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I have spent several hours over the last few days doing lots of incidental stuff ..things like fitting a battery tray , battery clamps and the wiring from starter through a solenoid and a cutout switch mounted on the inner wing and across the bulkhead to the battery , earth cables , plumbed the clutch slave cylinder to master cylinder , fitted the throttle cable , fitted a choke cable using a bicycle cable adjuster fitted to the carb. , jobs like that ...
The battery sits in an angle iron tay , the clamps fit through the bulkhead at 45 degrees pulling it against another battery stay bolted to the bulkhead ...
Cutout switch is easy to reach with bonnet open on the inner wing but out of sight when shut ...I double braced the area the throttle cable goes through the bulkhead for strength with an extra aluminium plate fitted on top of the existing one ..
choke cable is a really nice T handle style , I mounted it to the under dash area to the right of the steering wheel ..its mounted to a 5mm plate sat under the dash and another 5mm plate with 8mm studs welded to it goes through the dash and clamps it rigidly in place ...nice and strong so it can be confidently pulled on ....
I looped the heater outlets together and braced the loop with an aluminium bracket ...I also made a start on the radiator hoses ...I have cut a Scimitar one down slightly to fit on the top ..it has a spur for the expansion bottle which is handy ...the lower hose is going to be a bit more complicated ..so thats a job for tomorrow ...
Had some hose fun yesterday ....I fitted the modified Scimitar hose previously , so I then plumbed the expansion tank into the spur on the hose using two hose ends and a joiner so I could run the 3/8th hose into the larger inlet on the top hose .. I wanted to make sure the expansion hose didn't flap around or get snagged on the inner wings and due to its height , cable tying the hose to my framework wasn't an option , so I joined two pieces of angle to make a channel that the hose runs along . then mounted this on two legs that are welded to a third bit of angle that I bolted to the framework ..
The Bottom hose needed to cross from drivers side to the pass. side due to using the Lotus rad. , so I cut a U bend hose , turned the cut piece round joining it with some copper tube ...this gave me a question mark shaped hose ...this joins a piece of copper tube that runs across the radiator and has a 90 degree bend on it and joined to another rubber hose finishing the job ...all copper tube has been painted black to blend it in ...
Bit more interior work over last few days ....A pair of fibreglass buckets from Tribute Automotive were fitted to slightly modified seat runners that came with the donor vehicle.
I also fitted a floor mounted dipper switch , a Moto-Lita steering wheel was supplied by Ray ..its a non dished item and it meant I had to tweak the steering column mounts and cut a small semi circular notch from the dash to raise the column slightly to give the wheel room without compromising leg room etc. The flat 4 spoked design also put it a bit closer to the dash than normally , so I removed the rear of the mountny boss and fitted a 12mm spacer made by my mate in the rear and re-assembled with slightly longer machine screws ...its an invisible mod that doesn't affect the way its mounted , but it brings the boss 12mm closer to the driver ...
Ray's bonnet handles arrived this morning ...Same as D type.
Combined with the quarter turn latches , which Triumph kindly supply one of with the donor vehicle as a boot latch ...they work really well..
I also managed to make a start on boxing in the inner cills and tying them to the bodyshell ...more to do on these until they are finished but I was waiting for some gel coat to dry on another job !! The screen frame arrived mid day too ...
Plugging away at sealing up the cockpit , integrating the bulkheads front and rear etc...
Both sides of the cockpit will eventually be satin blacked and the combination of fibreglass , steel and aluminium will all blend nicely ...
The centre tunnel and rear bulkhead will largely be left in the aluminium finish ...
more aluminium work , fitting mirrors and seat belts tomorrow ...
I got the gate shift back from my engineer mate this morning ..all now mounted to a round pedestal with a fixing lip at its base ...the original rubber gearstick boot is still in place under the gate to hide the workings ...
having that final piece to the tunnel puzzle meant that I could finish this area ..all fitted with 5mm panhead set screws so it can come off for access ... difficult to see , but a shortened and tweaked fibreglass tunnel has also been fitted to cover the gearbox under the dash ...
Ray is going for red ...I will let him tell you the shade if he chooses to .
We are literally in limbo waiting for our slot at the paint shop , its very frustrating. Can't be helped , but we were going at quite a pace and then stopped suddenly ...I have limited room and its sat in the back of the shop waiting ....
The trimmer has visited and taken the seat frames away to trim and has patterned out a couple of other trim pieces the cars getting ...so that is something .
I have to fit the grille and a couple of little jobs including a strip down for paint , but until we have a confirmed slot I won't remove too much ...
Car went to the paint shop a few days ago ...when Dave has made a bit of progress I will update the thread with some pictures ...
Car is going to be primed , left to sit for a few days and get wired during that period by Dave as well , then top coat applied ...so will be with him for a few weeks before it comes back for finishing ...
Another well finished example, looks really smart. I like the old period number plate too, I wish I had something similar on my car. I suppose I can get some show plates made but that's not the same.
Is the paint Barchetta Rossa, looks like a darker red, good choice.
Saw the car last week ...it looks great ... loving the bonnet pins
Regards the bonnet pins they look like the real deal. I've seen the repro ones offered on ebay, they are £250 a pair !!! They are chrome plated rather than stainless to boot. I need two pairs for the TR so I'm going to ask my local engineering shop to knock up a few sets in stainless. If I'm happy with their work ( I usually am ), Ill get a big batch made for those builders on here. Oh, I can guarantee they will be a lot more affordable too.
