Another Cordite Is Born ...

[8 Valve Ed]

Paul, can you remind me why you are planning to drill the bolts to fit 'R' pins?

If it's to stop them coming undone, then use locktite, or locking 'Nylock' nuts or even two nuts tightened against one another. I don't recognise the need to lock a bolt with that level of security, even on a vibrating roller!

[swifty]

Paul the advice i can give is that you really need to hold the bolt or any round item you intend to drill in a vice putting a flat on first is a good idea if drilling by hand with a pistol drill (pillar drill with a clamped vice is far better and safer) but also use a center punch where you intend to drill and take it easy with the pressure as a sharp drill should do the work, whilst on the subject of drill bits a good quality high speed steel or as it commonly know HSS drill will be ok, i use these every day to drill stainless steel as well as other metals and find them great only need to sharpen when the cutting edge is knocked off, also use a lubricant while drilling just a little bit at a time, you can buy cutting fluids specifically for different metals but as an easy alternative at home WD40 or engine oil is ok and you will keep the drill bit sharper for longer, you will get smoking when the oil becomes hot but don't worry it's normal and some of the specific cutting fluids have an awful smell.

What i also do is drill a pilot hole first as it's easier to drill large holes this way (give it a try and i guarantee you will see how easy it is especially drilling steel or stainless steel), by pilot hole i mean measure the chisel edge of the final drill size for the hole required and use a drill equal too or 2/3rds the chisel edge length to drill a pilot hole then drill the hole to the size required. I've outlined what the chisel edge is in the drawing below.

drill.jpg



The colbalt drills are brittle compared to HSS but also if you put too much pressure on the drill bit while not holding the part securely and start to wobble the pistol drill then its a recipe for disaster especially the smaller the drill bit is. Some good info here http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit

One thing to remember is we all snap drill bits from time to time the worst thing to snap in a job is a tap as is means you either have it spark eroded out or start the whole job again which is a real pain so i reality a couple of snapped drill bits is nothing.

Keep up the great work Paul as not only will you have a fully functioning car on the road built by yourself but also a wealth of knowledge in all things mechanical which i bet four years ago you never dreamed of.

[Paul L]

ReneAnglia - Unfortunately, this is only drill I have and now it seems to be "wobbling" on me.



Scottie - Unfortunately, the grille pattern seems to cause "interference" when I try to photograph it.
But it does look really good in real life and I am happy to have reached the right place in the end.

8 Value Ed - The problem I have comes from using a bolt as the hinge pivot in the first place.



I need the nut to be tight enough to lightly "squeeze" the two halves of the scissor bracket.
( This has the effect of "dampening" the bonnet opening, otherwise it would really "snap" open. )

The problem seems to be that one half of the hinge tries to undo the nyloc nut when the bonnet is opened.
So my "simple" plan was to use the "R' clip to limit the distance the nut could move.

However, I will also try the double nut approach and maybe add some extra washers as well.

Swifty - Thanks for the detailed reply and you are certainly right that I am learning a lot on this build.
As I don't have a vice, pillar drill, or even a workbench, it would be safer to get someone else to do this for me.
Given the amount of work I have actually done myself, getting some help to drill 6 holes doesn't seem too bad.

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Weather Watch:
Another wet and miserable day here at the moment.

But I might be able to start looking at the boot access panel late this afternoon.

Cheers, Paul.

[garyh]

Take it off hammer...

[swifty]

Paul if you use the double nut lock principle then i think you should be able to get the correct amount of friction and if in the future the brackets wear you can re tighten the nut's again.

Here's an image of the double nut principle, you tighten the nuts up against each other. You don't have to have a shallow lock nut use two of the same depth.

twonuts_thin_nut_onbottom.jpg

[reneanglia]

Paul i did'nt mean the machine,but the drill bit.
This is used as a very accurat drill to predrill holes.
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=1230

[Paul L]

GaryH - Cheeky git!

Although based on previous "lessons", I not only check it isn't in hammer mode, but also not in reverse.

Swifty - Thanks again, see below.

Rene - Sorry, my mistake, a lot of this is new to me.

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On a KISS roll...
I used the damp weather outside as another excuse to tidy up the Summer House for the umpteenth time.

Before:





After:



While I was tidying I found some nuts and bolts for the two car horns & packed them away at the same time.



I also I left out my 45mm M12 bolts and the nyloc nuts they were supplied with, plus some spanners.

So when it was finally dry enough, I could try the KISS "double nut" approach on the bonnet hinge.

First I had to prop up the bonnet so I could remove the bolt without it dropping.



Then it was a pretty straight forward swap for the longer bolt and the two nyloc nuts.



Well it was straight forward on the passenger side...

As the fibreglass repair work on the driver's side made it a little tricky to remove the old bolt.



But after much swearing and grazing of knuckles, the old bolt came out & the new bolt went in.

It was quite hard to get a decent photo of the two hinge bolts in place, so this was the best I could do.



A quick check showed that the bonnet still has a "damped" opening action, so all is good.

Thanks again for the double nut suggestion, much easier than trying to drill a small hole in a bolt!

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Although it had stopped raining, the skies were still black, so I switched to working on the exhaust shields.

First I made a slightly more symmetrical template.



Then I marked up some sheet metal.



Before using my jig saw to cut them out and my angle grinder to tidy them up a bit.



Note:
I will be trimming the inside edges of the shields to match the body shell.

Also, if you look closely at the last photo you will see the first drops of rain that were my signal to call it a day.

I still need to drill out some rivet holes in these shields and shape them to match the bodyshell.

So until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Boot Access Panel:
I wasn't looking forward to peeling off the car covers and having another attempt at getting these locking pins to work.



But as it is the last major stumbling block to making some real progress on this build, it had to be done.

I started by removing all the locking pins.



Then I spent a lot of time looking through the holes seeing if everything lined up & trying to work out what I was doing wrong.

I also tried to locate the holes using the fixing bolts and this gave me an idea, which involved taping the lock to the bolt...



As it occurred to me that previously I was fixing one part into position & then fixing the other.

I could get this "combined" bolt into each of the holes in turn, so I refitted the locking pins & taped all the bolts in place.



The good news was that all four bolts slid into place with a little bit of a wiggle.

The bad news is that it is this requirement to "wiggle" the bolts to fit that is causing the problem.

The sad fact is that all the curves and angles in both the panel and the boot opening are impossible to line up in an operational way.

OK, let me clarify that a bit, they are impossible for me to line up.

So there is no point in fitting a system that runs the risk of being either unable to close, or worse, unable to open.

Therefore in the spirit of KISS which has worked out quite well lately, I am abandoning the locking pin idea.

Unfortunately, the alternative quick release pins I bought won't work either.



As the mounting plates for the bolts are outside the rain channel.



So the holes around the pins would simply let water into the boot, which would defeat the all effort I put into making the boot seal.

I also had another look at the possibility of using this type of lock too.



But there is simply not enough space for them to work without major re-working of both the boot opening & the lid.

So all in all, I spent a lot of time and thought today just to confirm that I need to go back to the drawing board.

Previously I talked about using this style of external catch, which can be locked.



I just need to double check the measurements of the mounting points on the various catch sizes to avoid the rubber seal below.





However, in order for that approach to work, I will need a way of "locating" the boot lid into the right position.

Hopefully I will be able to re-use the mounting plates for the locking pin bolts & "just" add something to the boot lid for it to locate in.

This is something I need to put a bit of thought into, but off the top of my head, I could bolt these to the body shell.



Then I could take a fibreglass mould from the cone and 'glass it into place on the lid.

Hopefully that would allow the lid to sit in the correct position, before the catches then keep it there.

The other thing I will need to do is lower the rain channel edge that the rubber seal sits on.

As despite the seal being squashed by the lid all Winter, the boot lid still sits a little bit too proud.

So while I don't feel I have made much progress on one hand, on the other I think I can see a way forward.

I will certainly be very glad when this boot lid is finally sorted out.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Another miserable day here, so not much to report...

Passenger Side Mirror Pedestal:
This was how I originally fitted the passenger side mirror.



But I want to mount it on a pedestal for two reasons:
- It should make it a functioning mirror, rather than a shiny decoration.
- My making one side different to the other (I'm leaving the driver's side mirror as it is) it adds to the overall lack of symmetry.

If I want to stick to KISS, then there are two basic options:

Make the bracket work inside to out, like this C Type Jag:



But I am going to follow Mister Towed and make it front to back:



With hindsight I would have been better off ordering side mirrors with a single bolt, but such is life.

So I started making a cardboard template for the mirror to bolt to.



Next I went back to the two holes in the body shell.
( Because these line up with the mirror on the driver's side. )



The base will be longer than the top to give a slope at the front, so I could add an extra mounting hole.



Thankfully I spotted this might be in the way of people climbing in over the side.

So the MkII version puts the extra hole in front of the existing two holes.



I did check and there is no access problem on the other side of this extra hole.

Next I made a template for the base.



Unfortunately, the curve of the body shell makes this job a little more complicated.

The basic shape of the pedestal will be something like this.



But I can't bolt something like that to the side of the car, or this will happen...



Completely useless!

So I need to shape the vertical sides of the pedestal to blend in with the side of the body shell, something like this.



However, if there is an angle here, then the base needs to be wider to join up properly.



Given my sloping drive, I can't set this angle until I have the body shell off the framework.

But at least I now have a better idea of what I need to do.

I also know that I can make three sides out of a single piece of metal which I will need to bend.

Then I can weld the base section into place and add a bit of bracing here and there.

As long as I can still get to the various bolts I should be OK.

Thanks all for now, take care, Paul.

PS
I've ordered the external catches for the boot lid & have a pretty good idea how I can "locate" the lid.

[Paul L]

Odds & Ends - Part 1:
Yesterday I spent a bit of time looking back at the photos of my cardboard template for the mirror pedestal.

Then it dawned on me that I might be barking up the wrong tree with this "simple" design, which was going to work something like this.



I posted a photo yesterday that showed how I would have to extend the back of this bracket to match the curve of the body shell.



But I didn't think about the front edge yesterday.

It would be quite tricky to do the same thing here without it looking like a dogs dinner.



So this approach is not quite the KISS solution I had in mind.

This meant going back to the drawing board again and I found these photos on Google Images.









A variety of styles here, many from the "function over form" school of design / pit lane adjustments.

So I have a brief look at an option that would use some of the small box section I have available.



If I made the mirror mounting plate a little bigger & made 3 box section "legs", all I would then need is a base plate for the body shell.

Something like this.



This would have the added advantage of retaining the two holes in the body shell, thus making this bracket an optional extra.
( Giving you the choice of fitting the mirrors with, or without it. )

Although looking at the photos again, I might have to include a small vertical edge around the mirror mounting plate for safety.

Note:
As always, I am open to feedback and suggestion about this approach to mounting the mirror.

In fact, part of me is tempted to put this in the "nice to have" pile and only come back to it when the rest of the car is done.

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Anyway, for today, my next job was to fix the petrol cap base ring, so I made sure there was a dust sheet underneath the hole.



Then I mixed up a small quantity of bonding paste and spread it all around.



Then when the rivets were used, it squeezed out any excess paste like so.



Later on, when the paste was set solid I trimmed it off with a sharp blade.



One thing to note was just how much effort was required to "pop" the rivets, I thought I was going to burst a blood vessel.

Unfortunately, this meant that not all the rivet pins came away cleanly.

They should all look like this.



But most of them few ended up looking like this.



End of Part 1...

[Paul L]

Odds & Ends - Part 2:
My final job for today was to make a plinth for the rear number plate, as there is no where for it to sit flush.



I put some parcel tape over the reflective side of the rear plate and used that to squash the fibreglass filler I had applied.





By chance I had mixed the perfect quantity of bonding paste for the petrol cap base, but lightening didn't strike twice with the filler.

As it turned out, not only did I not mix enough, I also moved the plate when I realised that I have aligned it horizontally, but not vertically.

Shoving the plate upwards to fix this left a few holes in the bottom section, but I didn't notice until after I removed the plate.

Obviously I had to wait until the filler had set pretty solid before I peeled it off & this is what I revealed.



I will leave this to set fully before I "top up" the filler and create a solid base to mount the number plate.

I'm sure that by the time I've finished sanding it and give it a coat of etch primer it will look much better.

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Whilst I didn't get the chance to do more today, at least this is another step in the right direction.

Plus given how hard the rain is currently lashing down, I was very lucky with the weather earlier.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[reneanglia]

Paul i think you're right with barking up the wrong tree..........
My honest opinion about the pedestal...............it looks like a bob the builder solution........
Go for the tripod solution like the no.2 ferrari(wich has two stacks).........using a tripod system makes it easier to adjust
René

[8 Valve Ed]

I think it's neat, I just cringe at the added weight! I would grind out the centre leaving the periphery and pillars where the bolts are so the plate isn't crushed in with the pressure. Maybe build the plinth out a little and blend into the main panel. Would look very 'finished'.

[Scottie22]

Paul, I must offer my condolancies to you on the death of the boot fixing idea!
I know how long you worked on it, and must feel frustrated.

I have been up blind ally's myself, and its not nice. Console yourself with the thought that at least now you will not waste any more time on it.

Perhaps you could use two flat locating lugs at one end and one locking device at the other? maybe even straps?

Or even a set of external hinges at one end?

Reference the snapping of the rivet shaft, don't worry about it, quite a few of mine went the same way! At least they are real rivets!

[Paul L]

Rene - See below for my latest attempt at being a bit more Ferrari.

8 Value Ed - Given all the other over engineered metal I've added, the mirror mount will not make too much difference.

Scottie - Cheers, I plan to use a combination of both internal locating pins and external (lockable) catches.

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Flying Visit:
Did a bit more tinkering this morning, before other chores take up the rest of my day.

I had another think about the mirror pedestal and decided that using square edges & box section was not helping.

I do have some steel tube I could play with, but this might be a bit too big, although I could get a smaller diameter.



I could also use a more "organic" shaped based with a lip to avoid a flat edge "hazard".



I used some thin plastic tube for the mock up.





Looking at the last photo, I could move the top of the two "outside" support tubes inwards a bit, to create more of a cross brace.

But as I said yesterday, I think I might just leave this design to one side for now & get on with other things.

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Then I went outside, where despite being sunny the wind was making it feel bitterly cold.

I tidied up the petrol cap base ring.



Then prepared the area for a bit of etch primer.





Although this last photo has highlighted the fact I need to trim some bonding paste off one of the rivets.

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The final job for the day was to roughly sand down the rear number plate plinth.



Then I added some more fibreglass filler to build up the "holes".



I will finish tidying up the bottom edge of this plinth when I have removed the body shell.
( As it would be a lot easier to see what I am doing with the body shell turned upside down. )

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I didn't think I would get anything done today, so I am happy with a little progress.

But I've really got to go now, cheers, Paul.

[Paul L]

Struggling To Keep It Simple:
While I was waiting for the morning's rain to dry up, I quickly re-arranged the mock up of the mirror pedestal.

Just a small change to where the two "outside" tubes join the top plate.

Before:



After:



This design is really starting to grow on me, especially if I make it an "optional extra" that can easily be removed.

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I cleaned off the small ring of bonding paste around one of the rivets on the petrol cap ring.

Then gave it a quick touch up with etch primer.



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The four external catches I ordered turned up today and this gives you an idea of their size compared to the locking pins.



Although I may make some simple metal plates & rivet them to the body shell to spread the load of the fixings.



Note:
I would paint the plates BRG to match the petrol cap base ring & exhaust shields.

I need to sort out the locating pins before I can think about fitting these.

But that will be something I can only do by crawling under the body shell when I remove it.

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I sanded down the extra filler I had applied to the rear number plate plinth yesterday.

I plan to finish off the bottom edge when I can turn the body shell upside down.

But for now, I just marked a straight line at the bottom as a rough guide.



I also softened all the edges.





There are still a few ares that I need to "top up" with filler, but that will do for now.

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Unfortunately, when I looked at how I could the mount the LED number plate lights, the wheels came off a bit.

The problem is that the fixing bolt is simply not long enough.



The nut is at the very end of the thread and doesn't cover the depth of the plinth & number plate.

At this point I cursed my lack of experience, then just cursed in general in an attempt to make me feel better.

My initial thoughts started to think building about how to build a "hollow" mounting point for the LEDs.

This would involve making a hole in the body shell behind the mounting point to reach the LED nut.

After a short period of beard scratching it was clear it would take a huge amount of extra work to fit the "wrong" part.

When I first saw the LED number plate lights I thought they were a great idea.

But the cold reality is they are not a great idea for me.

So it was back to the drawing board (again) and I had another look at DaveCymru's great set up.



By chance, on the same page of Dave's build thread there was this photo of Mister Towed's & Phil9's cars.



Clearly Phil has the same "traditional" light & after a quick look at a few other photos, so do lots of others.

Which makes me question why on earth I am trying to re-invent the wheel in the first place.

Given that I have already built a plinth for the number plate, I would need to build one for this style of number plate light too.

Whilst this wouldn't be too hard to do, it did lead me to have a closer look at the way Mr T's light works.



This is actually a great use of something designed for motorcycles.



Which means Mr T can simply bolt his number plate to this and doesn't need any sort of plinth.

So clearly I would be much better off If I simply stole every good idea that Mister Towed has on his car.

However, I do take a crumb of comfort from the fact that this was not his first design idea either.

But the real key for me is that I am slowly getting better at spotting the start of a wild goose chase.

This means that I have now ordered the same rear number plate light as Mr T.

When it arrives, I will "simply" grind out a section of the number plate plinth so it can be fitted flush.

I will also need to adjust the rear wiring loom, but overall I am still saving time with this approach.

So I don't mind the fact I need to buy something else, as saving time is a bigger priority for me at this stage.

Unfortunately, this is another day when I need to spend more time on non car stuff.

So until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Possible Boot Lid Breakthrough:
I am in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment waiting for my new tarpaulin to arrive so I can remove the body shell.
( Which will mark the start of the final preparation work on the rolling chassis / moon rover. )

But I got some new bolts and penny washers in the post today, so it was time to go back to this nightmare...



I ground the thread off one end of bolt just to see if my idea for a locating pin would work.



The basic plan is to re-use the four existing bolt mounting plates, but move the holes to use the penny washers.

Top Edge:



Bottom Edge:



Then the "locating" bolt would fit something like this.



I would then add a new section to the underside of the lid for these bolts to fit into.

However, I need to fix the problem I was having with the locking pins, which is linked to getting all four bolt to line up at the same time.

If I look at the top edge bolts from above, they are petty much pointing straight up.



However, the bolts on the bottom edge would currently end up at an angle off vertical.



Whereas I need them to point straight up to match the top edge ones, something like this.



I think this came about after trying to keep the locking pins perpendicular to the lid, but the lid itself curves from top to bottom.

Unfortunately, while fixing that is straight forward, it leads me to another fundamental design flaw in my boot lid design.

I fitted the handle in a traditional position towards the bottom edge of the lid, where it look the part.

The issue is that I can't lift the boot lid "straight up" using just the handle.

The bottom edge of the lid comes away cleanly as you would expect.



But the top edge want to stay where it is and so the bottom edge "levers" against it.



Because of the way the lid cuts through the hump and the fact the panel "gaps" are small, there is no way to pick the lid up at that end.

Note:
It is easy to lower it into position using two hands and I think this was where I was going wrong in the first place.

So the good news is I think it is possible to lift and lower the boot lid in such a way that the locating pins will work.
( Once all four base plates have been adjusted to the same horizontal level. )

The bad news is that I need to fit something to the top edge of the boot lid, between the two holes seen above, to help me lift it up cleanly.

So I have ordered one of these stainless steel eyebolts, which I can pull against with my finger.



Even though this means that removing the boot lid will be a two handed job, at least it can be removed!

Clearly this is going to make the whole boot area look a lot more "home made" that I originally intended.

But the simple fact is that whilst creating a "proper" boot area was a good idea, it was definitely beyond my skill level.

So I am pretty happy that I have finally got to the point where I might actually have a working solution.

It might even be worth me having one last go at using the locking pins (at least at the top edge) when the eyebolt is in place.

As if I can cleanly lift the lid "up & down" this may solve some of the problems I was having getting everything to line up.

But for now my head hurts and I am still have a lot of non car chores to catch up on.

So I'd better go, cheers, Paul.

[8 Valve Ed]

What about two springs under the top mounting points around each pin? Just sufficient to lift the lid high enough to get your fingers in to lift it off. Press the lid down and secure it.

[reneanglia]

Or fit some internal hinges to the left /right side so you can open it sideways,2 locking pins on the other side which secure it and 2 dummy pins on the hinge side.

[Paul L]

8 Value Ed & Rene - Thanks for the suggestions gentlemen.
However, I need to stick to a very simple solution, as I've already spent far too long on this boot lid.
Hopefully others will learn from my mistakes and make a much better job of their boot lids.

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Extra Time:
A week later than promised, but my new tarpaulin finally arrived this afternoon.



So when my wife got home I could get her to help me lift the body shell off the framework.

Although by now the sun was going down and my driveway was actually in sunshine for a change, so I took a couple of photos.



Once the front arches & rear of the bonnet are shorted out, I think this will end up looking pretty good.

Similarly, the area just in front of the rear arches on the driver's side will be "pulled in" then the body is bonded on.



I've left the bonnet in place for now, as I will initially be working on the rear framework.





I've also left the body shell upside down for now.



As this will give me better access to the bottom edge of the number plate plinth and the tail pipe exits so I can sort out the metal shields.



Plus I need to clean up the underside of the petrol cap base ring.



Once that is done. I will double check the gap around the rubber seal when it is fitted.

But it was too late to start any work this evening, but at least the new (& bigger) tarpaulin completely covered the body shell.



These heavy duty tarpaulins will keep the water out, while the "proper" car covers just act as decoration.





I know there is still a lot of work to do, but at least I am getting closer to actually starting the final building stage.

Although I must confess I find myself dreaming of a double garage these days.

Cheers, Paul.