for suspension and brake work.

Meanwhile, I made some weekend proyects. I had removed the pedal assembly, wich was all brown colour due to surface rust. I am waiting for a new brake master cylinder, so restoring the pedal assembly was mandatory. I dismantled all the parts, sand blasted them, and painted them with por15. Once dry, I reasemble all the parts and fitted new rubber pedal covers. Now I have a beautifull pedal assembly that looks new. New and shiny bolts will give the final touch to the assembly. Attention to that small details as new, cleand and shiny bolts makes a huge difference to any assembly, specially if the assembly is black colour and bolts are silver, which makes a good contrast.

The other pedal box cover was also sand blasted and painted. Both cover and pedal assembly have a foam gasket to seal the engine fumes, but before fitting them, I thought that sanding and painting the metal structure where they are attached would be a great idea. To do that job I need to remove all cables and parts, so I removed the wiper motor and the heater motor. They both looked to be in good condition but the paint was mostly in poor condition.





First I started with the wiper engine. The wiper engine is the original Lucas DR3A unit, that was fitted on most of British cars those days. There are reconditioned units from many online stores, but at prices between 200-300 eur which makes it incredible expensive. So again, before using my deep pocket, I gave the wiper engine an opportunity ;-) It was all full of dirt and mud. But at least most of the covers are made with aluminum or some non magnetic cast metal. The motor case it´s self is steel so It was very rusty. Stripped all the parts, taking care to note the correct position of all parts, and as always taking plenty of photos.

I had to remove all the old grease, that was mostly solid, cleaned all the parts with degreaser. This part if essencial, because if I clean the parts directly with the sand blast machine I will contaminate all the sand.

After some time with the sand blast machine, the result speaks for it´s self: new and shiny part. The cast parts get a lovely matt finish.

The engine rotor was in good condition, but the brushes had marked the rotor, so I used my lathe and a fine sand paper. A lathe is that kind of tool that you will never think it is usefull, until you get one and start using it. After cleaning all parts with compressed air, I started rebuilding the assembly.

Next project was to restore the heater engine assembly. I did not dismantle from the car the heater matrix, as it has cooling liquid from the cooling system and I did not want to drain it now until the car comes from the mechanic. So I just removed the heater engine. As usual on this British cars, the assembly was made by Smiths, and the shell case was stamped accordingly.

Original situation was not bad as usual, but paint was in poor condition, and metal parts had some surface rust, I noticed that the shell casing was not metal, nor cast. It´s some kind of hard plastic or Bakelite. Disassembly of the heater engine represents no problem, except for the plastic fan. It has a metal collar that holds the fan in the metal motor shaft, but once removed with some small pliers, it wont come off. So I ended using my Bosh heater gun, to heat the fan base and with the aid of 2 spanners, making lever until it came off. Rivets where removed to allow all motor brackets to be cleaned correctly. 

All metal parts where as usual sand blasted, except for the shell housing. This made me some concern, as the motor had stamped with white paint some numbers and references that of course the sand blasting procedure will remove and I will not be able to reproduce it, but this is not a concourse restoration so….. The motor shaft had some surface rust, enough for the plastic fan not to slide correctly. So I connected the motor to a 12volt battery, taking note that the car is positive earth, so I connected the wires accordingly: earth to positive, signal to negative. As the shaft was spinning, I used some fine sand paper to sand the shaft and get a very smooth surface.

All parts where painted with por15, and then I reassembled all the components. I happened to have just the exact rivet size, so it was just the reverse procedure. Nuts and bolt where painted with a zinc paint from CRC what gives a final appearance just the same as the sand blasting

Final result was superb. I fitted all new three rubber mounts that finishes the assemble, ready to fit into the car.

So far so good......

Now it´s time for some holidays with the family, but shortly I will be back with:
-new tyres fitted to the restored wire wheels
-some internat body painting
-pedal assembly installation
-and much, much more!