John Bonnett
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Everything posted by John Bonnett
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thank you Hazen. I know a piece of bent steel would have made a perfectly adequate clamp but I cannot resist a bit of fabrication when an opportunity arises 😉
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I've been very pleased with the Mix'n'Match lamps I've fitted to the Triumph and have decided to use them on the G15. It is important to be seen and these lamps tick that box as well as being pleasing to the eye. (In my opinion) Outer outers are LED stop and tail and the inner outers indicators. Outer inners are reflectors and inner inners reversing and high intensity fog lamps. http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/category/mix-match-lights/ I'm waiting for a suitable size holesaw to drill the rear panel but I have been able to make up aluminium enclosures that will clamp the lamp units tightly in place. Starting with 25mm wide strips of aluminium I rolled cylinders of the correct diameter to allow the outer lamps to slide in and welded them up. End plates were then made and welded in place.
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Thank you Hazen. As with all my projects it's very much Make it up as you go along, which is part of the appeal. I've ordered the lights and the number plate which I can fit and then remove for painting. This will ensure that all the holes are in place and no damage to the paint if fitted afterwards.
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This time a repair using fibreglass was unavoidable. There was a split in the engine cover that needed attention before the painter has it. I have a lot of respect for people who are artists with fibreglass but it's not my favourite material most likely because I'm rubbish at it and generally get in quite a mess . So I screwed a small plate on the flange to hold the fibreglass in place and then sanded a bowl shaped depression that was deepest next to the damaged area. After a coat of resin I built it up using small pieces of matting torn from the sheet. Once cured it was sanded down and job done. Not as bad as I had feared.
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Next job is to prepare the engine cover for painting. Generally it is in good condition but as I don't want to use the round Land rover lamps the holes need filling in. I've taken the easy way out and rather than fill each hole individually I've cut the whole panel and and replaced it with aluminium. I cut it to size and joddled a step so that it fits behind the fibreglass but the front face is flush. I'v made good with filler and sanded it down. A much quicker and easier job than the fibreglassing alternative. I'm going to use the same Mix'n'Match lamps as I have on the Triumph. I think they look good and most importantly the LED brake and rear lights are very bright.
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That's very kind of you. Thank you. But do bear in mind that I am retired and I can and do play every day. I cannot imagine how chaps with families and jobs ever get time to spend on their projects. So I'm full of admiration for you.
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That's a really good point Tim and one I hadn't considered. That explains why the bonnets on some rally cars were matt black. I was only lukewarm about polishing so you have made my mind up for me. it has to be painted. Many thanks.
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Currently Guards Red Roger but as we all suspect, the painter will do it in whatever colour he decides. No, only joshing. I'm sure it will be red if that's what I ask for but whether it turns out as Guards, Nissan or Rosso Red will be in his hands. I'm happy to let him have the final say because red is prone to fading and he will I am sure choose one that is stable. I've still not decided whether to have the bonnet painted or to polish it. I spent an hour or two this morning planishing out the low spots and then sanding down the file marks. Bringing up to a mirror finish will be a lot of work with successively finer grades of paper before polishing. My main concern is that if it were painted it's bound to be scuffed when it comes off every time fuel is needed. So, we'll see.
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Going back to the bonnet for a minute. I had to make supports for it to sit on and decided to make these integral with the bonnet pins. I machined some bobbins from a hard plastic and tapped an M12 thread so that they could be screwed onto the bonnet pins. I then machined out a counter bore. Using four rubber amplifier feet I was able to turn a shoulder on them to suit the counter bores in the bobbins. These provide a 5mm rubber pad for the bonnet to sit on. I was astounded that machining the rubber was possible.
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Preparations are continuing to get the body ready to go for paint. Using the new hinges that I've made, I hung both doors. The hinges themselves are so simple and give a huge amount of adjustment in all directions. The doors shut nicely and the shut lines are acceptable. Another job ticked off.
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I'm gradually ticking the jobs off which need to be done before the body goes for painting. I've now after a lot of hours of adjustment managed to get the bonnet to fit the aperture reasonably well. You may not care for the fixings but in the end, pins were the only option. Hinges would have needed a lot of reinforcement of the aluminium and the same if I added a catch. I could have used Aerocatches which are very elegant but they are heavy and expensive. So I've done what I've done. The parcel shelf is now finished but the surround needs to be glassed in.
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My previous post may have given the impression that I'm thoroughly disgruntled with the project and can't wait to see the back of it but that is absolutely not the case at all; I'm really enjoying every minute of it and all the challenges it continually throws up. My doubts are whether the finished car will give me what I'm looking for on the road which to be honest is probably not possible given the car's origins. Ideally I'd like a car that will leave everything for dead on twisty roads and yet be sufficiently comfortable to drive three hundred miles in a day without too much fatigue. I realise this is an awful lot to ask.
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Unfortunately there is no rear hatch Hazen. It is very much like the Lotus Elan from the back. With the roll cage fitted the rear of the car is fairly inaccessible. It would be a major job to make an opening tailgate. I guess it could be done(well anything can be done) by fabricating a complete frame, hinged and in two halves one bonded to the body and the other the body adjacent to the window. Then slice through the body. To be honest unless the car really surprises me in a good way I'll probably sell it on when it's finished so changing it radically is not on the cards for me. I believe Chris was planning something similar on the T6 so I shall be interested to see how he goes about it.
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I've decided to make the rear parcel shelf removable for improved access to the engine but of course once the rear window is in and the roll cage fitted it won't be terribly useful. Anyway that's what I've decided to do and it's nearly done. I'm missing metal shaping so it was probably just an excuse to do some. The roll cage laid in the car is just a jig 🙂
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The idea is good but as I see it, the problem is that if the overlap is only 1/4 inch and you would need at least a 6mm hole for the plug weld there's not enough metal behind the sill. Hazen my Boy I think you are going to have bite the bullet, and get the car as high off the ground as you can and weld from underneath. You should be okay because it would not be overhead welding and the risk of getting dripped on by hot metal unlikely. Easy for me to say but I cannot think of another way.
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Terrific progress Hazen. You must be really excited about the prospect of getting the car back on the road in the near future. Well done. John
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I like simple Hazen. I can cope with that. I had a pleasant surprise yesterday. The painter can slot my car in at the end of February and having it painted will give the project a terrific boost. There's quite a bit of work for me to do on the bodywork before then so I shall have to change my priorities. Fortunately, the laborious part of the wiring is now behind me and when I come back to it all that will be needed is the finishing.
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I've made the panel for the switches and warning lights and in due course it will be powder coated in matt black. Photos show the original assortment of holes and my solution.
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Ah, that's interesting. I would have expected the dashboards to have come as blanks for the builder to cut holes to suit whatever switches and gauges he was going to fit. I'll pop some pictures up later on.
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I was thinking of cutting out the fibreglass that's hidden under the plate just leaving enough for the plate to fix to.
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I think it's fibreglass Nick but the finish on the front looks like a moulding. Certainly from the back, I would have said fibreglass. I doubt my ability to fill in the holes invisibly so I'm going to cover them up with a plate and then I can mount the switches and warning lights where I want them. It sounds a bit of a naff solution but I think it may look okay. I'll leave you to judge 😉
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The relay and fuse distribution tray is now finished and all the circuits tested. I guess the hard work had already been done in designing the circuits for the Triumph so just copying what I'd already done has been a breeze particularly as I've been able to build it up on the bench. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the dashboard. It has had a lot of holes of different sizes bored in it and worst of all they are out of line with each other. That is probably going to be the next job. I have the switches and warning lights. The gauges are on order but could be a few weeks away.
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Rather than use a T7 heater (which I have used before and have been happy with) I decided to get one from CBS, This might have been a mistake because it is considerably larger but more important a lack of any decent pick up for mounting brackets. I needed to fit it to see how much room I'm left with behind the dashboard. I'm hoping I've won the battle and that it will be okay where I've put it.
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The plan is to fit the electrics to a hinged tray that will drop down for access to the fuses. I've spent a bit of time today making the tray and transferring the components from the plywood to it. It looks like it will work ut quite nicely.
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Thank you Nigel. It's not a Triumph but I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenges it keeps throwing my way. Regarding CBS I have a very high regard for them; good products and competitive prices. I've just ordered a heater from them as well as switches and warning lights. The module you mention is very neat and perhaps would have been a better option for me. It's certainly very compact and easy to mount. Once I've been able to offer the heater up I'll see how much space is left for the fuses and relays. The idea is to hinge the tray on the bulkhead and clip it to the underside of the dashboard, out of the way. When access is needed unclip it and it will drop down into the footwell. The bulk of the cables arrived today so I now have work in progress!