1976 2200tc

Tom W

Tom W

Active Member
]I've just bought this. It was bought from a local car dealer as a non runner. It hasn't been run since October, and was last on the road about 2 years ago, only being moved round the yard since. My friend and I are going to do the work necessary to get it back on the road and I hope to use it as a daily driver, and restore as I go.

First impressions are it's surprisingly solid. The base unit appears to to be solid and I don't think it's been welded. Everything looks to be original and I don't think it's been messed about with. The interior is in very good nick, it just needs a good clean and the leather needs feeding. The paint is tatty, it's all flaking off in places, but there doesn't seem to be much rot and I love the 70s brown colour!!

So far, we've removed and checked/cleaned out the starter motor and tightened the battery earth strap to get it started. The engine seems really healthy with good oil pressure and no smoke. Clipping a fuse back in got most of the lights and the horn working, though I've upgraded the headlights to take modern halogen bulbs.

I put it in for an MOT today. I knew it would fail, needs new tyres and the handbrake doesn't work, but it would give me an idea of what was needed. Predictably it failed, mostly on things related to the rear brakes. Also, exhaust is shot and will need replacement. Anyone know where I can buy a replacement exhaust?

Tom
 

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Funny as it seems try a motor factors for the exhaust
Andrew Page still lists a few bits for the P6 system.

The rear brakes will probably involve a stripdown and sort out
more grunt than cash for that one - good luck finding new rear pads though.

The rear brakes never were that good and do not take kindly to standing around for too long. :cry:
 
Sounds like it'll be a cracking car after a bit of work, I run my 2000 Auto as a rolling resto, unfortunatly I'm out of MOT at the moment.

By back brakes need doing too, I bought the pads from Rover Classics http://www.rover-classics.co.uk/pages/contact/index.html a while ago and have now ordered some braided hoses for the back from him too. I have wimped out of the fitting as the car is in my dads garage at the moment (awaiting its new home), so I've booked it into my local garage, not the cheapest option but gets the job done and i'm sure they will have less bother bleeding the system than me.

I got new tyres fitted by etyres http://www.etyres.co.uk/ they come to you and have very reasonable prices. The guy did a great job, took him a while to get on of them to seal but he persisted and they have been fine.

Good luck, look forward to hearing the progress.
 
Oracle said:
PS - the registration looks very familiar

Where are you and where did the car come from?
Click to expand...

I'm in south Lincs, I got the car from a 2nd hand car dealer in Peterborough, who'd bought it for his father a few years back, but his father could no longer drive it due to ill health, so he stuck it on his forecourt. It was on advertised on ebay for several months, but didn't sell. Apparently it's been local to the Peterborough area all it's life.
 
Well, I've been back to the garage that did the MOT and told them I'm going to fix the rear brakes myself. After laughing and saying 'good luck' the mechanic said there's no effort recorded on the rear brakes, so my first job will be to bleed the brakes and see if that helps before dismantling anything too complex. Anyone know what order I should bleed the brakes in?

As for the exhaust, it's not rotten, it's an aftermarket item that's been badly fitted. Apparently where the sections have been welded together the weld only goes round the bottom half of the joint! I could fit a new one, but the current system has been welded into the manifold rather than using the 3 bolt flange so I think I'll need a new manifold to fit a standard system. The alternative is to look at welding the current system properly.

I'll be starting this weekend, so photos to follow as I go...
 
Think the bleeding order is, rear brakes (there is only one bleed nipple there), then front left, finally front right. From my recollection, you start with the brake the furthest away from the master cylinder/servo.

Fraser
 
It won't be air in the system preventing the back brakes from working as otherwise you'd have no pressure on the brake pedal
 
Well, got the car back home from the MOT centre today.

First impressions....

I need to tighten the steering, there's a lot of free play.
There's quite a lot of transmission noise, so I'll top up the fluids in everything. Should I use EP90 GL4 or GL5?
New dampers might be on the shopping list soon. It's quite bouncy.
The temperature gauge doesn't do much. I suspect the thermostat is stuck/removed as it never seemed to warm up.

Other than that, it seems to drive quite well. It has plenty of poke and is comfortable, if a little noisy.

So first job will be to take a look at the rear brakes and see what I can find out there, then see how bad the exhaust is. Did the 2200tc come with a 4 branch tubular manifold as standard, cos mine's got one?

Last question for now. Does anyone have photos of the oil cooler arrangement? It looks like the car's had a replacement rad recently and it doesn't have the 2 pipes below the bottom hose. The old rad is in the boot, and it does have these. I'm unsure where the pipes should come out of the block. I guess they've been blanked off.

Thanks,

Tom
 
Tom W said:
Well, got the car back home from the MOT centre today.

First impressions....

I need to tighten the steering, there's a lot of free play.
There's quite a lot of transmission noise, so I'll top up the fluids in everything. Should I use EP90 GL4 or GL5?
New dampers might be on the shopping list soon. It's quite bouncy.
The temperature gauge doesn't do much. I suspect the thermostat is stuck/removed as it never seemed to warm up.

Other than that, it seems to drive quite well. It has plenty of poke and is comfortable, if a little noisy.

So first job will be to take a look at the rear brakes and see what I can find out there, then see how bad the exhaust is. Did the 2200tc come with a 4 branch tubular manifold as standard, cos mine's got one?

Last question for now. Does anyone have photos of the oil cooler arrangement? It looks like the car's had a replacement rad recently and it doesn't have the 2 pipes below the bottom hose. The old rad is in the boot, and it does have these. I'm unsure where the pipes should come out of the block. I guess they've been blanked off.

Thanks,

Tom
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Check for play in all the steering joints before you take out the play by adjusting the steering box.
Gearbox uses 20/50 engine oil, the diff uses EP90.
All TC's had a 4 branch manifold.
The pipes in the bottom of the rad are for an autobox cooler, so your car has been fitted with the wrong rad in the past, but has the correct one now.
 
Thanks for the tips so far. I have some millers classic 20/50 oil so that can go in the gearbox. I think I'll drain and refill just to be on the safe side, same with the diff. I'll check the level in the de-dion tube whilst I'm under there too.

Good news about the radiator then, I was thinking I'd have to fork out for a new one. :LOL:

So where abouts is the oil cooler on a 2200 tc then? I remember reading somewhere that needs draining with a separate plug when doing an oil change. I think I need to invest in a proper manual soon.
 
You car may not have an oil plug on the De Dion, later cars didn't. If it does, it's not a level plug, you just put a few shots of oil in there to keep things moving. Capacity is 1/3pt, but you have no way of knowing how much is in there already, so that amount is only useful if adding from empty.
Early 2000TC's had an engine oil cooler, but not the 2200's IIRC.
 
OK, progress so far.....

The garage that did the MOT said there was no effort recorded on either of the rear brakes and suggested the flexi pipe might have collapsed. I slackened the bleed nipple on the rear and couldn't get any fluid out, so have started removing the flexi hose between the body and right hand caliper. There is fluid free flowing to there, because it's all run out :)

I think I will need to drop the diff to get at the other end of the hose. I've tried undoing the other hose to gain access, but that seems very tight and I think I'm rounding it.

Now I need to order a new flexi hose, or upgrade all round to braided hoses.

Next job after that will be the exhaust, which looks like it's been really bodged in the past, so could present some problems.
 
More progress today.

I've dropped the diff down to gain access to the rear brakes, and managed to remove the flexi hose between the body and the right hand caliper. It was blocked, so that explains the lack of rear brakes. Still no idea why the hand brake won't work though.

I've started to remove the calipers, but now have got stuck. I've removed the nuts at the back (the ones with the o-ring grooves in) securing the calipers to the diff, but can't get the bolts out to remove the calipers. There are some big nuts on the front that look like they're made from folded plate, but it's impossible to get any kind of spanner on them. Any tips. The pads look like have about 5mm of material left all round, so I don't think they're that worn, but I will probably replace them anyway when I've got them off. Where's it best to separate the handbrake mechanism from the diff?
 
Before you remove the calipers,get a friend to operate the handbrake and see what if anything happens
Are the calipers free to move on their pivots ? Does the handbbrake mechanism within the caliper move ? Are the pads so far from the disc that it doesn't make them bite on the disc ?
I think (can't remember) I undid the smaller bolt at the other end of the big bolt and undid the pivot using an allen key
 
You need to remove the funny looking bolt to get the pivot pins to slide out so you can remove the calipers. Good job you didn't tell me 30 years ago that it was impossible get a spanner on them, as I never would have been able to do any...........*




* You need to use a good quality 15/16" AF oe spanner.

The problem you will have now is that because you've dropped the diff it will be flopping about all over the place and you won't be able to get enough purchase on them to undo them.

Remove the clevis pins from the caliper quadrants, unhook the spring from the crosslink, remove the two bolts that hold the handbrake mechanism to the side of the diff and move the whole lot out of the way.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

The callipers are both free to move on their pivot pins. The hand brake mechanism on the front of the callipers all seems free to move, and looks like it's operating correctly, it's just that the pads don't grip the disk.

I'll try removing the handbrake mechanism to get at the funny bolts at the front of the callipers. None of the spanners I have will fit as it is at the moment. I've refitted the diff temporarily so I should be able to get some purchase on the bolts.
 
Tom W said:
I've removed the nuts at the back (the ones with the o-ring grooves in) securing the calipers to the diff, but can't get the bolts out to remove the calipers.
Click to expand...


The bolts will just knock out, it's just a nut and bolt although as you found the nut is an odd shape. Mine were a bit stuck too, a suitable drift and hammer and you can knock them out.
 
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