John Montgomery

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  • in reply to: Three dial dash #13874

    Also, random question, is the painted portion of the dashboard meant to be dark grey or black? Mine’s probably going to be black but I’ve never known the answer.

    in reply to: Three dial dash #13873

    Being serious for a moment, that’s got to be some kind of detent or locking mechanism within the ignition switch.

    Has anyone tried it to see if it works?

    I’m sure I’ve had a car in the past that did this, can’t remember what it was though. Wasn’t a D.

    in reply to: Three dial dash #13872

    Well if you don’t know, the rest of us aren’t likely to 🤣

    in reply to: Three dial dash #13853

    Very nice too, I will do the same to mine (in about five years 😁).

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13481

    Seems a bit superfluous in a way, hopefully you’d notice the lack of steering assistance and ride comfort and go ‘hang on, I think there’s a problem’…

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13479

    You said you weren’t going for concours…you must resist. Don’t do it, put the carpet and cover back down.

    It’s just more things to remove when it drifts out of calibration again 😁

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13433

    Good enough is good enough, 60 bar should be ample to get the car stopped should the worst happen.

    Always thought there should be an interlocked alarm on these so that (for example) the light coming on once a gear has been selected would provide audible warning of a failure.

    We’ve got used to ‘bongs’ for lights-on, handbrake etc but I’d suggest that main hydraulic failure would be something it would be handy to be aware of…

    in reply to: New petrol tank preservative #13431

    Thanks, I’ve done this with a small freezer in my shed, it’s probably the best option in reality. Might still run some oil round the inside to get into the seams anyway. Thanks for all the suggestions 👍

    in reply to: New petrol tank preservative #13428

    Probably not, but repro stuff tends not to be as good as original so I’m taking no chances!

    in reply to: New petrol tank preservative #13426

    I should just say, the tank will be sitting in my garage loft (insulated but unheated) for a few years so it would seem wise to help it as much as possible. Was even toying with the idea of running Argon/CO2 mix through it before sealing it, to reduce the oxygen content.

    in reply to: Proportions #13408

    I believe the ‘rustproofing’ was mainly concerned with the sill sections. It was pointless anyway because (as previously mentioned elsewhere) the spot-welded structure rusted from the inside out, the only way it could have been effective would have been a dipping process – which didn’t start happening in the car industry until much later.
    The sills and floor of that 1972 bodyshell I chopped up were relatively sound but the back end was worse than my car.
    Think it’s a good point about LHS, the cost to change a car to LHM wouldn’t have been viable for the older cars once their resale value fell below a certain point. It was just accepted back then that the life of a car was shorter due to rust or mechanical faults, Keith Would once told me the average life of a D was 8-10 years before major welding was needed?

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13404

    Sadly no, October 1969 but 1970 model so three dial, short speedo needles and rear view mirror attached to the dashboard. There’s a period radio which I will have returned, the only hole in the dash is from an electric aerial switch which I’ll remove. Think the only extra is a reversing light, not sure if that was standard or not. Other than that, pretty vanilla heap of rust which most people would consign to the scrapyard. Given the general condition, once I’ve repaired the rotten parts I will be sending the body off to be stripped and dipped/e-coated. That’s years away though!

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13395

    It was supplied new by Fleming Bros in Hunstanton in 1969 (now a Suzuki garage). Hunstanton is next to the sea and has hills, so double peril from salt. It failed MoT in 1981 due to rust and was going to be scrapped but my friend Keith Would thought it was too good to be scrapped and put it in his open unheated outbuilding with a roof leak above it, which is nice. It then spent the next 37 years next to a DW, at some point after 1993 Keith put a front on the outbuilding. I (literally) dug it out in 2018. It lives in my nice dry garage now so that should slow down the deterioration a bit. The nice thing is it’s original and unaltered so as long as I take photos I stand a chance of putting it back together again.
    I’ve had health problems since 2020 so not much progress, I will hopefully retire in April 2029 and pick up the pieces then. I’ve got 90% of the bits, just need the capacity to do something with them.
    Please keep your blog running for at least another five years 😁

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13393

    You’ve probably checked most of them already during the restoration.
    Mine will also probably be out; 45 years off the road so far. One day…(did anyone else see that flying pink thing there 😁)

    in reply to: Nearly There! #13391

    I suspect you’ll have to dismantle that, at least you’ve got the rig to be able to set it up afterwards. The design seems boring by DS standards, I would have at least expected some cams, levers and springs in there 🤣
    So it works on the same principle as the average pressure gauge. After the restoration, that should be easy enough for you to fix!
    Car looks terrific 👍

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 103 total)