November 2018
If I painted it white everyone would think it was the Chris Evans car.
I think I'll go with the safe bet and the dark red option or perhaps bare aluminium.
Gradually getting through my list of jobs on the car. I've fitted a new fuel line front to back. The original one was only tiny 3/16" bore tube which is probably why there were two electric pumps mounted in series in the boot ! I've removed the pumps and run an 8mm bore tube right through to the mechanical pump on the engine.
I've run the loom front to back and tried my best to keep it all hidden out of site. Too many specially built cars have wires running all over, under the bonnet, under the dash and hanging here, there and everywhere. A bit of thought and planning you can do away with all the excess and loose ends ! The only wires you will see on my car will be the plug leads and cables to the starter motor.
Made a start on the exhaust system. I've finished the manifolds and the silencer box's were made up a while ago. The system runs down each side of the car under the sill then tucks behind the rear wheels and exit in four trumpets. The trumpets are exactly that, tapering from 2" upto 3" at the tips !! It will probably make a right racket but I want to recreate that V12 sound like the real thing !
Photos to follow.
December 2018
The exhaust is just about done apart from making the rear trumpet / megaphone trims x4. I have simplified the design a little largely down to ground clearance under the sills. I've gone with a single box rather than the double decker arrangement on the original. That in turn goes back under the car to a "Y" section on each side to get the 4 outlets. I'll soon be able to start up the engine for the first time and it will be drivable not long after, fingers crossed !!
I will post some, promise !
A few photos here, they are a week or two old in some cases .
* Manifolds fitted to the engine on both sides, fairly straight forward as although the Cologne engine is a V6 there are only 4 exhaust ports in total to connect up. They will be covered in heat wrap and painted black upon completion.
* Mountings for the sill area on the body required some extension brackets from the chassis. These are now filled in with aluminium panels. The lower sill area will be bolted on along these extensions.
* The left and right exhausts here, not quite complete in these photos but not far off. The whole system will be painted in high temp matt black like the original cars.
The engine was used in the Granada MK2 and the injection version was used to great effect in the 2.8 Capri. The best thing with these engines are the compact design and torquey power delivery from quite low down the rev range. The later engines did feature 3 exhaust ports which helped a little along with a few other upgrades. I was lucky to find this engine as it was new in a crate, all be it "old stock"! If the same engine could pull around a fully loaded Granada estate it will make light work powering my light weight 7 based car.
Another job completed are the side vents mounted into the front wings. These were missing so I've made a pair in aluminium. Rather than copy the poor design the car had from Giordanengo, I've gone with a more authentic curved and rolled edge design as seen on the real TR. A bit more work but they look so much better. I'll take some photos soon as they are mounted in place.
The front indicators I intended to use have now been changed. They did look too modern and as I'm going with a patinaed, aged look on the car I've found some older style examples. These are Fiat X19 side repeaters, simple circular design with a black bezel. All the better for being of Italian design origins as well ! I'll probably go with these at the rear end too, mounted inside the two vents in the rear body.
Big thanks also to Molleur for the donation of a very nice period Aston filler cap ! I should get that mounted up this week, another item to tick off the list.
I'm going to be using a set of old Smiths gauges in the car. I want to go with the same layout as the original but I might yet swop the rev counter in the centre for a speedo. The original cars were pure racing cars so they only had a rev counter. I could fit both side by side but that will change the look of the dash. Not sure at the moment.....
Thanks again to Molleur for the donation of his Aston fuel cap assembly. That is fitted now other than a short length of fuel hose to connect to the tank.
I've just about finished the aluminium panel work under the bonnet. I want to lift out the engine one last time to do a couple of tidying up jobs then it can go in for the final time, probably a days work.
Get the front end back on and a few little jobs to seal the bulk head to the outer body. Should be straight forward after that. The exhaust is complete on both sides. Still got to do the dash panel but there isn't much work really.
Getting close !
Engine is out and I'm half way through my short list of tidy up jobs. I should have it all done and the engine re fitted by the end of the week. The plan is to connect everything up and run the engine, drive it back and forth etc before I refit the front end. Just want to check everything whilst access is easy.
Here are a few photo's of recent progress ;
* Side vents in aluminium. You can't really see the curved nature of these in the photo but they have worked out quite well.
* The engine again with the tiny alternator fitted, the only space available !
* The spacer adaptor I carved out of a big lump of alloy by hand. This was to give clearance for the thermostat housing otherwise it was clashing with the chassis . ( Sorry the photo won't load at the mo )
* The fuel filler mounted under the tear drop fairing behind the driver. A simple bracket and some flexi fuel hose going to the tank.
I've ticked off my list now so the engine can go back in and be connected up. Simply add petrol and it will start first time !
They do but in my case I'm going for a period, weathered look, painted finish. Not too extreme but something to give it some character and keep them guessing at the shows ! I haven't ruled out a bare aluminium finish......
Got the engine back in this evening. A bit of an arse getting the input shaft to go in the clutch but it went in, in the end. I'll start connecting everything up over the weekend and see if it will run ! If that all goes to plan and I've finished the turkey I'll get some helpers to refit the front end Christmas day afternoon !
Soon as the front end is back on I'll be taking the rear off again for final tidy up jobs and some ali panel work. There isn't too much in that area but it needs to be done. Refit the rear end and the doors.
Smash, thanks for the kind words and yes, I would still consider a
Tribute / Old No7 kit but they still don't offer the car I want, ie the convertible 275.
I will be thinking of a new project in the spring and the Formosa body over a space frame chassis is my first choice at the moment.
I'll post more photo's when the car is all together.
Regards the filler cap area, I need to make the cover which goes on the tear drop / hump as that wasn't with the body when I picked it up. Several cars, the real ones included didn't always have them fitted, but I think they look better with than without.
I'll make a start connecting things up in the morning. I think I might be short of one or two parts so there might be a delay getting it running !
Really frustrating as I'm still waiting on a hand full of parts that will, I hope all be here by the end of next week. It really will be close to a drivable, completed car in as little as a couple of weeks after that. It won't be painted but I'm having thoughts now to go with the aluminium finish for the time being. Having watched the youtube videos of the famous home built Testarossa I can see the attraction of the no paint option ! So my target is to have it on the road, mot'd etc by the end of January !
I have thought about making a realistic engine cover to go over the V6. It would be a challenge to make it anything like the Columbo V12 !