I assume from that post you will be at the nec restoration show in a few months once it's been re-dipped? I'll be there on the MR2 stand so will have a gander round to look at yours and Chris's handywork 😁
It will be on the Ribble Technology stand - I'll be on the Jowett Car Club stand in Hall 5 but I'll post a thread up on 'Paddock'
I assume from that post you will be at the nec restoration show in a few months once it's been re-dipped? I'll be there on the MR2 stand so will have a gander round to look at yours and Chris's handywork 😁
It will be on the Ribble Technology stand - I'll be on the Jowett Car Club stand in Hall 5 but I'll post a thread up on 'Paddock'
I suspect the only bit of the handiwork you'll be able to admire of mine is the copious amount of holes I've created in the shell
Post by toomanyprojects on Jan 31, 2022 18:49:22 GMT
It's been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster over the last week with this one.
Last Wednesday I found out that the owner of the trimming company in Lewes where I was due to have the webasto built and fitted, had passed away unexpectedly, as a result the business has now ceased trading. A real sucker punch as not only did Steve have great enthusiasm for the build and the vision I have, he was a genuinely lovely guy who I got to know quite well over the course of a few visits. RIP sir.
I'm not sure of next steps on this one but I have heard on the grapevine that one of his apprentices will be taking some of the business on, albeit in Poland as he's now moved back there following Brexit. It will just be a case of waiting and seeing I guess.
Friday last week saw me another year older and rather fortunately the day delivered a couple of unexpected birthday bonuses. The first was the familiar sight of a UPS delivery driver carrying a box from California, impressive given I'd only ordered it a few days prior. In a scene not too different from this as we were supposed to be leaving to head to the hotel near the south coast...
I was in the workshop test fitting the new arrival Thankfully my rudimentary counting system and measurements were correct as it only bl**dy fitted (Given my recent luck on a few things you can tell I might have been a little surprised at this).
I've got some work to do sorting the angles, and a bit of reading over the weekend revealed a potential option for this (more on this in a sec), but so far so good.
The next little win of the day was that just before jumping in the car I got confirmation through to say that I'd be able to drop a little something off on route and collect it again the next day - result! Although it meant I had to go and retrieve it to take with us.
At the risk of repeating myself allow me to explain. Some of you may remember that back in October I mentioned that Chris and I weren't overly happy/convinced by the bonnet fit on the original C bonnet that I had. Chris had also discovered some poorly repaired damage, and the company that had added the louvres had also not helped the situation by bending the rear flange to give access to the punch tool, this was it after being dressed back around the hinges:
I'd therefore managed to source another in better condition. Now being a picky/stubborn sod, I still had that vision in mind of having a subtle number of louvres in the bonnet, not sure why but for me they just hint at what lurks within and fit with the ethos of the build. Anyway after a bit of trawling I'd managed to contact a guy, who as mentioned said I could drop it off, he'd do what was needed, I could then collect on my way back past the next day. Again there were explicit instructions to only do what he could get away with in the space available and not to touch the rear bonnet strengthener on the underside. As it happened after having chance to look and measure the bonnet, he rang to say he could do exactly what I wanted and with room to spare to not disturb anything. Friday night after dinner at the hotel I subsequently received the following pictures:
and most importantly of all, the rear edge was untouched
Top service, utter gent and I highly recommended if you need anything similar doing, just search for 'cool louvres' on bookface and ask for 'Bren'.
With that being sorted I was able to enjoy a suitably relaxing birthday escape at GoodWood, where there was plenty of eating and drinking with a visit to the members club
and a bit of this to wear it all off
Saturday on the circuit saw the first of their driver experience days with a fleet of BMW's M cars and a few 'Minis' for good measure (with apologies for 'modern' content)
We didn't have time to partake sadly but instead spent a short while wandering the members plaques around the perimeter of the circuit where some familiar names were spotted.
The rest of the weekend was a bit of a blur not helped by a few more drinks on Sat eve , I also received a couple of cracking presents for the build from the family but more on those in time.
Lastly I did get chance to have another play with the MG when finally back home on Sunday. Which as mentioned earlier, meant I could dig out a little something that may assist with the steering shaft angles (good jobnI don't throw things away quickly
The majority of which is of no use and will be stripped off, however, on closer inspection the subframe itself does have two slightly bigger mounts for where the steering rack sits and it looks like they may be positioned slightly further forward and at a lower angle
Time to break out the deblock oil and get it stripped down for a better comparison
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 4, 2022 18:00:37 GMT
Day job keeps getting in the way this week but I managed a few hours one eve before heading to the big smoke.
As it happens it turned into a bit of a school day too, now if only I'd done said reading or thought about the other subframe sooner... you live and learn
First I managed to get the earlier cross member removed
That allowed me to fit the alternative subframe and test fit the two racks. First the later rack
Still close at the top end but a much friendlier route through the engine mount
Then the earlier rack
Which with the revised subframe mounts is now too far away to give a good fit with the double UJ
As a test I then refitted the later rack and added the smaller UJ
Interesting...
I now have a conundrum, I can shorten the stub I've not yet welded to the internal column (I had a nagging feeling I would need to adjust at some stage), or I can source another column and remake it and leave it slightly longer to work with the early rack, or I cover both eventualities while the shell is away, as short of refitting the engine again to see, one may work better than the other with the exhaust header.
Some more reading is also required as to which is the best rack to go with as I've a feeling the turning ratios are different also. I may refit the engine to test again if I have time but am conscious time is ticking and I've a bit more I want/need to do still. I've also a trip down the M11 at some stage to collect a couple of MG parts I spotted while on a train this week. All good fun.
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 7, 2022 15:25:28 GMT
So after a bit more research, it would appear the later rack is the quicker one and is best to use for the application of bigger wheels/tyres combo so that's what I've gone for. As a result, I decided the option of shortening the stub was the way to go. All in all a fair amount has come off throughout the various iterations to date
What that means is that we have now have a working column with no tight spots and plenty of clearance where required (finally I hear you say )
With that little hurdle out of the way I could then make a start on the bulk of the dismantling
Save for a few annoying bolts, most came apart without fuss. One of the most inaccessible wing bolts up and behind the dash decided to break the welds holding the captive nut, so I eventually ended up cutting it via a means of contortion. The fun wasn't over though as the bold end with washer and strengthening plate then decided to make a break for freedom into the top of the a-pillar.
Cue much swearing and cut hands trying to fish it out. Got there eventually though but decided to call it a day at that point as a tidy and beer was required. The shell is therefore is back to it's bare minimum once more subject to a few minor things still on the job list
Sunday I'd arranged to collect a couple of rare items I'd spotted for sale, so headed off down the M11 to do that first thing thinking I'd have the rest of the day. As it happens I got completely waylaid meeting a really interesting guy who is going to prove rather pivotal to this build, not least as despite being retired, he has several projects of his own but rather handily runs a quarter light and bumper refurbishing company, one was in progress when I arrived
Turns out I have some bits he has been looking for and he has a few things of interest to me so we'll certainly be doing a few deals in future.
Trying to think about the rest of the things that require holes in the car, once back home I carried on with the rear seat delete, in particular replacing the front piece of wood to something a little more usable than a skirting offcut
Also adding a battery cut off switch and some supporting brackets
Back on to potentially the biggest hole then, remember that black box I had spare from the centre arm rest of my discovery. The intention is that it will sit in the dead space under the car, the angle of the heel board providing the perfect profile, the strengthening ribs may also prove useful for additional securing and building a sealed box.
The issue is that the non-fridge version has a fixed form which makes creating a hole and fitting a little tricky:
Therefore to test fit and get the hole right, the only real way forward was to use the fridge unit, the reason being is that the cooling fan and associated relays can be removed via 4 screws, giving me a more accurate profile to start with.
For that, I needed to dismantle the daily, luckily it's fairly straightforward and a 15 min job with just a few bits of trim, torx screws and clips to undo
Brilliant stuff with the cooler. Hope you have more luck with the quarter lights than mum did with the replacements she got from mgoc for her roadster many moons ago... they were shocking!!
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 9, 2022 15:53:13 GMT
No going back now
First job was to strip the cooler back to its bare form which meant removing this lot
A few screws and a snip of a wire or two which I'll need to extend in any case for the switch positioning and we were soon where I needed to be
Next job was to reverse engineer a template that I could use for cutting the hole in the car, so while sat in front of the TV one eve I got to work taking measurements and making first an outline, then a cut out to see if I could slot the cooler through it as I would on the car
So far so good, but as shown in the pic two above, the two front brackets just protruded too far and so needed surgery with the dremel
That got me closer still
and I was soon left with template v3 (Many cereal boxes were harmed )
Now in an ideal world I would then position the template on the car and mark out where I needed to cut and all would be good
Alas that's far too easy. The slight issue(s) on this occasion are the strengthening ribs on the underside. I need to be smack in the middle of them to avoid any unnecessary cutting as by my measurements it 'should' just fit between them. Time to look at things the Australian way then
To make doubly sure, once measured and straightened I'll drill some initial pilot holes to give me an outline from the top side, I also want to dismantle the disco again and take a template from the corner fixings in the car (you can just see the lug holes in the last pic of my previous post), not that I'm unsure of my initial methods but best to be doubly sure.
Bugger, went for a stroll thru Cool Louvres on FB, spotted this C bonnet .............
Then came across this.................... EVEN BIGGER BUGGER!!!!!!!!!, I have been contemplating louvres for a while, but possibly not those, they look like the academy fibreglass bonnet louvres,
Bugger, went for a stroll thru Cool Louvres on FB, spotted this C bonnet .............
Then came across this.................... EVEN BIGGER BUGGER!!!!!!!!!, I have been contemplating louvres for a while, but possibly not those, they look like the academy fibreglass bonnet louvres,
Yup, both of those not quite to my liking hence going a slightly more subtle route.
I can highly recommend his work too, and whisper it, he was less than half the price of where I had them done previously which took repeated attempts to collect and get in contact with and took over two months to sort.
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 10, 2022 14:40:27 GMT
Some more snatched progress.
I dismantled the discovery once more and took a template of where the lugs locate etc.
Happy that I was as close as I could be it was time for a brave pill and to initially drill a few pilot holes
then break out the grinder
No going back now. I've purposely left it undersize for the time being and will refine fitment using a slightly less aggressive approach (hence the files)
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 11, 2022 12:16:18 GMT
Some more fettling before venturing to the pub last night
that'll work nicely.
I just need to tidy a couple of bits and work out if I want to keep the main lid, for that I'll remove the one from the car and test it later after a tidy. Otherwise I'll cut the raised section off at the rear which can be neatly framed in some way when the car gets trimmed.
It's almost all coming together nicely, or the reverse, if you know what I mean
Back to more dismantling over the weekend amongst other distractions, including another little something that I'm off to collect in the morning
Is the collection another project?! Just as well you moved to a place with plenty of room!
Err in a word yes... but it's not one for me per se as I'm nice like that . I'll explain more in a new thread, but it was 'that' trip to your fair windy county this weekend.
In between the above, several visitors over the weekend, and a few pub visits, a little bit more progress on the 'B.
After the success with the cooler, my primary focus switched to removing the last few remaining parts such as the dashboard, loom and servo, as well as the minor bits of welding still required. Time to break out one of the heaviest bits of kit I have for a spot of manhandling then
In particular to fill some of the unused/not required holes and get the radiator brackets secured finally.
After a few failed attempts I eventually settled on a combination of spot welding and Mig as the best approach, despite my best efforts of cleaning everything back the spot welder wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. It also meant I could plug weld the holes left by the cleco pins
With that done and a couple of other areas tidied, things are looking rather bare once more
I'm now onto the last few snagging jobs for the rear seat delete, dressing all the new welds and generally having a good tidy of all the panels. I've given myself just over a week for loading and sorting everything, although next weekend is already written off due to other commitments so it already feels like I'm up against it, am hoping for a quietish one on the work front so I get some eves to play.
Just caught up on this - really great progress and I need a guy to do some vents on my AMC Bonnet, will need to contact and see what they can do .. thanks
Post by toomanyprojects on Feb 21, 2022 12:56:05 GMT
t-minus 2 days...
Yup it's panic time
The tail end of last week was a bit of a write off, partially down to power loss thanks to the storms, friday night dinner a la camping stove anyone
I also had other commitments over the weekend itself down south which meant no workshop time. It was therefore a case of snatching time when I could, firstly to fill in some of the no longer needed holes and to dress all the welds
and take a quick look at the lid on the cooler to see if using the stock one would work, after dismantling the one on the car yet again, it was clear that isn't going to as it affixes in a different place which would require a lot lot more work.
Decision made then, I'll instead trim the plastic surround and work out a way of fixing properly when the shell comes back.
Last job was to give everything a good clean before enlisting the help of the neighbours to extract the shell from the bottom of the workshop
and get it on to the trailer
so that just leaves me with a couple of minor jobs, such as removing the spring attachments on the rear tailgate, and loading this little lot into the car somehow
You'll notice that there are two sets of doors, the white ones being from the Celica that I'm toying with taking if I have room. As I'll now be back on that for a bit I may just repair them on the car for the time being and look to have them sorted another time as unfortunately they still need a fair bit of work and I've run out of time to do anything now. I'm also taking my spare bonnet as I may as well have that sorted at the same time.
Fingers crossed the weather settles a little for Wednesday's road trip!
Thankfully my rudimentary counting system and measurements were correct as it only bl**dy fitted (Given my recent luck on a few things you can tell I might have been a little surprised at this).
