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Not much progress to report in the last couple of weeks. The weather has been poor – cold and rainy. I did manage to get the Umm started this week. The relay for the cylinder heaters was not working. This turned out to be a disconnected ground connection. So that is another job ticked off.
As the weather looked OK today, I felt it was time to do something on the UMM.
The radiator had been leaking and so I decided to get it off and take it for repair. There is a firm nearby in Bilston who are able to do this sort of repair. I will take it along in the next couple of days.
And here we are. City Radiators in Bilston have done a great job. Apparently there were leaks everywhere. From the top tank edges, under the metal plates at the top, and multiple places in the core.
They replaced the core and repaired all of the other leaks. It’s been pressure tested to 30 psi.
Finally able to make some real progress. The front end needs to be cleaned up for painting, and so all the structures and parts in the way were removed. It is not in too bad condition, so with a wire brushing, it should be ready for a few coats of thick paint.
A nice sunny day, so good for painting.
I also took the water pump off the engine in order to check it’s condition. It is easy to get at right now, so I took the opportunity. The pump is fine, and so it went back on again, together with the new thermostat cover I bought.
One of the previous owners had cut the centre cover in half across the car. This is not a bad idea, because it means that this part of the panel can be removed without disconnecting the handbrake. That means it is possible to get to the top of the gearbox if required.
The panel had not been finished properly though, so I have made a flange up for the join and welded it on. This is a trial fit, and some fixing holes will be drilled later on.
Also, the same owner had cut an access panel in the heater bulkhead / engine cover, to allow access to the clutch slave cylinder. I have now cut a panel in the opposite side to allow access to the starter motor. Without these access panels it is practically impossible to get at the starter or clutch cylinder without major work in removing the engine bulkead. This will all be finished properly and painted.
Here is the panel painted up and ready to go into the car. Then I can fit the dashboard and start to tidy up the electrical wiring.
Painted the front wing on the driver’s side. Two coats of undercoat and two topcoats. I can start to see what it will look like when it is all painted.
It’s often one step forwards and two steps back on this type of project. I had the rear engine cover and heater fitted and all piped up, and thought it would be prudent to check for leaks. So I ran the engine up to temperature. I then found that there was water vapour and drips coming out of the engine breather tube. Sure enough, there was definitely water in the oil. The cylinder head gasket had obviously failed. This had been fine up until now, as far as I know. So nothing else for it but to take the rear panel back off and the radiator, and then remove the cylinder head. The gasket does look a bit suspect in one area, so that would explain the leak. I have the spare cylinder head if I need it, and also a new gasket. So I ordered up some new bolts. The components will be cleaned up and then reassembly can begin.
Cylinder head changed for the spare one I had, with new gasket and bolts. All bolted up and checked for leaks. Seems OK at the moment, and is running well.
The next job is to put the rear engine cover on again, and refill with antifreeze mixture. Then maybe I can reinstall the dashboard and make a start on the wiring. We’ll see.
Made a start on the wiring, after installing the engine cover and dashboard. This is proceeding slowly, not helped by the fact that there seems to be several different wiring diagrams for UMM’s and it’s a case of finding which one is the best fit.
It is not a complicated vehicle though, so it will be possible to sort it out.
The wiring behind the dash is now pretty much sorted out. I have refitted the steering wheel and the column switches.
Last week, I visited an ex UMM owner, Sunny, over in Leicestershire. He had some parts for sale, including some used suspension springs. These were a bit rusty from storage, but a bit of wire brushing, and paint soon had them looking good. The rear springs are particularly useful, as those on my UMM are quite worn, and a probable MOT failure. These will be fitted soon.
Sunny, also had some front plastic pieces – light surrounds and grille. These are in much better shape, and so are now trial fitted on the vehicle.
The rear springs I got from Sunny are now fitted to the car. They look fine, and the car sits nice and level.
I have also removed the rear towing bar frame. I don’t intend to tow with this vehicle and I can use the space underneath for a spare wheel carrier. (Yet to be made).
The Driver’s door sliding window has a rattle. There is a U-shaped plastic piece on the bottom of the glass that acts as a kind of runner in the slot of the window frame. This had worn out. There is also a rubber section at the top of the frame to help seal the glass, and this was missing.
Fortunately, I had a spare window, and so I could dismantle the window to combine the best parts.
This is the window, showing the plastic runner that wears out. I had a passenger side one of these, which is good because the passenger side tends not to be as worn, as it is less used. All that is required is to remove the two screws from the catch and invert it to fit the other side.
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