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It is difficult at times when you work on motors all day to find the enthusiasm to crack on with your own project.
Planning it and having a picture in your head of how you want the finished car to look is one thing, getting their is another.
Still, I did manage to do a little bit on it today, I got the boot lid and locking mechanism in place, and I spent some time preparing the Jacking point plugs ready for fitting.
After having Nick's (World class accident) car in for polishing a while back, I was surprised at how heavy his front clip is, it weighed a ton, so I had a mould taken off the bonnet that came with the kit and produced a much lighter one.
Some pics for those interested.
This was the rear crash bar/ brace I had made earlier, I beefed it up by adding a couple of extra bars, it also locates the bear claw for the rear boot.
The boot lock is from a Morris Marina, came from ebay, the plinth it sits on I bought at the auto jumble last month, no idea really what it is from.
I also added a couple of adjuster bolts to the bottom edge of the boot lid, it means I can adjust the lid up or down to get a decent gap, the boot lid is not gapped up any where near correct at the moment.
This was the mould taken from the original bonnet
And the finished item, also fitted to the front clip.
Then I cleaned up the jacking point bungs, I had to clean the excess material off them, We then punched some big stainless washers out to go behind them, and then after tack welding them on turned them down on the lathe and gave them a quick polish.
I echo the posts above great build thread thus far and very informative. I know you might not want to give away too many trade secrets but it would be good if you could also comment on the body prep going on in the background too?
I echo the posts above great build thread thus far and very informative. I know you might not want to give away too many trade secrets but it would be good if you could also comment on the body prep going on in the background too?
Good luck!
Thanks,
I will cover the body prep and paint side in detail for you, at the moment all you can see is where the flash lines have been taken back with a DA (orbital sander) using 80 grit paper, I did also try to block some shape in before filling using a long block with 120 grit paper.
The roll bar and panel under the rear screen were just keyed, etch primed , 2k primed, and then satin blacked, they do look gloss but the pics were taken when the paint was still wet.
The body will be Polyester primed with a U-pol product called re face, this has to be dry blocked/flatted before going on with standard 2k primer.
The colour I have bought is a basecoat so will need to be lacquered.
The paint work side is a few weeks away yet, but I will keep the thread updated.
Jeff - Thanks for that, I look forward to seeing that progress. I have done repairs and restored an MGB however all of that was metal based and for some reason I am nervous about the finish on Fibreglass and my OCD nature I have spent too many hours already on shaping the roof alone!
I am currently at the prep stage with my MX250, I am using all Upol based products for the prepping stage.
You are lucky you are too far away for me to 'drop in' on, otherwise I think I would be dropping in to see your progress in the flesh!
Very nice work Jeff, i like your attitude to change things that make the over all look of the car even better, the door and sill mod gives the car more of a sympathetic 250 swb look.
Ive found that the things that take time to achieve yet on the face of it look very small or subtle have the greatest over all effect.
Fantastic work, looking forward to seeing this build finished, the colour choice will be cool, a definite head turner i expect.
I did manage to do a small amount , cut the perspex rear screen down, pulled the bonnet in using the world famous Nubodi split, drilled the old wing mounting points off.
I also bonded some tubes in to the bonnet for the headlight/side/indicator wiring to run thru, I am running low on resin so can't glass them in properly until it turns up.
My goal is to have the car on the road before Sept (this year)
I have also had a visit from Gary (Lancelot Link) on here , we think we may have a decent soulotion to the door to bonnet leading edge gap, watch this space.
Hi Jeff, car is looking great and your personal touches are making it really stand out. Is your rear screen relatively flat or does it curve? are you going to bond it in, fit with a rubber seal or bolt it in as on some race cars? Look forward to seeing it in paint as that was also my first choice as I think it is a nice period colour not often used.
Hi Jeff, car is looking great and your personal touches are making it really stand out. Is your rear screen relatively flat or does it curve? are you going to bond it in, fit with a rubber seal or bolt it in as on some race cars? Look forward to seeing it in paint as that was also my first choice as I think it is a nice period colour not often used.
Hi,
The screen has a slight curve to it, but it still does look a bit flat, I was going to bond it in , paint the edge black so you don't see the sealer and use some small M4 button head stainless bolts.
If I was to do another one I think i would try and take the rear screen more in to the rear quarters, (as per the original) this would mean trying to bend the perspex a bit.
I have one of these to paint for a customer soon and from what I hear on the grapevine their may even be a better more original screen available for the rear.
Gary (Lancelot Link) is putting the car together as we speak and he has a cunning plan.... I am sure if it comes off he will share it on here.
Colour choice is a bugger to tie down, once I had sort of decided I just ordered the paint so no going back now as I am too tight to buy another lot.
