780 replies to this topic

[alex-95]

As usual nothing quite goes to plan. The headlining wasn't finished and still isn't completely as the c post trims aren't fitting very well so I need to trim them to suit my old ones . brakes are bled - just need adjusting at the back and other random bits have been done. Now having a think about the heater dilemma and looking at how much easier an after market kit car type one would be to install under the dash, I decided to make things difficult (but cheaper ) by modding the standard heater especially after making these 2 below from stainless.

So the first thing I did was to make 2 angled bracket that screw to the mounts that screw under the switched panel and made some extender brackets so that the heater would drop at the back therefore be able to bring the heater further to the front.

 

all good and well if the car was an automatic , it sort of get in the way when it drops, not by much but I couldn't live with it. so back to square one. 

so with a bit of thought, chopping, bracket making and an order to minispares I got to this point with a tester panel bent.

 

and with the final cover which just needs a slot milling for the handle, spraying with wrinkle finish paint and decals put on. then just need to make a locking system so i know where the off, screen and car bit is.

 

then as you may have seen, the ready to go in engine... 

 

 

 

Due to finding this in the oil

 

I think the gearbox may have been off before as this bracket is homemade (top - HM and bottom - original)

 

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Alex - keep at it fella nearly there.

 

It's quite scary how our rebuilds have been tootling along at the same pace (ish) and encountering similar problems. I have just had to order the new Gearbox Engine  Steady bracket as mine had snapped and ages ago I bought the wrong one.

 

My latest mishap was to finish putting a door together and when I stepped back to admire my work and spotted the large piece of wood left in the door!!! 

[alex-95]

Alex - keep at it fella nearly there.

 

It's quite scary how our rebuilds have been tootling along at the same pace (ish) and encountering similar problems. I have just had to order the new Gearbox Engine  Steady bracket as mine had snapped and ages ago I bought the wrong one.

 

My latest mishap was to finish putting a door together and when I stepped back to admire my work and spotted the large piece of wood left in the door!!! 

Sometime it does seem like It's moving along, then sometimes not. I've got less than 2 months to get it driving and MOT'd etc or I lose the bet

 

Yeah especially being the same age car. The brackets only a couple of quid I think on Minispares so not bad, I just have a few engines with them on

 

 

I got a bit of time in the garage tonight and finished off the lever arm for the heater, so just need to put the slot and drill a hole for the switch in the front panel and paint it and make the locking bit so I know where the screen position is. and should be getting my oil pump and other bit's from minispares in the next few days.

[alex-95]

[alex-95]

So as above the engine was put back together last Friday and went in on the Sunday, so this weekend I was hoping to get it started.

 

rear parcel shelf stuff in, still need to mod the c pillar trims.

 

With the engine in I set about fitting all the bits to it which should be easy since I bought new stuff to do it...

First problem was with the top engine mount, the rubbers were about 4mm to wide each so wouldn't fit between the gap where it mounts to, so chopped them to suit the steady, fitted the cone bit's that go in them and they just pop back out as they are way to big, looked through my box of old stuff and found my old ones which not only fitted, stayed in to . heres the measurement of the old and new, I think they use a tape measure to measure things 

 

tried fitting the radiator surround and again dimensional problems. spot the difference. rang up Minispares about it Friday and received 2 correct sizes yesterday . I drilled a bit of 7/16th bar 8.3mm for the bar that they fit on.

 

nearly there, excuse the scabby coil , we stripped down the carb and gave it a good clean, the inlet manifold wasn't my preferred choice but the other one was lower and angled higher so I couldn't get the carb on. I had to remove the tappet cover with the breather on so I could get the pipe on the water pump as it was so tight.

 

fitted the exhaust which turned out to be fairly easy, didn't even jack it up as it's on the wheel dollys. 

 

fitted the gear stick in the week, spent ages trying to get the roll pin in.

 

 DSN

 

Thats as far as We got unfortunately apart from filling it with oil, theres not much to do though, run coolant pipes to the heater ( if the replacement pipe ever arrives from ASH...) and add coolant, tighten the alternator, maybe change the coil, do the electrics, new plugs etc

[alex-95]

This weekend I've been doing some more odds and sods, sorted out the final mechanism for the heater, finished repairing/modding the choke cable (will get some pics when I'm fitting it), plumbed in the cooling system which was  a pain as there isn't much room for the pipes to fit onto the heater matrix, have the inline heater tap and bend it up through the bulkhead. Did some more electrical work like connecting up the starter solenoid and the dash.

 

 

 

We stuck some fluid into the clutch cylinder and tried bleeding it the old fashioned way but didn't work, so got the eezi bleed out and it bled pretty quickly, happy with that we adjusted the clutch and did some jobs. I then remembered I hadn't done up the engine mounts which when I looked down at the clutch side found puddle of fluid so a new slave cylinder is on it's way, at least I can get the correct type now though.

 

With the slave cylinder tied up to stop fluid getting everywhere, oil pressure pipe connected to the gauge, cooling system filled, the battery connected and fuel attached we went to start the car. Turned the key and...

 

 

 

...Nothing, We had power coming into the ignition switch but nothing coming out, so a bit of fiddling and we found the switch looking like this. A good clean and it was back working.

 

So tried again and it started pretty much straight away after not being run for 6+ years and being split apart . We tried timing it but had to cut it short as it didn't like the taste of fuel and spat it all over the floor. So a new float needle is on order, so I should be able to get it running properly during the week.

 

 

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Looking good Alex

[alex-95]

Looking good Alex

cheers mate.

 

Got my minispares order today, so tonight I gave the slave cylinder a coat of paint and found a coolant leak coming from the thermostat housing so hopefully it was just the clamp on the pipe not being tight enough.

[alex-95]

So this weeks progress, lot's more odds and sods.

Machined this on Friday.

 

which fits here...

 

Built up the wiper motor. I made this bit of rubber to go between the tube and motor housing so water doesn't go into the motor.

 

And fitted it, which seemed a lot harder than I remember when I fitted one to the Ritz. More DSN goodness and a stainless bracket until I have time to machine my own out of ally. I then ran the pipe for the washer jets and fitted them.

 

 

finished painting the slave cylinder, fitted it and re-bled the system.

 

My Mk1 heater and choke cables, both have had new outers put on from bicycle brake outers. and the choke has a locking mechanism which I hope is strong enough.

 

I bought a new door handle and boot lock set but was a mk3 boot lock, I already had a new mk1 boot lock so I dismantled them both, swapped the lock barrels over and re-assembled them.

 

Thats it for the pictures, We started the car again after I replaced the float needle and got it timed up so we've just got to adjust the tappets and maybe pull the fan pulley off as it's not running very true. Dads been sorting out the electrics, The brake test switch and foglight now works . I finally got round to cutting up the c pillar trim and restocking it which seemed a lot easier than it was. 

 

 

[Will16]

I'm a sucker for a lovely bit of machining, top work man

[alex-95]

I'm a sucker for a lovely bit of machining, top work man

Cheers mate, yeah me too Still got more bit's to make yet

[alex-95]

 

 

 

So more electrics and fettling this weekend, Got the rear screen and side window rubbers fitted ready for the windows, boot lid seal on, we sorted out all the lights, polished the boot a bit more and sort of fitted it  and investigated the fan and pulley. I managed to remove the fave and pulley with out draining the rad which was handy (well it would have been handier if I didn't need to remove the fan at all) I found that because it had been powder coated there was a thick powder coating on one half and a thin coat on the other so it wasn't sitting right , so chipped that all off and put it all back together which was fun with the small amount of room.

The lights are all working  the back passengers indicator was a pain as the bulb holder was loose in the light unit so wasn't earthing. Even the hazards switch works with all them relays .

 

and the boot, just need a couple of grommets to be able to fit the numberplate hanger and no plate light.

[alex-95]

I got another parcel from minispares on friday that contained lot of small bits like grommets and flasher relays. There was supposed to be a carpet set in the box but they forgot about it

 

I made some PTFE washers to go between the switch panel and switches and cables so it didn't scratch or dig into the paint and did the same for the screws to bolt it in. Tested the headlights, hazards and heated screen again before it was bolted in just in case and the light reminder buzzer works to. I got the heater panel sprayed with etch primer to ready for the wrinkle finish paint.

 

finished off the offset screen demister vents and fitted them, It enables them to be pushed back further so the dash trim isn't sticking out so far.

 

And got the numberplate hanger fitted to the boot and the boot bolted and closed finally put tape along the bottom and sides over the past week to help 'bed it in'. Fitted the lenses and stainless rings on the reverse and fog light and screwed up the high level brake light, and the rear screen

 

 

and the windscreen , Just need to fit the fillet strip, not sure whether I should go for black or chrome looking at it? I've got the chrome but no black

 

 

 

 

Oooo just noticed the screws holding the switch panel on aren't symmetrical, better sort that out

Edited by alex-95, 04 December 2016 - 08:40 PM.

[Jared Mk3]

Chrome windscreen fillet FTW 

[JonnyAlpha]

Chrome windscreen fillet FTW 

 

Definitely the chrome one otherwise it would be different to mine

 

Keep up the great work Alex, can't wait to see it at the shows next year. I am doing the Riviera Run and Beaulie for sure. Maybe get up country for one?