Hi all,
In spite of having found a vehicle a year ago with nice dry carpet on the RHS transmission tunnel, my O rings now appear to be leaking.
I am hoping to sort this quite soon, adopting the 'cut through the side panel' approach. I am getting through about 1/2lt of coolant every 1000 miles so I'm hoping that this is the only problem (fingers tightly crossed) but I need to sort this out before worrying that it is something more sinister!

Whilst I have the binnacle out to remove the air ducting, I thought I'd look at replacing the dash lights with LEDs. I'm pretty sure I read that someone else has already done this (Marty maybe?). If so, is there a direct bulb replacement or is it more involved (ie fitting new bulb plugs etc)?

Thanks

I might be wrong, but I think you have to solder them to the bayonets, i think Marty has done his, I’m sure he will let you know.
As for the orings, do them sooner rather than later, first time it will only take 90 minutes max

Thanks Chris - noted. Just waiting for the temp sensor to turn up (recommended to do at the same time) and I'll be on to it pronto.

If the wiring for LEDs is more involved then I'll probably leave well alone. Binnacle doesn't look too bad to remove so could do this later if a bulb goes.

Cheers

Binnacle is a five minute job to take out but, yes, Marty has done an LED conversion on his so is the man to speak to. I did O rings on my mates car last weekend in France, took a couple of hours but that did involve drilling the head off the screw and replacing it with an Allen bolt. One tip, in case the screw is tight, before you round it off trying to undo it, put some coarse grinding paste on the end of the screwdriver, it will grip much better with less chance of rounding the end and if you turn it to do it up first, that will often crack it free.

Thanks - useful info.

Just as a point of interest, is there a need to drain the coolant? Given the height of the pipes going through the bulkhead and the fact that the heater matrix will be full of water anyway, does it make much difference? I was planning on just using a load of old towels.

Small Tupperware under the pipes as you disconnect them and an old towel to mop up the drips. You only lose the contents of the matrix so not that much at all.

Re the grinding paste on a screwdriver for extra grip. If you've not got grinding paste in the garage, I guess most folks under 45 haven't, there is a made for the job nostrum called ScrewGrab which claims 800% increase in grip. American made and, allegedly, effective. About £7 for a 15 ml squeeze bottle off E-Bay. I bought a bottle, but have yet to try it, despite having a lifetimes supply of grinding paste picked up for next to nowt nearly 50 years ago. Looks to be more convenient to use.

The 1/4 hex diamond coated bits have rather more grip than a plain screwdrivers too. Although folk associate them with woodscrews and house DIY "HoneyDoo" jobs I frequently use them on vehicles.

Also the cheap ratchet lever thingies for 1/4" hex bits can be a lifesaver when something is a bit stubborn. Especially if a screw head is at the wrong angle so you can't go straight in but there is room round the sides. But don't forget to push down on the top knob to keep the bit engaged.

Clive

I must admit, I bought a 450mm pz2 screwdriver that is solely for the dreaded orings screw, can get plenty of pressure on it and no slip so far ( 4 sets of orings )

Looks like you have the O ring side of things under control...

LED dash... Yes, I've done mind, and no it wasn't just a straight swap of lamps. I completely stripped down the cluster and fitted LEDs in to light the gauges/speedo/tacho and then added extra LEDs to light the needles.

You can probably swap in some LED lamps but I would imagine that the output would be pretty patchy.

I was going to offer LED dash conversions, but there was a lack of demand and people wanting them cheaper, which was tough as it takes about 5-6 hours to convert one and get it all working and looking right.

I can post a couple of pictures up if you want to see the result.

Clive603 wrote:

If you've not got grinding paste in the garage, I guess most folks under 45 haven't

When I was 11 years old my step father was reconditioning the Onan, flat twin, sidevalve engines that used to run the generators in the back of ice cream vans. He got so fed up with me sitting there saying, "what's that?", "what does this do?", "why are you doing that?" so he handed me a cylinder barrel with two valves in it, a tin of grinding paste and a rubber sucker on a stick with the words, "you've watched me do it often enough, get on with it". That was my introduction to taking engines apart and putting them back together and I've still got that same tin of grinding paste, double ended with coarse at one end and fine at the other. That was 52 years ago so it has a pretty good shelf life.....

If you've not got grinding paste in the garage

I've got grinding paste in the shed

I guess most folks under 45 haven't,

What year is this? <checks driving licence> Awww ffs...

30 years old here....I have a tin of grinding paste. Not used it though.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Just to confirm - I am over 45 and somewhere I do have a tin of grinding paste (unused!) but the only thing I've found so far is the wooden dowel with the rubber sucky things on the end (yes - I do believe that is the correct technical term...)

I guess that could beg the question - what is the most commonly owned but unused item in a P38 owners workshop?

what is the most commonly owned but unused item in a P38 owners workshop?

Tin of turtlewax :-D

I’m nearly the same as Gordon, there’s 5 Ltr s of car shampoo sitting there, must be 4 years now, as my other half works for Sainsburys, I get top wash for £2.60 so guess where I get my car washed

Unlike when I owned a Classic, the welder doesn't see the light of day these days.....

Those Sainsbury's car washes are pretty good, it's the only one near me that sprays underneath (the only bit that really matters!)

Martyuk wrote:

Looks like you have the O ring side of things under control...

LED dash... Yes, I've done mind, and no it wasn't just a straight swap of lamps. I completely stripped down the cluster and fitted LEDs in to light the gauges/speedo/tacho and then added extra LEDs to light the needles.

You can probably swap in some LED lamps but I would imagine that the output would be pretty patchy.

I was going to offer LED dash conversions, but there was a lack of demand and people wanting them cheaper, which was tough as it takes about 5-6 hours to convert one and get it all working and looking right.

I can post a couple of pictures up if you want to see the result.

Some pics would be nice, i have a bulb out on mine and was wondering about LED's to replace