Time to throw in the towel?

Its that time I think.

10CR ain't gonna happen.

I am not willing to rush the project simply to drive round Europe for 3days.

I was assessing what I WANT to do before putting the car back on the road this evening. Its just got too much for me I had to have a whisky or two. I have been working on it non-stop for about 5months every night. I am sick of the bloody thing. Time to put a sheet over it and regain some focus and motivation. I just intend to get the bulkhead welded on sunday, clean that up, get some primer on the metal, box everything up and take a break.

I do not want to go back and re-do things that could be done now.

My basic engine conversion is complete but I am not happy with certain areas of the car.

I wish to do the following.

Rewire MJL unit to a different location inside the cabin and make a case for the EDIS and brainbox, this involves resoldering ALL the pins and completely rewiring it.

Move washer bottle to the engine bay and fitting EDIS and MJL box in its place.

Make a new dashboard, full width and clean up the remains of the old dash I angle ground out.

Neaten up aspects of the wiring loom and make it removeable as a unit, it cannot be removed as a unit atm.

Paint the entire inside of the tub which means I cannot go near the tub for about 5days as it will be brush painted with 2 pack, two coats and take time to cure when applied thickly. Dig out old sealer from the inside of the tub and reseal it.

Waxoyl the car.

Repaint boot.

Shorten the Type9 gearstick mech, which means doing that before I make a tunnel.

Make a really trick gearbox tunnel from alloy and get it TIG welded.

Change the radiator for an alloy one, as its a brass one atm.

Add SPAL fan for cooling.

Possibly carpet the floorpans cause bare metal and a road car is a pain the arse.

Add another bar to the roll cage which supports the steering column.

Fit a decent driver seat and harness, really need to get that fitted before I paint the floor, cause it will chip and stratch it.

Fit new water temp gauge.

Fit new oil temp gauge.

Tune the car properly.

Powder coat pedal box, pedals, engine mounts, handbrake lever.

Make new radiator shroud, top and sides.

Make air filter system for the carbs, custom panel filter base plate welded to the trumpets to take pipercross panel element.

Move rear brake line to the driver side and renew front braided lines and pipework front and rear.

Being as the tub is bare and the car is in pieces, it would be insane to not do these jobs now. Thats just what I can remember too.

I assume the engine conversion will be an instant success and work out the box, so I do not wish to go back and do things that are ideally placed to do now. I will not comphremise my longterm goals for short-term ones.

Its become a bit of a stress, a rush. I am worn out, its gonna give me an ulcer. Its sapping my will to live.

I guess the engine stuff is just about complete, but the car is in the lowest point of the project, its all in parts, it all needs cleaning up, fixing up, paint, assembly...

I've had enough!

I guess once I have made the gearbox tunnel and stripped the cockpit down ready for paint, painted the cockpit and bulkhead the project is only headed in one direction, forwards, however things are still going backwards with wiring and neatening stuff up and its getting me down, purely due to the time constraints I have placed on myself.

I will have to have a word with Steve about his car. My only real interest in the 10CR was driving my own car, but...maybe its time to see if anyone needs a co-driver or Steve can fix his car...

It ain't gonna happen. I want the car perfect leaving just a rear suspension change next winter.

Mk2 Bulkhead few other jobs.

Finally made Mk2 bulkhead, better than the last one, real brain ache with a massive hole to fill.

Some way through construction.

Finished awaiting welding. not confident enough to do it myself yet, plus mig welding is messy with this welder on thin stuff as power and wire feed are inconsistant and amps are marginal for thin stuff, hopefully badger someone into doing it over the weekend. Inside the bulkhead is ready for paint and sealing. Made the bulkhead from 1.1mm stuff this time, its VERY solid and stiffer than the old one, plus it will be seam welded.

Did this side myself, came out ok.
Cut out and rewelded the handbrake mount. Its not off angle to clear the tunnel and gearstick. Neat job.

Loads of work to get it ready for the 10CR, but we might make it, provided I can have the bulkhead and inside painted by next weekend.

Just leaving the tunnel and exhaust and building the thing up, cam timing and finally assembly work.

Tuning may still be under progress on the way to the 10CR :)

Few developments

Found a threaded adaptor to take a Ford pressure cap, not sure of the pressure till I test it, got this cap and another one coming, the other is 17psi. No overflow bottle needed with a well sized expansion cap, never vented before.
Moved the rack mount over, cut a V from the chassis mount to clear my oil line, banged the remaining edge over and welded it back together.
Thats my engine mount chassis rails some paint and the turret on this side as it was looking a bit naff. The whole front suspension could do with re-powder coating...Its a bit grotty, the powder coating was done 15years ago and it was a crap job. Not that arsed cause the bushes are good, the trunnions are good, the wheel bearings are timken etc and virtually new.
So the chassis mods are complete.

I will probably take the tub off the chassis next winter do some hardcore mods, like stiffening the mainrails of the chassis under the gearbox/bulkhead. Maybe adding some tubes from the cage to the front of the chassis/turrets, building a birdcage chassis over the diff and adding some tubes forward to the mainrails, and add a subaru diff and Lotus Elise rear suspension (watch this space)...Then get it blasted and powder coated + the front suspension and tart it up.

Movement in the correct direction.

Aftering getting my MIG working I taught myself to weld in a few hours and seam welded the chassis rail lips that had been cut back, welded in the rear gearbox cross-member mount. Gave the chassis a coat of paint.
Welded on the box sections/front engine mounts. The engine can now be hard mounted in. Just need to get it outside, powerwash the front of the chassis/turrets give them some paint, thats the chassis done.
Hopefully I can get the bulkhead re-made over the weekend, welded next week and painted next weekend. Then I can fit the engine finally and get on the ancillaries on. Just need to make a gearbox tunnel then. Paint the inside of the cockpit, leaving just the exhaust section to be made. Sounds like next to bugger all work, but its still another 100hrs I bet.

Feeling more motivated now, burnt out before.

Gotta buy an AC/DC tig...I can be TOTALLY self sufficent then as this has MMA function and can stick weld REALLY thick stuff too.

Pain Pain Pain

This getting other people to do stuff is a real pain. I must leave to weld.

Got some guy recommended as a good welder, came round today.

Had to go out, left him with instructions, pretty obvious as the sections were all tacked in place and ready to go. Come back to a load of mess, burned holes, pigeon shit, splatter, loads of grinding on thin material. I said I'd clean it up after he'd finished, but thats no excuse for the mess created of my lovely panels...

So bad I had to hack it all out and start again, sent the bloke off with some verbal.

Pissed off, I am now left with a gapping great hole in my bulkhead, all the stuff I made is wasted and I have a good couple of days solid work to fix it!

I have to re-instate the area over the pedals, which is a pain as the pedal boot rubbers will be a swine to fit as the pressed raised sections are really nasty now, maybe my mate in worcester has a scrap car I can rob some from, I had to hack the support bracket from the bulkhead as there was a real mess there so thats needs a plate and the section remaking.

Really having doubts over the 10CR, its just a rush and I can see its being stress, but we will see. Best go buy a load of steel sheet tomorrow and start remaking the bulkhead...This has put me back 2weeks I reckon.

Also after this mad period on the Jag, my enthusiasm is very low.

I need to get it brazed or tig'ed or gas welded as I want a neat job.

Tempting to make it all from alloy and bond/pop-rivet it together, don't have to deal with idoits then...?

It all goes so well till other people get involved...

Now its even more of a pain cause its a not a one-sitting job.

Eurghh - Long days and Nights. New pet.

Made a new friend...I heard this noise at 2am when I was still the garage last night. This poor little fella had taken a tumble from his nest was groundbound, his parents were asleep, he can't fly yet...Neighbours cat was about to eat him...He has a little wound to his leg from the cat, but its perfectly ok, I cleaned it up for him with a bit of ethanol...Think he was a bit pissed after?

I was digging up worms at 3am, he instantly took to his new daddy...Rub his beak and he opens it and you stick worms down it, easy enough, feed him water with a syringe. Half expected him to be dead this morning, but no, he was chirping for food...He's a little fighter! He's a blackbird I think, but might be a Thrush...

He spent the day in the garage with me, he was calling for his mum all day, some blackbirds came close, but I can't let him go till I have trained him to fly and built his strength up...3 cats next door...He needs training.

He ate about 25 worms today, the fat porker! At this rate he will be too heavy to fly...He happily sits on my finger and feeds, he is not stressed and was quite relaxed last night, he now likes me alot..hops about after me.

I like to save little critters, cause they have a hard enough time, they don't screw people over, they aren't greedy or wot not, they just like some food and some love :)
He is asleep he had a long day eating worms and chirping plus he was up half the night being fed.
Jaguar is cominf on, after 4x 16hr days...Hopefully be able to fire it up over the weekend, test drive monday?
Interior is nearly complete, leather, totally trimmed.
Few bits to go in, leather headlining.
Just the airbox to fit, some piping, fill with oil, water, turn key? Needs alot more work, but its just gonna come to a head very soon. Hopefully on schedule? Probably another 70-80hrs in it though...Thats not including training my new friend.

Few things to keep me busy

Got an MGF expansion cap, its a funny screw on thing, its about 15psi release..Trying to find a threaded alloy neck to get it welded on the old header tank...as the same time find a coolant level warning system I am happy with. Looked for a decent fan on ebay, but yet to find one!

Also I think I could run the stock VVC induction system and VVC system if I wanted, just need complete MGF engine loom, got an ECU...Not that I intend to, but it will JUST go under the bonnet about 5-10mm clearance... cause I made some further mods to the engine location after I decided to go piper-cams and 4 runner induction and the engine is lower than I expected, just a thought....I could use all my existing systems and exhaust its just the induction thats different, I left enough space behind the engine to the bulkhead so that the VVC system and rear belt will fit..just have to patch in a loom...

You can now use a VVC Emerald ECU unit, which can control the VVC system opening the cams at different times etc as well as fueling and ignition...and just wire it up with an MGF loom and new ECU, and wot not...I measured up earlier...

I don't intend to do that, just thoughts.

If I really like the conversion I might *gasp*...Use fuel injection bodies in the future and wedge some 285M cams in with some banded liners and forged pistons and could make a reliable 215-200HP.

Personally I expect it'll be a total rocketship anyway...

I reckon looking at the speed of a stripped out 150HP XE engined Nova at Castle Combe at the Action day! (1m19s), the car should, on some soft tyres, have potential for 1:17-1:18 laps if it makes 175HP...Thats pretty quick for a "road-car".


I can't see myself moving from the K in a hurry, cause they are simply rampantly cheap really (not quite as cheap for VVC) and there are 2,500,000 engines out there waiting to be blown up! The bottom-end is basically indestructable, the HGF is basically sorted, they rev like buggery, they put out stacks of torque for an 800...Funny the MG Midgets with K-Power, Race-cars and Caterhams never have any HeadGasketFailures cause they run different water systems? The saloons aren't that prone either, its just mid-engined cars, the MGF in particular..Cause of the botch-up water system.