Heard of a trick using 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone. Guaranteed to remove the most stubborn bolt. I also say this tool which is on my holiday list and they don’t give it way.
Watch eh rust to Rome series on YouTube to see in in action.
Gerard
Sunroof frame? What model car are we talking about?
I love barn finds, can you post a picture?
Rob
Its a 1968 Daimler v8 250. Pictures to follow if I get it home today.
The Easter Islanders used logs to roll their stone figures down toward the shoreline…a similar method was probably used by the Egyptians since it is assumed or known they did not have the wheel, though it looks like they had the “axle”, so to speak. The TV show Nova actually erected a modern stone statue on Easter Island to prove the previously theorized method of locomotion/erection of heavy objects…quite interesting. And a guy in England built his own Stone Henge without any modern tools/methods.
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Any tips for freeing up the water pump which is stopping me from rotating the engine manually. I freed up the carbs and steering pump is free but water pump is not turning. I suspect the engine will turn if I can free up the pump.
You can gently rock the pump back and forth, disconnected from its belt: however, assume the pump will have to be removed, to determine if the impeller is gunned up with crusty stuff, against the timing cover, and/or the sealing gland is bad.
I think the belt would slip if you tried rotating it manually !
No point in rushing things , if it was me I would take my time , if it has been sitting for years , I would take the spark plugs out , and spray wd40 down the plug holes , if the engine turns , do a engine service , oil filter and the like , then try and start it once I knew everything was ok !
The water has been drained so likely there is dry deposits jamming it up. I will have to remove it hopefully without damage.
The owner thinks it has been sitting for about 15 years so not as bad as some.
Any reason why you can’t just remove (cut) the belt rather than trying to turn the engine with it in situ?
That is an option too. I was just asking if there were any options to fill the system with water/descaler to just see if it would free up the pump without stripping it all down. If it actually runs it would dictate how I proceed ie. as a spares car or a project in it’s own right.
Looks fairly straight, its the facelift model? Early ones came with the MK11Jag bumpers if memory serves my correctly?
Not too bad externally usual areas such as jacking points and crows feet have been fettled.
Boot lid just starting to go along the seam. Bottom of doors going but only one needs surgery. Bottom of front wings need repair as usual. Hole in passenger foot well as usual.
All the chrome (bumpers) was done by a local plating company which looks as though it was done straight onto steel. I checked them out for my own car and decided they were not up to scratch and this car proves it.
Interior is shot although I can save the dashboard etc. The seats are rotten.
First registered in May 1968
Bit like the MK2’s Robin , they both ended up with slim bumpers , cost cutting exercise 
Carb pistons are free after spraying with cleaner. Fuel in the filter bowl seemed a bit stale so I disposed of that!
Managed to remove the alternator and disconnect the power steering pulley belt. Sprayed the bores (plugs were very clean as in new). The water pump and engine are now turning by hand although pump seems stiff but no horrible noises. The belt is not helping as the tensioner arm seems seized and it’s a pig to get any leverage on it.
I will check the fuel pump and clean out the lines.
I have not actually sat in the car yet as its filthy inside. Having no sun roof cover meant lots of muck came through the roof.
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Cleaned out the carb float chambers today and the fuel bowl and lines. Oil down the bores and turned over by hand. Connected a battery and checked what lights I had on the dash. Just low fuel. I think the ignition light is shot as the engine will turn over on the starter.
The fuel pump was removed and flushed out and the points etc looked all clean so I reinstalled but it is not working. Have 12v to the live terminal but not working so the pump needs some magic to bring it to life.
The water pump got stiffer until I had a length of tube over the chain wrench around the pulley just to move it. After removing the top heater pipe I could see a lot of corrosion and scale almost blocking the pipe so realised the pump was probably stuffed with rust.
I resolved to try and add some Fernox heating cleaner. I drained just enough water to allow me to pour mixture into the hose which led directly to the pump. I then poured a kettle of hot water in after it and turned the pump a little to try and get it into the pump itself. Went off a cut the grass for an hour or so.
I came back and tried to turn the pump with the bar extension and it was still stiff as hell but after a few turns it suddenly freed up and was rotating without any problem.
Brilliant! I flushed water through. I now will braze a copper fitting onto the steel pipe to run the heater pipes in copper and eliminate the steel and T hose problems.
The engine is running! Still no SU Pump working but fuel squirted into carbs is enough.
Disturbing the water pipes to the heater box showed these were completely blocked so I by passed the heater for now. When I removed the pipe to the water pump (the spigot fitting) the actual spigot has virtually dissolved do is no use. By removing one from my other engine I realised these were going to have sheared nuts so chances are another day spent drilling out the old bolts and fitting helicoils into the water pump body. This is turning into a nightmare…
If I can get the SU Pump to run that will solve a lot of hassles. Its been stripped and cleaned but is still dead.
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Buy a Purlator/Facet electric pump to get things rolling. make sure it is the low pressure model. You can always use it later for fuel transfer from your motors scooters, lawnmowers, etc.
Gerard
slightly confused, are you not just fitting another waterpump?, the old one will not be useable
never had any joy getting old SU pumps working reliably
any replacement must have low pressure about 3psi, or a regulator will be needed
I used a suspended bottle of fuel from the bonnet via a fuel filter and ran gravity feed into carbs. Sticky inlet valves meant it overflowed so these were cleaned. Running ok but lumpy so suspect HT cables need sorting as these are not tight in the distributor cap. All cylinders are firing as removed leads one at a time to check for idle speed drop. Could be dirty carb jet although I put cleaner through these.
The water pump is now leaking but not surprised as it was jammed solid until I freed it up.
Putting her into gear meant instant stall as I suspect torque converter was sticking? After some coaxing and back and forwards it freed up and I could drive it a little.
Oils will be drained and replaced now I know it runs. Will check compressions and sort out lumpy running - that V8 exhaust has been missing in my life for a long time 
I have points NOS for the SU pump so will change these and re set as per instructions with feeler gauge. I can get a pump bump reaction if I earth the pump to the top mount but it is not so good via the earth screw as it does nothing there. So it is not dead I need to get the points clean and adjusted. If it still fails to work a new one is about £100.
The SU pump is pretty easy to rebuild. You need a diaphragm as well as new points. Diaphragms get stiff with age. There are long stem and short stem diaphragms, so be sure which one you have, for the longer or shorter coil body. The valve body has a filter inside and is probably full of gunk. There are electronic transistor conversion parts on the market if you want to improve it.