Mister Towed on the road...

[The Shadow]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

No clean up, the rust just looks like shadow in b&w.

looks nothing like me .

[Scottie22]

You tell him Shad!! :-)

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

... Forum's been a bit quiet since Christmas Eve, so I thought a few more pictures might inject a bit of enthusiasm into those still completing their builds...

Mr T - Your photos are always a great source of inspiration.

Weather permitting I might actually get a chance to play outside tomorrow.

In the mean time, can I ask you another quick question?

Do you have a drain hole in the bottom of your battery box?

And if so, where does it drain to?

Cheers, Paul.

PS
Happy New Year!

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Mr T - Your photos are always a great source of inspiration.

Weather permitting I might actually get a chance to play outside tomorrow.

In the mean time, can I ask you another quick question?

Do you have a drain hole in the bottom of your battery box?

And if so, where does it drain to?

Cheers, Paul.

PS
Happy New Year!

Funny you should ask that Paul.

At the moment there is no drain hole in my battery recess. Every time I drive it in the wet or wash it the battery ends up swimming in a pool of water.

After the photoshoot I took the battery out and baled out the pond that had formed, and a drain tube will be added over the next few days. I'm aiming to use a fairly large bore pipe (so it doesn't block) and run it out of the car through a hole in the side of the bulkhead. Will post some pics when it's done.

Keep up the good work and you'll be on the road before you know it.

[Scottie22]

Strange to read about your battery box problem, as only two days ago when I was hacking out my bulk head, I first checked inside the passengers foot well to make sure that I was not going to damage anything when I started cutting.

I noticed a black rubber hose about 20mm diameter running down and going through what looked like the floor, on looking in the battery box
I realised that it was the drain tube.

I remember thinking that I would need to make some sort of wheel arch
to stop the water filling the battery box up!

Good luck with fixing it Mr T.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by Scottie22

Strange to read about your battery box problem, as only two days ago when I was hacking out my bulk head, I first checked inside the passengers foot well to make sure that I was not going to damage anything when I started cutting.

I noticed a black rubber hose about 20mm diameter running down and going through what looked like the floor, on looking in the battery box
I realised that it was the drain tube.

I remember thinking that I would need to make some sort of wheel arch
to stop the water filling the battery box up!

Good luck with fixing it Mr T.

Hit the nail firmly on the thumb there Scottie - I didn't bother with inner wheel arches front or rear as I only envisaged myself driving on sunny days.

What I hadn't bargained for is that I love the car so much I drive it whenever I get the chance, rain or shine.

This isn't a problem in the dry, but in the wet the front wheels throw water all over everything on top of the bulkhead and the battery tray fills up very quickly. At least this proves that I did a decent job of sealing the bulkhead as barely a drip comes down into the footwells, even in heavy rain.

A drain tube will stop the battery tray filling up but to stop the electrics getting soaked I do need to look at fabricating some inner arches in the spring ready for a wet summer...

[Scottie22]

Me too Mr T, when I get round to it, I will look at my GT6 to see how Triumph solved the problem. ( I flogged the Spit bonnet)
Perhaps I can take some pics which may help us both.

Chris did not supply any inner arches as I believe he thought if it had no roof no one in their right mind would drive in the rain!

Like you I drove my seven about a lot and had to shelter in a filling stations to dodge the rain!

[Paul L]

Mr T - Sorry, there is another thing I've been meaning to ask you...
How have you and your passengers coped with getting in & out of the car?
In other words, is there any real issues with not having doors?

Also in response to your debate with Scottie about front wheel arches.
Here are some photos I'd "tucked away" for when I have to think about that issue.

Hope they help, Paul.

Jerome's Herald/Spyder





Patoune's Spitfire/A352

[Mister Towed]

No doors, no problem.

To get in you just step over the side onto the seat and slide yourself down under the steering wheel, placing one hand on the middle of the rear bodywork to take your weight (I braced that bit of the shell with a massive dob of bonding paste between the underside of the body and the top of my wooden luggage bay for that very reason) and one hand on the side.

To get out you just reverse the process. The passenger side is even easier as there's no steering wheel in the way. When I first looked at Gary J's demonstrator, old '66, I thought it needed doors. I'd now say they might actually make it harder to get in and out and I'm glad I went without.

I do keep a couple of small, rear floor mats in the car to put on the seats to stop them getting dirty though.

I won't be putting quite such industrial grade inner arches in mine, impressive though they are. Something light and simple will do me.

[micky1mo]

Your so right

Door are a pain to fit, hinge, shut and the alway need bracing some where
.
Not only that but because fiberglass doors normaly flex they tend to feel unsafe.

Just climb in and hang-on "racing driver" style.

[Scottie22]

Than you for that Paul, most of the solutions here are far too industrial for my taste, and like Mr T, I want something very simple and light.
In fact something very similar to what Triumph used to start with!

[scimjim]

I must say that Patoune's enclosed alloy panelling suits the concept of the a352 engine bay perfectly to my mind? (ie idea stolen )

[Scottie22]

Scimjim,

I would agree, but my car does not have a flip front, so I need something small and neat as to have better access. Without the flip front, access is rather more limited

[rattler]

hi s/t just cut a plastic 45 gall drum light and wont rust .its my solution hope this helps dave r

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by rattler

hi s/t just cut a plastic 45 gall drum light and wont rust .its my solution hope this helps dave r

Yep, seen your great idea on your build thread. I'm likely to copy that one...

[Scottie22]

[IMG][/IMG]

Did you ever cut your louvres out in the end?

[Mister Towed]

Ha ha! That is an awful lot of louvres.

It's not the first time I've been asked about an excess of hot air, just the first time it's related to my car and not my conversational skills.

I didn't cut out the louvres, they're still just dummies. Instead I've installed a secondary radiator from a Toyota MR2 at the back of the car.

I'll plumb that in with a BMW electric water pump and thermostatically controlled valve in the spring, and I'm hoping that it will address the excess engine heat generated at constant motorway speeds.

I'll keep you posted.

[Scottie22]

A friend sent me a series of old car pics he thought I would be interested in,
and amongst them was this little gem, I could not help but think of you!

Your car actually is an improvement of this one, but the designer of your body shell surely must have had this in mind at the time?

[IMG][/IMG]

[oxford1360]

And the purpose of that windscreen is?

[froggyman]

Originally Posted by oxford1360

And the purpose of that windscreen is?

Somewhere to rest the wipers!!!!!!!!!!