Scottie - I love your home made metal bending machine. :cool:

The other thing I like about your updates is I recognise the Spitfire sections underneath.

I will now look at using those seat belt anchors to join my rear arches to the Cordite framework.

Good luck, Paul. :)

PS
Your "old" seat covers are going to look great.

They are certainly strong enough Paul!
The seat belt anchors, not the leather seats!

I finally got the three bolts in place which will hold the lower edge of the heat shield. This job had to done before bonding, as afterwards, there would be no access to do it.

As a first time builder, I maybe have some odd ideas about certain things, let me elaborate:

When people talk about “bonding the body on” My inexperienced brain just thinks “glue”

When the car is complete, I may eventually bow to peer pressure and install a 2 litre turbo 250 BHP engine, which will give the car around 400 BHP per ton, and the thought of whanging
Round the Nurenbergring at 145 mph, with just GLUE holding the body on really Horrifies me.

But, I WILL use the stuff Chris recommends, but will augment this with good old fashioned stainless steel nuts and bolts.

On that subject I bough some today and nearly had a heart attack when I had to pay for them!!

Here are some not so clear pics:

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7629e07e.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6b9b94cb.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psccc0be42.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdf9fa542.jpg[/IMG]

I forgot to add, that is just the tail bonded in, I have yet to do the nose and sides.

Carrying on with the build, and as always, so far NOTHING has been simple or straight forward, everything seems complicated.
Today carries on in that theme………………….


Before I bond the nose, I have to line it up, and noticed that the bonnet opening was resting on the radiator frame.

That won’t do.
I am determined to get the nose as low down as it will go, (without putting it under stress.)
I also noticed that the rad cap was really high and may foul the bonnet, so, before I can move forward, I have to lower the radiator.
F**%”!g B%*”*+x

I took out the rad and the U frame it sits on.

I chopped off the two U frame mounts, and welded them back on a bit lower down, then chopped about an inch out of the U frame so the rad will sit lower in it.

I have rested it all back in, to check how much room I’ve gained, and it’s about two inches. That’s a good result, but it took best part of the day to do!!

And it’s not finished yet.

I’ve ordered an electric fan, so before I bolt the rad back in place, the shitty plastic fan will be removed, which should provide a small gain all round.

The following pics show some of it:

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse83163ac.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse6867a08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6bde8559.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4c1866ff.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse229ac72.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6416bbc2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3f3c1f7e.jpg[/IMG]

Had a good chuckle at your swearing/escapades.

I can fully relate, everything goes wrong, snaps, shears, or is knackered when dealing with an old car, especially a triumph. Ive spent the best part of a year recomissioning a knackered dolomite.

Ive lost count the amount of times over the past 12 months ive been under a car screaming the word F&*! at it.

Scottie - Another great job. :cool:

This is another thing that might come in useful on my build when it comes to fitting the bonnet.

One thing I keep forgetting to ask is why you relocated the battery to the boot?

Good luck, Paul. :)

PS
Thanks for the PM, I've just sent a reply.

Re-sited battery
 

I have been asked why I re-sited the battery to the boot, I should have explained this before, it is simply a question of access.

As most people know, a Spitfire has a flip front, which makes the battery easy to get at and change if needed.

My body shell does not, and if the battery were left in place, it would be trapped forever!!

That is also the reason I had to move the fuse box.
It’s always fiddly to change a fuse, but when access is difficult and you can’t actually see it, it makes life hard.

Incidentally, I had to move the chassis commission plate from the nearside of the car to where it is now, otherwise it would have been trapped out of sight between the two body skins.

And as far as I know this plate is the only bit of info which can identify the car.

As a 1971 vehicle it came out before Vin numbers were dreamed up, and has only two letters and four figures! Those were the days.

You didn’t have to lock your doors in those days, there was no crime, policemen were nice blokes, females knew their place, etc. etc and all that old drivel…………….
.Oh well…..


[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4d5c225c.jpg[/IMG]

ooh Scotty boy . I still don't lock my doors ( bin burgaled fifteen times but don't lock them! )
police men are nice people . just ask ask mr towed or tony the tiger
females do know there place. they are in charge

cars vmoving on in leeps and bounds mate. will be on the road before you now it. you planning trips to goodwood or anything next year?

Next year
 

If I finish it for the spring, I want to go to a Triumph day and tell them its a triumph, then go to a Jaguar day and tell them the same!!
Then watch their faces!!

Scottie - Sorry, I'd completely forgotten the A352 bonnet doesn't flip up. :rolleyes:

I think you will have a lot of fun at Triumph/Jaguar events. :cool:

Cheers, Paul. :)

saga
 

I did a bit more today, while I was taking the fan off; I noticed a way to dump the rad down another half inch with little work.
I seem to be obsessed by lowering everything, but a lower centre of gravity is not a bad thing after all.

I cut two slots in the U frame, reinforced it and bolted it back in place. I still have to modify (shorten) the support brackets, but that’s an easy job..

When the electric fan arrives I’ll wire it in and start the engine to try it out.
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psca640271.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps129a98eb.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaad2c6ee.jpg[/IMG]

Ah yes, nostalgia for the sixties...

I grew up then. There was no crime, those happy-go-lucky Kray brothers saw to that.

Children could play safely in the streets, watched over by that nice Ian Brady and his lovely girlfriend, Myra Hindley and protected from the harmful rays of the sun by the shade cast by the Aberfan slag heap.

A man could enjoy a few beers, say twenty, and feel confident that he could drive home from the pub without fear of being persecuted by the Police because they were busy dealing with real crime, like homosexual men enjoying each other's company in private or a printer publishing a disgusting book about some posh bint having it away with her lower class gardner.

And as a child I slept safe in my bed knowing that if I was cheeky to a copper I'd get a sound thrashing from said bobby before being dragged home by my ear'ole to face another sound thrashing from fatha for bringing the law to his door.

Ahh, those were the days.

But you tell the young folks that today and they won't believe you. No they won't.

Car's looking good btw :)

Very amusing Mr T!!
All very true though.

Rev counter
 

I did some indoor work today, as I am sick of working out in the cold.

I intend to use Jaguar dials in my dashboard.

The repro ones that companies sell for replica XKSS cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and that’s exchange too.

Not for me, besides, the repro dials look like repro, and do not have the quality look that genuine Jag ones have.

So, I took my Spit rev counter apart and took my Jag one apart, and after a bit of cutting, drilling, filing, swearing, f*****g things up a few times , I finally ended up with the Spitfire rev counter guts bolted into the Jaguar case, complete with the Jag dial back in place.
Does it work? Well, it worked when it came out of the Spit, and I’ve only changed the dial and pointer, so it should, but I can’t check it in the car, as the radiator’s not in place
‘cos the fan’s not arrived yet, etc etc.

It will I am sure, make the needle go around the dial, and that’s all I want.

Here are some pics:

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0d5510e4.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5428c072.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd6fee021.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdab23094.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps6d20f89a.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG][IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd37c6574.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

http://<a href="http://s928.photobuc...psec01c705.jpg[/IMG]

Nice detail work Scotty! It's all in the detail.
Good build. Keep going.
Seanick :pop2:

Thanks for the positive comments Seanick, how's your build going?

is the rev counter just for show i assume as the scales are different?

I.e 0 - 5.5k for the jag one and 0 - 7k for spitfire

As long as the needle moves, and it did before, I don't really mind!

Today
 

Today I had high hopes, the electric fan arrived, I wanted to remove the two tubular stays for the U rad bracket, cut and shut them, fit the fan, fit the rad,
Refill the system with antifreeze and fire up the engine to test the rev counter.
It did not work out that way.

The nearside bracket came off okay and was modded painted and re- fitted.
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2ac36e08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

The off side one did not want to come off at all. We argued for a long time,
We fought for even longer, I bear the scars:

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps15a45b5d.jpg[/IMG]

In the end, I lost it, and returned to the workplace with the dreaded
CUTTING DISC.

I attacked the stubborn, rusty, rounded, obstinate M.F of a nut with
Maximum violence! That always works! (Ask any terrorist or despot)


Unfortunately I used too much violence and started to cut through the chassis tower which supports the spring. Poosticks!!
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd1786dcf.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2c9d8557.jpg[/IMG]

Eventually I had it back together, and the unplanned cut welded, but this all took so long, I never got the rad in or the fan on, but here’s a pic of it anyway:

Another day, another dollar……….


[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps34b2287b.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps38624b3c.jpg[/IMG]