MadaboutKitcars

It is indeed!

Time for an update?

Well, I guess it's time for an update.......

First up is a bit of corrective rework of something of a bit of a cock-up I made a while ago when I developed my brake system.
I've never really been happy with the 'feel' of my brakes despite numerous bleed sessions. After a brief discussion with Robin he suggested I check the bore size of my master cylinder. The master cylinder I initially fitted has a bore diameter of 17.8mmm and the standard Sierra master cylinder has a diameter of 22mm. It doesn't seem much difference at first sight until you remember the volume of fluid displaced is proportional to the square of the radius. It immediately became clear that this was a big mistake so I embarked on changing the master cylinder to one for a Sierra.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The next problem was to find a suitable push rod but ebay came to my rescue with this one the perfect length.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The mushroom shaped end of the new pushrod was too large for the Sierra master cylinder so I had to reprofile it like this.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I also made up this 10mm thick spacer. Two reasons, one was that the hole in my mounting plate was too small for the new master cylinder and I didn't fancy making it bigger. Secondly, the output ports are spaced 10mm nearer the bulkhead and i didn't fancy trying to shorten the brake lines and re-flaring the ends in situ. I made the spacer with a hole-saw, a hacksaw and a file. You can see how close one of the mounting screws is to the mounting screw for the Sierra master.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

New master cylinder being trial fitted to set the correct length of the pushrod.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The next challenge was to find a Sierra reservoir which are like hens teeth. This one came all he way from Lithuania and was filthy dirty inside and out when it arrived. Lots of brake cleaner and it came up okay. Also, the fluid level switch was corroded inside but I took it apart and cleaned up the contacts and it now works fine.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Now all plumbed in and system filled with fresh Dot 4.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

All finished and brakes bled and feeling much better.

New Brake Master Cylinder by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I'm now working on lining the interior with sound proofing before tackling the carpets.....

......peter

Thanks Amir, I always try to do the best job I can within my capabilities but I am just an enthusiastic amateur so I don't always get things right first time.

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A few small progress updates interrupted by a weeks holiday.

I've started on fitting the carpet underlay inside the car. I'm using 6mm thick self adhesive soundproofing. Easy to fit but a very time consuming process of cutting a paper pattern first to get the shape right.

Interior fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Also, I've now fixed the handbrake lever cover and cubby hole with 4 bolts and rivnuts into the top of the propshaft tunnel.

Interior fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

In parallel, I have purchased my first tyre. After much pondering I've chosen a high profile 185/80R15 tyre to maximise the ground clearance and to get the right period look. I have bought just one tyre so far to allow me to check it fits the front and rear positions without fouling on any bodywork or chassis. They just clear the front valence on full lock.

Tyres by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The Ford Focus wheels I bought years ago have a different hub offset than the standard Sierra wheels so I have had to fit these 20mm spacers. I chose concentric spacers with longer wheel studs. Bit of a faff to fit as you have to remove the brake calipers to get the brake discs off.

Wheel spacers by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Fitting the wheel spacers required longer studs which required the removal of the brake calipers and discs.

Wheel spacer by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The keen eyed might notice a new jack in the background. The latest addition to my tool collection. An electric jack. I was a bit sceptical but it works really well and takes the effort out of jacking up the car.

Electric Jack by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

And the final check was to make sure that this wheel and tyre combination fits in the spare wheel well in the boot. I was pleased to find it fitted perfectly suggesting this is indeed the intended tyre size when the car was designed.

Tyres by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

That's it for now and I hope to make a bit more progress before our next holiday!

....peter

Just back from holiday so a small update.......

Before we went on holiday, I managed to finish the fitting of the soundproofing carpet underlay.
But, before laying the underlay on the driver's side I decided to make a foot rest for my left foot when not on the clutch. It looks like mahogany but it is in fact moisture resistant MDF coated with a couple of coats of left over external varnish.

Clutch Foot rest by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

So, the sound proofing underlay fitting could then continue.......

Sound proofing by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Now finished and ready for the carpet fitting.

Sound proofing by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

That's all for now.....

....peter

I can't believe it's a whole month since my last post but I finally got around to start fitting the carpet. This is something that I'm not very familiar with, so it's been a bit of 'learning on the job' and a bit of 'making it up' as I go along. My budget doesn't stretch to have the carpets professionally made so hopefully it won't look too amateurish.

First, I made a template of the passenger side floor from cardboard.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then transferred the template to the carpet. It was raining outside so I made a temporary table by placing a board across my car and workbench.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then turned my attention to making a template for the propshaft tunnel but the shape of the tunnel meant that had to split this piece into two sections. The joint will be hidden by the seat when fitted.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

After fitting the first section I made another template making sure I marked the position of the holes for the seatbelt anchor.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

With the second section fitted, I temporarily replaced the handbrake cubby box.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

It's a slow process but getting there....

More templating to follow......

.....peter

I had quite a good productive time in my garage this week. Made good progress on the carpet fitting and some pieces now dropped off at a local trimmer to have some of the edges trimmed.

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Carpet fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Just got to do the passenger and drivers footwell panels.
Oh, and the boot, of course

...peter

Time in the garage this month has been focussed on finishing the central armrest/handbrake cover.

Before finally fixing the arm rest/cubby box I made up some 9mm thick pads out of plywood for the frame to rest on.

Central armrest fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I had the arm rest professionally covered by a local trimmer. He did a great job and much much better than I could ever achieve.

Central armrest fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The handbrake handle cover was designed to fit a VW T5 Transporter.
I also had this gaiter professionally made by the same local trimmer. Excellent quality and very reasonable.

Central armrest fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I glued and stapled the gaiter to the back of the surround. Very pleased with the result.

Central armrest fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Handy storage space.

Central armrest fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

It wasn't until I came to connect the window switches that I realised the RMC loom is designed for illuminated Granada window switches but I had sourced and fitted Sierra switches. The pin-out is different so I had to spend a couple of hours with the Sierra Haynes manual and a magnifying glass to figure out the connections. I bench tested my homework before fitting the switches to the car.

Window switch wiring connections by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Window switches connected.

Window switches connected by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Window switches fitted by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

So that's it all finished and I'm very pleased with the result

Central Armrest complete by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Next up I will be fitting the gear stick gaiter, so until next time.....

....peter

Thanks, it came out better than I had expected so I'm pretty pleased.

The Christmas preparations and the sub-zero temperatures in my gargae caused progress to slow to zero over the last couple of weeks.
But a surprise break in the weather today allowed me to finish the carpeting of the gearbox tunnel.

Gearbox tunnel carpeting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Including finishing the gearstick surround and new gear knob.

Gearstick surround by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

That's probably the last update this year so I'll just wish everybody a Happy Christmas!

........peter

Happy New Year!!

Just about time left for one more post of 2022......
But first thanks to Kon and Amir for your best wishes and a Happy New Year to you and all my readers,

I managed to find the time to re-fit the passenger door this week. (Only about 10 years after I removed it :der

Firstly, I fitted the door wiring loom grommet.

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then positioned the door which is surprisingly heavy with glass, winder mechanism and locks, etc. A couple of old scrap tyres and my workshop floor mat made just about the right height to slide it on to the hinges.

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

And after fitting the four bolts and a bit of fettling the door was on and clicked closed on the door catch striker.

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Now just showing off the beautiful lines of the Sabre.

Passenger door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Here's to 2023

New year - same car :-)

Thanks froggyman, DaveP and Biggles for your kind words of encouragement.

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My wife bought me this nice picnic set for Christmas so I better crack on and get this car finished for Summer

Picnic Basket by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Firstly, I finished fitting the door wiring grommet, the restraining strap and the interior lighting switch. I then connected up the door wiring to the cars loom and tested the door window and door lock.

Door fitting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Then I could do some more interior trimming. I decided to make a panel that encloses the space above the passenger footwell. I started by templating the under dash cover on the passenger side.
I then cut a sheet of aluminium to fit. It fits into a slot I made at the base by gluing a strip of angle ali to the bulkhead and is fixed to a bracket bolted to the underside of the dashboard.
I then covered the ali sheet with carpet and glued soundproof mat to the rear side to stop any chance of vibration.

Carpeting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Carpeting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Carpeting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Carpeting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I have also been recovering the rear quarter panels. These panels are made of GRP and were supplied as part of the kit. I first cleaned up the panels by removing the old glue. I then covered them in scrim foam using spray adhesive. And then covered them in some navy vinyl.

Rear quarter panel by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Rear quarter panel by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Hopefully, the weather will stay mild enough to carry on with the trimming....

....peter

Of course, the weather immediately plunged back below zero in my garage and combined with a nasty head cold has slowed my progress over the last two weeks. But I have managed to (almost) complete three more panels.

Firstly, the passenger side 'a' post cover had to be modified to fit because I mounted the ECU behind the side bar. I then covered it in a piece of carpet and fixed it to the 'a' post with some plywood packing pieces. (the cover is to the left in this photo)

'A' post cover by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Next I tackled the door sill panel. The original sill cover panels were made of thin plywood covered in carpet but these had rotted due to the years of damp storage conditions. So, I remade them out of 2mm thick aluminium and then covered them in scrim foam and navy vinyl.

Sill cover by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Then on to the passenger door card...
The door cards on the Sabre are brilliantly designed GRP mouldings. First I had to clean off the old adhesive and repaire a broken corner. I also found that I needed to trim about 5mm off the bottom edge of the card to clear the door seal.

Passenger Door Card by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then covered the card in scrim foam and cream vinyl. The inner window draught seal still to be fitted as I needed to order some tiny screws to fix it to the door card.

Passenger Door Card by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

A little plain atm but I plan to have some professionally trimmed door cards made post IVA and registration to match the seats.

More trimming next week........

..................peter

Pressing on with the trimming...

Thanks, Mick, Kon, Dpaz and Patrick for you words of encouragement

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A quick update of progress of trimming out the interior of the last couple of weeks.
So the next step was to cover the rear panel that sits behind the seats. (For anyone not familiar with the sabre, the hood drops down behind this panel when in the fold down position.)
Having stripped of all the old trimming, I started by covering the top rail of the back panel with some navy vinyl which was glued on the front and stapled on the back. The back was also covered in sound absorbing foam.

Rear Panel by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then glued a piece of carpet to the lower section. (Photographed in bright sunshine)

Rear panel by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Before fitting the rear section of carpet I fitted the drivers side carpeting.

Carpet by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

After a lot of faffing about getting the seat belt mounting holes aligned with the chassis I could finally fit the rear panels in place. Before the final fitting I covered the rear body tub bulkhead in sound absorbing foam.

Rear panels by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

These MG Roadster door seal finishers make a nice addition. They are not a perfect fit but close enough.

Door seal finishers by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Door seal finishers by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

A couple more panels on the drivers side to make/trim/fit and then I can move on to fitting the seat belts and the drivers door.
Due to the width of my garage I need to move my car across the garage by about 12 inches.

Next update in about 2 weeks....
..........peter

So as mentioned above I had to move the car across the garage by about 12" to give me space to fit the drivers door and I decided to retrieve the boot lid from the loft above while the car was out.. It was a nice sunny day so a good excuse to take another picture. It looks almost finished but of course at this stage it still had no driver's door or boot lid.

Moving by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The first job before fitting the driver's door was to add some protection to the wall of my garage so I don't damage the door when I open it. I used a cheap yoga mat off ebay.

Door protection by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then fitted the driver's door which looks exactly like the passenger door so no photo's. But I didn't photo the door stay before so.....
The door stay on the Sabre is a simple device that passes through a hole in the hinge plate to stop the door opening too far. The original plating had rusted on mine so I had them chrome plated.

Door stay by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Here you can see the door stay being fitted. A 6mm nut and bolt hold it to the angle brackets on the door.

Door stay by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then moved on to fitting the boot lid. I prepared the boot lid by first cleaning off some old masking tape and then giving it a good polish. I trial fitted the hinges to make sure everything lined up. The boot lid is very well engineered, being a double skinned GRP structure with metal plates bonded inside to take the bolts of the hinges and boot stay.

Boot lid preparation by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The Sabre boot lid catch is taken from a VW beetle engine cover and I picked up a new catch at the Donnington kitcar show many years ago. The original builder made a bit of a pigs ear out of cutting the hole but you don't notice it once the boot lid is fitted.

Boot lid catch by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I also fitted the chrome strip. (sorry about the bad photo)

Boot lid preparation by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

My son popped in on Saturday so I roped him in to help me fit the boot lid. I spent over an hour lining it up as the hinges are adjustable. Boot seal is not fitted yet nor the catch striker pin. I expect to have do some more adjustment once the seal is fitted.

Boot lid fitted by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

So that is the last major part of the bodywork fitted

Lots of minor jobs to do but nearly there......

....peter

Thanks, Dpaz, it's a great looking car and hats off to John Barlow for his automotive design skills.

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I have aborted an attempt to install some seatbelts from a company called 'Universal Seatbelts' in Billericay, Essex. After many hours of trying to figure out how to fit them I came to the conclusion that they had been assembled incorrectly with the buckle and lower mounting point stitched in the wrong way round. I managed to reverse the buckle by folding the belt over and pulling it through the buckle but the lower mounting point is cranked so it's not possible to reverse the mounting. They are correctly 'e' marked but I suspect they are Chinese copies from a low quality factory. Having realised they were obviously assembled incorrectly I completely lost faith in them in case the internal mechanism might be wrong.
I then bought a set of Securon belts and they fitted without any issue at all. They have a definite feel of quality in the smoothness of the belt material and are highly recommended.
But first I had to make some spacers to clear the bodywork and rear quarter trim panels.
Seatbelts by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I used a 25mm diameter steel bar which I cut to length before drilling the holes.

I had to purchase some longer 7/16" UNF bolts so here's a picture of the bolt head for the IVA inspector.

Seatbelts by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

This is how my top mounting looks now. The thick rubber strip is for IVA compliance.

Seatbelts by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

And, I found this bolt head cover in my box of bits left over from my Marlin Sportster build.

Seatbelts by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I've now finished the carpeting inside the car and trimmed the drivers door card. These strange looking pieces are the 'A' pillar covers, shown here before I covered them in cream vinyl.

'A' Pillar trims by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The chrome door pulls have hinges that do not meet the IVA 2.5mm radius rule so I made these temporary door pulls. Made from the strap from a charity shop handbag.

IVA door pulls by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

With the IVA test now in sight, I invested in a pukka tool to measure the 2.5mm radius rule for just a few pounds off ebay.

IVA radius check tool by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I shall now be taking a short pause from car building for a couple of weeks to do some essential diy and then I'll be back in the garage working my way through my final list of tasks before applying for my IVA test.

More updates to follow in a few weeks................

...........peter

Just when you thought it was safe.......

Just when I thought I was close to applying for my IVA I had a thought that I should check if the IVA manual had been up issued. So I checked on the government website and sure enough a new version was issued on the 20 March 2023!

So I downloaded a copy and checked the Release Notes for Version 15.0.
There are 15 changes identified and most of them are very minor. So I went through each change and identified the impact on my Royale Sabre.
There are 12 changes that have no impact or are not applicable to my vehicle.
2 changes (Section 12 and section 16) now have an exemption from the 2.5mm radius rule for movable windows. They now only have to be 'blunted' which is good news as I won't have to disable the electric windows at my test.
(Mike on this forum, had this as a failure point at his IVA on his Marlin Cabrio) It's nice to see some common sense being applied.
The only other change is to the tolerance of the Speedometer. Previously, Speedo's were allowed to over-read the true speed by up to10% plus 6.25mph.
The new requirement is a tolerance of up to10% plus 2.5mph. Providing my ETB electronic speed is working and set correctly, then this shouldn't be a problem.
As I said, this analysis is for the Royale Sabre so if you are building something else you should check the changes as they may affect your particular kit car.

No build updates at present due to holidays, etc.


......peter

There is also this one on Marketplace but no mention of the donor V5 so a bit of a risk getting it registered.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/289250305610390/

But you know you really want one 😁

Slow progress....

Not much to report on due to other commitments but I am slowly working my way through a list of things to do before applying for my IVA test.
One of the things on the list was to set up the speedo with the correct calibration setting based on my new wheels and tyres, etc. After setting the speedo, I raised the rear of the car on axle stands so I could run through the gears and see if the speedo works which it did fine.
But, when I first started the engine it made a dreadful noise and ran very roughly. I think one of the hydraulic lifters had drained (or stuck?) and took a while to work properly. It cleared after about 5 minutes but the episode reminded me it was probably time to change the engine oil.
I also figured it would not be a bad idea to flush the old oil so I bought a can of Wynns engine flush to clear out any crud. Following the instructions, I added the can of liquid to the engine oil and allowed the engine to idle for 20 minutes.
Then whilst still hot I drained the old oil which came out black showing the flushing agent had worked.
With my new 15" wheels and 80 profile tyres there is now sufficient clearance under the car to slide my plastic oil draining 'can' underneath without the need to jack up the car. And the oil drain plug is in a convenient position so that it can be reached with an extra long extension bar on my 1/2" ratchet.

Oil change April 2023 by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
(You can make out the sump and oil draining out in the centre of this picture. The black plastic oil draining can is on the ground beneath the chassis above.)

After leaving the old oil to drain over lunch, I changed the oil filter which is so easy on this engine and I was pleased to find the new Bosch filter came with all the necessary seals and 'o' rings. I refiitted the sump plug with a new seal and refilled with Millers Oil. I chose this oil as it meets BMW spec and is a reasonable price.

Oil change April 2023 by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr


I was pleased that on start up the engine ran smoother than ever.
Until next update...............

.............peter

Cooling system - Mk 3

Whilst running my engine to test the speedo all the air in the header tank 'disappeared'.
After some head scratching I realised the air had not leaked out but it had all accumulated in the top of the radiator.
I then realised I had made a school boy error when I moved the header tank vent hose from the top of the radiator connection to the cooling fan-switch adaptor in the top radiator hose. I had overlooked the fact that the adapter was set in a hose that was about 4" lower than the top of the radiator.
I've now re-configured the top hose so that the fan switch adapter is now level with the top of the radiator so there should be no chance of air being trapped in the top of the radiator. It's a bit of a Heath Robinson design and I hope to create something more elegant one day.
First test went well but only time will tell if it is okay.

Cooling system - Mk 3 by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I have been lining the boot and finishing off a list of small items before the IVA test.

....peter