[Simon Lewthwaite]

Thanks Paul, I’ll dig around there!

[Simon Lewthwaite]

No, I initially thought it had to be that way around but tried the opposite – flat to the wing. But I think the main difference I found was having the thicker edge towards the opening – it filled the gap far better and was more forgiving.
I suspect it doesn’t really matter which way it goes as it gets compressed and the original way I described in post #9793 probably only works if you can achieve perfection!

[Simon Lewthwaite]

OK. Just rebuilt my front wings.

by chance, I somehow had lots of the rubbers between the glass and wings, although some were thick and some thin.
I tried mounting them both ways around and…….drum roll………its the opposite way to that which I said!

So, the rubber has a bulky end and an flatter side. The flatter side goes against the wing/StSt embellisher.
The Bulky end goes outwards, thus better filling the gap.

Again, I suspect it matters little which side goes where as it gets compressed but this way seems to fill the gap quickest as it were.
It is surprising how the glass and the wing apertures don’t seem to match until they are compressed together by the struts!
Oh, and contact adhesive holds the seal in place until the glass gets compressed.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Next, we want to fit and test the inner handle but since that goes over (in a Pallas at least) the upper upholstery section, that needs fitting first.
My upper trim is leather and clearly has shrunk slightly. Plus, the foam padding had turned into powder. So, I refilled it with 5mm foam sheet. In retrospect, although nicely padded, 3mm would have made everything much easier!
The top of the trim section is secured to the very top of the inner door by a steel plate with 7 flat headed screws. There is very little material beyond the holes for the screws, so go carefully.

The plate will get covered by a stainless trim, so has to be put on the correct way, hopefully shown here.

Next, the upholstered section must be secured at its lower edge, by a stainless steel finisher, again held with flat headed screws. This also acts as the holder for the top of the door card

The rearmost screw can foul against the door catch mechanism (front door only) and so needs to be short.
You can see the distortion of the leather over the holes for the inner handle due to the XS thickness of the foam filling. In this case, less would have been better!
Next is the difficult job of fitting the inner handle. It must be inserted vertically, getting the flange beyond the inner door skin and then rotated to secure. In addition, the long rod from the catch need to go through the lever. Quite tricky. An alternative method is to get the handle fitted and then fit the loose long rod and finally refit the other end to the catch mechanism. I tried it both ways and either seems fine.
Now test the handle works. The back part of the handle is fixed by a kind of captive screw and require some jiggling back and forth with the handle plate to get it aligned and therefore to work
My front doors had the long rod fixed with a set screw and the rears with grub screws, so presumably, fouling can occur in certain circumstances.
If your doors are like mine, also check the rear inner handles are able to lock the catch from within and yet are disabled by the child lock lever. IN my car, the built in inner handle ‘lock buttons’ serve no purpose.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

So, the first step is to fit the door catch mechanism. These are sided and either front or back, not least because the front will have the key lock part. My rear catches also have the function to lock from within the car plus a built in child lock.
There is no adjustment in the position for these catches but is is quite easy to not get them seated properly.

Once the mechanism is in, it is possible to check the door shuts and can be opened by pulling either the short rod which goes to the outer handle or the longer rod for the inner handle. Final door alignment also checked at this point.
Next the outer handle is fitted. This has an inner plate fitted top down. Feed the handle arm over the short rod as the handle is fitted then tighten the securing nuts and washers over the inner plate (10mm socket)
To set the position, trigger the door closing cam (but dont close the door!) and then tighten the set screw (8mm socket)to fix the rod. Handle should now work.

In addition, the door can now be easily removed and refitted but loosening the bottom hinge screw (a v long screw driver is great for this, about 45cm) and, whilst holding the door, release by opening the handle. Adie Pease has a nice video showing this https://youtu.be/vnw1l-4fDX0?si=SMUxk7UBTuA4hehm
Fit the lock on the front doors – a sliding clip on the inside secures it.
Check everything works.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Short Version.

Assumption is that all doors are hung and aligned correctly, particularly fitting well with the door seals. All screw holes present/made.

Fit the door catch mechanism and check the door shuts correctly.
Outside door handle with inside plate. Connect to catch mechanism. Check functionality.
Top trim/upholstery fixing plate (7 screws) and top upholstery.
Lower Stainless steel trim, fixing the top upholstery.
Inner door handle, connecting to catch mechanism. Check functionality.
Window channels.
Check glass fits but then remove.
Winder mechanism.
Drop in window and attach to winder mechanism.
Inner fuzzy window seal.
Fit set screws at bottom of window channel(x2)
Adjust and secure window upper and lower height positions.
Outer rubber window seal
Bottom rubber door seal.
Bottom stainless steel embellisher plate.
Final checks/adjustments.
Top stainless steel cover over uppermost upholstery fixing plate.
Plugs over window adjusting holes
Grease internal mechanisms, waxoyl internals.
Inner door membranes.
Door card
Winder handle.

I’ll go through the details of each step in the next few posts in the coming days

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Yes, mine is the 5 speed manual. No oil cooler. No aircon.

My solution seems to work and means that hydraulic work wont seem so daunting (need to rebuild another rear cylinder and should probably replace the height correctors at some point since the pressure doesn’t stay very long) but it may be a solution that not many others require!!

[Simon Lewthwaite]

This hole will be closed with a blanking grommet.
The far hole has a hanging cover that should fall into place but can also be manipulated with an arm through the zip opening.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Nope. The crank access was too much of an angle to confidently dock with the screw.
Zip access also no good because of angles.

In the end, I went with the obvious and direct route – straight through the radiator cowl in line with the regulator.
Just need to remove spare wheel etc. Works well.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

The plate attaching it could be ‘home made’ but its hard to tell.

It would be interesting if someone else with the same car has a different setup.

Of course, I might be able to access it with a single hole via the zip access. I’ll report back!

[Simon Lewthwaite]

So had another look with the fibreoptic and couldnt get on the nut with any combination of the wrenches I have – the radiator cowl is too close and obstructs getting the angle right.
Here is the front with cowl removed

So, as suggested, I’m going with the existing hole behind the number plate. Because the screw is not in line, I have opened out the inner hole before the cowl in such a way that a 1/4″ bar is directed exactly at the screw. I’ve ordered some new extensions as the working length has to be at least 45cm. Only £13 so made more sense than me making a bespoke wrench for this.
I’ll either make rubber gaskets with crosses as you said, Paul or maybe even aluminium discs that can be rotated out of the way – I can open the radiator canvas zip to help guide and close up the covers.
Probably a job for this weekend.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Well Paul, my whole car is a bit odd.
I’m not certain from where it originates – LHD. EFI but seems to have a non functional choke control.
All the engine bay plates match the engine spec.
Non of the wiring diagrams quite match what I find.
Its a 1973 car but with the old style steering wheel (which is good)
Full leather interior but the B pillar handle/straps are plastic. No Headrests.
Some days, I even wonder if it was originally a Pallas (but I think it is.)

Its clearly had plenty of structural work done on it and I suppose things get changed to suit, blurring the origins. You could say I am guilty of the same, what with my boot carpeting antics!

Its a very wet day but I’ll perhaps share some photos later.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Agree, no to everyone’s taste. Picture doesn’t really do it justice – in reality, its just a black hole, albeit cosy.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

Thanks both.

Right, I need to bend my pins then! Grease, yes, grease everywhere!

Its good to know Peter, that you can work on the hydraulics when the system is in a non pressurised state but it must be helpful to be able to quickly cycle back and forth between pressurised and non-pressurised when work is being done and checked?

My regulator is mounted on the end of the gearbox, sphere on the air intake side. No oil cooler on my car.

So, perhaps, I could retrofit those cross cut rubbers to allow access to the bleed screw, only needing to remove the numberplate? I’ll get out my endoscope and mark up some positions and see whats possible.

[Simon Lewthwaite]

This still frustrates me.
Why cant the bleed screw have easier access without dismantling the whole front?
It occurred to me that my car has the holes used for the hand crank to the front of the gear box, and includes the long rod, even though the engine cant be cranked.
Since the Main accumuluator, and bleed screw are attached on the front of the box, couldnt this access be used?

So, cars where the hand crank can be used, presumably, this passes through the radiator duct? Are there banking plugs or just accept a few holes are ok?

[Author]

Posts