MadaboutKitcars

Thank you Mister Towed, thought so. I now realise I met him again late last year though I didn't make the connection at the time. He's still got lots of ideas for interesting projects.

Rétromobile in Paris (last week), picture was on Classic Car and Sport Car website, Lukas Hüni's dedicated Lancia display.

http://www.classicandsportscar.com/news/classic-car-events/classic-variety-stuns-in-paris

Another page is http://www.lefigaro.fr/automobile/2014/02/06/30002-20140206ARTFIG00370-dans-les-allees-de-retromobile.php sorry its in French.

Pas de probleme

Nice sunny wind free day today - to be fair we've been luck enough to miss the worst of the weather here in East Anglia anyway - but I thought I'd make a start on one or two of the little fettling jobs that I should really have addressed when I built the car in the first place.

First job is a drain for the battery tray which fills up with water in the rain. I didn't really have a plan, instead I just hunted round the garage for anything I thought I could use.

So, hole drilled through the tray into the passenger footwell -



Then cut an orange plastic funnel down to fit the hole and bonded it in -





Next I cut a similar hole in the bulkhead where it won't be fouled by the tyres for a tube to take the water back to the road -





Still waiting for the bonding paste to set so I can connect the whole thing up but it's looks like it'll do the trick.

Interestingly, if you look at the last pic you'll see where the taller profile tyres have been scuffing the paint off the front bulkhead. Next job will be to set to with a blowlamp and lump hammer to give a little clearance, then give the bulkheads another coat of silver smoothrite once it's all cooled down. I have a few days off coming up at the end of the week so I should be able to tackle that job then.

I know a song about bulkheads..........

I thought a lump hammer would sort out my problems too!

Hope you don't have to be as drastic as I did!

Mr T - Good to see you are still one step ahead of me, so I can follow your lead.

I've got the hole/drain in the battery box, but hadn't worked out the best place for the water to leave the bulkhead.

Good luck, Paul.

PS
I've also just noticed how you have earthed your micro heater to its own mounting point, so there is another idea I can "borrow".

Having shot a few in car videos of runs out in my Spyder, I was a bit pee'd off with the wind rush spoiling the sound quality at anything above a walking pace.

So, my camera now has its very own Cossack hat -



It's a low tech solution to the problem as used by the BBC with their 'dougal' covers for their mike booms, and so long as it stays of the Vodka I'm hoping for a better soundtrack on my next video, which will be when the weather dries out a bit.

Need to get the car back on its wheels first though so I'll be spending a few hours in the garage before work tomorrow.

So, finally got round to sorting out a glitch that's been bugging me since I first got my car on the road -

Every now and then I'd turn the key to start the engine and get complete silence in return. No click, no whirring and definitely no engine starting.

This typically happened at petrol stations when there was a huge queue forming behind me for the pumps. I would have to push the car away from the pumps, open the bonnet, bang the starter solenoid with something heavy and try again, while a gloating crowd gathered round the car

I'd already tried everything I could to fix the issue, including: cleaning up the earth contact; fitting a new solenoid; and even replacing the ignition barrel with a new one, but the fault persisted. Then I asked a chap I know who runs a Vitesse as an (almost) daily driver, and he said 'Oh, they all do that'. Apparently Vitesses, Heralds and Spitfires all suffer from a sticky starter solenoid.

I decided that the best way forward would be to replace the electric solenoid with a manual one and started looking round for something suitable. The series one land-rover turned out to have the perfect solenoid for the job, and I sourced one from ebay for about thirty quid.

I've mounted it through the bulkhead so it now has a foot operated starter (the shiny thing to the left of the clutch pedal is a wheel nut that I've modified to fit the end of the shaft) -





It was quite a nice afternoon here, so I took my spyder for a blast for the first time this year.



It's running really well despite being laid up since before Christmas and now starts first time every time, so I'm a happy bunny.

What a brilliant idea Mr T !!!!!
Well done, good thinking.

Mr T - Sorry for being a bit thick, but can you explain how this manual solenoid works?

Cheers, Paul.

Manually!

Cheers froggyman, you are a great help.



OK, let me re-work the question a bit...

Do you still need to turn the key as normal to give power to this manual switch?

Or is the foot button "live" and could it operate when you are driving along?

Actually it's footily.

Paul, Instead of an electric solenoid pulling or pushing a contact bar across the terminals to connect the battery positive to the starter motor input, it has a spring loaded plunger that you press in to make the contacts.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221367130599

I suppose I shouldn't have called it a solenoid as really it's just a heavy duty switch, which I've mounted with the plunger through the bulkhead.

It didn't come with a knob of any description for the business end of the plunger, so I screwed a stud into a leftover Triumph wheel-nut, cut it flush with the angle grinder, then drilled and tapped it to accept the threaded end of the plunger.

To start the car you just turn on the ignition with the key, check you're in neutral and press the wheel-nut with your left foot, releasing it when the motor fires. Simple and a bit bonkers, just like the car!

Just read your rephrased question Paul - the starter 'button' is permanently live so it will turn the engine over with the ignition off, or whilst on the move. I only have size 8 feet so I don't foul the switch whilst driving, if you had size twelves you might have a problem, but you'd also have a problem with the Triumph pedals anyway.

Thanks Mr T, I'll add this to my list of questions for my local Triumph specialist.

That sounds like quite a cool anti theft device as well! That's the same position as the MGB main beam headlight switch... always confuses the MOT guys

Bit of inspiration here for those of you with partially completed builds to GET ON WITH IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0suerSpewo

It really is every bit as exciting just popping to the shops the long way round in a Spyder.

Lovely sunny morning this morning so I took my lad to the seaside -



Obligatory chips for lunch, of course -



Car is running faultlessly now that it starts first time every time on the (foot) button.

Nice one Mr T!

How long is your car? It looks tiny!!

So, started to upgrade my cooling system finally.

Although I'd persevered with my in-line filler in the top hose, it needed a top up after every run so I figured it really does need a header tank. As luck would have it I bought an Land Rover one on ebay when I first started building my car, 99p + £4.99 p&p as I recall. I never got round to installing it but kept it anyway, so the plan for today was mount it somewhere suitable while I wait for a few hoses and tee pieces to arrive from ebay.

First things first, wonder at the benefit of a flip front bonnet -



Next it was out with 'the serpent' and in with a simpler version fitted with a 32mm to 15mm reducing tee (ordered from Car Builder Solutions at 7pm yesterday, arrived 9am this morning! Now that's service). -



Next job was to make up a Heath Robinson bracket, mostly from bits of old Vitesse bonnet stay, trial fit and check for clearance... mm to spare, hooray!



The brackets then got treated to a couple of coats of etch primer in the purpose built small parts spray booth -



OK, so it's a box.

But looky here what I found me when I took some acetone to the old header tank -



I got me a shiny new brass tank to plays with.

Apologies for the Southern drawl to Jeremy, my next door neighbor, who's American. But don't hold that against him as he's rebuilding a (proper) HiPo mini to take bak Stateside with him when he goes.

Should have that all plumbed in in a few days and see if it keeps its cool at high speed any better.

Mr T - That expansion tank looks very "vintage" in brass.

Sorry Scottie, I missed your question for some reason.

My car's dimensions are:

12'1" long

4'7" wide, spinner to spinner

2'6" high to the cockpit edge

3'2" to the top of the head fairing (highest point)

Weight is 680kg with a full tank.

While I wait for a few parts to arrive to finally plumb in my header tank, I spent the day tinkering with some of those little jobs I've been meaning to get round to.

First on the list was to replace the flexible steering rack mounts with solid alloy ones to firm up the feel of the steering.

Not a particularly photogenic job I'm afraid, so no pictures. The driver's side takes ten minutes and couldn't be easier. Access to the passenger side, however, is blocked by the proximity of the sump, so the engine needs raising about four inches to get enough space to remove and refit the 'U' bolts that hold the clamps in place.

Luckily I just managed this by undoing the nearside engine mount and raising the motor gently with a trolley jack. I won't know what difference it'll have made until I can start the engine again in a few days and take it for a test run.

The same goes for the tacho, which had jammed at 4,000 revs. Phil J generously donated one he had that had lying around that had a functioning mechanism but a broken case and faded dial. I've now managed to cobble together the best bits of the two to make one good one, which is now fitted and awaiting a test run.

Finally, my wire wheels need a bit of a refresh. I sand blasted and sprayed them with two coats of primer, two coats of Simoniz wheel silver and two coats of clear lacquer, but that was three years ago now and the rust is coming back with a vengeance.

So, a quick fix (to see how long it lasts) was to give the worst one a bit of attention with a wire brush, then mask it up and give it a coat of silver smoothrite.







Not exactly a top quality job but it should look better than it did, for a while at least...

Header tank now plumbed in



...but fifty year old rubber seal failed, even after trying to bond it in



...didn't need the return really anyway, cut it off and sealed it so no more leaks



...quick test drive and sudden loss of power signals roadside humiliation



...check of the obvious weak parts reveals broken rotor arm, so simple fix



...only I haven't got a spare one

...Quick phone call and Phil J to the rescue - couldn't find a spare himself, he uses the AC Delco distributors himself and mines by The Prince of Darkness (Lucas), but he came out and towed me home. Thanks Phil, you really are a diamond

Anywho, thought I'd cheer myself up with a couple of shots of the repainted wheels to finish -





Will be carrying spare rotor arms from now on, it's the third one that's failed in 1,800 miles

Mr T - Well if you have room for a set of traffic cones, then I'm sure you can fit a spare rotor arm in the boot somewhere.



Enjoy the show, your car is going to be a real star there.

Cheers, Paul.

Hmm, I do wish I'd put a few more rotor arms and a few less cones in the glove box. My car is currently without one, so no spark, rendering it an outsized paperweight at the moment, so I'm afraid I won't be making the journey to Stoneleigh this year.

Ironically, if I did get the car to Stoneleigh I'd probably be able to get a replacement.

back on the road soon towed .....wheels look great.