Mildy annoying

The place I get my paint from has phased out 2pack.

All they had is some water based crap that you need to spray an epoxy lacquer over. Sounds like bureaucratic nonsense to me...Paint is good for the environment but the lacquer just as bad.

Hopefully have some full strength Triumph White No19 on Thursday from my local paint shop.

Got the fuel tank modified to take JIC connections, made up a nice aerospace line from the tank to the pump. Just need a 1/8th NPT to JIC 6 adaptor for the facet pump now.

Finished off my bonnet wiring, just need to lift it on and cut the wires down and solder on a connector block.

Saw the bloke who painted my car today, he has blood cancer, which is a bit of shame, but he is responding well to treatment..Discovered by accident when his back gave out and he went to the quack for some pain killers, a bit of bunged up bowels for a week, lost some weight...It leeches all the calcium from your bones and weakens them, the calcium then kills your kidneys...Another 48hrs he'd have been dead from Kidney failure! They flushed him out and he's been on Kemo for while...I was already aware your life is hanging on a thread, but its times like that its really driven home...Don't take nowt for granted! Every day above ground is a good day! Even if your life is shit, its better than being dead!

I guess the blog fans are expecting some major progress soon, it will happen :) Its like a set of scales atm, tipping this and that way...Bit more on the one side it'll all fall into place :)

Oh and no sign of my Airmail packets...Each day I pine like a dog waiting for the postman...

RM say "we are processing mail in the order it arrived" like you are, cause my packets arrived in the UK days before the strike...lazy bastards, get those striking prats on unpaid overtime to clear the mess! Don't know their arse from their elbow. Its been two weeks, how long can it take to clear a few days mail...They will probably just incinerate it all when these lazy tosspots don't get anything done and piss off home when they want, enjoying Spanish practices. Replace them all with Polish!

Mumbling part 2

Too many ideas for a gearbox tunnel...

Noticed there is a company a few miles away who can vacuum form ABS plastic.

Have to give them a bell.

I could then knock up a mould/shaped object from various materials and get them to vac form some 3mm? ABS over it. Not much to consider and a neat way of getting a 1 piece tunnel thats got a bit of flex and some sound deadening and heat resistance properties, also can be made in virtually any colour. Its really the only job left. Kind of intended to make some alloy thing, but I like the idea of ABS plastic.

I could knock up a stiff mould using bits of wood like a skeleton structure with some thin alloy sheet stretch over and bonded on.

Atleast this way I can knock up a mould pretty quickly not having to be concerned with asthetics and not have to get any specialist welding done or incur any great material costs...probably only £10 for a massive sheet of 1mm alloy.

Could also get a couple of tunnels made at once.

It may not possible, but I see they form dashboards and all manner of stuff.

Being as its on show and not covered by carpet etc I cant bare looking at anything substandard everytime I get in.

Cheers to Viking Longship for suggesting that I turn on Word Verfication to stop the ever increasing amount of spam comments this blog is attracting!

Mumblings

Been a bit busy on other things the last week.

Have a quiet week coming up.

Just at the point of stripping out the cockpit and painting it, also bulkhead.

Been waiting for parts for my fuel system and other things that were delayed in the postal strike. Some arrived, some not, I have some stuff thats meant to be coming airmail, no sign of that, its been 3weeks, I am pissed off.

Useless service. Sooner the Royalmail go down the pan the better! Holding the country to ransome is out of order, its effected business for everyone. I rarely use the RM for packages anyway and I will never give them my money again for any items over 2kilos.

This is where they make their money, they make nothing on first class mail, so its where to kick them hardest. I mean you can book a courier to come collect for £6.50 up to 25kilos, send that RM its like £20-30, this farce must end! Internal packages in Germany can be send up to 10kilos for about £4. Its taking the piss, rip off the Brits eh!

Anyway enough of that!

Hopefully get the front of the cockpit and boot painted this week and start fitting it out.

I decided to just convert the tank to pump piping to JIC connections as I can reuse the fittings and hose when I fuel inject the car. I'll leave the rest of the system as it was, just using a normal brass line on the chassis.

Bonnet is about done.

I have an Innovate Motorsports LC-1 with DB Gauge Wideband meter on the way also. That can be attached to a laptop for logging fuel ratios and also it can replicate the narrowband sensor for fuel injection ECU giving better results. So its good for the future. If I fuel inject I'll be using megasquirt as the wiring and systems already on the car can be slightly adjusted and work with it. I'll probably just "slap on" a set of Jenvey throttle bodies on my existing manifold. Its ported for 45mm bodies, the air filter system and trumpets will all bolt straight on, as Jenvey DCOE/DHLA flange pattern bodies are an exact replica of the carb's flange and mounting holes. So that really should only be a day job.

Hopefully some good progress this week!

Oh and btw, spammers, its a waste of time spamming this blog, I will not publish your penis enlargement messages, so don't waste your time!

Slow progress, some interesting projects on the horizon?

Been meaning to ditch the metal headlamp bowls, so now have nice plastic ones. Actually worked out very well, as the plastic ones allow greater movement adjustment. The metal bowls were maxed out on the adjustment, as my only complaint on the bonnet was the headlight mounting faces were not vertical and needed alot of adjustment via packers behind the base of the bowls.

Also the plastic bowls are a load lighter and do not need the metal cone part that holds the light unit in and is sprung against the bowl with the spring. So fitted and removing the lamp is a doddle with no spring.The chrome ring is a different design. Also had a cracked light unit.

So quickly rewired the bonnet as it was a bitty.
Also thats not too healthy. Not quite sure why thats happened. Same on both, so now bigger earth wire is used and is a dedicated earth solely for the headlights....Maybe my use of 130/90 bulbs and 100/80? Hopefully fixed now.
With some new connections and plugs.
Hopefully in the next weeks MatGT6 from the forum will be allowing me to get busy on finishing off his lovely Mk4 Spitfire with the supercharged Fiat 131 engine.
A real beauty and a credit to the builder Kevin. A class act. I shall be endeavouring to complete the car to an equal standard, it has to be the best built and constructed modified triumph car I have ever seen. It will put my car to shame when its done!!

Some serious time and dosh involved in this one during its long build history. There are numerous jobs to complete, mainly detailing and some rather interesting construction relating to cooling and rear suspension. The car is mainly complete but needs everything finally fitting and getting it running and fixing many loose ends.

Looks like a great winter/spring project. It'll be like brother and sister in the garage!
What a beauty.

Probably won't be a fat lot of progress on my car for a short while. I will be finishing off the bonnet jobs. I want to remove the hinge tubes, blast them, paint them, and fit them properly with some rubber on the arch mounts and finish of the details on a few bits that didn't get done in the spring of 2006. The majority of the hardwork on the engine is done, its winter now so best get the rest to standard.

More jobs

Decided I may as well future proof some other stuff.

I pulled the fuel tank out for some mods.

Interesting to find the two bolts under the fuel tank >body to chassis> loose and rattling. Which does add up, I always had a rattle that from there, about the only one.

No suprise anyway as yonks ago I found all the rest were loose. I think the person fitting the body was a bit weak!

No suprise why the one was loose, it was never done up right, thread was chuffed. So I tapped it out and fitted a new bolt.

I also found there was something in the fuel tank, much hassle trying to get it out. It was a number 58 Dellorto Idle jet, funny! Obviously my fault.

I will probably fuel inject the car at some time, so may as well make adjustments for that now.

This will entail welding on a "JIC-6" weld on threaded adaptor to the tank outlet. Adding JIC-6 adaptors to the pacet fuel pump. Then running goodridge connectors/hose from tank to pump and pump to hardline/bootfloor - connectors like I got from ebay. Hardline to the front bulkhead from the bootfloor. The connection/adaptor in the bootfloor and pipe to the bulkhead will be fixed and used on both systems (carbs/injection), the pieces needed for injection will just be setup at either end in place of the carb bits of the system, without need to change anything or position of tubing etc. I will need another pressure regulator or mod mine for JIC6 tails.

The standard tube size (with olive) from the tank is pathetic so its best to do this now. Will also add a return line and breather system and blank them off for now, again easy enough to add JIC-6 weld-on adaptors and use JIC-6 cap blanks to seal them till needed. Suppose I could and should baffle the tank too for FI, or could do dual tank thing. Run a pacet from the main tank, which fills another smaller tank maybe 2litre size, fuel goes into the top and is drawn out the bottom by the fuel injection pump, the tank has an outlet on the top also, which pumps fuel back into the main tank and gives deairation the fuel, this acts as a swirl pot and also gives the pump an extra two litres of fuel to suck on as a surge tank.

Got the dash drilled bar the gauge holes. I added my air fuel meter to the dash as the front panel comes off. I removed the face and bolted the dash panel inbetween the face and body, so the meter is flush with the dash and not just bolted somewhere.

Not essential work at this time, but saves doing it later.

Running out of jobs slowly :) Just keep creating more.

I have a nice pile of lovely painted, ready to fit parts, which all fit and will just fall together! The car will basically be a baretub soon. I can then paint the inside. Its all just flowing along, it'll meet a natural point soon where its bare and painted its gonna be a good day cause its all just homeward from there. Its turned into a beast of a job, and there is still the rear suspension to do.

I even had a dream about driving it the other night, guess what, it was bloody quick :)

Dash

One alloy dash.
Bash the dash.
To make a lip, nice gentle radius.
Dash fitted perfectly! Need to cut the gauge holes etc, drill some mount holes, cover it.

Happy with it, its not even bolted in and its stiff as anything. Its made from quality 1.75mm alloy sheet (£7.50 at my friendly local alloy fab company)

It'll bolt to the existing dash section along the top edge via M5 hex bolts, the section that touches the roll bar tube will just be fixed to the roll bar via one M5 bolt its only function to support either end.
Thelower section and lip over the steering column area fixes to the old steering column main bracket via a small additional bracket I welded on, unseen in the images, this should remove the tiny upward flex in the column and fix alot of bits together. Its nice to drive a solid car. The car was pretty solid before with a cage and hardtop on so can only be vastly better now.

Need a 52mm conecutter for the gauge holes.

Not sure on the dashtop, I have other ideas. Could use the normal one but I'd rather not.

Doesn't making titles get tiresome.

Bracket was needed to go on the new column mount. So here is one I made earlier.
This mates with the SPA tacho.speedo.
The SPA unit is housed in an alloy body, I rubbed this down and sprayed it satin black. I prefer it to bling silver!
Bolts on the bracket. Can adjust the angle of the unit, so catering for seating position to some extent, fore and aft.


Thats about it, just needs a bit of shink wrap over the end of the wiring, inplace of tape. The wire will come to the unit through a hole in the new dash, straight into the unit.

More strange things

So knocked up a brace for the steering column. Just a business like object to stop left and right flexing at the wheel. Wheel is now rock solid, the car wobbles when the wheel is yanked.

The piece clamping the column is a 1500 Spitfire column mount. I happened to spy this when I got a wiper motor. Its a bit chunky but its good as I can make a little bracket that sits on the top clamp bolt. On this bracket will be mounted the SPA Digital Speedo/Rev Counter. So the clamp bracket can serve two functions. I can have the SPA unit closer to my vision than on the dash board also. So its all good.

Simply drilled and tapped a hole in the clamp bracket, stuck a cut down bolt in the hole so giving a fully threaded stud. The rod/bar is the remains of a bonnet stay with a 5/16 nut welded on the end of the rod, the nut screws on the stud in the bracket.

Another reminder to finish off the final jobs on the loom, like removing those remaining crimp connectors.

Other end is just a small bracket welded on the roll cage. Could do with a more powerful welder (on shopping list), or to warm up the metal up for serious welded on the cage as its a bit over the limit for 105amps!...However perfectly adequete for this tiny little bracket.
I could have braced the main mount in a similar manner. I did it this way firstly for somewhere decent to mount the rev/speedo unit and also due to the fact I have my column out as far as it will go due to the driving position I had before, which was dead comfy. So with the column out so far it seems to flex between the main mount and the wheel, as the main mount is near central to the column body. Anyway, flex it no longer does. Also it gives purists something else to moan about :) tiny bit of upward flex but that should go once I have added the main dash panel.

The wires go through the slots in the bracket. All in all jobs a gooden. Just need some proper fasteners and another job bites the dust.

Bit more stuff to do before the actual dash panel...A few brackets to add. Nearly there!

Turbo Wipers

Twin Speed Wipers. Should have converted before. Car will be monsoon ready now :)

Picked up a motor today from Dave in Worcester. Stripped it down and blasted the case and made it look nicer. Regreased, nice barely worn com.
Motor sits under the dash, dead easy to fit as an ungrade, bolt on, to fit in the dash is easy to. Was fitted here before, just shortened the tube a further couple of inches and drilled a hole...Took no time. Took some time to make sure the wheel boxes and sender/tubes were quiet when operating.

Just have to sort the wiring, add another power and use an on/on/off switch.

Another job done.

More messing about

Finished pedal box. Happy with it. Pedals are nice and tight, no slack or play at all...Like a swiss clock.

Decided to fit a twin speed motor for the wipers. Should be a bolt in job. Need to buy some Triumph parts! First time for AGES! Just a seal for the heaterbox and pedal rubber...

Will strip out the wiper system and the new motor and rebuild it all, clean and regrease the rack for superwiper power! To go with a new windscreen, be nice to actually see something when the sun is low or headlights are coming the other way.

Stripped the bonnet of the lights today too. Rewire, new bowls, lamps (with sidelights in). Cleaned out the inside, was full of millions of bits of tape and wire. Just have to get all the dash area systems ready for fitment and I can nail the gearbox tunnel..Some paint, its onto final build.

Comfort

One refreshed heater, it was a brown, crusted, sorry looking item, but for the price I cannot moan :)

Stripped down completely, motor stripped cleaned, core washed out - loads of crap in it, grit blasted, painted and ready to go...Also got my pedals and brackets coated. Just have to cut the circlip grooves in the ends of the pin and I can call this job done.


Tested the unit/motor and even without all the holes bunged up it blows alot of air, good!

Need some 1" grommets to fill the cable holes and tape up the pipe slots....there will not be any need for speedo and rev cable holes in the electronic age!

Also helps to run the fan blades as close to the flared hole as you can for maximum sucky sucky.

Spaghetti Junction

Just about finished the loom for the bulhead area and clocks etc.
Clock and switch location stays as it was so the loom spreads out behind the column support. All the wires are now just as long as needed. There are just a few more pinch connectors to unpinch, remove and replace with soldered connections, all joints are now soldered and have soft boots over the connectors. I added some molex plugs and quick connectors as mentioned. I wired in the Lambda sensor and meter properly I added a spare wire for a wideband sensor so the system is future proof :) I added a few spare feeds and earths for future use to save hassle.

If I was no expense spared I probably use more elegant connectors, but not a few quid for a bag you can't go wrong!
I was about done at this stage. Once fitted the loom moves up and all sits neatly in the top of the dash, no loom visable/sag. I fitted the old dash panel back in the new location added all the wires and clocks and finally tested the loom and function and fit, tested rev counter, ignition, all systems ok... have been working on this wiring for 3 LONG evenings. Anyway fits really well with no mess, neat, direct and unstained in connection to the switches etc. Everything works so I finish a few small jobs on it and then stick a layer of tape over it and call that a day. When the car is being finally kitted out I'll cover it with tubing.

Pretty happy with the wiring, I like a loom you can pull and tug without any worries about loosing wires or connections.

Still need to cut the dash and form it, add the steering column brace, clean up the angle ground lip under the dashtop / rip the vynil off and make that good...I can then start fitting the dashboard by drilling all the holes. Then cover the dash and thats this bit done!

Glad I took the time to do this job...

Slow progress

Been busy wiring again. Takes so long to a good job, 16hrs this time. I made a new loom before which was fine but things had been added to it and have always been reluctant to finalise it. But now all systems are in the car the time has come.

Loom can now easily be removed from the car as a unit, all important joints on the front are soldered. This leaves some work on the rear section and the main box of electrics and relays, but the important part for progress is about done. I couldn't really do much behind the dash till it was removed..What with adding heater vents, tubing, the heater I have to check and manage all these parts as my car is not at all standard! so its all been assembled a few times and taken apart etc, this takes bloody ages.

So it may appear not alot is happening, which is true I suppose. However it'll be better in the longrun. At this time details matter not big jobs.

Also had to add a heater feed, switch and a few other things. Added some multipole quick connect type connectors on the column switch wiring, bonnet loom...No fiddling with those black sausages and bullet connectors now...I need to make a new loom for the bonnet as the headlights/bowls (now plastic) are being changed, the H4 connectors melted on the headlights and its a bit bitty in general.

I will not finally cover the front of the loom with corrigated tubing until final fitout as its easy to manage the loom when it folds up small, of course it will also need testing, but it all worked before!

So once my heater box, pedal, vents, pedal bracket, steering column bracket are all powdercoated I have basically a completed the bulkhead and such and such.

I will then be at a point where the cockpit is bare and all 99% of parts are ready for assembly, lots of room to make the gearbox tunnel, once thats done I can then paint the cockpit and bulkhead...

Then I start putting it together, in kit form, all complete and ready to bolt together having been lovingly made, modified, fitted, tested.

Still a couple of missing parts and jobs but nothing major.