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With luck, I'll have the chassis repairs done within the week (Work allowing) and the time has come to decide how to get it to the best condition possible.
I've looked at Shot blasting and powder coating, wire brushing and POR and now have discovered a local company (http://www.ribbletechnology.co.uk/) that can acid strip and prime it for me.
They are coming back with a quote today but I wondered if anyone has experience of this kind of treatment? The benefits seem to be that it can strip any non metallic stuff right back whether it's in a box section or not and doesn't leave any residual stuff like beads/shot behind.
Of course it could be that the cost is prohibitive but I'm very interested in what they might do.
Whilst I'm on, Does anyone have a good source for wire spokes suitable for the 60 spoke 15" wheels? I've got two I need to replace on my whole set (And sods law, they are adjacent spokes on the same wheel!
After doing some chassis cleaning today, I'm of the opinion that after all, I'm not happy with ANY of the outriggers. Apart from the ones I'd already decided on (Both rears and a centre), the rest have an assortment of small cracks, thin parts, and the occasional hole. Whilst I'm changing 3 of them, I may as well dive right in and change the other three.
My question to anyone who has embarked on this path is do I cut them all off at once and rebuild them from there or one at a time to make sure the chassis doesn't change shape on me? Current thinking is to change both rears, then the centres and lastly the front. Doing it this way would make sure that effectively I'm keeping everything in shape by two outriggers at a time.
Since the outriggers and side rails are just for body support, and won't affect the tracking, suspension or anything, then I would say that you could cut them all off and start afresh. Tack weld it all together and measure widths, lengths and diagonals to get is all straight and level. You could even offer up the bulkhead and the frame to get it all to fit together before final welding - but bear in mind that the frame is not your datum as may have variations!
I would say about 5mm tolerance is fine, you will probably find that is far more accurate that what you started with!
Maybe you could move the whole lot back 10mm to give you some room for 15" wheels? if thats what you're havin. The side rails are a set length, so everything has to be in line with them, also on my 2litre i have adjustable radius arms so i have plenty to play with.
That does sound like a plan starting to form but because of the curve in the spine, the outriggers wouldn't necessarily be the right length?
I'm a little more concerned about keeping the horizontal line correct as the new riggers have a good indication of the angle on them. Would a jury jig be sufficient strapped across the top of the spine so eveything lines up with that do?
I woud start by pushing the front ones in place tightly, laying a straight edge across the the main chassis rails and see if the deflection is the same side to side.
The rear outriggers need to be in pretty much exactly the same place as the old ones or the rear wheels will go out of alignment. I clamped a piece of steel bar onto the chassis in line with the existing rear outrigger before cutting it off and then just pushed the new one up against it. I also measured everything three times before welding the new outrigger in place just to be sure.
The front and middle ones aren't too critical. I'd considered moving the front ones back an inch to allow clearance for taller tyres but I figured that it would open up a large can of worms with body/wheel arch alignment issues, potentially leaving the front wheels too far forward in the front arches.
After consulting the workshop manual and all measurements, I've a jig in mind fabricated out of ply with parallel marks for all the key points of each outrigger. The top of the chassis is also completely flat from the datum point to just rear of the rear outriggers so I'll start off with the spine upside down, clamp the full set of riggers down and measure the diagonals before tack welding, measure again then go for a full weld on the bottom and up the sides. Only then, flip the chassis and complete the welds at the top.
The last bits of metal should arrive tomorrow so that's my weekend sorted
In between the rain of the past few days I've been cutting, grinding and cleaning off the remnants of the old outriggers with the following result:
I received the last of my metalwork through parcel post today so I've no excuses (other than the weather and temptation of a beer instead) not to get on and jig up the chassis and get welding. I'll post a photo of my jig once it's strapped in.
Well it is in the eye of the beholder but one of the great things I like about using the Triumph as a donor is it's modularity. Current vehicle manufacturers are even now trying to put it into their design but Triumph had it over 40 years ago!
Having received three boxes of stripped and powder coated parts, and my order for new bushes, trunnions and bolts etc having arrived, I've been assembling the front suspension units and am mighty pleased with the results. They now look like they have just been put together in the factory which is the look I'm aiming for with all my rebuild.
Unfortunately I'm having to travel this week so it will be towards the end of the week before I have another good session but I'm happy with progress. By the way, the turret colour will give a good hint as to what I've decided on for the body. Pretty close to the original Damson but a 'RAL coded' colour which is easily matched.
By the way, That's my chassis jig they are sitting on. Very simply, it is as wide as the outer edges of the side rails, has a datum marked 1" from the front and then parallel lines for Start of front Outrigger, front mounting hole on side rail, centre line of Centre outrigger and the rear mounting hole on the side rail. The spine will lie top down on it, side rails clamped in place and outrigger pieces put into place before spotting a weld to hold them in position. After measuring a few times, go ahead with the weld in the knowledge that all is straight and the top (when flipped back over) will be level for the floor.
seconded ....the colour is fantastic....we have got a shop opposite us restoring a pre-war Aston Martin and they have just had that painted in an old Rolls Royce colour - its very similar to that and looks the dogs...
I was contemplating painting the Cordite demo that colour instead of the blue/turquoise colour...
The front suspension units are fully built up including lowered springs (Gone for a 75mm cut off with Gaz shocks) and reconditioned brake calipers fitted.
Rear drive shafts are built up with new rotoflex couplings, Universal joints and bushes.
Rear spring is ready to fit, having been blasted, powder coated black and new bushes fitted. I've also got the shock conversion brackets and new Gaz shocks for the rear.
New outriggers are welded on to the chassis spine and having just spoken to my favourite blast/coaters, they are picking it up on Friday with the remit to 'tidy up and linish my welding', blast clean and powder coat in the RAL 3005 that the turrets are coloured with. They reckon it will be ready on Monday/Tuesday next week!
I've picked up a nice pair of custom built steel floor pans via Gaz Davies with a slope from 1" at front to 3" at back (Many thanks for arranging these Gaz, they are exactly what I was after)
I'm away the weekend after it comes back but I've a fairly light workload next week so it's possible I may have a rolling chassis by Friday! (Weather permitting )
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