948 replies to this topic

[Retro_10s]

it's amazing how different it looks with just a set of revolution alloys on it!

It really does look so much different! I'm SO glad it was put back onto the 10" wheels it belongs on!

Edited by Retro_10s, 17 September 2022 - 08:28 PM.

[Viktor]

Just started reading this thread, thought I recognised the car & just found the photo from 2020 at Ryde,
Keep up the good work

https://ibb.co/gzGWBzm

Hi Matta, thanks for the picture! Do you know anything more about this car? I have been trying to find some history, but so far nothing! I bought it on November 2020, so I guess that photo was from that same summer? When I bought it, it had the standard wheels and no wheel archs.

Anything you know would be appreciated.

Cheers.

Victor.

[Viktor]

 

it's amazing how different it looks with just a set of revolution alloys on it!

It really does look so much different! I'm SO glad it was put back onto the 10" wheels it belongs on!

 

Indeed! I feel somehow responsible to bring this back to its original factory conditions. There are not many left of these Stripey, so it would be a shame not to save this one!

It would take a few years though...

[Viktor]

Not much done during the long weekend, still many social events going on, when is the winter coming??? Cold might keep the wife away from organizing meet ups... ;)

 

Anyway, I practiced a bit before trying to do the seam weld on the closing panel. Nothing near Ben's welding... I used a bit of metal at 90 degrees, which I'm no longer be using

 

 

 

Then gave it a try on the car. I cut a hole on the piece, hence the additional welding on the right hand side

 

 

As the welding wasn't too nice, I decided to grind it down a bit

 

 

And then I put some paint to keep it away from rusting. Once I apply the seam seal, that would look decent, I hope

 

 

Next I will do the other side and that should be the end of this chapter...

 

Cheers.

 

Victor.

[pete l]

I think you should up the power a bit on your welder and maybe the wire speed and pulse weld, each pulse being about half a second long.

 

This is what I tried at the weekend and I got some lovely looking welds. (not yet as nice as Ben's)

[Viktor]

Thanks Pete, I will try that on the other side. Cheers.

[matta777]

 

Just started reading this thread, thought I recognised the car & just found the photo from 2020 at Ryde,
Keep up the good work

https://ibb.co/gzGWBzm

Hi Matta, thanks for the picture! Do you know anything more about this car? I have been trying to find some history, but so far nothing! I bought it on November 2020, so I guess that photo was from that same summer? When I bought it, it had the standard wheels and no wheel archs.

Anything you know would be appreciated.

Cheers.

Victor.

 

 

Unfortunately I can't help with any further information, its obviously registered in the IoW which is where I saw it. I knew they were rare so took a photo, (the guy was picking someone up from the hovercraft/railway station) then stumbled across your build thread.

I saw it in June 2020 so only a few months before you bought it, but have to agree with the others it looks so much better on the 10" wheels. 

Sorry I can't help anymore! 

[Viktor]

Thanks Matta, that is good enough!  I have contacted the person who sold me the car (probably the one driving in the picture), to see if I can get the details of the original owner, from who he bought the car from. Apparently it belonged to an old lady that passed away, and now I'm trying to get contact details of her daughter.

 

Let's see if I can get more info and some of the history of the car put together!

[Mito]

I think you should up the power a bit on your welder and maybe the wire speed and pulse weld, each pulse being about half a second long.

This is what I tried at the weekend and I got some lovely looking welds. (not yet as nice as Ben's)

I generally use this approach now when welding and get reasonable results (not to Ben's standard, but good enough). However on that section, I seam welded it in the same way here (about an inch at a time) but probably with a higher power setting on the welder and I got quite a decent looking weld. I think this section is more difficult to warp than the panels which is why I thought seam welding it normally was a reasonable approach. I'm definitely an amateur when it comes to welding though.

[Viktor]

Hi Pete, Mito many thanks for the advice. I tried the seam welding today with a higher setting and higher speed and the result was much, much better!

 

 

Good penetration on the other side.

 

 

I did some minimum grinding and a bit of paint. Much better than last week, that is for sure!

 

 

I also got a pair of seat belt brackets from Somerford Mini. They have a very intuitive website and they delivered the brackets quite fast!

 

 

I prep them, thinking on using my spot welder 

 

 

And tried the spot welder, but only managed to do a couple of them.

 

 

It seems that the electrodes are not making a good connection, as I cannot get the spark. I think I also blew up the fuse of my extension lead (13A). Colin already advised me of this, so I might need to geat a proper 16A extension lead and plug.

 

Now I'm re-thinking my plan for the car floor. The original plan was to retain the central tunnel and the cross member, and then weld new LH / RH floor panels to the tunnel. Now I'm thinking that is probably too much welding, and therefore too many opportunities for things to go wrong.

 

I also noticed some rust in the tunnel, which I didn't see before, so that needs repairing or replacing.

 

 

So perhaps it is better to remove the tunnel and get the whole floor with the tunnel already included on it. Problem is that I have already welded the rear of the tunnel to the heelboard. This can be un-done thought.

 

 

I saw this floor panel on the Somerford website:

 

https://www.somerfor...-injection-spec

 

 

This is for the injection spec, so I'm not sure if it would be suitable for my car, and which are the differences. The website says that this is for 1973 models on, and mine is a 1976. This panel seems to have just the outer sills, while the ones from M-Machine have both inner and outter sills.

 

This panel is £294, while the two flor panels I was thinking on buying from M-Machine are £260 (the two of them). There is not much difference in price, but the amount of welding required for the first one is much, much less!

 

Any advice / comments on the above?

 

Thanks.

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

The main difference would be the middle flute on the passenger side for the fuel lines and the smaller footwell pan on drivers side. Not sure if it will have the metal tags in the same place as your original floor, but could be easily added.

You'd lose some originality but at least you'd know your floor is completely rust free.

The image of the one above has inner sills but no outer sills, but its a good price, not much extra cost for the outer sills and brackets to make it a complete floor. What condition is your crossmember in?

[Viktor]

Thanks Colin. Agreed about losing originality, but I guess you would never see it unless you remove the carpets! 

 

So if I go down this route, I would need to add the outer sills, which are £26 (non genuine) or £54 for the heritage ones. Plus brackets, jacking points, etc. Completely rust free floor as you said!

 

The crossmember is quite rusted at the ends, but the rest seems to be in a reasonable condition. A new heritage crossmember is £58 and the repair ends are £26 each. I think it would be sensible to get a new one, rather than repair the old rusted one!

 

I will give it a thought.

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

I do think you need the 16A plug for the spotwelder, that bracket looks closer to 2mm, plus the 1mm for arch tub, so you'd need the 2+2 setting which is too much for the 13A fuse to handle.

I made a small 16A socket to 13A plug to use the spot welder at work, and it blew 13A fuse after 1 weld on 1.5+1.5mm!

[gaspen]

If I would start  a new project now I'do go for the original look floor from M-Machine. But there is one advantage for the MPi floor : you will have a straight "tunnel" for the brake/fuel line(s)     I also fitted this floor to my MK3, but I don't mind as this what you will see from the floor after the carpet installed 

 

 IMG_20210830_113110 (1).jpg   55.06K   0 downloads

 

[Viktor]

Thanks Gaspen, still thinking about what the best option is. I'd like to keep the originality, but I'm not too confident on my welding skills. Moneywise, it would be more or less the same, but the whole injection floor a bit more expensive...

 

Cheers

 

Victor.

 

P.S. that is a lovely interior!