Traveller '68 - Left Hand drive conversion

[taupe]

Hi

Theres a hole for one in my 63 RHD car which had a plate over it so I guess thats where it should be on a LHD car. it also has the hole for the LHD clutch with a small square of tarred asbestos felt over it.



Taupe

[Nickol]

Thanks for the info and the picture - great help . I will check tomorrow. There is no hole on mine but there may be fixing bolt holes.
That for the clutch pedal is there though and exactly as you describe - with a sticky patchover it.

I do wonder why a hole is needed for the dip switch however - certainly on the RHD where I removed it from, there was not a hole.

[taupe]

Hi

I think the later dip switch is a lot smaller so you probably dont need a hole for it, but the hole in mine indicates the positioning...

Taupe

[Nickol]

Having extended the length of the cable by cutting it in the middle und soldering on new wires with the appropriate colour banding, this could be fed behind the speedomer in the dash and down to the position chosen.

Here in the Picture, you can see its new Position as well as where it used to be on the topright. The bolts are still showing and Need to be cut off as I cannot unscrew them. The Switch itself is not that small and is mounted on a bakelite spacer.[frame][/frame]

[Nickol]

The remaining wire extension is from the indicator switch or rather the steering column. There are six wires and as I see it , from the wiring diagramme

Green/White
Green/ Red
Green/Brown
The above three are for the flasher switch
Green
This feeds the flasher unit

Black
Obviously an earth wire.
Brown/Black
Now, if this is the Horn push , which is indeed the only possible one left over, then it should be Purple/Black. Indeed there is a bullet connector purple/black in the loom waiting for a connection!

Has anyone experienced this sort of thing before? The wiring, as far as I can see looks original.

Here is a picture, of the extended wires with the Schrumpschlauch (engl: schrink tube ???) before I wrapped them up in insulating tape.[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

The lilac seems to either fade to brown - or was at some time replaced with brown in that harness.

[Nickol]

That is what I surmise.

What I will do is connect a Voltmeter to the Brown/black wire and the horn push just to make sure. Provided that the connection is then confirmed, it will be safe to use the purple/black bullet connector.

Getting quite exciting now. Only have to replace the floor Panel (with new access panel over Brake cylinder on the LHS to be cut out), put the carpets , seat and battery back and then turn the key for the first time with my right hand. Then off to have the toe-in checked.

[bmcecosse]

Make your own gauge for toe-in! 3 lengths of light gauge pierced angle iron (Dexion in the UK) . Check both track rod ends are set to the exact same length on the track rods before you start. Then of course - adjust equally both ends to get the correct 3 mm toe-in.

[Nickol]

Another unclear item mentioned earlier now resolved.

The new steering rack I purchased with the "Made in Argentina" sticker on it - and which is supplied to all the relevant Minor suppliers it seems - is a sealed unit.

i.e. No grease/oil nipple is foreseen.


Now wasn't all the Posts and comments over the last 4 months nice and informative, gentle reader ??
I am still workin gon the rust proofing underside which is not really part of this thread. However, when it is done and the seats put back, a Trial run is on the Cards.

[bmcecosse]

Is the grease point not there at all - perhaps sealed with a plug ?

[Nickol]

I expect you could tap one in but it is sold as "maintenance free".

[bmcecosse]

Most racks are - many are NEVER topped up!

[Nickol]

This is really the end of the thread now. The conversion is complete but I am using the opportunity with the open floor to renew and/or upgrade the underseal which is messy and any other nasty looking things that I can see. Thus it will be a Little while before it goes on the road again. By that time if the clutch/gearbox falls apart due to some silly error on my part, or does not work at all, then the thread will be Long forgotton and doomed to the dungeon of archives.

Hope perhaps it was informative ...????

PS

I would like to renew the seats as they are obviously old stock and were originally red as the black paint is wearing off in places.

[bmcecosse]

Oh do keep the thread running - tell us how it all works out.

[Nickol]

Ok, i will post things from time to time on the remainng activities - traditionally in winter the car goes into hibernation as it does not have winter tyres . In any case, I do not want the heavily salted roads contaminating the underside more than need be - not to mention the wood.

[Nickol]

With some trepidation I started the engine up yesterday and made a short trip - 400 m or so just to see if all was working. Following goes onto the snag list.

1. Exhaust not fitted correctly and leaks at the manifold - remove, refit and tighten .
2. The horn does not work. Actually it does, but not as it should. When the steering wheel is turned about 20° in either direction, the horn blows . I suspect it is earthing somewhere.
3. The prop shaft is obviously slightly binding on the "tunnel" where it joins the gearbox. Now how can that be? The gearbox can only go back in the same place where it came out! and it did not bind before. I did notice before putting the central floor panel back that the shaft was not in the middle of the tunnel and the clearance was very fine. Perhaps due to the welding of new floor Panels in the past it is not quite central any more, who knows? I intend to put in a spacer to lower the cross member by 3mm which should be enough. The cross member rubber Fixings are already in their lowest position.
4. The steering wheel refitted does not look right. The steering shaft just underneath the steering wheel has a brass ring exposed. Not quite sure what is amiss here. Need to remove the indicator Arrangement and the wheel and have another look.

On a brighter note - the clutch is 10 times better than it was before.

[SteveClem]

That's not a bad snagging list,considering the work that you have done.

[Nickol]

That was the list after only 400m - wait and see what happens when these are tidied up and we go for a 10km run,

[Nickol]

Update

Second attempt as the first got deleted in the preview.

The snag list has been corrected, the car drives along ok and for good measure has had the seats renewed and new carpets installed for a LHD vehicle.

Then whilst manoeuvring out of the garage, the whole steering assembly came off the spline connecting it to the steering rack. It seems I had not pushed it sufficiently home and the lock bolt had not engaged in the cut out. The mind boggles as to what may have happened on the open road – add this to the growing list of my incompetencies. It seems though that to get the spline home, you must have free room to waggle it in and to do this the distance piece bolted to the underside of the fascia must be removed. Thence ok and with the lock bolt fitted, it now passes the “try to wrench it off” test.

The road test then revealed a repeat of an old problem with the brakes binding. I am afraid that the problem rests with the Master cylinder as the front brake wheel cylinders and braided hoses were all replaced 2 or 3 years ago. I need to check whether ALL the wheels bind and not just one or two for some reason for I do not relish the idea of taking out my new carpets etc to get at the MS again. When I did install the MS , it was quite a struggle fitting the brake and clutch pedals as well as lining up and installing the threaded MS actuating rod. The original I had was bent so I installed a new one. Perhaps the bend was for a reason ????

Another problem to solve is more aesthetic than anything else. The glove box door is now behind the steering column and cannot be effectively used. However, if you take it off, the surround is ugly – it needs the open rim like on the (now) passenger side but a left hand one is not available. Make one out of wood?

[bmcecosse]

Just leave it shut - only open it to get your gloves when the car is stopped ? Some of course fill the hole with a panel and an array of extra instrumentation.....