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Hi Scottie, what gauge aluminium did you use for the seat backs in your car please?
I have to do the back seats in the Berlinetta which are similar you yours and I just wondered what you used, I was thinking of going with 1.0 or 1.2 mm.
Hi Ed, you are right to go for 1 or 1.2mm alloy, that's what I used (depending on where you mic it!)
For the actual seat backs, meaning the bit that has the foam and leather on it, I used a plastic dustbin cut in half. I knew this would fit well, as I first used it as a pattern to form the alloy into curves.
So when I say my car is made from junk and scrap, that's fairly true, but it won't look like it!
I have spent a lot of time today making the leather bit that goes between the seats, and it is done now. One more fiddly thing sorted.
Before I started on the interior, I did a lot of research to get ideas and to figure out how I wanted it to look.
Keeping in mind Jaguars original idea of a simple sparton sports-car type look, I found loads of replicas with interiors I did not like.
Some of them were so full of opulent leather and padding that they looked
more like saloon interiors, which for me, was too far away from what Jaguar intended.
Obviously an owner is paying for what he wants, and it is all personal taste in the end, but I wanted something a bit like the original, but also a wee bit more striking.
I am pleased with the way it is going at the moment.
Don't get me wrong, I fully realise that all these cars with interiors I am not keen on, are Jaguar based, extremely well built, and are worth huge sums of money more than mine will ever be.
That accepted, I just want my car the way I want it, and I will be a happy person.
My interior will not please everyone, but it pleases me, and with this build I'm the one that counts!! Peace.
In the middle of last year (I don't have the exact date) when investigating the oil leak from between the front engine plate and block of my 2l engine, I discovered a previous 'mechanic' had misaligned the crankshaft pulley when refitting it, resulting in an S shaped woodruff key and a step in the groove in the pulley (see blurry picture).
After six weeks I got fed up with the misinformation regarding an aluminium plate from Canley and bought a second hand one from this bloke (recommended, usual disclaimer!). I also ordered a new woodruff key from Rimmer but was told they were on back order, so I sourced one elsewhere.
This morning I received an e-mail from them to let me know said keys were back in stock! I don't know whether to applaud their customer focus or weep at the sheer nerve of it!
I think the "sheer nerve" option is the choice here Mick!
I have never been keen on either company, for lots of reasons, and would only buy if I had no other option.
I have spent a lot of time today fabricating the drivers offside panel.
It still is not finished. Very tedious work, seats in, seats out, panel in panel out,
modify, chop bits off, try not to damage what is already there etc etc.
Not a lot to show for so much work but here are two pics
to give some idea of what I'm up to:
I put more work in on the internal paneling today, and in so doing noticed that there was a three-quarter-inch gap between the front seats and the alloy panel, through which the Spitfire steel floor and both seat fitting brackets could be seen.
I was naturally mortified, and it had to be done right there and then. It was an easy fix, with alloy strips riveted to the seat fronts which did a good job of concealment.
I got as far as I could with the drivers outer panel, but I will need to plan out the rain channels and the door locking system, and then integrate them both into the triangular bit, before I can finish the panel.
So I will get the passengers side to the same stage next, then I will have to bite the bullet and design something fancy in the "triangle" department.
At the rate I keep finding extra work I have not planned on, and doing the work I have left to finish the car to the standard I have set myself, I have come to the horrible conclusion that Stoneleigh is certainly not in the "definite" category yet.
Almost every single thing I do on the car from now on, is highly visible stuff,
and has to be done properly and cannot be rushed.
But like WCA once said, "its not a race". I will just keep building as fast as I am happy to, and when its done its done. If that happens to be after Stoneleigh, then so be it. But lets hope not!
I carried on with the work to fit the drivers side panel today, I took the panel out and fixed all the rivets it needed to look right.
When I put it back in the car for a trial fit, I realised I had not drilled all the holes in the fibre glass door aperture, to take the screws.
So I drilled out the 9 holes, and I always like to fit the screws once so they cut the required thread, and go in easily later.
Well, true to current form, ie: throwing up extra work I don't need, out of the 9 holes I drilled, all of them except one, scabbed off a huge chunk of gelcoat, which required filling to put right.
I bought a box of 1000 stainless self tappers, and must have used well over 900 so far, as the box is almost empty, so I know I have the right size drill bit etc, but there we go, what is done is done.
I filled, sanded, re-drilled, and re-fitted the panel, and it is all repaired now.
P.S. I have ordered more rivets and screws!
(Have just worked out the car has over a thousand rivets that I have put in, and over a thousand rivet-looking screws, counting the larger sizes)
Nice work Scottie, the interior's starting to look ace. You've given me the inspiration to tackle panelling my interior, now that I've finally sorted the driver's seat.
I wondered why the slider mechanism never worked well, so, when immobilising the now redundant tilt facility with the seat out of the car, I thoroughly greased the runners and worked them until they slid freely. I fitted the two rear bolts first with the seat well forward, then slid it back as far as it would go for the front two. The front hole nearer the centre line was a good centimetre out and, after drilling a new one, the seat now slides perfectly.
The bonus is, after adjusting it to my optimal driving position, the back is in exactly the right position to just clear the (as yet unmade) vertical rear aluminium panel. Result!
I seem to get the most satisfaction out of creations made from junk, and that was the case this morning.
I had been wondering for a long time, how, and what I would use for door handles, and at one stage was going to go for mini-type pull rope thing in the door aperture. Quite a few XKSS replicas have these.
Then a few days ago I saw a picture of a classic/kit/ D-Type car with exactly the type of handles I wanted on my car.
They were made out of aluminium, and had been drilled out for lightness, and I fell in love with them. For the life of me, I cannot find the picture to show how they looked.
But that does not matter now, as I have made them, and, the pictures will be here in a moment.
I found the lump of ally in my scrapyard, and the owner gave it to me for nothing. I think he has taken pity on me, as if I choose something small,
(which I am careful to do) he usually gives it to me free!
He will get a shock when I take the finished car down to his weighbridge,
and he sees what his junk has been turned into!
I got a tremendous kick out of making these, and enjoyed every minute of the work.
coming together really nicely Scottie, details like the handles will make this car.
After years of experience with 40 year old plastic cars (and helicopters!) - try and avoid self-tappers direct into GRP, particularly if they're likely to be taken off occasionally. Rivnuts or captive nuts and screws are much better in the long term.
Thanks Mick! I even knew you had a connection somewhere!
Scimjim, Thanks for the heads up, you are right, every time I put a self tapper into fibre glass I cringe!
Thankfully, the 900+ main ones are joining alloy to alloy, or alloy to steel.
I only have very few actually in the fibre glass itself, (and hopefully they will never have to come out) which is: both seat backs and door edge trim.
Oh, and I almost forgot, the dash top trim.
Today I have worked out why this build is taking so long. I know that some people don't think it is, as I have not been at it anywhere near two years so far, but all the same, I hoped to be finished before now.
The reason it is taking me longer than I thought, is not the work involved, but the planning and preparation.
Because I make just about everything myself, ( I enjoy the challenge and love doing it) I have to cover all the options, styles, shapes, materials, then figure out what would look best/period etc. And that in itself is tremendously time consuming, much more so than the actual making.
Once I have decided what I want to actually make, that really is the easiest bit, and much faster to do than the long winded thought process.
So, today I got stuck in to the last major panel for the interior.
The passengers side panel.
I need to put an access hatch in it, so if required, I can remove the exhaust heat shield, without resorting to stripping out the seat and interior panels on that side.
I managed to get that done, and got the panel cut to shape and in position.
Another day, I will take it out, put all the rivets in place, make a hatch cover,
and refit it. That should be the interior mainly done. Yippee!
