Post by toomanyprojects on Jul 30, 2021 12:35:08 GMT
Onto the gearbox then.
You might think I could leave this off for this stage of the build but without it the engine doesn't sit right/behave itself and essentially pivots on the mounting points. That and I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything when running the cabling to the box given it's another modification (MX5 5 speed lump). It therefore made sense to fit while I could... except I couldn't, but more on that in a minute.
In the interim to solve the engine behaviour issues a jack was used to provide support to the rear of the oil pan along with a couple of wooden blocks between the engine block and the firewall, You'll also see I've removed the steering rack for the time being.
I then had a wrestle with the gearbox , which was fun as the car was too low to get it underneath so cue another merry dance raising everything up once more.
Ideally the gearbox is attached to the engine before that is fitted and the whole lot goes in together in one lovely swooping angled motion (and several pairs of guiding arms). However I decided to do things the hard way (I know, I know), but I was on my own and well, you've seen the debacle of fitting the engine in my previous post. Doing that with the gearbox attached as well would have been asking for trouble - i.e. it simply wasn't going to happen.
In the early cars the tunnel is open the whole way and the rear support for the gearbox bolts to the shell either side of the tunnel. In the later shells the support is fixed and so the gearbox has to go over it at the rear where the prop connects. Rather than being as awkward as it sounds this was a very good thing in this instance as with a bit of manhandling I was able to do this:
My thinking being that I could then use a jack or even the engine crane over the back of the engine to swing the bell housing end up to connect to the engine. Having no flywheel or clutch etc. installed also gave me a bit more room for this. Except due to the way I'd positioned everything with the axle stands I couldn't get near enough to lift it.
Just as I was about to have a shuffle around and attempt lying on my back with the gearbox on my chest (not my best idea - don't do this!), a timely text from my little bro arrived. He'd been to the dales and wondered if they could call in for an overnight stay on their way home south. A light bulb lit up at that point and so after catching up, he was shepherded to the workshop and 'employed' in exchange for a beer or two
The end result
That'll work for me. I could then get on with the rest of the install myself, adding the dirt covers and support brackets
With that out of the way the engine could then have the blocks removed and a few of ancillaries added that I'd previously removed when fitting
The bay was starting to fill up a bit now, certainly not as much room as you first imagine, I was also getting increasingly concerned that I'd used the wrong mounts as it all sits a little higher than I had originally hoped
Only thing for it was a quick test with worst case scenario
I was genuinely quite shocked to discover it all fitted underneath and looked ok from the outside. However underneath...
Yup that's close!
In fairness that's the standard bonnet just laid on with no bonnet blocks or struts attached so in theory I'll gain a few mm (small wins and all that!). Obviously I have even more room if I used the 'C' bonnet as hoped. I'm very much not the expert on that though so we'll have to see whether it's doable. On reading up the trick seems to be that if using the original steel bonnet you remove the centre cross-support, not sure that is doable with the aluminium version but we'll see in time.
Happy that I was good to continue, it was time to dig out the next puzzle piece from the 'here's one I made earlier' pile
Post by toomanyprojects on Aug 2, 2021 12:08:08 GMT
As the engine bay still had far too much room in it , time to fill it up some more.
First job was to dismantle what I'd previously put together in order to work through things methodically, so off came the fans
and on went the brackets in order to position the 'slightly' uprated radiator
Another minor issue then presented itself, with the brackets now fitted, and the radiator being slightly deeper in profile than usual, the existing bolts were no longer quite long enough to also attach the fans
but rather than worry too much at this stage I persevered in getting everything positioned and level (sadly no 'make the noise' here)
Once happy with that, I could break out the drill and position the support brackets with the cleco pins - you can see how much further forward they've been moved from the marks where Chris removed the previous brackets
The magic number I was aiming for was 70mm from the bonnet slam panel and the bracket at the wing edge
That'll work.
With the brackets temporarily fixed I could then unbolt the radiator and loosely position the fans in place as they tuck under the slam panel slightly.
then re-introduce the radiator
and check everything still cleared
Thankfully it did - just!
I now need to source some longer bolts, make up some tube spacers to sit between the brackets as the ones supplied are not long enough (seen in the top pic above), and bolt everything together. I can also make up the fixing point for the engine steady bar shown in the last photo as this comes off the LH head and bolts through the wing.
I had a bit of a weekend running about the country again so more when I get to it this week, then it's on to exhaust routing.
A top-tip I picked up from TV for clearances was a ball of tin-foil. As you close the panel, the tin-foil ball squashes but retains it shape. So you can see how much real clearance you have.
A top-tip I picked up from TV for clearances was a ball of tin-foil. As you close the panel, the tin-foil ball squashes but retains it shape. So you can see how much real clearance you have.
Hope it helps
Cheers, good shout, I might give that a go later on
Post by toomanyprojects on Aug 24, 2021 12:08:29 GMT
Apologies for radio silence, silly season at work and weekends have been busy too so things have been a little quiet on the car front, however there has been some minor progress.
I finally have some leave booked next week too so hopefully I'll be able to get stuck in again. So where were we?
Revisiting the radiator mountings meant a bit of reconfiguration was needed to get things lining up a little better than before, as a consequence the mounting brackets required a little fettling as they weren't designed for a radiator of this width and depth.
On researching and asking those who had done something similar previously, there is no 'right' way of doing this, just a case of getting everything to fit as best as you can without anything hitting anything else.
One of the other ways to alleviate some space and to prevent unwanted contact was to trim one of the fan shrouds ever so slightly to stop it hitting the slam panel centre support
The cutting disc on the dremel made short work of that.
Things were going in the right direction finally on the positioning, so the next job was to mount the remote oil filter bracket which sits on the O/S radiator bracket.
Once happy it was located in the right place, it was a case of drilling and cleco pinning the bracket, mounting the filter housing before connecting the various hoses to check they passed through the holes as intended. I also put a couple of the water hoses on just to make sure they would connect too.
You'll also spot in the pic above that I took the opportunity to fit the engine steady bar while I was at it. This mounts to the right-hand header and then bolts through the wing to a strengthening plate in the wheel arch. Simple but quite effective seemingly.
The oil cooler was then attached to the underside of the front panel using the captive nuts, and I checked the hoses for routing
B*gger! that's not going to work, hose was too short. I suspect I have inadvertently purchased/been sold a set of the chrome bumper hoses instead of the R/B versions. On the C/B cars the oil cooler sits on top of the panel and so the hoses would have not issue reaching in that instance. Not a major issue at this stage, just another item on the shopping list and another thing to sort.
On to messing with the exhausts then, building them up a side at a time and checking clearance and positioning as I went.
all was roughly ok to start with, albeit helped with the prolific use of cable ties!
which eventually got me to here
Hmm they're a bit low
A bit of wrestling with some of the bends and a couple more well positioned ties and things were looking a lot better
For extra wow factor I even left the fishnets on for protection
I'll need to modify the rear valance for that extra pipe, but that can be done in time. The next job is to position the various clamps and brackets and add fixing points to the shell, that'll be more holes to drill then.
Post by toomanyprojects on Sept 14, 2021 18:30:21 GMT
Some time off work and a few days to play meant some more progress, albeit not quite as much as I hoped (when is that ever the case?!) but either way a bit of a bumper update so probably best grabbing a tea, coffee, a beer or several!
Once more into the den then...
Starting with the exhaust bracketry first, the stock way of fitting is to use interim hangers, of which there is a locating point under the rear seat
Except as the stock system is only a single pipe there wasn't a fixing point for the other side, so I positioned one to match
and before refitting, positioned all the cable guides to check clearance with the mid-boxes
Happy with how that all came together and now needing a few additional parts which I'd ordered for collection at the MGOC the following week (joys of being not too far away now), meant that I could move onto one of the jobs I don't mind admitting I'd been putting off.
Being a somewhat picky individual with my vision for the car, the later dash just didn't do it for me. The solution needed to fit with the overall ethos of the build which is if you know, you'll know and on taking a second glance you'll go 'ah ha, that's different, effort has gone in there' (hopefully in a good way too!).
The answer was the early dash, which after some minor modification fits nicely
However, it's not quite so straightforward and it comes with a few issues
#1 The newer collapsible column won't fit the earlier narrow column tunnel
After some initial 'adjustment' with a file and the steering lock meeting the grinder
We had something that worked a little better
Issue #2 then The later cowl for the later column is no longer usable
and in fact nor is the early one either owing to the fact it doesn't fit over the larger column
which leads to issue #3
The c/B column is considerably longer than the R/B collapsible column, the way they mount to the car is also very different with the later column utilising a much more secure fitting at the base which I didn't really want to cut out and remove/adjust.
Time for some marrying of the best bits of both then. Ideally keeping the narrow upper part of the early column, making use of the collapsible outer and mounting of the later column and with the correct spline fitting for where it would meet the steering rack. Yes, yes I do make work for myself...
Time to dismantle things:
slice and dice later column outer with the mounting points I wanted to keep
Cut the outer of the early column and add to the later outer column (still keeping up ), and then add both to car to check positioning. I was using the bolt collar on the early column outer at this stage as a reference for where it needed to meet the newer outer (see where screwdriver is used below to hold in position). Luckily it fitted inside so was simple to then adjust as required.
All that gave me this
To get the inner column length correct, I then needed to add all the associated additions
but didn't like the gap it gave me near the dash
so made some more adjustments (you'll see I also added the instrument surround so as not to go too close).
Much betterer
Time to swallow the brave pills and make some cuts
Now annoyingly the columns were two different diameters and thicknesses, however that did prove to be to my advantage when looking to marry them together
I could simply turn down the earlier and thicker column to accept the later column over the top, however without a lathe it was a case of doing it the hard way until I had a snug fit
Rather than weld it at this stage I put everything back together keeping it as an interference fit
and refitted it to the car
Looks good at the business end, what about the bottom?
B*gger, that's a bit long. Time for some shortening then.
However before I did so, I wanted to see where the steering rack would get me once the UJ was added. Time to refit the rack and add the UJ then
Hmm it's close, with the UJ fitted too, well you can see for yourself - too close!
what about the earlier rack?
Nowhere near sadly. That's not going to work then. The UJ would also foul on the manifold bolts.
Ok, time to adjust the column and get that as it should be and take a different approach with the engine bay connections. Reducing it by an inch got it spot on so that there was some damping with the end spring and the UJ cleared the manifold bolts. The column also sits perfectly in the cabin
So that's where I am with the column for now, I'll need to revisit the steering at a later date once the engine is out but it would seem that others have made the conversion work with a double UJ arrangement. More on that soon but any suggestions / pointers welcome but looks like I may need a shorter 'interim' section to joint the two together.
As you will have seen above, it now means I am left with the early column cowl arrangement and so only one column switch. Not a bad thing in my opinion but it does mean I lose some functionality in that location. Wipers, wash and overdrive on one:
and indicators and headlight high/low beam on the other:
The ignition switch is also removed from the column. Most functions are incorporated in the early dash already, and I won't need overdrive, but I will need to address the high/low beam switching and the screen wash as I've already got plans for the slot the manual pump was located in previously, more on that when we get there.
After a brief interlude of house jobs and a trip over the the MGOC to collect parts and take a few pics of their demonstrator with the same exhaust on, I could then progress with the exhaust bracketry once more, namely firming up the positioning of the rear pipes
which involved getting the fuel tank out the way
the intention being to replicate the existing hanger bracket you can see on the right below, with one on the left
this would also allow me to modify the rear valance for the second pipe, as shown on their demo car
My approach was to pick up another of the R/H brackets which is a spare part produced by heritage but as it only exists in one orientation, rotate it 180 to locate on the opposite side. With a few cleco pins keeping it in position and the brackets screwed in place I was left with the below
I just need to refit the tank and exhausts again now to check clearances... one forwards, two back ...it's all good fun!
Another item I picked up was the fan shroud protection which attaches to the front bonnet slam panel, having this in place gives me a good idea if the radiator is far enough back
Great update - love the way you have been "stubborn" with getting the column the exact way you wanted - a man after my own heart.
"but I will need to address the high/low beam switching and the screen wash as I've already got plans for the slot the manual pump was located in previously, more on that when we get there. "
On my Morris - I've got a foot operated dip switch - that might save a spurious hole in the dash.
I've only got single speed wipers, and added and electric screenwash so my toggle switch for those is OFF - WIPERS - WASHERS, on an OFF-ON-FLASH switch.
It's a good update but where was the bumper update? I mean, they look fine to me but if you're promising an update on them then don't deliver it's just left me feeling a bit flat. Probably spoilt my day actually.
It's a good update but where was the bumper update? I mean, they look fine to me but if you're promising an update on them then don't deliver it's just left me feeling a bit flat. Probably spoilt my day actually.
You have obviously caught the whinging disease of the non native country that you now reside in
It's a good update but where was the bumper update? I mean, they look fine to me but if you're promising an update on them then don't deliver it's just left me feeling a bit flat. Probably spoilt my day actually.
You have obviously caught the whinging disease of the non native country that you now reside in
It's a good update but where was the bumper update? I mean, they look fine to me but if you're promising an update on them then don't deliver it's just left me feeling a bit flat. Probably spoilt my day actually.
I'll let Chris give you an update on the bumpers... it won't take long however 😉
Great update - love the way you have been "stubborn" with getting the column the exact way you wanted - a man after my own heart.
"but I will need to address the high/low beam switching and the screen wash as I've already got plans for the slot the manual pump was located in previously, more on that when we get there. "
On my Morris - I've got a foot operated dip switch - that might save a spurious hole in the dash.
I've only got single speed wipers, and added and electric screenwash so my toggle switch for those is OFF - WIPERS - WASHERS, on an OFF-ON-FLASH switch.
Hope it helps
Ha! Yes. Well if you're going to do something to a personal spec then there is no such thing as compromise... well not yet anyway. 😉
Foot operated switch is my thinking too, exactly what would've been fitted to the early car so I do have one, just a case of wiring it in.
The wiper switch sounds exactly what I need, might be picking your brains on that when I get there.
If the indicator switch has a headlight flash position then you can contrive a relay arrangement whereby it doubles up as the dip switch when the lights are on. I'm planning to modify my TR6 wiring to work that way.
, which was fun as the car was too low to get it underneath so cue another merry dance raising everything up once more.
