Interior
I stripped out the trim to assess the floorpan. Most of it is very good, but there has been a water leak into the left rear. Here I'm removing the bitumen pads to deal with that
Rust in the left rear ground out, treated and painted. Also, all four of the circular infill pieces had rusted, so I replaced them with plastic
I drilled drainage holes at the low points of the floor in all four footwells. I then masked and rustproofed the parts I was leaving as water drain channels underneath my sound deadening
I refitted the rear demister channels, after rustproofing underneath them
The 144 will be doing some long distance driving, e.g. European holidays. Looking at period roads tests, it was criticised for being noisy when cruising at high speed, even by late 60s standards, so I decided to add in some refinement.
The whole floor was covered with a dynamat equivalent, before rubber mats, then a new black carpet
I also insulated the pillars
The black mats are doormats from B&Q. the major advantage over the original foam type is these don't hold water. Any water that gets to the floor will just drain out
Refitting the interior components as the new carpet goes in
I am 6ft 5, with long legs, and initially it was difficult for me to drive Olga.
I have bent the gearlever slightly to the left, so that there is room for my left knee when in third gear.
I also spaced out the driver's seat mounting to allow the whole seat to go further back
[photos later]
I fitted a 164 early type gearknob. I like this type; being spherical it's nice to change gear with.
For safety's sake, I wanted an upper brake light, but I didn't want it to look modern. I made one using a period stainless steel rear fog lamp
There is more to do, but I like how Olga's interior looks and feels now
Running gear
The handbrake adjuster and pulley had seized up, so I refurbished it
Olga's role in my fleet is comfortable cruiser; I have the 245 turbo for speed!
For the most part, Olga will stay with standard suspension, but I am looking for some subtle changes:
- improved comfort (where I can do it without damaging handling)
- improved handling (where I can do it without damaging comfort)
- lighter steering
Working to these goals, I have fitted an uprated 22mm front anti-roll bar.
The thicker front anti-roll bar keeps the car more level during cornering, helping both comfort and handling. More front roll stiffness could tend to increased understeer. I am offsetting this by running higher front tyre pressures, which will also lighten the steering a little.
Here I'm refurbishing the drop links, before refitting using new poly bushes
When I removed the gearlever for carpet fitting, I noticed that it had some slop. I made some spacers from slices of copper pipe that take up the wear nicely and give a crisp gear change. Here they are slid on over the original side pins
Olga has passed her first MOT for many years. I can't drive her yet, because I need to await the new V5 before she can be taxed (previous owner lost the original, and I mistakenly thought I could apply for a new one at the same time as taxing her). But soon she'll be on the road!
And I think this brings me up to date!
I will try to keep on top of the updates better from here onwards
Cheers
John