MadaboutKitcars

On the first of January, I posted on here that I had painted the boot floor in what was supposed to be silver paint,( but turned out to be grey).

Five days later I posted that the paint had finally dried.

Except where the paint was in contact with the strip of Sikaflex, where the steel floor joins the fibre glass boot panel.

Well, I have just come in from the car, and unbelievably, where I ran my finger over that strip of paint, which has had over four weeks to dry, and it is as wet now as the day I put it on.


Perhaps I have stumbled on to a new scientific discovery!

There must be a use for paint that never dries? I thought that
this sort of thing was impossible in a scientific sense?

Obviously some sort of chemical reaction.

Here are two pics:

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Fine detail

It was difficult enough, making my dash, which was one thing, making all the lamps, switches,etc correctly, and workable was another thing.

There were problems which I knew I would have to overcome at a later stage. And as I have said before, the "later stage" is here now.

These problems were left to later as I knew they would be so time consuming to do, but if I am to complete this build, and I am, they have to be done now.

I started with the indicator tell-tale lamp, which needed a bulb.

Easy job you say?

No way Jose! The tell-tale lamp housing I had made in the first place was made out of three bits which were unrelated. The green lens came out of a modern lamp, and had to be filed, sanded and made to fit, then glued in place, I then had to glue a thin plastic tube in place to hold the bulb.

There is no bulb holder small enough to fit inside the tube, so I had to solder wires to the bulb so it would fit.

Not in itself a big deal, but soooooooooo time consuming.

I finally finished that little job, and moved on.

When I modified the Spitfire speedo with a period Jaguar face, I could see the Jag face was missing an oil warning light, which I would need to make.

I already had two small warning lamps placed in between the two big dials, which I was not sure what to connect to, but they were both red lenses, and I had no green ones.

So I had to make one, much sanding, filing and fiddling later and I had it done.

It is now fitted and should work fine, (it did when I tested it)

Once again the dash looks no different than before, but is more functional,
and I am several hours closer to endex.

(I did not mention flaking some black paint off the dash panel during the work involved, and having to respray it twice, because I put finger prints on the first coat as I was so impatient to put it all back together too soon.

You can imagine the swearing, as this took me up to gone 10pm!!)

Here are some pics:

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My build is hardly new, as I bought the A352 body two years ago in June or July. I've installed a Vitesse 2L and overdrive gearbox in my MkII Spitfire (owned since 1975!) and binned or sold all the spare bits. Replica dash fabricated and installed, as are my fake Dunlop wheels.

I had a chat with Scottie and he doesn't mind my putting the odd post in his thread as I progress.

A couple of snaps from my album. As you can see, my open-fronted building area is possibly even more primitive than Scottie's, although a big improvement over the open air, where I built/rebuilt my Phaetons, B Type, P1, Sierras, pre-lit Westie, Mini Scamp and Marlin!

I like the dash Mick!, Very D-Type once the body is on with the centre divider.

Tuesday

I had almost forgotten about the sat-nav speedo I was going to fit to the car, so I went out and put it in.

I fixed it to to the left side of the steering column, in such a place, that it will be hidden up inside the dash, but I can easily pull it down just below the dash bottom to read the correct speed if I need to.

I have mounted it on a flexible stalk, so it can be pulled about in almost any position and remain like that until shoved back.

My modified Jaguar/Spitfire speedo does work, and will record the mileage accurately, but will be a little bit out speedwise, due to the Jag face being calibrated slightly differently to the Triumph one.

( From memory, when the speedo says 80 mph, I will really be doing 70)

Which is why I wanted the accurate satellite operated one as a back up.

I have had to turn the sound off on the unit, as when the ignition is switched on, it talks to you and says something like:

"Hello, welcome to the world of Talex, please fasten your seat belts"

Hardly in keeping with the illusion of a 1950's sports car.

A couple of pics:

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Scottie, are you fitting larger than standard Spitfire size tyres? If so, you might find that the error your hybrid speedo gives will be cancelled by the increased gearing from the greater rolling diameter of the tyres.

That would be nice Mr Towed, but unfortunately it won't happen.

I calculated the size of tyre and aspect ratio etc for my wide wheels to almost exactly replicate the standard Spitfire rolling diameter of wheel specifically to keep the speedo accurate!

But I don't really mind about the difference. Its a bonus that both the speedo and the rev counter actually function, as the whole point of them being present is to "look period and correct"

At least more correct than the Triumph ones would have looked had I left them original if you see what I mean!

Have a word with SpeedyCables, they can calibrate the speedo to allow for wheel changes.
I fitted an XJ40 auto box to my mk2 Jag, the speedo drive comes off the gearbox and they were able to calibrate the original speedo to suit the new gearbox.

I do appreciate suggestions and offered help, but in this case, I am happy with the outcome, and the current set-up.

I effectively have not had a wheel change, as the rolling diameter of my "new" wheels is exactly the same as the original Triumph ones. I calculated the tyre size precisely for that reason.

Therefore the speedo needs no recalibration as works as it always did before I changed the face.

It will record the mileage covered accurately, (as it did before) so I will know how far I have traveled, and when a service is due.

It is only the Jaguar dial face that is slightly different to the original Spitfire one, and that difference is only small, and does not justify any further work or expense.

The sat-nav gadget works fine as I have tested that too, so I do not see the need for any more changes.

Thursday

When I finally put my dash board into the car for the last time, the restricted space available will be such that actually doing all the connections will be very difficult at best, and perhaps impossible at worst, so I have worked out a strategy that I hope will make life easier at that time of the build. The cunning plan is as follows:

I intend to extend most of the cables and wires so that I can have the dash positioned about a foot back from where it will finally fit, and do all the connections before pushing the dash forward into its exact place.

To that end, I have started to solder extra bits of cable onto the spade connectors ready for the big event. Very fiddly, but necessary work.

On a lighter note, when I went into my conservatory (workshop) this morning, I was surprised to see that my favorite tool had given birth to a puppy! And I didn't even know she was pregnant. I am pleased to report
that mother and baby are doing well.

Pics:

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Not as bit a litter as your pregnant clamp then

Definitely not, World-Class, but water pump pliers usually only have one or two young anyway, and it was her first of course.
(I am trying to find out who the father is, and have narrowed the list down. I am hoping to find out without resorting to DNA testing, which may prove expensive)


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2nd from left. You can see where the sheath split

Brilliant!

Your GPS speedo intrigued me until I found them for £75 on eBay. I use a bicycle speedo on my Jago with a magnet hot-glued on to a wheel balance weight on the inside of the OSF wheel.
Now I've loaded the free SpeedView app to an Android smartphone. It can even read out reversed to provide a head up display on the windscreen.

What you have, sounds like a good compromise Ian.

The beauty of the one I have Ian, is the fact that I was given it for free, ages ago before there was any need of one.

When I realised that calibration was not the answer, I dug it out for use.

That's the best price, Scottie.
The jeep did need recalibration as I have 235/75x15 tyres in place of the original Escort 155x12, albeit with a lower ratio diff. Because the rolling circumference can be measured to the centimetre and that value fed into the bicycle speedo, it is accurate to 0.5%. Also provides a clock, journey trip and other stats.
The Speedview app says that the Z3 speedo still reads a little fast- even with the wire wheels which have slightly taller tyres than the original alloys.

Scottie, you need to go on GoodWood Road and Racing's website....
Their latest video, XKSS...
Some good close up's......

There you go...

https://grrc.goodwood.com/road/news/firing-six-jaguar-xkss

Ollie and Paul, thanks a lot!
Brilliant stuff!

Mick O'Mally, go to this website, if it does not inspire you, set fire to your build!!
Some REALLY good interior pics.


https://grrc.goodwood.com/race/historic/goodwood-greats-jaguar-d-type-photos

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Great Pictures!

If mine looks half as good as that, I'll be delighted. I loved the close-up of the interior door handle - drilled for lightness, must have saved an ounce or two

Been sorting hinges the last couple of days. Lots of drilling, discing and grinding, nearly ready to mate them to the doors.

I LOVE those Webbers... <VBG>