Dutton Dementia

[Mick O'Malley]

Following yesterday's abortive prop. bolt attempt, I today jacked her up from the rear to increase the gap so that I could improve leverage. With a meaty screwdriver through the yoke to prevent rotation, I succeeded.

Now that I could see the handbrake mounting bolts more clearly, my brain suddenly clicked into gear and I realised that disconnecting the cable at the lever end would do just as well. I had to cut the inner at the axle end and lever off the hose clip locating the outer inside the tub. Job done.

Examining the seat belt mountings more closely revealed that they were rusted solid onto a convoluted bar welded to the frame each side. OK, if I cut it just outside the outer belt mounting each side it could come out with the tub. Off with the back wheels and, unsurprisingly, there was barely room to get the angle grinder in a suitable position. A combination of cuts, cold chiselling, parting of digestive biscuit strength welds, and work hardening with the ends Mole Gripped finally achieved the necessary clearance. A few minutes wrestling had the tub free at last.



The bar can be seen looping around the inside of the tunnel. I can't remember how Tim Dutton expected builders to anchor the lower mounts, clearly the rather flimsy tub wouldn't be man enough. I'll dig out the photo' of my 80s solution and post it.

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

I found the picture mentioned above, as well as the one I took at TDW's place. In the background can be seen a completed Sierra, a Melos and another Phaeton, both awaiting pick-up.



This is the bolt on frame I fabricated to locate the bottom seat belt mountings. It was 1.5" steel angle welded together. The LH holes (as you look at it) coincided with the gearbox mounting, the centre ones bolted to a cross member, and the RH four are for the belts. I'll definitely do the same again.

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley

I can't remember how Tim Dutton expected builders to anchor the lower mounts...

I just went back down to the cave and remembered when I looked at the frame: there are four nuts welded to a cross member, which is way too far forward for a realistic lap portion of a belt. Looking at my frame picture, its middle bar was bolted to these.



I'm glad I didn't use them as intended, although I doubt any reasonably diligent MOT tester would OK them...

Regards, Mick

[peterux]

Hi Mick,
Following your updates with interest. It is fascinating to see how flimsy these early kit cars were. I guess they were built for lightness and low cost. By comparison my Sabre has 4 inch square chassis rails and is built like a battleship but there again John Barlow only sold about 150 kits partly, I suspect, due to the cost of the kit.
Looking forward to the rebuild.
Cheers, Peter

[Mick O'Malley]

Thanks for your interest Robin and Peter, most welcome!

Today I set about taking out the footwell/front bulkhead moulding. A combination of drilling rivets and chiselling off the less accessible heads soon had it free of the frame, apart from the easily released hydraulic pipe to master cylinder nuts. Despite about 20 minutes of wrestling and head scratching, I couldn't manoeuvre it to a position where it looked even likely to come out, the inward taper of the front of the frame defeating me. I think it must have been put in with KY Jelly and a couple of biffers jumping on it. OK, so out with the trusty go-to panel saw and the job was done .



I can now bolt the engine and gearbox together, dangle them from the crane and work out mountings.



I'm still undecided whether it's worth taking off the back body. The frame is very sound, and as long as the fuel tank doesn't leak I think leaving well alone is the better option. It looks as though the tank is the third to be fitted, the hole in the back panel looking very Mk1 or 2 Cortina (as TDW intended).



The glassed in opening next to the nearside wing hints at Mini Van/Traveller or maybe estate versions of the above. Who knows? My original Phaeton had the saloon tank with a stub welded on top to have the cap in the Spitfire position.



Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

This morning's sortie down to the sunlit cave saw me wheeling the skeletal Phaeton out of the way, dragging the gearbox from the shed, erecting the crane, and releasing the engine from its home of late - my sack truck.



I put a block under the rear of the sump so that the engine sloped slightly down, roped the 'box to the crane and offered it up. It was reluctant to slide the last few centimetres home, despite rotating the output shaft, so I removed the cover and driven plates so that only the first motion shaft needed to engage. That did the trick. Once the connecting bolts were tight I roped the unit to the crane and parked it to one side, allowing me to wheel the skeleton back.



Happy with completing another small step, and wishing to quit while I was ahead, I decided to leave the offering up for another day.

Regards, Mick

[Mick O'Malley]

There's a glut of family birthdays at this time of year, so I've only had one quick session in the cave since last posting. I decided to determine the engine mounting position without dangling it in the frame. I laid a plank across the transverse rails, and another to replicate the angle of the seat back, and sat in with a batten across the top rails in front of me. This enabled me to work out where the gear stick would fall to hand without hitting the dash in 1st and 3rd. Carefully worming out I marked the side rails with tape.



Rolling the chassis back until my marks aligned perfectly with the gearstick, I then used the batten to mark the centres of the engine mounting points on the engine bay rails. Rubbish photo' alert - the blue felt tip lines are barely visible...



My first project related purchase is pictured here - repro. rubber plinths for the Lucas L516 sidelights which will grace the flared front wings .



Regards, Mick

[peterux]

Hi Mick,
I highly recommend you put one of these on your birthday list.

(The load leveller, not the engine )

Engine fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

It makes it a doddle to position the engine and gearbox at exactly the right angle and as it uses chains it it so much safer than ropes, particularly if you are working on your own.
Mine was a really good investment.