Jim Crichton's page
These two got closer to each other than Bob and I did having our own coffee together outside today.
These three might look abandoned in weeds, but actually just out for some sun and fresh air.
This is how my Rover looked when I bought it in Nov 2016. Under the paint I knew it had a few problems. The doors would not open and shut properly for a start.
Did I know the extent of those problems? NO.... I thought I could patch her up and run around in her as was.
Under that paint was a whole lot more filler than I knew about!
Do I care? Not one bit, I'm having a thoroughly satisfying time sorting out her problems and learning so much in the process.
The second picture shows the door hinge problem I did know about.
The third some of the stuff I was less aware of.
The wings, skirt and front valence are in bad shape, I would happily have left them filler and all but I needed access to do repairs. That's when I found the filler extended over joins and around corners... To be continued.
When I was farming I never worried to much how my machinery looked or how old they were but I did spend a lot of time making sure they worked well.
I am the same with my old cars, I don't mind them looking scruffy but I do want them to be robust mechanically and structurally sound, and for it all to work smoothly,(windows and doors etc) but I am not that worried about posh bodywork.
My style is repair not restoration.
I do not have the talent to do beautiful restorations like the two Duncans in our club do for example, and others I am sure. I am happy to let the history of my cars show through with scars and imperfections to the fore!
So it is with my Rover, owned for the first three years by a Miss Popple of Perth has resulted in her being referred to as 'Miss Popple'. The second owner John Low kept her from 1959/60 for the rest of his life until around 2007 and I bought her from his son. I love that information and the knowledge that Miss Popple was carting a family and a caravan around the highlands in the sixties, at the same time as my Dads Humber Hawk was doing the same with the Crichton family.
And so my idea of driving her about after a quick patch up was never going to be right for me.
The door hinge repairs that developed somewhat inevitably into sill replacement.
The hinges though available were £75 each and the one I wanted first was out of stock, so I had a shot at repairing what I had. What I had to work with was not hugely inspiring but fortunately, although seized, the mirror image on the other side was complete for me to copy. Being left handed and doing everything back to front all my life helped here!
It transpired the seized hinge was a professionally rebuilt example and the oiling access hole at the end of a deep oil groove had been welded over so no oil could get to the hinge, this resulted in my determination to repair the rest myself.
The end result was okay and I got better with others. It was about this stage I decided to go through the whole vehicle from end to end as I was really enjoying myself.
If anyone is reading this there will be more soon.......
12/6/20
Rover 60 part three.
I decided to approach the repairs one side at a time, starting with the passenger side as it seemed in slightly better condition.
Off came the door coverings, carpets and aluminium retaining strip and later as the scale of repairs became clear, seat bases, various inside cover panels and door light switch wiring.
Perhaps I should mention here that as Bob Alexander and I (thanks Bob for you and your trailer) were trailering the car home the drivers door rattled open numerous times(not far as it was so stiff), despite locking it in an attempt to keep it shut. We eventually tied it with a bit of rope.
The door hinges replacement(suicide doors at the rear) , and rebuilding the A and C posts to fit them to, was a task at the top end of my knowledge, as most of the fixing referance points were long gone. Maybe even beyond, the truth will out when it goes back together for the final time!
Each hinge is retained by three bolts that screw into captive nuts in the body. The lower hinges mostly had only one captive nut remaining in situ and the sills had been over and under plated and hence not necessarily on the correct line and much of everything else rusted away. The wing adjoining the door edges front and rear had plenty of filler and the lower front wings had been replaced and attached too far out which caused the doors to catch them as they opened with a highly unpleasant noise.
Also the top hinges of the front doors had one of the captive nuts hammered out allowing slop, which I guess was an attemp to get the doors to swing after the hasty repairs to keep John Low on the road in his latter years.
Each pair of doors was on and off many times as I re-fabricated these areas and hacked off things that no longer seemed in the correct place
Thankfully the doors, bonnet and boot lid being made entirely of aluminium were in pretty sound condition.
I managed to replace the upper front hinge missing captive nut by pulling a predrilled and threaded plate into position with a long bolt as there is no access for fingers through the hinge box,
then drilling and tapping for flush fitting machine screws. Threads on my age of Rover are all BSF, as are my Lea Francis and my series one and luckily the machine screws I had were also BSF. I have a modest range taps and dies for BSF and Whitworth, a few UNF (common in the sixties) and no metric at all. YET.
As I mentioned the Hinge repairs led to sill replacement
which in turn led to B post
and floor edge repairs
Rover liked to add a touch of quality here and there, and so the sill to chassis outrigger connections are a sandwich of metal plate with rubber inside that itself holds the fixing nut in place thus isolating unwanted vibration and noise.
Everything was beginning to come together okay and a degrease and paint helped no end!
With the happy thought that apart from a small area in the rear corner of the boot this side was about done, I will end part three with a picture of my much needed assortment of clamps
20/6/20
The last part needing attention on the passenger side of the car was a hole on the boot floor. There is another anchor point onto the chassis back there, which you have probably guessed by now, had long since rusted to the point of no return.
Part of the hole is meant to be there as the fuel pipe travels through at this point. Repair held all the usual problems of access, mostly for ones head and welding helmet, combined with awkward shapes around the inner wheelarch, the petrol filling door.
I decided the fuel tank would be better out of the area, it needed cleaned out thoroughly anyway
The tank was cleaned, painted and treated with a slosh type sealer, after a good rattle around with some pea gravel as the inside as it was quite rusty. Then put to one side for now.
The new chassis connection...
....and the floor repair, came together and while the arch repair is a little crude it is at least strong and should keep the water out.
I dont need to show the next winters work, which was essentially doing the same job on the drivers side, but alongside that some chassis repairs were required
The outrigger below the driver that also supports both the handbrake and the foot brake master cylinder assembly. You REALLY do not want that outrigger breaking loose.... The outrigger itself had been replaced and is in excellent order
I needed to remove it, and three other 'as new' outriggers
This was necessary so that the main chassis rails could be repaired and strengthened
I had to cut the floor to get access for welding along the top of the brake outrigger.
The handbrake mechanism was rebuilt and painted while awaiting more argon gas for my mig welder (covid 19 lock down interrupting supplies for a few weeks)
The chassis had plenty of rot in it
Repair is generally straight forward with simple shapes and 2mm steel is easier than thin stuff for an ex farmer!
25th July 2020
Much dirt down my neck and rust in my eyes later all the chassis and underbody repairs from the front bulkhead backwards are finished
One alteration was to the circular holes in the crossmembers that the exhaust travels rearwards within. They are not large enough to allow the end flanges of modern pipework through. The previous centre section of exhaust pipework had been cut in half and rewelded in situ, so I decided to open them up into a horseshoe shape . Somewhat crude as I found the metal a bit thick to shape still, in part,attached to the car, but will make future work much easier.
All the rear repairs are now painted firstly with silver rust encapsulator
then chassis black to finish it off
The repairs forward of the bulkhead will be so much easier to get at when the engine and gearbox are out for new oil seals and core plugs at a minimum , probably much more!
Before removing the engine and gearbox it seemed sensible to try and find out a bit more about its condition. It seemed to run fine when I got it but I had not run any further checks expecting to be running her about before long.
With electric wires hanging loose all over the car, I connected the battery only to the starter, turning over until I had oil pressure indicated (having plumbed in a guage in lieu of the oil light), then connected the fuel pump and coil. She had not run for over two years so I cleaned the points and checked the fuel bowl on the carb for dried out debris.
First try no luck, clean the points properly Jim, no low tension circuit. Second try the old fuel pipe started to leak in a pretty fountain. Some tape and binding with string sufficed.
Third time lucky,the oil pressure sat at 45 lbs maybe 38 when warm at a fast tickover, but dropped very quickly when the engine was shut down.
Cylinder pressures were 121,121,125,105 lbs.
A little oil in the bore of no 4 cylinder, the 105 reading, had no effect on the subsequent reading suggesting a leaky valve, I guess. It was known for No 6 on the bigger engines of the same design to occasionally have a burnt exhaust valve as they got older as sediment settled at the back (the engine sloped down at the rear) over time causing localised overheating, the exhaust valve being in the block (side valve) suffered the consequences.
Overall, not too bad for 64 years and around 130,000 miles but worth some further inspection as she is coming out anyway.
There are two video clips of running the engine posted on our Facebook page. Jim provides a commentary on the clips.
The engine and gearbox came out quite easily having already removed the wings and radiator surrounds some time before.(pic 1) It is now sitting on the floor just in front of the car. I am running out of space.
It is amazing how much extra space a car takes up when its not bolted together! I have bits hanging from the roof, trailers covered with parts some ready to go back on others not so much...
Anyway the plan is to get the front welded up and painted before the summer is over.(pic2)
Most of this area was good if oily(because of!) but just behind the coil spring housings on both sides water had collected between supports for the steering box on one side and the relay lever on the other causing much damage. The passenger side seemed the worse so the chassis was supported in case it sagged and the bottom side was cut off
and new section let in, then the sides one at a time
and finally the top.
Then a big sigh of relief, if the chassis had sagged and gone wrong I would have been in all sorts of trouble. This was the only part of the chassis that needed all four faces in the same area replaced.
The excessive steering box weep had begun too late in life to protect the other side too
but it was a much simpler repair; once the steering box was out the way
Two minor repairs to the bumper bkts and celebrations I was done with chassis welding. Everything from now on could be taken off and repaired on the bench...... NOT QUITE.
While degreasing and removing items readying for paint, I found a rusty edge under the fresh air vent at the back of the bonnet. Not a big problem, but it did explain where some water had been getting in. Unfortunately wires and cladding is right behind it so more dismantling just not yet.
The front suspension was dismantled revealing good,(the wheel bearings were ok)and bad the lower suspension plates were not!
What seemed like days of scraping muck and degreasing, last night the 23rd Aug, I was ready for paint. And as the file is full you can see that next time.
28th September 2020
This was the last, so far, little surprise my Rover main body sprung on me when I removed the fresh air flap just below the front w'screen. Seems quite trivial until closer attention in pic two shows where water has been getting in.
Sixty four years of Scottish weather and perished rubber seals, results in hidden problems. So that's were some of the water was getting in!
On a happier note the front chassis has been degreased and cleaned up
then undercoated and subsequently top coated in black.
The front suspension was dismantled and cleaned, revealing problems on the way. BUT remember, know I can sort these out in the relative comfort of my bench! Woo Hoo!
The bottom plates were pretty poor, and I managed to source some good used ones,
the springs were fine and the bump stop cones were repairable as were the lower side arms.
Eventually all these parts have also been cleaned and painted as well.
Maybe just maybe, I can start reassembling some bits before too long!
29th Nov 20
Rebuilding the front suspension did throw up one issue in particular that might be of interest.
The drivers side axle eye (actually its not an axle, but a radius arm!) where the king pin for steering fits to the car, was a little loose. Now this is supposed to be a push but firm fit for the pin which is then pinched in place by a cotter pin. I think the thrust bearing had worn first then up and down movement had developed in the pin and worn the fit over time.
All the turning is done (or supposed to be..) in the bronze bushings on the hub which the king pin also passes through.
I had read at some point that truckers in America had a much used repair for this in the fifties and sixties, ie the same vintage as my car, so I decided to have a go.
These guys used the shrinking effect of cooling weld to shrink the eye by laying continuous overlapping high temp weld beads all around the outside of the eye and then reaming out the internal pin hole back to original dimensions.
It took me three attempts to shrink it enough
but the result was very satisfying
Then once all is well the outer welds are ground back to the original smooth round shape.
Most of the rest was quite straight forward, the holes for the shock absorbers on my replacement bottom plates needed welded up and re-rounded before use
and the rusty side arms had new metal grafted in
the rusty side arms had new metal grafted in
the upper bump stop caps were awkward as they taper along their length but luckily only 3" at the lower end was corroded
Then much cleaning
and painting ensued.
before reassembly
26/1/21 This episode begins with the Rover having been registered in early January turns 65 years old, she runs along 1 year behind me!
As I began to reassemble the front end, the steering box was treated to a new oil seal and 29 new balls; 9 each for two ball bearings and 12 for the recirculating balls/nut assembly. It was pretty dirty inside, leaking badly but with little to no loose play
There are signs of wear in the recirculating nut and where the seal turns on the shaft but I think it will be fine if possibly still loosing the odd drip!
As I was about to refit the finished unit, it occurred to me the dashboard electrics were a whole lot easier to access now without banging my head on the steering column so I became sidetracked for a while.
The bullet connectors throughout the car are all without exception perished
In those days they used brass inside so the wiring and bullets themselves are easily separated and in excellent condition
Unfortunately the new ones will corrode being steel, but the rubber is now plastic so they will probably not perish. I did think to try removing the metal insides and instating the original brass insides but unfortunately the brass was to brittle.
Having done that I decided to tidy up a few other areas while I was at it. The all important Rover plate was reattached
The entrails hanging off the bulkhead were tidied up too
The inside foot wells and glove box area were wire brushed and painted, and the accelerator pedal, rebuilt and refitted. I know, I know, what possibly needs rebuilt about an accelerator pedal?
Well the original pivoted on the floor with a rubber hinge (knackered) while the actual connection to the linkage at the top end of the footplate was broken.
I decided a new rubber hinge/footplate at £103 delivered was a bit ripe so I found a brass hinge for that and remade the top bit
Finally I was ready to refit the steering box,but of course forgot to feed the horn wire down inside until later!
27/3/21