Another Cordite Is Born ...

[Paul L]

Progress Report - Ebay Sales:
First of all, thanks to donnysoutherner & tritone for their Ebay guidance.
This is all new to me, but my first batch of donor parts are now finally for sale.
Plan A was to start with lots of small items to help build my feedback up.
However, my sixth sense went for Plan B, selling most of the big stuff first.

I blame subliminal "Get those bloody car parts out of the house now!" messages.
But sometimes it does pay to remember who is really in charge at home!
As part of keeping a record of this build, I'll list all my sales when complete.

Project Timing:
In terms of workload, I spent a few minutes removing the last mounting brackets.
( These will be sold with the front grill and rear bumper )
Then it was a few hours cleaning and taking photos for ebay.
My youngest daughter (10) has been very keen to help out.



Then I spent a few more hours getting everything set up on ebay.
I'm sure it gets quicker when you know what you are doing.

Next Steps:
Keep on top of this first batch of Ebay sales until they are all sold & collected.

I'm going to ask my usual garage to give whats left of my donor a professional once over.
I'd trust them to give the rolling chassis an MOT level inspection & identify any problems.
If everything is in order, I can start the final 'destruction' job of removing the body shell.
I'll also ask them to tune the engine to meet an MOT emission test while they are at it.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

Replies:
Mister Towed, DaveCymru & tritone
Thanks chaps, I really hope this proves to be the best approach for me now.
But when I have a garage to play in, I do want to learn the "joys" of welding / repairs.

Gary - Cheers, my basic plan is to simply keep moving forward one step at a time.

[Mister Towed]

Ahh, welding's not so hard. After all, I managed it.

[Paul L]

Progress Report:
My first batch of Ebay sales have just ended, after what seemed like a long week,
I've spend hours answering questions and dealing with potential buyers / offers.
But in the end I raised £673 from 7 lots and I still have some good stuff to sell.
( I'll produce a comprehensive list of all my sales when the last parts are sold )

The oddest part of the process was the interest in parts I wasn't actually selling.
There are already four people forming an orderly queue for the body shell.
One guy has already made an offer for it based on two of the photos from this thread.
( The 'what it looks like now' after removing parts photo & the empty boot photo )
So with a bit of luck, the last part to be taken off my donor will be my biggest sale.
I'm also going to use this as an excuse to test 'posting a video within a post' tomorrow.

But it will take me a while to get used to the last minute nature of the Ebay bidding.
For days it looked like the bonnet, 2 doors & boot lid would go for £3.96 in TOTAL!
Which means I should have sold them for scrap metal, rather than car parts.

So a pox on the IT geek who invented item watching and automated bidding!
It took all my nerve not to accept other offers in the days before bidding ended.
Thankfully I got more money than I'd been offered, so it was worth the anxious wait.
Once all these parts are collected, I will go through the next batch of stuff to sell.

Although I'm hoping my 1st Ebay buyers will want some of these other parts too.
So, with my wife's permission, I've turned our dining room into an Auto Jumble!







Brand new items include leather seat covers, double duck soft top & seat foams.
In fact, the Rimmer Bros price list for the stuff piled up on the sofa is over £1,400.
I'm still gutted that I can't use these rebuilt Spitfire seats myself in the Cordite.

More Stripping:
I removed the stereo surround, under dash storage bits & the last of the carpet.
I was also able to remove the speaker cables and radio aerial lead too.
It is starting to look very bare inside the car now.



Donor Inspection:
My usual garage collected what's left of my Spitfire earlier today.
The pick up lorry seemed to fill up most of the street!



This Spitfire is definitely turning into a bit of a trailer queen!



So they will start to check it all over next week for me.
I've been getting MOTs there for 24 years and they are very good.
They will look at the rolling chassis, drive chain, engine, etc.

Bed time reading / viewing:
Whilst I'm still currently focused on the donor 'destruction' phase of my build...
I'm also starting to plan ahead for the construction phase of this project too.
So I took advantage of an offer in CompleteKitCar and bought a book & DVD.
I've seen Mark Evans make things with Fibreglass on TV & am keen to try it myself.



Next Steps:
More Ebay selling (once I've had my limits increased as I am an ebay novice).
Wait (with my fingers crossed) to hear back from the garage about what they find.
I've also sent a PM to Gary with my latest thoughts on my kit order.

So until next time, take care, Paul.

Replies:
Mister Towed - Don't put yourself down, normal people learning to weld give me hope!

[AndyP57]

Hi Paul, I'm glad the kit arrived safely and it does look good in Blue Gel. The colour was chosen specifically from a RAL range (I'm sure it's RAL 5012 Light Blue but I'll confirm when I next look at the invoice) so you could easily get a colour match from stock to touch up etc. On a quick web search, it appears even Halfords market it as 'Gadget Blue'

[Paul L]

Hi Andy,

It would be great if you could confirm the colour.

I'm sure touching up the paint would be a better idea that the "just repaired" look.

Cheers, Paul.

[AndyP57]

Hi Paul,
Just checked and the colour code is definitely RAL 5012 Light Blue.
Cheers Andy

[Paul L]

Whilst I've barely touched the kit since it arrived, I am still taking small steps forward...

Spitfire Inspection Update:
My build plan did not include my donor spending 5 weeks in the garage for a "check up".
However, despite taking much longer than expected, ay least it is now finally back home.
The rolling chassis has been checked to MOT standard & thankfully confirmed as safe.
The engine needed work to get it to pass an emissions test, but that's all sorted now too.
By checking all this stuff now, I hope to avoid any real problems later on (Touch wood).

Unfortunately, just when everything was going so well, the radiator gave up the ghost.
The garage used some Radweld (sp?) to form a temporary patch for now, but I will replace it.
I have been checking what Mister Towed did with his Honda radiator & may follow suit.

Sammio Gathering:
This is the second event I've missed this year (as I couldn't make Stoneleigh either).
It would be nice to meet some people from this forum in real life & learn about their builds.
I'd also like to look around some finished Sammios, as I haven't seen one in person yet.
Hopefully I will get the chance to make it to another Sammio get together in the future.

Rear Lighting Layout:
With my kit here, I could finally see just how much space there is available at the back.
Effectively there is just over 101cm to play with, if you stay between the seam lines.



Again I did a 'Blue Peter' job & cut out circles from a cereal box to represent the lights.
My initial lighting choices were 75mm dia. stop/tail & indicator + 72mm reflectors each side.
But they would have been too tightly packed together & the problems was actually the number plate.

My donor came with a new number plate which included a GB "sticker" & was 52cm wide.
A bit of research showed I could use a much smaller 6 character* plate which is just 41cm wide.
* Completely by chance, my "V" reg. donor only has two numbers in its registration.
So I''ll now order a smaller rear number plate & a stick on front plate while I am at it.
( For this build I will not be switching to an ageless plate, just to keep things simple )

I also decided to down side the lights at the same time to improve the layout still further.
My new lighting sizes are 70mm dia. for stop/tail & indicators + 60mm for the reflectors.
I will also fit four LED light bolts instead of a more traditional number plate light.



Front Lighting:
Again, now the kit is here I can finally confirm that my donor Spitfire headlights will fit.
The diameter of this rubber seal for the headlight unit is 8.5 inches in old money.



I just need to check my donor headlights work (weren't wired up) & then give then a clean.
I need to order some chrome rims to finish them off, as they were missing from my donor.

I have seen what looked like side repeaters being used for front indicators on some builds.
The rules I checked said there was no minimum size, as long as they were clearly visible.
So I ordered some 36mm diameter dome ones, which appear quite small in real life.
Although there isn't much space available for something very much bigger.
Any thoughts, or suggestions, are always welcome.



Other Shopping:
In addition to all the lighting above, I've now ordered some other stuff as well:
- The bucket seats & bonnet stuff I've mentioned before
- 2 wing mirrors (I went for the Sammio 'traditional' chrome bullet options in the end)
- Dash mounted rear view mirror
- Secure tax disc holder (designed for motorcycles)
- Some extra ratchet tie down straps to hold the body in place during bonding
( My current straps are showing their age a bit, as they are now over 20 years old )

The main reason for ordering some of the finishing touches early is to check fitting.
This will allow me to build up, or reinforce, any area that I am bolting things to (if required).
Although I still need to work out how much fibreglass & bonding "stuff" I need to order.

Ebay Update:
More of my sold items have been collected which frees up some room for the new parts.
I cancelled another sale after winning bidder couldn't make it over from Italy to collect.
On the bright side, a previous bidder came back for some more small bits.
And another bidder is considering whether to buy my leather seat covers.

Next Steps:
I want to test all the new lights with the current switches & wiring to check for problems.
I then need to methodically disconnect everything required to remove the body shell.
I hope photos, labels & taking notes will allow me to reconnect everything later on.

However, I have a lot of domestic chores to complete before I can do anything.
My wife's brother & his family are coming over from Ireland next weekend.
( Hence no Sammio gathering for me this weekend )

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[Psycho pops]

Hi Paul
Looks like its all coming together nicely.
Regarding Front indicators have you considered following the example of one of the earlier Sammio's by drilling through the back of the headlamp and fitting indicators inside the shell.
I bought a set of lights same as Dave Cymru these are like a tin plate back and can be carefully drilled and the bulb fitted through the back.
I had a chat with the local MOT tester and he said no problem regarding seperation distance of lights, as he pointed out the new Minis indicators are on the same unit now.
Just a thought and the way I am going..
Cheers Pops

[Mister Towed]

Thinking up solutions to problems that don't exist yet is half the fun of Sammio ownership.

One thing you've picked up on that I knew I should have done but didn't is take loads of photos of connections, routing etc, to make it easier to put it all back together again months later.

Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to seeing your Cordite build coming together.

[Paul L]

Progress Report:
Not much progress this week as I've been tidying, cleaning & fixing things around the house.
But at least we are now ready for our visitors from Ireland & it will be good to see them later today.
I'll be off to the kitchen shortly to start preparing Sunday lunch (a man's work is never done ).

Even with my wife's help we couldn't move the Cordite body through the house into the back garden.
I was planning to store it there for a while so I could have more space to work on the donor.
But there was just no way of manoeuvring it through our internal doors & we scraped the wall.
If I need to, I can go through my neighbour's garden as they have the side access we don't.

Headlights:
I did get a chance to test my donor headlights and the good news is that they still work.
Note: The lights are just sitting on the ground, not fitted to a very narrow car.



The bad news is I'd completely forgotten that they don't include a side/parking light.
My Spitfire has a separate unit which combined side light with the front indicator.
So rather that reuse these as originally planned, I will replace them with these instead.



With the side light built in, it will keep the front of the car uncluttered.
I will also order 2 chrome headlight rims from Rimmer Bros (missing from donor).
Rimmer Bros will also be my source for the rear spring lowering block & long bolts.

Other Odds & Ends:
My donor came with just one ignition key, so I got a spare cut locally for £7.99.
The shop was very good as they had to order a "blank" in for me.
Can't imagine there is much demand for 30 year+ Triumph keys around here.

All my other shopping has arrived in the post & I have lots of nice thing to play with.
My neighbours have been very good at taking things in for me when I'm at work.

All my sold Ebay parts have now been collected.
I'm still waiting to hear if a previous Ebay buyer wants the new leather seat covers.
However I am being messed about by the one person I sent something do.
All my sales were listed as 'cash on collection' and I should have stuck to that.
Hopefully it will all get get sorted out next week (touch wood).

So just small steps, but at least they are in the right direction.

Hopefully there will be more to report next time, cheers, Paul.

Replies:
Pyscho Pops - Thanks for the tip, which is effectively my side light solution (see above).
I actually like the idea of a separate indicator, even if it has turned out a bit small.
Mister Towed - I'm trying to learn from other builds, so tips always welcome.
I was planning to keep the heater if only to help in the event of the engine overheating.
So I might get a Honda radiator & add an expansion tank (just need to research it more).

[davecymru]

Looking good!

I wasn't intending on doing anything to my wiring loom, but the more i tried to get things working the more wonderful modifications i stumbled across from the last 43+ years the car has been on the road.

I ended up completley dismantling, rewiring, repairing and the reassembling my loom and having seen some of the amazing "twist the wires together and prey" mods that had been done on it over the years, i'm damn glad i did!

[Paul L]

Amazing what you can get done when the rain holds off for a few hours...

Framework Update:
Apparently when I left the frame outside for the paint to dry it was hit by more than just rain...



Hopefully this "offering" from above is a sign of good luck for my build.

Body Shell - Part 1:
I've finally reached the point of new return in the process of dismantling my donor.
I can't remove the body shell without disconnecting all the things that are currently working fine.
So I fired up the engine & drove the car inside my drive for the last time as a Spitfire (or sorts).
My girls wanted "a lift", so after one took this photo, they both climbed on board.
As I don't need to restore anything, I will try to get everything reconnected & working again ASAP.



Reading about WorldClassAccident's fire reminded me to start by disconnecting the battery!
Although creating a similar space for the battery in the Cordite bulkhead is still on the "to do" list.
( I've already got a few ideas after seeing how DonnySoutherner built a box for his. )





My eldest daughter provided the extra hand I needed to hold a spanner on one side of the bulkhead.
This allowed me to work on the other side to remove the bolts holding the gearbox tunnel in place.
There is a small crack in the cover (near brace in photo), but that shouldn't be too hard to fix.
I am currently planning to reuse the Spitfire gearbox cover with the Cordite bulkhead if it fits.
Note: "After" photo was taken just as I finished for the day as I forgot to do it at the time.





Removing the steering wheel was easy as I'd already discovered the retaining nut was missing.
( A new replacement nut from Rimmer Bros. has already been ordered & delivered )
However, my donor did come with a 14" Moto-Lita three spoke wooden steering wheel.
So I guess the previous owner started the job of swapping them over, but didn't finish it.

Thankfully all the wires around the steering column are in self contained connecting blocks.
This allowed me to remove the main switch unit intact, will remove wiper switch later.
This gave me better access to remove the final section of the dash board.
I will reuse speedo & rev.counter, so once again I was taking notes & photos + attaching labels.
Removed choke cable after disconnecting it from the carbs. & indicator warning light was easy too.

I've got slightly stuck on the hazard warning light as I can't see what keeps it in the dash.
( I'll have another look at the manual at some point as it can stay in the dash for now )
I disconnected the heater controls, but couldn't see how to get the driver's side vent out.
Although as I look closely at the size of the heater, I need to confirm I'm going to use one.
( My initial thought was it would be handy for slow moving traffic if the engine over heated )







I then switched to the engine bay to remove the rest of the wiring loom.
Again, more photos and notes, but this was actually pretty straight forward.
Although I do keep finding random wires not connected to anything.
So I have marked them as such and will double check against the wiring diagram later.
Eventually I was able to pull the whole loom out and that is a scary sight...



At this point I did a bit of "tidying up" as I want to get a good price for the body shell.
This black underlay / sound proofing stuff was all over the cabin floor & very messy.
One corner had a, still wet, paint stripping 'blob' underneath it which was a pain to get off.
I want to ensure any buyer can see the metal work is very sound all round.
Although I've found a few rough areas which were simply covered by interior trim.



Next Steps:
With a bit of luck I'll get a few more hours on the car tomorrow too.
At some point I need to pick up some wheel ramps from a mate which might help.
I'm actually pleased with how quickly I've got to this stage in actual hours worked.
Unfortunately the weather has stretched those few hours across many weeks.

Still, progress is progress, so until next time, cheers, Paul.

Replies:
DonnySoutherner - My methodical approach is driven by a deep rooted fear of messing it all up!
Which is why I owe you some beer Simon for blazing a trail for me to follow with your own build thread.
Mister Towed & DaveCymru - There are signs of "home improvements" in my wiring too.
So I will remove all the wrapping and have a proper look at everything when I thin the loom out.

[Paul L]

A tummy bug struck half my family down today.
So all car plans for the day went out of the window as they come first.
But I did manage to crab a couple of hours in the early evening...

Body Shell - Part 2:
I removed my rear twin tail pipes which was pretty straight forward.
A couple of bolts in the boot held the bracket below in place.
I will give them a bit more of a clean before refitting, but they still look good.
I left the rest of the exhaust in place & used low tech string as a temporary support.









The rear suspension radius arms* are bolted to the body shell via detachable brackets.
Thankfully I'd seen a photo of how DonnySoutherner had reused these on his Cordite frame.
So I knew I had to remove & keep all these parts and not leave anything with the body shell.
Nice to see that the bushes have all been renewed by the previous owner, one less thing to do.
I've simply reattached the brackets & taped the shims in place so I don't lose anything.
* Credit to Haynes manual for correct technical term, as I have no idea what I am talking about!









I just had time to remove both the clutch and brake pedals.
Simply remove split pin from end of pedal and then 8 bolts from the bulk head.
No need to label them as they already have "C" & B" stamped in them.







Next Steps:
Continue with the body shell and remove the following:
- Gas pedal
- Petrol tank
- Hand brake
- Steering column
I think that will leave me with just the retaining bolts to remove.

I will also get in contact with my 4 potential buyers and see if they are still interested.
As it would be good to get the shell sold and out of the way as soon as possible.

Take care, Paul.

PS
Found out the hazard warning light switch simply unscrews to allow removal from dash.

[Paul L]

Managed a few hours after work on Tuesday...

Body Shell - Part 3:
I needed to remove the throttle cable before I could remove the pedal.
This was a simple "push and unhook the cable" job, a bit like on a bicycle.
Then there were just two bolts in the bulkhead to remove and that was it.
Note: This pedal does not have a rubber cover on it as standard.
( Which explains why I was not able to find anyone selling one! )





Then it was time to remove the petrol tank, starting with 2 clips on the filler hose.
Again, I hadn't realised the petrol cap was a simple "push on" design.
It pretty much came away in my hands as I started to look at what was holding it in.
There was two more clips on a hose connecting the fuel hard line pipes.
Then 5 bolts to undo and a bit of wiggling about and out she popped.
I assume there should be a breather hose given the molten mess held on by a clip.
Either way, I put caps on the pipe ends and sealed everything up for now.
I need a bigger jerry can to decant the remaining petrol out of the tank.
( I have no idea how long its been in there, so I'll refill with fresh petrol later on )
Not sure yet whether I can re-route and reuse the existing hard line for the Cordite.









The heater was next (and I'll be starting a separate thread on whether to keep it).
Two pipes from the engine block needed to be disconnected, held by jubilee clips.
I opted for another low tech solution to seal one end, cling film & a rubber band.
There were 4 bolts in the bulkhead to remove and that was that.
I guessing the foam "seals" are not a standard Triumph part.





Removed the main part of the steering column held in by 3 sets of brackets.



Next Steps:
- Remove the rest of the steering column
- Block the wheels & then remove the hand brake
- Undo all the bolts and see if the body will lift off!

Cheers, Paul.

PS
My next post will be photos of the body shell for potential buyers.

[Mister Towed]

What makes you think the heater seals aren't OEM parts?

[davecymru]

They look like the rarer Boxter replacement seals to me!

[garyh]

On the heater, was the central hole chewed to correct shape!

[Paul L]

Gentlemen - I know British Leyland's quality control was bad, but surely not this bad!

[Paul L]

I am sending a link to this post to my potential body shell buyers.
So it is purely for their benefit and my normal build diary will return shortly.

Body Shell For Sale

On the whole, the body shell is very solid with a number of new panels in place.
The previous owner supplied invoices for floors, wings, etc. & these can be viewed.

Below are the problem areas that I am aware of (also highlighted in the photos):
- There is a slit in the body work behind the driver's door frame.
- There are several small cracks in the bulkhead where the gearbox cover attaches.
- The passenger side rear panel picked up two scratches at my local garage.
( They were only supposed to be working on the engine & rolling chassis! )
- There are also areas with flaking paint, excessive carpet glue residue, etc.

Items that will be staying with the bodyshell:
- Working windscreen wiper mechanism, but no wipers.
- New screen washer system.
- Driver's side heater vent nossle (can't remove without dismantling wiper mech.).
- Rubber seals for bonnet, doors & bood lid.
- Black trim strips at rear of body shell.

Items in photos, but due to be removed & therefore not part of sale:
- Master cylinders for brake & clutch.
- Lower steering column & surrounding bulkhead location plate.
- Hand brake lever.

Please Note:
I have removed the VIN plate as I need to attach it to my new fibreglass body.
However, it is available for inspection & to confirm it matches my V5C document.

[Paul L]

This run of dry weather has been just what I needed to keep this project moving forward...

Body Shell - Part 4:
I used an assortment of bricks to 'chock' all four wheels in place before removing the hand brake.
I've also made a note of size, shape & location of the mounting bracket before removing the lever.
As I haven't got as far as working out how to refit either this, or an alternative, hand brake yet.
I did remember to release the hand brake before disconnecting one "C" clip & one split pin.
I've left the cable in place for now until the body shell is removed.





I just had the lower part of the steering column and the bulk head locating cover left.
The cover had an extra brace to support the bulk head.
I also needed to remind myself of the angle of the "flat" section of the column.
I could only get access to the very bottom of the column, so I removed it from there.
But before I did, I took measurements to ensure I knew where to cut the Cordite bulk head.
You will notice a recurring theme of my fear of not being able to put things back together.









Then it was finally time to remove the 12 bolts that held the body shell in place.
These were located as follows:
- 2 in the engine bay in front of the bulk head
- 2 in the front foot wells just the other side of the bulk head
- 2 x 2 on either side of the main cockpit area
- 2 holding the seat beat brackets in place (already removed earlier on)
- 2 in the rear cockpit













I gave the body shell a gentle lift and everything is clear and ready to take away.
Which means the final part of the 'destruction' phase of my Cordite build is complete.
Due to my complete lack of storage I will leave it where it is until sold.

EDIT:
I actually forgot about removing a final bolt under the body shell.
This held part of the hand brake mechanism in place.
Please see my next post for details.

I'd started a thread about the pros & cons of fitting a heater here.
I feel better about the idea of not having one now as it makes things much easier.
So I have simply reconnected one of the existing heater hoses across in a loop.
I followed the better to need to cut more off than need to add some back on approach.
I noticed the heater value was full of "stuff" which I hope isn't anywhere else in the system.







Next Steps:
- Hopefully get the body shell sold ASAP.
- Work out what needs to be done to fit the rear spring lowering block.
( Based on DonnySoutherner experience this is done before fitting the frame. )
- Give the chassis a good clean (it was stored in a barn) & touch up its paint.
- Then I can start to think about fitting the internal frame work.

But there are a few family events to do before that.

So until next time, take care, Paul.