Royale Sabre - Take two!

[peterux]

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

[peterux]

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

[Amir Manzoori]

As always, job done perfect.

[peterux]

Originally Posted by Amir Manzoori

As always, job done perfect.

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

[peterux]

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

[kon]

Nice work, Peter, that looks very tidy.
Happy Christmas to you too

[Amir Manzoori]

Dear Peter, I, like all readers who have been following your build so far, have enjoyed every post about your work and been envious of your capability. I believe we would enjoy it right up to the finish of the project. Well done, Wish you, family and those who read this post, a happy Christmas and may you be blessed with a new year filled with good health, happiness and joy.

[peterux]

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 )

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

[froggyman]

Well I can't believe I have been following your build for over 10 years.!! Your attention to detail and tenacity is off the scale. Looking forward to future updates. Best wishes for the New Year.

[DaveP]

Great updates. Thanks for sharing the techie details.

Lovely car too

Dave

[Biggles]

Thirded, it's going to be drop dead gorgeous this one!

[peterux]

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

[peterux]

Originally Posted by peterux

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

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

[Mick O'Malley]

Brilliant work!

Regards, Mick

[kon]

That looks ace, great work. I can only hope that mine will turn out half as nice... if I ever get there

[Dpaz]

Superb I wish I had your patience and skill!

[Patrick]

Very nice

[peterux]

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

[peterux]

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

[Dpaz]

Looking really beautiful, very envious!