MadaboutKitcars

Your list of jobs on the car is shorter than my list of jobs to do before I can even start my build. My poor old Vitesse is still waiting to be stripped. Keep up the good work. Car is looking great with super detailing.

Any thoughts on a roof eg two Morris minor rear windows. Mirrors. Chrome bits. Starting engine driving,enjoying

Today

Mr T, thanks for the encouragement, women do see things differently from men don't they! (thankfully at times)

I can't remember asking Chris :

I'm after something that looks like a baby seal, you have anything like that?" :-)

Froggyman, you humble me, what you said reminds me of a line from

a song by Bob Dylan:

" I was upset that I had no shoes, until I met a man that had no feet"

You will enjoy the strip down bit, its all violence and destruction! Very satisfying! Lots of room for error, unlike the build.

Roof

Zagmad,

I will have the Moggie rear screen as my windscreen for sure.

I have thought loads about the issues here, I want side screens and a soft top alah real XKSS, but I want a hard top for winter.

I will (if I ever get that far) probably use Chris's idea to have a hard top that hinges at the rear, as access to the car is almost impossible with any roof on, as the doors are so short. The reason for that is of course, the car was an open racing car, which on reflection was lucky to have had any doors at all!
This is a pic of said screen propped up, with more work to be done to make fit correctly:

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Ref the engine, it does start and drive at present, and has always, as the strip down does not involve removing the engine or electrics.

I did hack the steering lock off the column, and it hangs down on its wires looking a bit sad, but still operates as it should.

Mirrors are a minor thing and will come later, along with the union jack badges on the sides etc.

When the screen surround is finished, and can be fitted, I will strip out the glass, get anew rubber, and possibly a new screen also.

At that stage I will look into having the frame chromed before the new rubber and glass go in. Depends on the price, as I am on a tightish budget, which is one reason why I make everything I can, rather than just buy it. Also the sense of satisfaction at having created it yourself is priceless! Ask Mr Towed and all the other guys that have lovely cars finished!

Hope that answers your questions!

...as the doors are so short. The reason for that is of course, the car was an open racing car, which on reflection was lucky to have had any doors at all!

I presume that the small single door on the D type was purely down to the racing regs for that class at the time - an engineer wouldn't have added it into a stressed skin construction

You're probably right scimjim.

Jesus's Birthday



Jesus’s Birthday has slowed my work rate right down, but he’s had it now, and I’m

starting to feel guilty, so out to the build tent, which has faired quite well in the high winds I would like to add!

When I decided to lower the body as far as I could before the final bonding, I kind of half expected this to cause later problems.

I was not disappointed!

Or, if you like I was very disappointed to find that the front wheel fouled the bulkhead. I will tackle this at some point, but was really upset to find that the passenger’s door hinge bracket was in serious contact with the body.

Damn and blast!

After all the work I have already done to put this right.

Earlier in the build I took the crash bar and bracket out and did some major surgery to
Prevent this happening. It did work, but the latest round of lowering has bought the problem back, and I do NOT want to do this for a third time! Serious thought going on here……………

I could grind a bit more it off and hope for the best, or take the lot out and do it properly,

A no brain-er really, off it has to come.

I decided I would move the whole hinge about 5 or 6mm further inboard, away from the bodywork. This will involve re-drilling the bolt holes and more cutting and welding,

Well it’s gotta be done…….

When fitting the passenger’s door, I will have to shim it up to compensate for the difference, no big deal.

It’s done now and here are some pics of the saga……..


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Good to see you back at it Scottie.

It is this bloody wind that makes me fear putting up my tent at the moment.

Also regarding your previous post about a "to do" list, I stopped after my first list ran past 5 sheets of typed A4!

Now I just think about the jobs in hand and worry about the rest another day.

Unfortunately, I will have to think about my own door hinges shortly, when I come to join the bulkhead to the rear frame.

But for now, I will keep my head safely in the sand when it comes to the doors.

Good luck, Paul.

Re fit



I thought I would leave re-fitting the crash bar until tomorrow, as it is such a back-breaking-fiddly-arsed job, but Guilt gave me a good kicking again, so I went back and fitted it. The problem is now solved, and even if the body settles and flexes a bit, there is still plenty of clearance.

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Don't worry about your tent Paul, bags of anchors and tie-downs are the answer! Believe me, mines still there!

Today

It just occurred to me that I want this car finished by April, which only gives me three months, I'm going to have to put more hours in, so I reluctantly left the warm room, and went out to the tented emporium of agony to do a bit more.

Apart, from spending a couple of hours trying to arrange the sides of the tent so they do not allow water to get in on the concrete, I managed to finish the bonding by doing the driver's side.

Hopefully, my extra work on the tent walls will be successful, and allow me to doss about on the cold floor at least keeping dry while I toil on.

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April -there's a challenge!

Wheels

On Monday I said I would tackle the bulkhead wheel fouling at a later date,

Well that date was today.

At first I thought it would be a simple straightforward job involving a bit of violence
With a heavy hammer. Well, it was not to be! Another hard job? Well what a surprise.
Firstly I trimmed the rear of the wheel arch a bit.

I slit the bulkhead and bashed it in, only to find, it was fouling in another area, which just happened to be a three dimensional nightmare.

Eventually I got to where I wanted, and welded it all back together, but the “simple”

Job took all bloody day.

I am really looking forward to doing the other side! It has the added complication of the
Pedals being possibly in the way!

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Welding a bulkhead you say?

I think I know a song about that.

Jokes aside, that is a good job getting the clearance you need.

Hope the pedals don't cause you too many issues on the other side.

Good luck, Paul.

Very amusing Paul! I think you do know a song or two about bulkheads, I reckon you must be the number one expert on them!

Bulkhead, drivers side



Well, today I did the diver’s side bulkhead which was fouling the wheel on lock.

Today though was different, with the experience I gained yesterday doing the other side

I knew exactly where the hidden sill tubes were, and made swift cuts accordingly.

I had it sorted very quickly, welded it up, kurusted primed and painted in no time.

I checked the wheel clearance which was good, job done, but this time it only took 4 hours, which beats the whole day yesterday!

I am growing tired of doing all these mundane shitty jobs I have been doing recently,
As they do not actually change the appearance of the car.

I am itching to do work that does change the way the car looks.

I think I am close to reaching that point at the moment, just a few bits and bobs

Left to do, and then I think I will sort the windscreen out, that will make big difference.
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It has just occurred to me that it would have been very boring not to have been able to go round corners in my completed car, with that thought in mind, I am now even more pleased to have done the necessary work
in order to make that possible..............

I can certainly relate to that and it can be soul destroying at times.

The good news is that the changes you are making will really make your car stand out.

Glad to hear this side was a lot less hassle than the other.

Good luck, Paul.

At least now when the car building drives you round the bend you will at least be able to steer

Which was hard before! And where did you get the pop up thingy you showed a pic of WCA?

I have a spare one you can have if you want it. PM me your address

Scottie - I went down to the garage to get the pooper and discovered that I had modified it at some point. I also found a few other bits. Please let me know if you want any of it or whether you will fabricate your own. The popper bits are free but the electric bits will incur a small charge (when I can work out what they are worth)

As fitted to my car


My 'spare'


The components


I have pair of these poppers. They are smaller and neater but have no obvious way of fitting them. The sticky out bit is had plastic, as it the collar it slides through. The black ribbed bits are rubber.


Just to gove you the scale of the big poppers


This is the door puller part of the kit. Stick 12v across the terminals and it pulls the wire about 3 cm towards the main unit.


If you want to get clever, here is the control box that does all 4 doors and the boot with twin remote blippers


Good luck with the wiring, I appear to have lost the wiring diagram


Let me know if you want the big popper, 2 small poppers or you are happy do do it all yourself.

Lots of pictures so that if anyone else wants to do this they can see the idea.

Popper

WCA,

Thanks for all the info, I already have the bonnet and boot catches in place and working. To keep things simple and reliable, I have used basic cable pulls.

What I was intending to do,was put a simple spring under the bootlid and bonnet, so they popped up a bit more positively than they do at present.

That spring thing you had, looked ideal. I have searched online with little success, as I am not sure what to call what I am searching for!

That is really all I need, as I deliberately steered away from electrically operated systems.

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I will post the big springy thing and the two little ones and I am sure you will create something.

Try googling door poppers btw

http://www.a1electric.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AEOS&Product_Code=POP-2P

Thanks for that, I already tried the door popper thing on google, but all it turns up is complicated electric kits that I don't need! All I want is a simple spring!