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Yes, I'm very pleased with the dash. I know what you mean about the bonding paste vs filler. I've used a nice thick layer of it to stick the new dash on top of the original and it feels rock solid. The filler is only going in to blend the step between the edge of the dash and the inside of the screen frame so it shouldn't crack... I'll also be putting a layer of fibreglass matting inside the dash over the fillet piece I've added to widen the dash. This is to add strength as at the moment it's only held together with a thin layer of bonding paste at the butt joints. I know that isn't strong enough as I dropped the dash while I was fitting it and those joins all failed and had to be redone.
I'm quite pleased with my luggage bay, but you're right Dave, there is loads of room behind the seats for squashy bags too. I'm looking forward to taking it touring.
I am very impressed with the level of detail you are putting into this build, how much effort you are putting into getting every single detail right straight out of the box.
About the potentially fraying seatbelts, most people would have thrown it together any which way, and deal with the consequences later!
Congrats on that, and I am really looking forward to the end result!
Thanks Baz I'm flattered that you like my detailing. This is a one-off build for me so I want everything to be 'just right'. It's a satisfying process, but it also explains why I'm six months behind schedule...
Six months behind schedule is ahead of the game mate.
My start date in November had an Easter drive off date in the plan. I haven't got as far as collecting the body work yet.
I reckon 8 months in and I am seven months behind schedule.
Ooh, bad luck. Mind you, I made damned sure I got the bodywork in the bag early on having had a kit manufacturer go bust on me while I was stripping the donor twenty odd years ago. Anyone remember the Covin Speedster?
Yes, that looks pretty bad. The best advice I could give anyone thinking about building any kind of donor based kit car is to budget for the best donor you can find. If I'd spent twice as much on my donor, around £1,800, I'd have finished my car months ago, and I've easily spent more than the difference on new parts and tools to fix the problems. I'm sure you'll get there in the end though, as will I.
Yes, that looks pretty bad. The best advice I could give anyone thinking about building any kind of donor based kit car is to budget for the best donor you can find. If I'd spent twice as much on my donor, around £1,800, I'd have finished my car months ago, and I've easily spent more than the difference on new parts and tools to fix the problems. I'm sure you'll get there in the end though, as will I.
I would wholeheartedly agree with the buy the best-donor-you-can-afford doctrine. I bought mine last August and after sorting the minor horrors that didn't show upon the road test and which the vendor inadvertently failed to mention was on the button and going like a dream after a service at Queensbury Road Garage and all ready for the conversion in February.
Seemed to have hit a snag with the body production and fitting though.....but I'm sure it'll all come good in the end hwell:
I would wholeheartedly agree with the buy the best-donor-you-can-afford doctrine. I bought mine last August and after sorting the minor horrors that didn't show upon the road test and which the vendor inadvertently failed to mention was on the button and going like a dream after a service at Queensbury Road Garage and all ready for the conversion in February.
Seemed to have hit a snag with the body production and fitting though.....but I'm sure it'll all come good in the end hwell:
Price does not always mean best available, mine was £250 and required a single patch to the rear outrigger, just be cautious with what you find.
Free adds or Pre loved beats E bay for bargain prices.
Pops
Price does not always mean best available, mine was £250 and required a single patch to the rear outrigger, just be cautious with what you find.
Free adds or Pre loved beats E bay for bargain prices.
Pops
Not much I could do to the dash while the bonding paste sets on the passenger side so I decided to make up some brackets to mount the wireless.
I thought long and hard about whether to fit such a modern device in my car, but the reality is that I'm planning to go touring in it so I'd like some music while I cross continents, and I'll also be wanting something to do while I wait at the roadside for the RAC to show up...
I looked at a few options - original Blaupunkt radios rewired for connection to an mp3 player and American 'RetroSound' units that are designed to look really old for example. I didn't like any of them though and they were all too expensive for what they were. I eventually found a Clarion model that's so modern it actually looks rather retro, if that makes sense -
I can already hear the sharp intakes of breath from the Sammio traditionalists, but I rather like it, so it's staying.
Pretty similar to the setup i'm thinking of putting in the Cordite
I'm glad you like my wireless Paul, I don't think it looks too out of place. As for the windscreen wipers on the ott dash (is it a Bentley?), it probably had a detachable full windscreen for road use and aero screens for racing, hence the wiper switch. I'm thinking of re-using my wiper switch to turn the methanol injection system on and off and I bet nobody notices it...
Mr T - Why not fit one anyway, who cares if it doesn't work?
Thing is, I'll know it's a fake. Call me Mr pedantic but I don't want any extraneous frippery on my car, I want everything to be there for a reason.
Additionally, lovely though it looks, I happen to know that the glass in the Vulcan gauges is extremely fragile: When I worked on them they were forever coming back from sorties with smashed gauge glasses. Now, either the glass was really fragile or the chinless wonders that flew them muist have been banging the gauges with their ham fists when they didn't read what they should and breaking them. As no pilot ever admitted breaking his aeroplane in my twenty three years RAF service, it must be that the glass wasn't fit for purpose. It was a common problem that was suffered by every aircraft type I worked on...
It certainly is, it was found along with the Sharp radio above it and a Motorola radio in my Uncles house when i inherited it. There was also a couple of 8 track cartridges to go with it (one of which is propping it up in the photo).
No update for a day or so as I've been sorting out the electrics, mainly installing some security measures - a proper immobiliser and a home made alarm system:
It's kind of a work in progress at the moment. I'll be tidying up all the electric string once I've finalised the details of what's staying in the loom and what's going.
Mr T - My Spitfire radiator has just decided to spill its guts everywhere. hwell:
So can I take you back in your build to this...
Mister Towed wrote:
... after finding that what I thought was a pressure activated overflow on the Honda radiator filler neck is actually an open outlet, presumably to connect to a header tank, so the coolant just piddled out of it A length of hose with a plain shaft bolt pushed in the end as a stopper soon fixed that though...
Have you had any issues running your Honda radiator without a header tank?
Anyone remember the Covin Speedster? 
hwell: 
