Thursday 14 February 2013

Scuttle

Hi

Busy day again and got stuck in to something that I was worried about doing but knew I had to get it fixed and that is the removal and making of a new scuttle.

What got me finally to do it was the difficulty in removing the windscreen wiper drives, I could not undo the nuts without the whole drive turning and bending the drive shaft, and it was next to impossible to get a grip on it from underneath. So before I resorted to a hacksaw on the nuts I decided to get the scuttle off and try to get access, this still turned out to be an impossible task so the hacksaw came out.
There are a few things to remove to allow the scuttle to come out, firstly and the easiest was the battery box, the fuse box lifts, turns and drops through the hole so that was easy. The bonnet stops unscrewed and that left just the windscreen wiper motor.
The scuttle has a dozen cracks in it, mostly where the bonnet hinges are bolted on, where it is all broken into pieces.
The motor drive is kept on with a circlip on the cog and a nut where the drive tube enters.
After undoing the nut and removing the circlip the drive pulls off and the whole motor can be lifted from the car, undoing the electrics first.
I also removed the drive arm and fitted it back on the motor as no doubt when I come to refit it, it will have disappeared.
The drive tube fits through a nice tight hole in the scuttle which was probably put through from the outside and the wiper drives slide on and tightened in position, unfortunately I can't get to them so I just cut the plastic and slide the tube through the slit. I was also unwilling to attempt to remove the plug from the power lead, so a hole was cut and the plug pushed through.

It is surprisingly rust free underneath after 26 years, just a few odd bits here and there that where easily sanded clean.
I was now able to get a grip of the drive underneath with a pair of mole grips but the nuts still refused to come off so as Terry B suggested I took a hacksaw to them and off they came.
Once the cut was made the nuts turned of easily.
Terry also suggest S-V-C as having spares nuts, they also have nice chrome outer bezels and chrome jets so when I call about the nuts I shall order new chrome parts.
The wiper drives pushed through the holes and the mechanism easily pulled out along with the jets.
Once all out I got busy wire brushing and sanding the frame work and giving it a good clean before painting.
I have just returned from the sheet metal shop where I took the scuttle, I am having it bent in 1mm galvanised steel. I don't expect the metal shop to take there time and get it to fit perfect especially as they don't have the car to test fit. So I am only having them do 3 bends, the front bend and the 2 at the back.
I shall then slit both sides where it drops for the hinges and fill in the sides, when all welded I'll have it powder coated and fingers crossed it will look the part, if not I shall repair the original and put that back but that's for next time home
See ya Paul

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Wings on

Hi
Snowing again, wonderful
 
I have managed to get the sills fitted to both sides of the car, the sills are made of galvanised steel which is steel with a thin zinc coating to protect it. Zinc can also act as an anode due to electrolytic action when in contact with other metals and water especially salty water which causes the zinc to dissolve protecting the steel. I have made and fitted many of these over my years in the engine room at sea so hopefully to prevent this happening on my new sills I have (I hope) given them lots of protection by separating them from the steel of the chassis with lots of coats of paint, silicon sealant and the inside where there is no silicone I painted with waxoil. To protect the outside from the elements I have glued on a covering of neoprene rubber.
This serves two purposes, firstly to give extra protection and secondly to bring the step out that little bit more to add to the thickness of the sill, with the two added together it brings the step in line with the body and allows the piping to run parallel.
When all painted and fitted I shall spray everything with rubberised underseal the same as the rest of the underside so no chance of water ingress.
 
Once the glue was dry it was time to test fit the wing piping and steps with rubber separators between the wing flanges and the step edges.
 

The wing piping fit nicely between the steps and a few snips on the inner curve allowed the piping to bend around the rear wing then I marked off the rivet holes and popped a hole in with the hole punch, this allowed the skin pins to go in and to be ready for the rivets.
I am very pleased with the look of the piping, I guess it would have looked better with the vinyl piping but what the hell the rubber still looks good.
 
I have had a bit more work to do on the drivers side as there was a rather large gap where the rear wing mated with the step, I have given this a couple of coats of filler until it was flush with the rubber.
I then test fitted the rear wing with the step before heading of to the powder coater's.
I did say a few blog's ago that because the steps are hidden and I was just going to paint and waxoil then underseal but decided that as I had other bits to be powder coated I may as well have these done as well.
I picked them up from the powder coaters today and they look great.
I fit the steps and wings with the wing piping and they are now ready for the paint job, the finishing prep will be done by the paint sprayer.
The rear wing fit very well where I built it out with filler although it still needs a lot of work before painting.
 
 
I am quite happy with the two sides and they will look great once finally painted but that's still a bit away.
 
I got a few other items powder coated, unfortunately after searching the house and garage and loft I could not find the door stops. I remember taking them off and even have a photo but can I find them, not a chance. I have no doubt they will turn up at some time but not when I needed them.
I still managed to get the hinges and backing plates done also the supports for the headlight, The hinges need a bit of work to get them moving but I decided to get them coated first before putting any oil on them.
Well happy with progress so far, even had the engine running today, just to keep it oiled and the cooling water circulated, nothing to do with just listening to its V6 and revving it up.
 
See ya Paul
 


Friday 8 February 2013

Sill

Hi
Home again and back to work.

I decided on a few changes while away, mostly to do with the spoiler and the step sill's.
Firstly I have decided  to dump the spoiler idea, looked good but did not fit. Nothing wrong with the spoiler it cleaned up great and it fit perfect on one side unfortunately one side of the car is Dr Jekyll and the other side is Mr Hyde
You can see the shape, thickness and roundness of the passenger wing. Dr Jekyll
Bit of a difference on the drivers side, which is the problem. Mr Hyde
So anyone want a spoiler.

I also decided that after all of the time and money spent on the car, that using the vinyl wrapped wing piping would be something I would regret every time I looked at it. So I bit the bullet and bought the rubber version.
After cutting slits in the flange section the piping bends lovely.
It cost over £50 for the vinyl wrapped but it would not take a sharp bend.
So anyone want 10mt's of 6mm vinyl wrapped wing piping.

The next change is the sill's that where originally part of the step cover, I cut these off and was going to re-fit them unfortunately I realised that the lower flange section would be to short to accept the flange section of the wing piping and I would not be able to seal it properly.
It really needed to drop down the full length of the car chassis rails and the step bolted directly onto it, this will allow the piping flange to be trapped between them and seal. So on the first day home I went to my local sheet metal shop and had them make up two sills in 2mm galvanised plate and have just picked them up today.
I have spent the afternoon cutting out the excess material to fit to the body work and fitting the drivers side.
I painted the back of the sill with waxoil then sealed all the edges with sikoflex and riveted into position, I also temporarily bolted it tight on with the step bolts.
This also has the benefit of closing the gaps that where created by the ill fitting original as I had these bent to the correct size.
Once the wings and steps are fitted you wont notice that there has been any changes especially when covered in underseal.
I have also got on with other bits and pieces while waiting for the sills, mostly the little jobs like sandblasting all of the rusty parts. These are the door hinges and I am hoping to have them powder coated along with the steps, just hoping the hinges will move after the powder coating.
I have also stripped all of the shiny bits of the car and have been attempting without success to remove the windscreen wiper drives in preparation for the paint job, any clues?
 
The paint guy I mentioned last time has been around to have a look at the car and to decide on how to do it, he has made a few suggestions which I am more than happy to go along with as he has over 30 years of experience building hot rods and restoring all kinds of cars so any thing he suggests I am more than willing to go along with.
His first suggestion was to scrap the idea of candy paint, basically there is no need to use candy as there are more modern paints that give the same effect but without the problems involved in the prep and spraying. I am waiting for the test colour panel being sprayed, I am going for a sparkly red and pearlescent white with the white coming from the bonnet and down to the rear wing in the style of the Austin Healey.
Well thats the idea.
 
See ya Paul