748 replies to this topic

[MrBounce]

I have been a very busy chap recently so I have not done a lot. 

 

I changed the rev counter for a much nicer item that I had sitting around. This was brand new - it had been in its box on a high shelf and as such I'd completely forgotten about it. The bezel is much nicer and it looks less "cheap". An easy 5 minutes' work.

 

There was another job I really needed to look at with regard to the dashboard. The clocks are supposed to have tubes that run all the way to the surround - these act as "tunnels" for the indicator dash repeaters - there's a bulb in the back of the unit, and green coloured arrow lenses built into the surround. Because my dial unit had presumably been used in a car which had an aftermarket dashboard fitted, the tubes had been cut to make it fit (quite common apparently). My initial thought was to try and make something to fill the gap, but finding something the right size and shape proved difficult. I did try using (of all things) an empty tube of Pritt Stick cut to size and shaped but this did not work. The plastic was too thick and did not take kindly to some heat to reshape it (i.e. it stank and wouldn't bend the way I wanted it to). I then remembered I had a crap dash unit (before anyone says swop them over, I seem to recall they were slightly different - good old Austin Rover changing things slightly enough so they don't interchange). I have cut the ends off this unit and will fill the gaps with these bits. And some glue.

 

Newer Rev Counter. Much better looking. The picture makes the glass look weird and possibly cracked - I can assure you it's fine.

 

 

Gap between dial unit and surround...

 

 

And the bits I am going to rob to fix it...

 

[MrBounce]

Frustrating day. Why? Well, a few things.

 

Firstly, the new extensions slipped slightly (or I knocked them) whilst drying. This means that they're oh so slightly "out" - it was presumable gravity doing its thang. They still fit fine and don't let the light in or out, but it's annoyed me a bit. Nobody will see them behind the dashboard but I will know they're there. Never mind. It's "functional". 

 

I turned my attention to the heater pipes that send the air to the demisters. The old Mini-style pipes that came with the car were in a sorry state - all crispy and didn't feel far away from falling apart. So I'd bought some new ones. It's here that I found out that owning a kit car made with old BL/Austin Rover parts is a pain in the hind three-quarters. There were numerous minor changes to heaters from the 70s onwards. In my case the heater that came with the car was from a mid to late 70s Mini. This had the coolant pipes exiting on the left hand side of the heater which then passed back over the top of it and exited above the heater on the right hand side. The heater I replaced the old nasty rotten one with came from a late 80s Mini. The same basic shape, but this one had the coolant pipes exiting from the RIGHT side of the heater. They're also bigger, and of course exit in a different place. Even with additional clearance, it doesn't leave enough space for the vent pipe AND the new coolant pipes. So I made some clearance for the demister pipe. This pipe then got in the way of the instrument pod. So I made clearance for the coolant pipes and the back instead. I'll come back to this another day as it was irritating me.

 

As I have decided not to use the RFX Wheels I had bought - the offset was slightly wrong on the front hubs as it sticks out a bit far - this would be fine on a Mk2 Midas, but I can't simply bolt on some arch extensions on this car. So as I already have a set of nicely painted Mistral alloys, I thought I would get round to painting the centres. When I bought the car, it only had 3 of the original centres. My super-talented friend David has made me a copy. I only have 2 of the thin metal securing clips so I may need to carefully construct a couple of new ones. In the meantime, after giving them a good going over with wire woool, I gave the centres a coat of primer, followed by their first covering of Gloss Black. My plan is to do some of the lettering in the same colour as the car, but they'll need to have some more black and then some lacquer first.

 

Slightly off-centre tube extension, but it works. As it won't be seen, it will do.

 

 

New pipes!

 

 

Additional clearance which was supposed to help

 

 

But because I blame BL, it didn't.

 

 

The three original centre caps (prior to cleaning)

 

 

And the clever copy David made. You'd be had pressed to tell the difference til you picked it up.

 

 

And first coat of gloss black to match the wheels

 

[MrBounce]

Today was one of those days where it took absolutely ages but looked like very little had been achieved. Not entirely true, as I did some arty stuff and made some things, but they're all small. So what did I do?

 

Well first of all I put a bit of paint on to the wheel centres. They are not perfect yet, but I really like the orange highlights. I will need to use some black to go over the edges of the letters as they're not yet 100%. I will then be giving each centre a few coats of clear lacquer to match the wheels themselves.

 

The other thing I have done is to make some new retaining clips for the centres themselves. I had two of them. So I needed 2 more. I got hold of some thin steel (0.5mm) and cut a couple of strips the same length. I was then able to bend each one to match the items I had. However, one of the originals (obviously a bit "tired", being 44 years old) suffered a fracture and the end broke off. It was a vice incident, entirely my fault. So I ended up making three of them. I followed this up by drilling holes for the prongs, then creating a custom hanger to paint them, using a chunk of old wooden coat rack, some paper clips and a staple gun. I am nothing if not resourceful...

 

Centre caps - highlights in orange!

 

 

Freshly made retaining clips - 3 new ones...

 

 

...because some idiot broke one.

 

 

And finally in primer. Satin black or a different colour to follow? I'll see what's in the back of the garage.

 

Edited by MrBounce, 18 November 2023 - 11:36 PM.

[MrBounce]

Back on it after a much needed break. 

 

I went back to the dashboard issue with the vent pipes not fitting properly as the instruments occupied the same space. I was puzzling over this for a while when I realised that the solution was a) there in front of me, and b) REALLY simple. All I needed to do was to move the vent pipe behind where the heater pipes came through. There was a big enough hole in the bottom of the dash, which I had been unable to see because of the wiring loom. Once done, it was simple to cut the hoses to length and doing a mock up fit with the dash top in place. Pleased with how it turned out.

 

Then I turned my attention to the wheel centres. These have, unfortunately, been a bit of a disaster since I started re-doing them. Firstly, I wasn't happy with with the orange paint highlights I'd done. So I decided that the paint had to come off. However, once I had cleaned off the old paint, I cleaned them with white spirit. When they were re-primed, there must have been some of this left, as the primer then reacted. So it all had to come off again. Then I thought I'd try doing them orange, with black highlights instead (which I thought would be easier - ha!). Unfortunately, the orange paint I have is extremely thick. It doesn't sit right on the wheel centres, which are just over a couple of inches wide; it all needed to be removed again. Luckily, them still being tacky meant that judicious use of white spirit and a whole host of rags saw most of the orange paint off once again. I have since washed them to hopefully remove any trace of spirit. They'll be primed again soon... 

 

Vent pipes cut to size and fitted.

 

 

Temporary fitting of the dash top - looks really nice. Pleased with it!

 

 

Trying the wheel centres with orange. This did NOT work.

 

 

So I took off as much as I could and then washed them up!

 

[MrBounce]

So I figured that I would start today (once the garage had been warmed up courtesy of the Jet Engine/Propane Space Heater) by giving the wheel centres a further coat of gloss black. They'd already been primed, so on went a couple of coats of Halfords Finest. No photo of this, because you've kind of seen this before...

 

I wanted to start sorting out the sound deadening in the interior, so I reached for my pile of Silent Coat that I'd bought a while back. I grabbed a roller, some scissors and a razor blade, and took a look at the interior. I figured that I may as well start with the driver's footwell, so I spent a while cutting bits to size, eternally grateful that my knees were kneeling on rubber mats rather than ridged concrete. I managed to get most of the driver's footwell sorted, but then discovered a big problem.

 

I'd bought the soundproofing quite a long time ago, and it had been sat in 2 different garages during this time. Some of it (what was already in the footwell, had lasted well. The rest of it? Less so. The sticky back was no longer sticky. Rather than staying in place like it should, it simply peeled off and didn't work. So I have stopped this job for now and have ordered some new stuff, which will hopefully work properly. More soon, when it arrives. I will also take the seats out so I can a) do the rear compartment more easily but also b) do under the seats properly. 

 

Space where new soundproofing was going. Darker patch was an accidental spillage of resin a while back. Nobody know it's there. Oh...

 

 

Silent Coat soundproofing: some of it apparently is a bit past its best (my fault entirely!)

 

 

And finished product (well, as much as I could do, anyway).

 

 

Edited by MrBounce, 13 January 2024 - 10:33 PM.

[MrBounce]

A very short update. I have had a very busy time recently and although I have had ideas, I have not gone into the garage other than to move stuff about. 

 

Today Mrs B had a couple of friends over, so I took this as my cue to get back on it. I have done some more sound-deadening using the new stuff. Fitting this is time-consuming, fiddly and uncomfortable, especially given the size difference between me (bit of a chunker) and the Midas (a family-sized crisp packet).

 

The passenger side is done at the front. I think when I do the rear of the car, I will make a point of pushing it outside so I get a whole load more space around it. Doing this in a single garage with workbenches is a big bag of no. 

 

You do, however, get a pretty picture of my handiwork. More soon, I promise!

 

[MrBounce]

I am fed up with soundproofing, so I did a tiny bit more of it. However, I was not climbing around inside the tiny cabin this time. I shall simply mention the word "doors". 

 

The last time the car was outside, I'd gone up into the rafters and brought down the fibreglass shells of the the doors. These were filthy dirty, as well as having picked up a couple of flecks of dark overspray (really not sure how). So I took them outside and gave them a good hosing down before a good clean. The dust and dirt was literally caked on so I had to get quite creative and ended up using some "Quick-Detail" spray, which was quite effective. They have picked up numerous chips and imperfections (couple of scratches) so will need some attention before they're fitted. 

 

I added a couple of soundproofing pads (for anti-drumming) to each door, then started having a look at how everything goes together (it's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I took them apart!). The metal plates which hold the door opening mechanisms had the bottom 3-4 inches replaced all those years ago, and should prove no big deal to fit. They were rivetted in, so I shall do the same again. The aluminium door frames will need a further coat of satin black, but are also in excellent condition, and a quick check on the driver's door showed it still fitted perfectly. 

 

I need to fit numerous pieces of hardware in a specific order to put the lock and window mechanisms back together, but it seems quite straightforward. I just need to make sure that each bit is where I THINK I left it! 

 

Finally, I decided to fit the door pockets to the door cards, as otherwise I might accidently end up treading on one of them and breaking it, which would obviously ruin a good day. This was fine with the passenger door card (4 screws), but the drivers' side showed that not only was one of the screw holes about 7mm in diameter as opposed to about 3mm, but it was also quite a way out. By the looks of things, it had been very badly done when the car was put together, and was then never fixed. Not sure if it had been accidently made oversized by someone accidently kicking the door pocket? Anyway, it needed fixing, so I folded over some parcel tape, and then used masking tape to fix this to the underside of the hole. I then filled said hole with epoxy resin, and once this was dry, I removed the back tape and sanded the top flat, before giving it a shot of textured paint. It's a bit of a quick and easy job, but you won't see it as a) it's black, b) it's in a bit of an unaccessible place and c) it will be mostly covered by the door pocket. Once dry, I fitted the door pocket with three of the screws before drilling a new hole for the final screw. The final picture shows just how far out it was...

 

Couple of pads for anti-drumming. Sticky!

 

 

A brief preliminary "will it fit?" positioning of the door plate. Yup, that will work.

 

 

Door card mock-up

 

 

Pocket on the passenger side

 

 

Difference between screw hole sizes at 6 o'clock and 11 o'clock in this picture. This will just not do!

 

 

And the difference in position of the original hole and the new one (where the screw is). It's about 8mm... I *could* have made the pocket fit, but this was WAY easier!

 

[MrBounce]

So, having started to sort the doors, I had a closer look at lining things up and actually locating the parts I took out about 12 years ago... I noticed that the door card had a screw hole in it, which was for mounting it. There was no corresponding hole in the door itself (presumably it was missed when the car was built). This was easily sorted with a new hole. I then did a test fit of the frame. It's gone together quite easily, although I do need to add another bit of soundproofing as I can see the frame vibrating on the door itself at some point. Annoyingly there's a couple of holes in both the door card and the frame where a couple of big screws held on the "door pull". I have always wanted to replace this as it's a set-up that can be best described as garbage. I shall fill in the hole on the door card and will look to somehow create a better option - maybe a spreader plate on the back of the door card with some Rivnuts to mount a small handle, as there's nowhere else to mount a handle due to there being no framework in the door's shell. Everything I have come across in the boxes is a bit dirty and needs cleaning and/or re-greasing. I also need to figure out exactly where everything goes so I will need to refer to the old photos I have.

 

I also found 2 short pieces of window channel. These are what the fixed quarterlights slot into. I remember taking them off the car with a view to cleaning and painting them. I did no such thing - just bunged them in a box... They were faded and still had the remains of their rubber glass channel in them. These were definitely the original - how do I know? They had some sort of vegetation growing in them! I popped them into the wooden bench vice and gently tapped the rubber out. Then I cleaned the channels up and gave them a shot of satin black.

 

The mystery of the missing screw hole. This has been rectified.

 

 

Stupid holes for "door pull". I shall deal with these as they're no use to me.

 

 

Laying some of the parts out.

 

 

Quarterlight channels with things growing in them. 

 

 

A visit to the wooden bench vice...

 

 

...saw all the old stuff removed, which actually came out really easily.

 

 

Paint! It makes things tidier!

 

Edited by MrBounce, 29 March 2024 - 04:17 PM.

[MrBounce]

A quick update today thanks to a long weekend of family stuff, meals out and general social stuff. This afternoon I managed to grab an hour to myself.

 

I broke out my big bag of seals that I had bought, and started fitting the U seals to one of the door frames. It was a little fiddly but nothing too difficult - I just needed to coax the almost flat seal into a U shape and cut it to size. Unfortunately, I believed that I had enough of this to do 2 doors. Turns out I only had enough to do one, which was a little unfortunate. 

 

I took the left hand door frame outside instead, and gave it a good clean before going over it with a bit more satin black. There were numerous scratches and some overspray on it, so a fresh coat of paint was necessary. It is now hanging up in the garage drying. 

 

Some more U channel has been ordered!

 

It's U channel, but flat...

 

 

All nicely in and looking good.

 

 

And the other frame in fresh new paint, drying off.

 

[MrBounce]

Some more window channel has arrived, so I have cut it to size and "filled in the gaps" on the door frames, using nothing but my hands and a trusty pair of scissors. As I am getting ready to start building up the doors, I figured it was probably a good idea to perhaps make sure I had everything ready and working to go in. 

 

The first thing I checked were the door opening and locking mechanisms. The handles themselves are fine - just in need of a clean and paint as they have all sorts of overspray and dirt on them. The lock/opening mechanisms were a different matter. Although they have been carefully stored in a plastic box in the garage, they were removed a decade ago and of course have attracted ALL the dirt. The mounting screws and the captive nuts really needed a deep clean so I got out the taps and dies, making sure every thread was clean and usable. The mechanisms themselves were obviously the perfect guinea pigs for an ultrasonic cleaner, the one I have been promising myself for a while. I still don't have such an item though, so it was time to go back to old school method - my parts washer! I haven't used this in a couple of years at least, but once I'd removed the somewhat flat and rather unusable chemical gauntlets and plugged it in, it was like it had never been put under the bench. There is something very satisfying about using stinky chemicals and gloves to clean something. Whilst far from perfect, the mechanisms are a hell of lot cleaner now, and work fine. Just a bit of spray grease and I doubt they'll need anything else.

 

Next thing on the list were the window winders. I found the winder handles (although not the spacers), but one of them would not go on to the splined base. Closer inspection revealed that the splines themselves looked like they'd been in a fight with someone wielding a heavy hammer. The likelihood of getting another Mk1 Fiesta window winder mechanism is not as high as a few years ago, so it was time to get creative. Out came the needle files and I spent a bit of time carefully filing the mullered bits into something more usable. A test fit of the winder handle saw functionality restored. I then gave the handles a coat of textured paint before calling it a day. 

 

Door frame full of window channel.

 

 

Lock/opening mechanism: a bit minging.

 

 

Cleaning threads...

 

 

Hello old friend!

 

 

Still works, still stinks! 

 

 

Yup, that needs work - some of those are the wrong shape.

 

 

Several minutes with a needle file and it's not perfect, but it is MUCH better!

 

 

Quite coat of textured paint for the handles. The lighting and the flash in the photo makes it look like it's been badly done - it's a fair bit nicer in the real world.

 

[MrBounce]

A small update today as I have had precious little time over the weekend. 

 

I have come to the conclusion that Previous Me is a pain in the hoop. As I was doing door stuff, I figured it'd be a good plan to install the hinges and latches. As I've mentioned previously, we moved house about halfway through this rebuild (before it stalled due to family stuff). I was worried that I had carefully managed to lose the door latches - they weren't fitted to the car as any sensible person would do. However, the first place I looked at (where I thought I had left them) revealed a box marked "Door Latches". Well done Previous Me.

 

Previous Me, however, had only taken them off the car and put them in a box. They were not cleaned or de-rusted. As a result they were in a dreadful state, with 30 years' worth of grime and corrosion on them. Once I had removed the rubber/nylon striker guides, I gave the latches a tickle with the wire wheel, but I will also need to immerse them in a tub of de-rusting goop before I do anything else.  

 

I've also recovered the bolts which attached the latches. They're rusty, the screw heads are chewed, and it looks like at least one of them has been undone using a pair of vice grips. So I will need to get hold of some replacements. Joy.

 

Box actually contained what it said it had!

 

 

Rubbish condition of latch with rubber and nylon guide removed

 

 

Yup, they need a tickle or two.

 

 

Tickled, but still needing additional work

 

 

Mounting bolts: a bit rubbish. Need new ones.

 

[MrBounce]

Sometimes I look at some of the previous work on this car, and think "That's a bodge" or "They've rushed that a bit", or in the case of the interior door handles, "That was a bit of make do with what we can find". What this car had was, quite simply, rubbish. It was 2 big screws through a piece of rubberised plastic, with both screws being jammed through the aluminium door frame. As you can see from when I took it off, the "handle" had broken. 

 

 

Of course, it really didn't help that the part of the door frame where the pull happened to be was in fact the forward window channel. This meant that a) you needed to lean forward to grab the handle, and b) because of where it was it took more effort to pull the door shut. This is what probably caused the original handle to break. My solution was to get hold of a more suitable pair of handles, and mount them further back. I had a chat with Tink and he had a pair of 70s Mini handles complete with their mounts. Perfect! Of course, the door cards are very thin fibreglass, so the obvious solution was a pair of spreader plates. I went as far as sorting a piece of metal for one side, but then out of the corner of my eye I spotted the large piece of thick plastic card that I'd pilfered from Mum and Dad's old house. Out came the oscillating tool and I cut two bits to size. Amazingly, Mini Spares still do the correct plastic clips for these handles, so I drilled some holes for them before getting out the needle files and making sure that each hole was square for said clips. I also used the Powerfile to add a bit of clearance at the back because the plastic sheet was a touch tick to allow the clips to expand. It's not pretty, but it is functional.

 

Whilst I was waiting for the clips to arrive, I took the time to fill in the old holes where the initial handle mounting had been. I have no intention of mounting any item through these, so they're most definitely redundant. A bit of resin was all that was needed; this was followed up with a quick bash with the sander. I will clean up the door cards and give them a further coat of textured paint so these old holes will be undetectable. 

 

I then measured up the door cards and after much measuring, established the perfect place to mount the handles. I drilled the holes, popped the spreader plates behind and they fitted perfectly. The plates will eventually be fibreglassed into place, but I wait until next time before completing this. Finally, I retrieved the door latches from their Hydrate 80 bath, washed them off, and gave them a coat of paint,  before attaching them to the car with brand new bolts with Nyloc nuts. They're not tight yet, of course, because they will doubtless need to be adjusted. But they do look good.

 

70s Mini door pulls. Perfect for the job in hand!

 

 

Fill in the holes not being used.

 

 

Clips and screws - surprisingly cheap!

 

 

Thick plastic card - an excellent find courtesy of Mum and Dad.

 

 

Clips fitted after holes filed square. 

 

 

Clearance on the back thanks to the B&D Powerfile. Ugly, but efficient.

 

 

Door handle fitted and in place...

 

 

...with spreader plate behind. This will be glassed into place in due course.

 

 

Door latches give a coat of gloss black...

 

 

... before being loosely put back on to the car with new hardware. Lovely.

 

[sonscar]

Is the rubber wedgie bit the right way up?I thought they went on the inside of the bracket.Could easily be wrong.Soon be finished?Steve..

[MrBounce]

Is the rubber wedgie bit the right way up?I thought they went on the inside of the bracket.Could easily be wrong.Soon be finished?Steve..

 

I will check my previous photos - it's quite likely I've cocked it up! 

 

EDIT: Yes I have - I will correct this! 

Edited by MrBounce, 06 May 2024 - 09:48 PM.

[MrBounce]

A few more little bits done with the doors. I re-sprayed where I had filled in and sanded where the old handles had been. It's not the best of jobs, and I may get some fresh paint and re-do it, mainly because this was the last of the textured paint - maybe a fresh can will give a better result. I also glued the spreader plates on the back of the door cards. I am not sure whether I really need to glass them in - I used a two-part resin glue, so it is pretty strong stuff. I will most likely just do this.

 

Finally, I have dug out the door handles, cleaned them, masked them and have given them a much needed coat of new satin black. They had spider's webs and overspray on them when I got them from the box they were in, so they definitely needed it! 

 

Resprayed card - may be re-done.

 

 

Spreader plates glued in place. They aren't going anywhere.

 

 

Door handles needed a deep clean - they got this, and were given a coat of primer...

 

 

...followed by some satin black. MUCH nicer!