From memory it was getting a 4 barrel carb. Probably changed his mind since then.
Don’t think so. Not sure if it was a Holley or Fueltech ecu.
Close FiTech.
There is a guy in the club that has recently gone down the same route with almost exactly the same set up, including engine front cover with water pump and dizzy arrangement. So while I'm no longer the trend setter for doing something different, I am now able to pick his brains on any issues that I may encounter
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 24, 2024 7:30:13 GMT
Sat patiently on one side of the workshop is the GT
And I've found some time to progress the trial fitting of various parts prior to the welding of the bulkhead & roof skin
Whilst I use temporary fastenings / fixings in most places - I cant on the windscreen aperture - this has to be tack welded then dressed back (pop rivets / self tappers would prevent the fitting of the screen rubber)
With the bulkhead / roof skin tacked dressed I could remove the centre brace that came fitted to the screen aperture of the bulkhead panel (once I had taken the measurements) The diagonals of the screen aperture corners were within 1mm of each other
Screen trial fitted
Door glass apertures still looking ok although final adjustment on the glass should improve the fit of the glass at the top
Tailgate next - just working out the handing of the hinges
Fitted and checked for clearance on the roof skin
Which is ok
Aperture fit is poor to the nearside bottom radius
But this I can rectify if the rest of the aperture fit is good and the tailgate opens & closes without fouling on the roof skin - Its important to allow for paint depth too - this will make a difference and there's nothing worse than going to great detail on aperture gapping only to find that paint marks / contacts on opening / closing a panel - more later
Post by toomanyprojects on Jul 24, 2024 10:50:42 GMT
Great stuff. All looking pretty good from where I'm sitting.
The tailgates are an interesting one, especially on original cars. Whether it was down to the metal formers in the factory I've no idea, but I've never seen one where you can't get your finger under the bottom corner on one of the sides
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 25, 2024 7:15:49 GMT
I fitted the locking furniture to the tailgate to give me a better idea of how the panel sat within the aperture
Too wide on the offside bottom radius
And too tight on the nearside one but the alignment on the rear wings / pillars / roof / rear panel are all fine - some work to to sort the radius corners out then but I can come back to that once I have the roof skin & bulkhead welded insitu
The alloy gutter rail trims were then fitted to ensure clearance with the door quarter frames & glass
So far - so good
Bonnet hinges were then fitted
Followed by the trial fitting of the offside front wing
Critical point here being the fit of the wing against the new bulkhead panel
And initially it was rubbish - several rounds of fettling were undertaken with the wing removed / refitted until an acceptable result was achieved
Now happy with the fit
The door only just clears the flange edge of the wing though - apply primer & paint and the door would make contact with the wing and the shiny new paint - Again I'll address the aperture gapping once I have the roof skin & bulkhead welded insitu - More later
I fitted the locking furniture to the tailgate to give me a better idea of how the panel sat within the aperture
All coming together nicely.
I can't remember without looking if you have the tailgate rubber, but that too can cause fun with the bottom edge. It shouldn't matter for the purposes of what you are doing with the roof, but something for me to dig out if helpful.
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 26, 2024 7:32:46 GMT
Nearside front wing fitted
Then the bonnet
This took a fair bit of adjusting to achieve the best fit
Aperture gapping between the new bulkhead panel & bonnet being critical
But so are the gaps between the wings & bonnet - offside one is not too bad
Nearside one is ok with exception of the first 400mm - this I can deal with - but its pretty standard for the model and I've witnessed much worse
With the bonnet gapping where I wanted it next was to fit the catch / locking mechanism which is a rusty pile of scrap
Thankfully new parts in stainless are now produced and Sam had forwarded a set
Typically on new pattern parts they are not always manufactured to correct tolerances - In this case the slots on the new latch are undersize for the bolts
And the alloy bonnet requires a repair section to mount the latch
Soon resolved
Bonnet stay fitted
So that's all the panels fitted - locking & latching as they should along with the glass & relevant trims to prove the trial fitting of the new bulkhead & roof skin panels
The windscreen & bonnet were removed
Panel location references in the form of several drilled holes in the aperture flanges
Front wings were then removed
The tack welds on the bulkhead panel / roof skin can now be split and the new panels removed & prepared for welding to the bodyshell
Post by grumpynorthener on Jul 31, 2024 5:51:12 GMT
I'm using a 2 pack panel bonding adhesive on the cabin air intake flanges & the front bulkhead flange - It can be spot welded whilst uncured
How many clamps can you fit on a single panel - there's also self tapping screws in several places to ensure the correct alignment from the trail fitting
The vast majority of the panel is spot welded but there are some areas where the arms on the welder just wont clamp or fit
And its hard work - said spot welder is heavy and it gets hot
You also have to allow for heat distortion hence the requirement to keep moving areas of the process to allow cooling stages but quite frankly with the temperature in the workshop of high 20's in degrees and the weight of the machine dictates the speed of the process
Its now fully welded and I've commenced the dressing back
Post by grumpynorthener on Aug 2, 2024 7:17:13 GMT
With the bulkhead panel dressed back the roof skin was placed & clamped
Then welded into place over a staggered period to allow for areas to cool & prevention of heat distortion along with my own recovery of wielding / operating the very heavy spot welder - the temperatures in the workshop were again quite high - I have a large drum fan that got cranked up to full speed in attempt to maintain some airflow around the workshop
The majority of the dressing back on the welding is now complete
But I still have some dressing / truing up of the roof gutters to complete - the contact arms of the spot welder only just fitted into the gutter too
Post by toomanyprojects on Aug 13, 2024 11:34:55 GMT
A few minor happenings in the background on the BGT project.
Mainly ordering in a few spares needed for current work. Due to a slight issue with postage and two orders to similarly named individuals going to opposite ends of the country (yes, really), I thought I would simplify matters and drop off the wrong bits/fetch the new bits myself. Especially as I was passing near to the MGOC headquarters on the A14 on Saturday in any case.
When I arrived there was an event for MG SVs taking place, if MG ever merged with TVR...
Seems to be cheap for the work that's gone into it. I do like the MGRV8 bonnet on them too!
Very. Then again it's not met its reserve, which I suspect is somewhere in the teens given the cost of some of the upgrades. They alone would make it worth that in parts.
Few things I would/am doing differently, but a hell of base if you ever fancied one.
Post by grumpynorthener on Oct 10, 2024 8:52:05 GMT
Next stage of progress on the GT project
Is to lead load the seams on the roof skin pillars
Body solder applied
Then profiled back by hand
We've decided to delete the factory joint where the roof skin overlaps the windscreen pillar at the top
The overlap is nothing other than a rust trap and by deletion gives a cleaner line to the cars profile matching that of the rear pillars
The rear pillars would have also been lead loaded at the factory on the chrome bumper models - later model rubber bumper cars (which this originally was) and the seam was masked by a decal badge (another known rust trap)
That's the nearside completed - there are several other seams / repair areas that still require loading around the car to complete
I'll also be trail fitting the front screen again at this stage to ensure that everything sits / fits correctly - more updates to follow
FiTech.
