Tooling and Painting

Two main projects today, painting around the trunk and engine compartment, and cleaning up the classic tool trays.
It is still cold out, so I had an electric heater going in the trunk as I painted the exposed metal around the trunk opening in black "Magic Paint". I had a fair amount left over in my little paint tray, so I decided to also paint the conspicuous surfaces in the engine compartment. This was a bit of a risk because I could not put heat on the area, and the Magic Paint is supposed to be applied at 60 F, and it is only about 40 F out today. It does seem to be drying alright though, which encourages me to go to work on painting the wheel wells and undercarriage next "car day". That is exciting, because it is the only thing holding me back from getting the car back on the road.
The other little project is the "tool tray". This is a very unique little feature of the Rover P4, a tray of wrenches (spanners), air gauge, screw driver, touch-up paint, and a few other little essentilas that slides in under the glove box. As such, it is rather an essential little detail to clean up for display.
I bought some "Rust Off" and soaked the tools in that for a few minutes. That has done a nice job, but I still must refinish the mahogany facia. I have two trays, one from the parts car, so I get to choose which one will be featured in the '56.
Here are some before and after photos.

Bleedin' Brakes!

I am still looking for little jobs to do while waiting for weather to warm enough for the painting I want to do.
I decided I may as well flush out the brake lines and feed in new fluid. I was a little wary of the bleeder screws on each wheel cylinder being rusted tight, but was pleasantly surprised to find that a little WD 40 freed them up just fine... well at least that was what I was lulled into thinking with the first three wheels! When I got to the fourth wheel, the left front, I sprayed it and gently pulled on the wrench like the others. This time however, when it began to move, my delight turned to dismay as it snapped off! So, now what? I could try drilling it out, but I would need a replacement wheel cylinder on standby in case I was not successful. Well, I thought, I do have the parts car! Oh, but wait, the parts car has disc brakes on the front. Might the rear cylinders be the same? No such luck.
I have decided that I will do nothing at this point. 90% of the fluid in the system is now replaced, and there does not feel like any air in the system. The broken bleeder valve is not leaking, so the system is as tight as ever. I will watch for somewhere to buy a rebuilt wheel cylinder, and will keep it on hand until the next time that I will want to bleed the brakes, at which time I can replace the cylinder.
I took on a few other smaller tasks for the rest of the day, re-oiling the small air filter on the cylinder head, cleaning the cylinder heads and around the intake manifolds, and refitting some of the trim that lines the trunk. It is pretty nice trim actually, well fitted to cover all of the metal framing around the inside of the trunk. Pretty spiffy!

A Tip of the Bonnet

I painted the inside of the trunk this morning. I am still concerned about low temperatures for the painting, but with the trunk, I was able to focus an electric heater into it. It seems to be setting up alright.
I decided I had to find a project that was not temperature dependent, so decided to remove the hood (bonnet) and begin a proper cleanup of the engine bay. The fact that the hood is aluminum made the job fairly light and easy.
I was then able to do some scraping and brushing of rust and corrosion, and begin an assessment of some mechanical tasks. For example, I discovered that the brake fluid reservoir lid was seized on. I eventually had to pry it off, and will replace it with the one from the parts car.
Next "car day" I will continue to explore the engine bay, removing the air cleaner to get at the carburettor, and othe cleaning tasks.