MadaboutKitcars

Hi, the pods are, not the grills

thanks Steve for the info

Dave - Looks like thinks are coming together nicely.

I know it is just a close up camera shot, but your gear selection gate looks HUGE!

Good luck, Paul.

PS


I followed your previous riv-nut link, but do you have a specific one for what you bought?

Thanks.

Cheers Paul,

Currently that plate is the same size as the one that was fitted previously, but i sort of agree that even that looked a bit big. So i might shrink this down by a few mm?

Here's the original one in place when i first got the car:




CBS do a budget rivnut kit :
http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/Rivnut_Kit_Budget_RIVBG

But i thought i only wanted to do a few and i wasn't convinced at how useful it'd be so i bought a cheaper one from e-bay for £12 just to have a play and it's been great!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PROFESSIONAL-4mm-8mm-THREADED-RIVET-NUT-NUTSERT-RIVNUT-INSERT-SETTING-TOOL-NEW-/360463087894

It's fine for alloy riv-nuts but not so good for steel. But seeing as i only want alloy ones then i'm not too fussed! Also, some of the bigger M6 rivnuts take a good bit of squeezing and swearing

Thanks for the RivNut links Dave, I'll have a look & a think.

But don't get me wrong on the HUGE comment, I just meant that in the last photo it looks like it has been carved out of something the size of a dustbin lid!

In real scale, I'd leave it the same size as the original.

I'm sure you will be reminded of the effort it took you when you change gear & that is what makes it special.

Good luck, Paul.

And the new gear selector plate is finished, and i'm not really happy with it as to get the gear pathways working i had to keep taking more and more material away from the reverse leg



So after doing a bit more investigating and reading i found that the gear selector i have fitted is a solid linkage and they've got a reputation for being a bit "woolly".

I did a bit of tinkering and pottering with mine, but there is not getting away from the fact that if i keep it, it won't ever be quite how i want it

So what does any self respecting ex-Sammio type do when presented by a problem that needs major design changes to be made?

Rip it apart!



To say i was nervous removing all of the leather would be an understatement!

It's now all out and stored safely and here you can see the existing linkage that'll be replaced, i'll also tidy the wiring at the same time!



You can get a full cable selector kit from £350 from some of the kit companies, but i know that others have used MR2's changers and seeing as you can get them from e-bay for next to no-money it makes sense to give that option a go first!

So here's a Mk1 and Mk2 MR2 selector that i've picked up to tinker with and from first impressions they should do fine!

Come back Sammie, all is forgiven?

Dave,

Have a chat with Dan, he did this same thing, you will need to get the cables the right length and some sort of union setup at the other end.

Do you have a un1 or 369 transaxle?

I've got 2 lots of MR2 cables, the others aren't shown in those pics, so length "shouldn't" be a problem once i stick them together and do a bit of jiggling.
I have ball joints ready to go on to the plate I've got to put on the gearbox selector arm but I'm not sure what gearbox I've got, how do you tell and does it make a difference?

I do know that I've got one with a single gear selector arm coming out from it. I have seen some pics over on lamboreplica of some gearboxes with 2 arms and TBH that would have been easier. But i should be able to fabricate something that'll work a lot nicer than the rod linkage either way.

1 arm is 369
2 arms Un1

Great Countach replica, congrads. You have to love these working and looking at them as much as driving if your going to own. Looks like you are enjoying all of that.

Dave I used marine throttle cables, very strong and cheap to boot, as you will need two different lengths. Let me know if you want a pick of the gear linkage where it joins the box, mine was single arm too.

Old solid gear change now removed



MR2 cables extended



2nd MR2 gear change chopped up to provide brackets for the rear end



Brackets in position and allowing decent cable travel



I've also fabricated a bracket to link it all to the gearbox It all got put together and worked a treat! Its now all been taken apart for paint and should hopefully all go back together this weekend

Clever lad...

All assembled with my entertainingly over engineered bracket that joins it all together!



Unfortunately....... despite noting down how the old change worked, the directions of travel for the new change etc, I somehow managed to get the horizontal cable the wrong was around! DOH!

So after a bit of a sulk, I re-routed the horizontal cable and moved and modified the bracket this time it works as expected!

A few more jobs done over the weekend.

* Reinforced the gear selector.
* Rewired the alternator so that it actually charges the battery. The cable hanging loose under the engine was an unexpected find!
* Tried to dye the grey steering wheel black.... didn't work out too well!


Then now that the car is mobile again and while the interior is apart I can get a few other jobs done that I was going to do... later.

* Fit an interior light.
* Fit the cabin vents that go behind the driver (I've had a pair of these in my attic for years "waiting" )
* Re-plumb in the heater and cure any deadlocks.
* Figure out exactly how the header tank is meant to work as atm it just sits there looking pretty and doing not a lot!
* Try and do a basic tune of the engine, although altering the timing seems to need me to take the engine cover off!
* fit a new throttle cable
* fit a locking choke cable and alter its position to somewhere I don't keep kicking it
* replace the wallnut dash with an alloy one!
* fit a more authentic centre console panel
* replace the random unlabeled switches with some a bit more user friendly!
* paint the underside with chassis black
* seal and then paint the inner rear wheel arches
* panel out the front wheel arches.
* fit a small panel on the bulkhead to seal the engine bay completely where the cables go through

When that lots done I will start preparing for the MOT, hopefully just in time for summer

That sounds horribly like a deadline DC...

Hi Dave all looking like this is going to be a weapon mate
Ive just been speaking to the german guy that bought your old sammio, he loves it and he want me to build him one of mine now

I know I don't tend to do too good with deadlines..... but it would be nice to make Stoneleigh!

@mike, I thought he'd sold it? Or you talking to the new owner?

Another unexpected niggle sorted!

Ever since i got the car I've been aware that the throttle is stupidly hard to press, to almost a level where it's painful!

But my stiffness problems are now Sorted! (i regret typing this on this forum!)

I've changed the cable run to go down the centre tunnel rather than through the sill and that reduces the length of cable needed by nearly a metre which is turn that means that i am able to replace the existing thick knackered cable with one of the old Toyota MR2 cables that I had leftover!

No1 son helped to set it up (press pedal, off pedal, press pedal <repeat!>) and it now feels completely different

So after a dreadful week, this has cheered me up no end!

Now.... to the kebab shop

Not one to be beaten, i did some reading on t'interweb about leather Dying (be REALLY careful searching for black leather on Google!!! ) and then I tried again to dye the grey steering wheel black as even though i want to replace it with a "proper" period Raid steering wheel in the future (too expensive to do any time soon!) Grey just doesn't look right.

This time it worked! Thanks to the Landrover forums for the background reading and hopefully this will last a year or so until it's replaced!

Original colour



and now



Note: it looks better in real life than it does in that photo!

New Gear selector firmly in place with the assistance of a few new brackets.

Plus the trial fitting of the new gear knob. Original knob from Eurospares £225, black Leather knob from e-bay with a 'Mini' badge on it ~£10.
Remove the Mini badge and job's a good'un



You can also see the routing of the new throttle cable just behind it. It's the black cable with white tape at regular intervals.

Looking good Dave, soon be at the shows

The observant amongst you would have noticed the dials hanging loose in the last photo!

The reason is that I've stumbled across an electrical gremlin and if i leave the battery connected it discharges itself

So i've got to do a bit of an investigation of the wiring as the last 'big' job before i can get it ready for the MOT. So after removing a few panels here's what i found.


Under the bonnet:



Under the dash:



behind the dash:



Game on!