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This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.

DaveCymrus' Countach thread :D

18 Nov 2013, 10:03pm
Thanks for that Dave, good thinking putting it on my thread!!

I've got mixed feelings now, I'm not sure what to do.
My intention was to use them to hold the steel surround that the wind screen is mounted in, and I was going to use stainless steel ones as I thought alloy would be too soft, steel ones would rust.
Also to hold the heat shield on the lower part of the sill.
As I said I thought 6mm stainless steel rivnuts would be about right
You've put enough doubt in my mind to think again!!
Here are the bits I wanted to do,
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
18 Nov 2013, 10:10pm
I reckon you'd be OK for the heat shield.
But for the windscreen surround I'd say you've got to drill through and use load spreaders on the back! My Sammio wind deflector was only light but still needed a load of bolts with large washers on the back to spread the load, so I think you'll need something more substantial for what you're planning. Which does look very, very pretty BTW! :)
20 Nov 2013, 8:00am
Hi Dave,
I just want to thank you again for your input, you did a good job, and went out of your way to help me and I really appreciate that.
Based on what you and Viatron said, I am ,one way or another, going to bolt the screen on with stainless nuts and bolts in the good old fashioned way! By the way, where are you located?
20 Nov 2013, 8:33am
Dave, just been reading your thread, did you ever get a Gazeebo? Just so happens I found a 6m X 3M one during my workshop clear-out that is now surplus to requirements, Cheap but would need to be collected as it weighs a bit.
Mac

PS, you may be getting a bit fed up of working on your car but imagine how I feel, ive got 3 and none are road worthy :-(
20 Nov 2013, 12:46pm
Hey Scottie, no worries. I'll admit that I'm learning new things every day as i work- on <cough>play</cough> with my car, so i was interested in what you were planning.

I'm over towards Burnham-on-sea btw.

Hey Mac, thanks for the offer and if you don't need to get rid of it right away i may take you up on the offer, but not until the new year as I'm completely out of storage space atm as i currently have bits of the wife's VW camper taking up every spare nook-n-cranny!
20 Nov 2013, 1:31pm
:-) Hence my major workshop clearance effort, I can actually see more than 60% of the workshop floor now!!! I may list it on EBay but if I do I will let you know first, only looking for £75 for it, think it cost around £150 new and has only been used 2 or 3 times.
Mac

Oh and obviously comes with all sides doors etc and a fetching wheeled case!
7 Dec 2013, 12:44pm
So you have decided to sell? :( Sad day, hope the sale goes well
7 Dec 2013, 1:22pm
Unfortunately i came to the realization that i just don't have the space to enjoy working on it &#55357;&#56862;

e.g there are only a few minor jobs to do on it to make it 100% but i don't have the space to do them indoors nor the weekend time to do them outside.

ho humm &#55357;&#56862;
8 Dec 2013, 5:03pm
I've been away the weekend, but now I'm back I thought I'd post an update as to what is going on.

Basically as i said in my last post I'm finding that now the nights have drawn-in i simply don't have enough room to work on the car indoors in the evenings and even small jobs are a pain in the backside with the limited space i have.

e.g. i fixed the brakes, went to open the engine cover and the plastic on the release catch shattered as it was brittle due to age:



And even thought I've got a replacement (shown below), it's been a right royal pain to do in the garage and i simply have no time at weekends to get it all outside to do so i've put it off and off :(

And as I bought the car to work on it exactly this way. i.e. tinker! and I've built up a large parts collection of minor things to potter with, every small job is a right pain with such restricted space and i have to finally admit defeat.

e.g. my stash of parts built up over the years that i wanted to upgrade / replace :



New sidelight/indicators, air box to modify, the small Countach/Fiat vents ready to fit in the back cabin wall, New side repeaters ready to be fitted when i relocate them, 2 new interior door releases i bought 'just in case', the 'proper' Raid 2 steering wheel i bought and has sat in a box for ages!, the new boot/engine release catch ready to repalce the ones that's just shattered, a new ashtray, Maserati switches ready for the centre console overhaul, some spare door locks/strikers to see if it could add central locking and a few other bits-n-bobs!

But sadly I've had to admit to myself that each one of those small tinkering tasks that i was so looking forward to is actually going to take me ages given the facilities i have and so I've done less and less on the car over the past few months and now is the time to move it on to someone who will do it justice!

What i am going to do is post a ton of pics of it as it is _now_ in order to wrap up my time with the car and and hopefully whoever has it off of me can carry on a restoration/upgrade thread?
8 Dec 2013, 5:07pm
I am going to miss all of this lovely leather!





The centre console is not 100% authentic, but was certainly getting there and is at least 100% functional!



I will have to admit defeat with my ongoing fight with the existing window winders and whoever has it off of me can either get these working or rip them out and replace the mech's with the Fiat/wire ones!

8 Dec 2013, 5:10pm
After all of my frustrations with the brakes, at least they are functionally working and just need the cover modifying to fit over the new master cylinder!



The mods to the air-intake routing was just about done and just needed a 90degree pipe from the heat exchanger through the removable panel i put in place.

8 Dec 2013, 5:12pm
I never did get around to upgrading the boot to hydraulics, but at least it's there and works:



8 Dec 2013, 5:18pm
My favourite achievement on the car was the cooling system and i do like the alloy header tank i fitted!





How comes every new car i get i end up buying a new battery, although i think i may have to go some to top this monster! :)

Plus changing from rod gear linkage to cable shift was certainly an interesting task and yet another thing for me to add to my list of "thing's i don't like doing under a car"! :)



The wiring and plumbing tidy up was really coming on well but i'm sure the new owner will have their own opinions on where it needs to go!

8 Dec 2013, 5:20pm
Clarkson wasn't lying, you really can't see anything out of here!!



8 Dec 2013, 5:27pm
AcC8braman wrote:
Sad times dave :(


Indeed! But also somehow 'freeing' if that makes sense?

I spent 25+ years researching the Countach and buying and stockpiling parts waiting for the right one to come along and now I've had one and enjoyed owning, driving and tinkering with one. But i think it's time to move on before i start to see it as a _grind_ to work on and come to resent it.

I'm already finding myself spending less and less time just tinkering with it, so when the boot release lever backing shattered and i just couldn't work on it in the garage comfortably (i got cramp the one day i tried and just frustrated the other) I thought it was the right time to act!
8 Dec 2013, 5:29pm
Strangely this is now my favourite view of the car, as after all the work i did on it and all the jobs that constantly required me to have the engine cover open, or air boxes off, it's just comforting to see it all back together and looking how it should be!

8 Dec 2013, 5:40pm
Dave - I can fully understand your frustration when it come to matching free time with decent weather. :icon_sad:

Especially now when it is both cold outside and dark so early.

I am just glad that you were able to drive it for a little while, even if only between fixing things.

I've followed your efforts on two great kit cars so far, and look forward to seeing what you do next.

Good luck, Paul. :)
8 Dec 2013, 5:44pm
Thanks Paul.

It's certainly brought home to me how much dedication the likes of you and Tony and others who are building outside put into your cars!
13 Dec 2013, 8:55am
mumblemumblebloominclutchmumble.

While taking the car in/out of the garage for some additional photos that people requested i can tell that whatever is wrong with the clutch is getting worse as the noise is not right at all and i don't know if it was just me, but I'm sure there was an odd smell coming from it also.

As i _really_ don't have the space to change a clutch, inside, in-winter and as i'm an honest man (a bit too honest if anything!) i'm going to have to bite the bullet and simply drop the asking price to reflect that :(
2 Jan 2014, 9:16pm
Hi Dave, happy new year to you.

Please say you have had a change of heart and keeping the car? :)
8 Jan 2014, 8:40am
And a happy new year to you Steve, and to everyone else as well!

The honest answer to what i'm going to do with the car is.... dunno.
I'm almost tempted that if it doesn't sell this time to keep it, garage it until the summer and then (funds allowing) finish all the little jobs and rather than mess around any more with the current engine/gearbox i'll talk nicely to some of my friends with more storage space than me and i'll look at fitting t a BMW V12 with the Audi 6 speed box

With 6hrs to run on the current auction it's got 145 watchers and has had 5882 page views! Which is more than anything I've ever listed before by a considerable margin.

But..... no bids.

As my father always used to say "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it" and it never fails to amaze me that a modified MR2 with a Murcielago shell over it will sell quite happily for £35,000+ (not that i'm knocking them, as i nearly built one myself!) whereas a completed spaceframed Countach with a V6, V8 or V12 engine only seem to go in the £15,000-£25,000 range! It seems criminal to me, as all of the same original Lambo bits that go on a Murci (wheels, badges etc) are also on a Conutach, plus more!

Only goes to show, it's a funny old world!
8 Jan 2014, 2:38pm
Didn't sell.

hummm.... Not going to relist it immediately but will take stock.
8 Jan 2014, 2:46pm
dave, i thought this was your dream car... wait for the summer, don't give up!
9 Jan 2014, 1:32pm
Dave, such a shame to let it go after such a short time! I take it building a bigger garage is not an option?