MadaboutKitcars

Now don't get carried away WCA! Its NOT finished, or even Mot'd yet. (And no roof either)

I should have said in my earlier post that the fluid level is ok in the Master cylinder.

And boy, am I pleased that I cut that access hatch in the wing!!

Without that I would have been in serious trouble.

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Its the clutch WCA.......

Thank you all for the feedback, what you have written sort of echoes a lot of my own thoughts about it, I think I was rather hoping for an expert to say, " tighten the X screw a bit and it will be all like new" Don't we all pray for something like that?

The clutch still actually works, there are no leaks, and the fluid is not getting past the master cylinder seal, and pumping does not make any difference.
A friend of mine that helped me establish that little lot, thinks I am being paranoid, and there is nothing wrong with the system at all!
I have had so many setbacks on this build, he may well be right.

I will get the two new cylinders and some fluid, and tackle this at a later stage. All the time the car is on my patch and not the road, it is not a huge problem.

Thanks for that info Ed, you always amaze me with your in-depth technical knowledge! You seem to be so well-informed.
I will take your advice and get some of that stuff.

Thanks for those pics CP, much appreciated, and I'm sure Mick O'Malley will be interested, of course, as he is building a D Type!

Monday

One good thing about this forum is the fact that if one reads other peoples threads, one can learn from other people, and thus avoid making the same mistakes.
Mr Towed kindly posted his experiences during, or just after, his build and told of getting caught in the rain before he'd had chance to fit his under bonnet rain splash panels / wheel arch panels, and how he was rewarded by a battery-box full of water amongst other things.

So today I started work on mine. As access to anything seems to be such a big problem on this car, and not having chosen a flip-front, any splash panels I fit under the wheel arches must be removable for access to other things.

I plan to put in anchor points for and aft, and attach the panels with self tappers, so I can remove them for any maintenance.

I had intended to stick the anchors in with fibre-glass paste, like I have just about everything else, but having spoken to WCA, I will use Sikaflex, as he told me a horror-story about fibre glassing that he did on the underside of his bonnet.

Having painted his car very nicely, he decided to re-inforce the underside of the bonnet as it was a bit too flexy, so he went ahead and did the usual resin,matting and build up to make it stiffer.

During the drying/curing process, maybe due to the heat build-up or the contracting forces, his bonnet developed "fluting" wrecking the paint in the process. You would have to look very closely to see it, which I did, as its not very obvious, and I would not have noticed if he'd not pointed it out.

Anyhow, not wishing to have the same problem, I decided to stick my panels to the underside of the wing with Sikaflex, which should not have the heating problem.

So today I got the first of four anchor points in place.
To these I will screw on the splash panels, and hopefully not get a battery-box full of water.

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Very well put WCA!

You certainly have a way with words!

Really...

Yeah, there was a company down near Exeter that used to make the fibre-glass bodies, but when they went bust I lost my £2500 deposit, or I'd be driving one now.

I still have the rebuilt engine, gearbox and all the bits I never used!

I wonder who made that shell?

Its just you CP! An E Type has a noticeably larger air intake. :-)

Wow! That's pretty adventurous stuff Ed!
Could you do the English wheel bit?

Wednesday

Okay, for the last two days, I have been upside down, working in the front wheel wells, getting the inner panels in place, in case I ever get caught in the rain. (Definitely will happen)

I have finished the drivers side and almost finished the passengers side, and am hoping this is the last of the shitty jobs that I hate doing.

The big job for the future, will be making the roof, but I don't need to be upside down for that. Also, I am looking forward to doing it.

To that end, I still have some research to do on waterproof zips, as I have a cunning plan.......

On the subject of that so called D Type, that caused a stir, I have added my thoughts in a picture, the shell is not a very pretty example in my opinion.

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You are a man after my own heart Ed!
I also have stacks of sewing machines, and lots of the thread you mentioned.
I used to use that thread for repairing parachutes and para-gliders when I was doing the sport.

Landmannn, I already made the hoops months ago, and they fit and look good when bolted to the car.

I am looking forward to the challenge of making the hood myself, at least I won't be upside down covered in shit like I have been recently!

Hey! I'm still here, and I used to make my own harnesses and stuff,so its not as bad as it sounds! :-)

Early Thursday morning

I must be suffering with "finishing fever", as dead on 6 am, my eyes snapped open and I thought "wheelarch", I leapt out of bed, ran downstairs and got stuck into the car.

Yesterday a friend of mine gave me a flat cardboard box full of gaskets, saying it may be useful to me.

Well, all the gaskets were MGB, so won't be that useful, but I needed a carboard pattern for the last panel, and the box came in incredibly useful for that!

My friend probably would not understand if I told him the gaskets were no
'kin good, but the box was brilliant!

The time now is just after 8:30, and all the panels are in.
I will post this, then run outside and paint the wheel arch black, then that job is DONE.


Then its breakfast time...........

Latest pics:


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You are correct Very Andy, top marks for observation!
That was the very reason I chose the long-nose type body-shell which I have used in my build.

I was never keen on the XKSS short-nose "snubby" look.

Later on Thursday

Well, I carried on working all day, and got the following done:

Fitted the windscreen
Fitted the wipers
Got the seat belts in
Fitted the seats
Fitted the bonnet and shimmed it up.

Doesn't sound like much, but it fought me all the way.
The seats have been in and out several times and always fitted correctly,
today the passengers seat just would not fit far enough back, it was an unbelievable one inch out, and I did not waste time trying to figure out what had gone wrong, in the end I just re-drilled and bolted it in place.
It looks okay now.

I have the doors to fit and shim up, (took me over a day last time)
and then just bolt the mirrors on, which is a two minute job as the anchors are both in place.

I have to be up-front and say I was pleased with how it looked at the end of the day!


Pics:

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+1

looking good (Mr McQueen) .

Thanks Thurcroft!
Makes a change from Hulk Hogan!

Although the donar Spitfire came with a years Mot, I never ever drove it, I just stripped it down, so the first drive will be a bit scary I think!

I have made so many changed to the ride height, suspension and so on, I'm not quite sure what to expect.

It should handle well being lower, and with a 2inch wider track wider wheels and tyres, and so much lighter than the Spit.
I will post in due course!