108 replies to this topic

[jayare]

OK - it's about time I got a proper update done! I'm off work this week so should get a good couple of days in the garage. Today I got the cross-member extension/jacking point welded in, painted the inside of the sill and the inner sill which will be enclosed once the outer sill is fitted. Hopefully this will fend off the dreaded rust for longer this time.





The areas where the plug welds will be have been painted with weld-through primer and the rest with hammerite. I was hoping to get 2 coats on them today but it was pretty cold in the garage and the paint was still slightly tacky after 6 hours!

Whilst waiting for the paint to dry, I welded in a couple of little patches into the top edge of the bulkhead and top dash rail which I had made absolutely ages ago! I have two more bits to weld in later but the largest bit went really well - during welding:



and once ground down and given a quick squirt of weld-through ready for the scuttle to be welded on:



Still have to finish these two where I had to do the dash rail repairs:



I also dropped the fuel tank out:



And had a bit of a look to see how my latest eBay bargain - a Mk3 Golf 1.6 radiator which cost me a whopping 99p - was going to fit. When the car was A-series, I had a Metro rad fitted and while the core surface area is only about 5% larger on the Golf rad, the core is much thicker and with larger cores so should provide more than enough cooling for the anticipated power output and the outlets are in a convenient configuration. Golf rads are also apparently quite popular among kit cars so tend to be quite reasonable if I decide to go for an alloy rad at a later date.

Comparison of Metro and Golf rads:





The rad tucks quite nicely into the (modified) front panel although it needs a little more fettling to put the rad a little more upright:





But it's going to need some holes under the bumper as about 25-30% of the core is not going to get any flow otherwise. I'm thinking about replicating the lower set of three holes as in this marker pen mock-up:



I've seen this done before and if done well, you barely notice it. This obviously depends to an extent on the exhaust manifold, but also leaves a bit of room in the grille aperture for ducting to the air vents and to the air filter. Tomorrow I want to get a second coat of hammerite on the inner & outer sill so the outer sill is ready to weld on Friday along with the remaining bulkhead repairs.

I've also decided to use pretty much all of the Heritage door step and A-post panel which I picked up at Castle Coombe - less joins and fresh metal have got to be better than patches and thinning metal,particularly on the sill flange.

More later in the week,

JR

[Kam]

I think those extra three cut-outs for the rad air flow will look pretty good, not sure what colour your body is gonna be but I doubt anyone will notice on a darker colour? And what a bargain on the rad!

Bet your gonna miss doing all the welding soon......

[jayare]

Body colour will be the same as it is now. The bumper and number plate will disguise the holes quite a bit too. I was quite happy with the rad price I think it helped that they wanted about a tenner for postage but it was about 2 miles from my parents house so I collected it next time I went over!

I've got a long time before I miss the welding yet - RH rear quarter, LH floor half & heelboard, complete front end, inner wings and doubtless numerous other little bits too. And even if I did miss it I have a little project planned for once this is done which will cure that

JR

[Burnard]

The gearbox I'm sure you all know what they look like, but here's the important bit:

Hi,

Where about on the box is this written? been round the scrap yard and cant see that printed on the box anywhere

Cheers

Chris

[jayare]

The numbers aren't normally as easy to read as that one - the numbers are etched into the alloy underneath the steel plate that covers 5th gear. You'll need to clean the area pretty well to be able to read them most times. This page should help with the location and what the code all means,

JR

[Burnard]

so its in the same place on all the gear box's then?

Ill take a wire brush with me next time


Thanks


Chris

[Kam]

More later in the week

Your weeks are obviously longer than others!

Any progress?

[jayare]

Unfortunately not Kam - I'm finding it difficult to find the enthusiasm to get out in the garage at the moment! I need to get my arse into gear!

JR

[Kam]

I would be willing to pop over and give you a kick up the rear subframe if you want I'm off work this week

I know its getting cold now to venture into the darkness of a garage to crack on but no excuses! You can borrow my heater if you want!

Seriously mate get on it

Edited by Kam, 07 November 2010 - 09:38 PM.

[Kam]

JR - I gotta pop over to oxford sometime this week, let me know if your about and I could swing by

If your a good boy I might pop over in the mini and take you for a drive that should hopefully get yours back on track

[jayare]

Hey Kam - my day off this week is Thursday so I'll be about then - I really do intend to get the sill welded on then and a spin in yours would be a great incentive - like you say it should get me into gear!

JR

[Kam]

Hey Kam - my day off this week is Thursday so I'll be about then - I really do intend to get the sill welded on then and a spin in yours would be a great incentive - like you say it should get me into gear!

JR

Ok, let me make a call later on, if I can swing it for thursday then I'll PM you at the latest wednesday afternoon, if all goes well I should be able to get to oxford first then yours so if the afternoon/late afternoon sounds good then I'll aim for that?

And if your expecting me to do any welding you can jog on! Have you seen my welding! I'm just there for the driving

[jayare]

That sounds good to me. I'll have to make sure I check my PM's as soon as I get in tomorrow night (should be about this time - I hate late shifts!) - and yes I have seen your welding.......

JR

[jayare]

Got the sill plug welded along the bottom edge this morning - the top edge will have new panels all the way along so haven't welded there just yet.



Then Kam came round and distracted me - we had a good chat about the cars, conversions and all that and he took me for a passenger ride in his VTEC Mini which was awesome! Would have been better if the roads weren't so wet & greasy but in a straight line it really shifts! If mine is anything like as quick I'll be well chuffed with it. Thanks for that Kam - I was great to meet you and good to get my first taste of a Hybrid Mini.

Then back into the garage and got the drivers door into the aperture to get the A-post tacked into place. I can't quite get the flitch repair panel to door levels right - the edge that the A-panel folds over is sitting too far out by 3-4mm so some more fettling is going to be required to get that sitting right before I weld it. I've also welded the last two repairs into the top edge of the bulkhead to get it ready for the scuttle:



I quite enjoyed getting those fiddly bits done! Next bit is to get that A-post to fit right!

JR

[Kam]

Was good to meet you today and see the project in the flesh, I do like the way your taking your time with it though, something I've never done!

It looks like on here that you've still got loads to do on the bodywork but really seeing it in person its not actually that bad, I reckon you would get it done quite soon but I also think the relax approach is a good one

And remember - PATENT!