Work on rebuilding the chassis and running gear on a friend's Jensen 541R has ground (excuse the pun) to a complete halt owing to lack of time and funds but I hope to kick-start things again in the summer of this year.
Here's what the garage looks like at the moment - the dark car in the background with the yellow registration plate NFS 190P is my Jensen Healey GT.
The Rover went back onto the road recently with a new all-stainless steel exhaust system from P D Gough and Associate, a radiator expansion bottle has been fitted and the windscreen wiper motor assembly overhauled and refurbished. The heater unit is now out of the car (I've bypassed the hoses with a 'U' bend made from 15mm copper pipe) and has been stripped down ready for complete refurbishment.
Various other mechanical and electrical repairs will be carried out in the coming weeks - there are leaks in the power steering pump area, a very heavy clonk from the left-hand rear suspension and the thermostatic switch that controls the Kenlowe electric cooling fan failed years ago and has temporarily been replaced by a dashboard switch. The thermostat has now been repaired with bits from an old central heating boiler thermostat and will be fitted into a diecast aluminium box together with a relay so that the fan can be fed direct from a heavy current source, with the dashboard wiring just carrying the small current required to energise the relay coil.
Sadly, nothing has been done to the Jensen GT.
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Andy Thomas, August 26th, 2010