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Yay Scottie- nice one. Great to see it all back together- the fettling should be fun as each tweak shows an improvement.
I have some ratchet tap holders but find them a bit fiddly for the "2 bites forward then one back" to keep the swarf clear without just keeping them locked solid.
Hope the Penrite Oil works for you- I'm staying with Castrol Magnatec fully synthetic in my "modern" engines but going back to GTX in the crossflows, all with Activ8 of course.
I have done a lot of research into why the Triumph 1500 engine has a fairly bad reputation, and it seems that due to it having only three main bearings,
(British Leylands fault) if it is revved highly for long periods (hours),
then the oil can get hot enough to have the viscosity break down with catastrophic results, ie. A totally wrecked engine.
Another problem, on both the four and six cylinder engines, is oil starvation to the rear of the rocker shaft. I fitted one of these kits (not from the USA, there are UK suppliers) for peace of mind.
Good to see the beast is back together. Are you going to Castle Combe tomorrow? The BRM H16 is being run and maybe the ex-Graham Hill Lotus 49. It's a fabulous meeting and the weather's set fair .
The car looks great Scottie, its the small details of the light covers that make the difference in a car build, there still a few more weeks of good weather to enjoy the open roads.
Scottie , how is the paint holding up . I'm thinking of using the same nitro acrylic paint on my project. I tried the link to your supplier you posted a while back and it looks like they don't offer it anymore ?
Hi L@L,
The paint is as good as it first was, and seems fine, I will check with the place I bought it locally and get back to you.
I hope they still do it, as I would use it again.
Right L@LM, I can't vouch for the link I gave way back. but I have checked locally where I bought my paint, and the paint, or the "system" is called "Mac 5" and they still sell it, and have no plans to stop.
I think I bought a litre of paint and one of thinners for about thirty odd quid, and you've seen the results on the car, one hell of a nice cheapo paint-job that would be hard to beat at that price.
The contact details are: Border Automotive on 01432 360 458
Yes Ian! The labour!
Doesn't bear thinking about, although having said that, I still don't think I did enough prep, as there are small crazes, bumps and lumps that I missed, and painted over, and also the paint has sunk in some places due to my lack of patience, waiting for the primer to dry properly, you would have to look close to see the bits I screwed up on, but still the overall effect from a few yards away is ok.
P.S The boot lid was deliberately done by rattle-can just to prove a point! And it took bloody ages too!!
For anyone that missed it, here is a couple of pics of a cheapo thirty quid paint job:
Just browsing through the auction results in the latest Classic Car Weekly - 1967 Jaguar XKSS recreation at Bonhams - £359,500. The 1968 D Type recreation at the same auction realised 'only' £42,550.
If you're after the "looks" which is why most people buy a replica , then I'm sure Scotties car would rank up there with the best of them . A tribute to its builder , no pun intended !
Since I got the car back on the road there have been a number of small irritating things which I knew I must sort out.
One was the exhaust note, it sounded as though it was blowing a bit, so today, jacked the car up and fitted a new gasket between the
"4 into 2 pipes".
This was another fiddly-arsed job, which is why I haven't done it earlier!
It was blowing there, although when the gasket came off it looked okay, but its better now with a new one on.
While I had the wheel off, I cut a chunk of metal out of the inner arch, which I had put in some time ago, not realizing that in so doing, I had made it almost impossible to get to the carbs and filters for maintenance work.
Its not a bit fiddly to work on Deggsy, its INCREDIBLY fiddly to work on, and in some ways I regret not choosing the flip front, but as they say its too late now.
Having bonded all the inner rear arches in and so on, to convert it now would be so much work, right now I can't face it!
Its not a bit fiddly to work on Deggsy, its INCREDIBLY fiddly to work on, and in some ways I regret not choosing the flip front, but as they say its too late now.
Having bonded all the inner rear arches in and so on, to convert it now would be so much work, right now I can't face it!
Don't really want to say 'I told you so' but I seem to recall being quite the advocate for the flip front during the Sammio vs Miglia pros and cons debate a couple of years back.
One of the joys of my car is the unrestricted access to the motor, and if I need the engine out (which I have done twice now), I just undo two electrical connectors and two bolts and lift the entire front end off.
I know it's too late for you to change yours now Scottie but for any other prospective builders I'd strongly recommend a flip front.
The rear of my flip front only comes up about 16" before the underside below the mouth hits the chassis frame. I could have chopped a huge chunk off the body to get it to open right up, but that would have spoiled the look of it. Likewise the front of the frame, but I envisioned a scenario where the car was inspected and the bloke said "sorry mate, you've got to have a Q plate".
I've fitted a header tank on the bulkhead where the battery used to be, so I can easily check all the fluids. Anything other than that, the front has to come off. Not too big a chore: four M6 bolts and two trailer plugs.
My 'Historic Vehicle' V5 has come at long last, the MOT pass and subsequent 'taxing' seem ages ago.
I know you'll keep at it until it's done Scottie, just remember - it's no fun if it's easy
Come to think of it Mick, if I remember correctly, the main reason I did not have a flip front,was because I knew I wanted the car very low at the front to get the look I was after, and that being the case, it would not have opened up enough to get to anything, as the nose would have bottomed out on the ground first.
I do remember trying to figure out some sort of cantilever hinge affair that would lift the nose at the same time as raising the front up, and I failed in that ,so just went for the fixed front in the end, kind of knowing I would regret it!
The pictures on your overheating thread never came out for me WCA, and the pics on your last post, on my thread here never came out either, but I don't seem to have trouble with other peoples threads as the pics are fine, is there a problem with your last couple of posts picture-wise?
I finally did get round to checking the timing on the engine, and found that it had been set at top dead centre by the previous owner.
I had never checked it before, as the car had always started first time and ran with no problems then.
However, as the more astute of you will know, a Triumph 1500 engine needs to be set at 10 degrees before TDC to run at its best,
so I put the gun on it and did just that, in fact, I advanced it a wee bit more, and now it runs a lot better.
It now does 0 to 60 in about 2 weeks, as opposed to about a month before the changes!
I went to visit Mick O'Malley to have a look at his Tribute D Type
the other day, and can report that it is looking good.
It looks very authentically "D" and has Mot, and is well road-worthy.
He has made a damn good job of it. It is powered by a two litre straight 6 engine and he says it is quite fast being so light.
He's also gone to the trouble of equipping it with a period number plate, which adds to the authentic look.
He still has one or two jobs to do to finish it off, like painting it and so on.
.
but for any other prospective builders I'd strongly recommend a flip front. 
