Another Cordite Is Born ...

[oxford1360]

This is the money shot.....

Looking great, Paul. Well done.

[Paul L]

Molleur, Roadster, Charman.tech & Oxford - Thanks for all the positive comments gentlemen, it means a lot.

Roadster - The current plan is:
- MOT
- A series of confidence building "shake down" runs, increasing the distance travelled each time
- Drive to Norfolk as soon as it can be arranged
- Work out when to start the final body work preparation for paint
- Then paint, although that is likely to be when the warm weather returns in 2017

Charman.tech - Build on the drive by an accountant!

Oxford - I'll re-take that 'drone' shot before the sun hits the driveway next time.

Hopefully, that way, shade all over will allow the bonnet tear drop to stand out a bit more.

Although, this was my personal favourite from the last batch of photos.



I think even something as simple as seeing the front number plate in place makes it look more complete.

But a couple of things really struck me as I looked on from a distance:
- The first was that there appeared to be a 1950s race car parked in my street.
- But the second, and most amazing thing, was that I actually built it!

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Next Steps:
I have some follow up "real work" today following yesterday's meeting & today's weather forecast is wet.

Tomorrow, I get to show my uncle the progress I've made since the last time he was over here.

So maybe on Sunday I can start work on the following jobs:
- Wire up & fit new fuse box
- Try to stop the gearbox oil leaks
- Fit the gearbox cover
- Make / modify the "bridge" from gearbox cover to hand brake panel
- Fix the seats into position
- Fit the seat belts

Hmmm, that little lot may take me a while.

But if not Sunday, then at some point next week.

Until then, take care, Paul.

[wharfedale]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

Lucas starter solenoids are hopeless. Mine kept stranding me at petrol stations with the same symptoms you describe - nothing on turning the key even though everything's new and connected properly. Only reliable solution is to fit mechanically actuated solenoid, I used Series 1 Landy item, but this should do the job - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MANUAL-PUS...IAAOSwX~dWlTM6

I had a brand new solenoid fail!

[Charman.tech]

Christ you never said you were an accountant!

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by wharfedale

I had a brand new solenoid fail!

Yes, mine was brand new too - my original one exploded sending a shower of sparks into the spray of fuel pi$$ing out of the carbs the first time I tried to start my donor.

The new one lasted about two weeks before constantly sticking. It wasn't a weak earth or loose connection because if you hit it with a hammer it would work for a while before sticking again. Bloody crap.

[froggyman]

Originally Posted by Charman.tech

Christ you never said you were an accountant!

Didn't you put two and two together?

[redratbike]

Originally Posted by Charman.tech

Christ you never said you were an accountant!

Then you obviously haven't been reading properly...I suggest going back to page one and write down how many times being an accountant is mentioned....naughty boy...get cracking

[Paul L]

Wharfedale - Welcome to my build thread.

< Touch Wood > The new solenoid that came with my donor seems to be working OK.

Mr T - Even I know that sparks & petrol are not a good combination.

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Charman.tech - If it helps, I'm a management accountant, rather than an auditing type accountant.

And you could say my car was built by a professional…

It is just a shame that the profession wasn't car mechanic.

Froggyman -

RedRatBike: - I dread to think of anyone going back to Page 1 of this thread and reading it through!

As, whilst I may have demonstrated that anyone can build a kit car, I wouldn't recommend my approach.

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Saturday:
My uncle, mum, sister and her children are all coming over later today for the 'Summer' BBQ we had planned.

Although, based on the weather forecast, I might be cooking outside in the wind & rain, while everyone else sits indoors.

The good news is that I might have some spare car time next week when the good weather returns.

Until then, take care, Paul.

[Mister Towed]

I did some short University courses at Bristol and Exeter a few years back and one of them was called 'Management Accounting for Non-Accountants'.

I was a bit worried that I'd struggle because maths isn't my best subject. Luckily for me the course director soon made it clear that accountancy has nothing to do with maths - in business there's never a mathematical relationship between the income of a company and the income of its directors, or the income of the directors and the amount of tax they don't pay, for example (just ask Phil Green and the BHS workforce).

No, it was a bit of a revelation for me when I realised that management accounting isn't a branch of maths, it's actually a form of creative writing.

Similarly, and luckily for you Paul, engineering ability is only a small part of building a Sammio. Getting your car from where you started to where you are now has taken far more creativity and artistic vision than mechanical skill.

Now put down your 'Going Forward in Tax Avoidance' reference book until a few days before the tax return deadline (you can always scribble a few random but vaguely plausible figures on the back of a fag packet at the last minute after all) and go and finish your car.

[lancelot link]

I agree Paul , the ''in the street'' picture looks great ....she sits very nicely amongst the 'normals' ... well done , genuinely well done ....

[Paul L]

Mr T - Don't get me started on "tax avoidance", it is one of my pet hates & certainly not how I make a living.

So quickly returning to the car build…

Without doubt, one of my biggest build challenges was simply figuring out the best way to put this whole big jigsaw puzzle together.

As every time I found a solution to one issue, there would be a knock impact on a different part of the build to consider.

Which is why I've always appreciated all the help/advice/comments/suggestions/encouragement I've got from the forum.

Even if the last few jobs take me a while, at least I know the car will finally be on the road soon(ish).

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Lancelot Link - Thanks Gary.

With all the changes I was making, I really thought my car was going to end up looking like the "in-bred, hillbilly cousin" of the Sammio family.

But it really has turned out much better than I could ever have expected.

The body work is still a bit rough in places, but all of that will be taken care of when I start prepping for paint.

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Saturday:
We had a great family BBQ yesterday, even if everyone stayed inside to eat:
- The high point was a break in the weather long enough for me to take off the covers & start the engine for everyone to have a look.
- The low point was a short burst of hail stones arriving just as I was turning everything on the grill over, leaving me looking like a drowned rat.

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I'll be back later today if I get the chance to make some more progress.

Cheers, Paul.

[Paul L]

Short Sunday Session - Part 1:
Managed to squeeze a bit of car time in today…

Initially, the weather wasn't looking too good, so I only unwrapped a section of the car.



Used a torch to help me see what I was doing, as I tackled the old fuse box.



Pulled out all the old connections.



Then fitted new connections, using a mixture of 'normal' & 'piggy back' connections.



Everything was looking good until I tried to connect these to the fuse box…

The normal connectors went in fine.



But the piggy back ones couldn't be pushed fully over the fuse box blades.



Plus, there were too many multiple wire connections going into the fuse box.



So I had no choice but to cut off all the multiple wire connections connectors and start again.

This time, re-wiring them into a single connector like so.



I then spent ages trying to work out the best location for fitting the fusebox to the bulkhead.

In the end, one of the battery box walls was going to work well, so I removed the rest of the car covers and removed the battery.



Put the bolt heads in from the battery box side.



So the bolt threads would be in the cockpit side. (Excuse the poor photo.)



The fuse box could then be fixed into place.



End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Short Sunday Session - Part 2:
The battery could then be re-fitted.



I worked out a rough route for the wires.



Before taping them together.



Note: While I was sorting out the fuse box, I also set up the return "live" wire for the fan switch.

This was taped to the live "radio" feed I'd previously prepared.



By the time I'd finished wrapping everything, it was all looking pretty tidy.





The back of the fan switch was then connected:
- The bottom wire goes to the fan itself.
- The top wire goes to the live radio feed, via the fuse box.



Then it was the moment of truth, would the engine fire up…

Thankfully, it did and I was a very happy bunny.

I then turned the car around.



I tested the fan switch, which now comes on position "I" and it is definitely blowing out air.

As the engine was not fully up to temperature I didn't get a chance to see it hot air would be blown out.

So that is something I need to test another day, along with the front side lights, which I completely forgot to check.

Right, I am supposed to be doing something else, so I'd better go…

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Monday: - 'Real' work & domestic chores.

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Tuesday - Part 1: - Despite the mini heat wave outside, I spend most of the day stuck indoors with more real work to get through.

Still, at least I managed some car time in the late afternoon…

First job was to start the engine and check the side lights.



Really pleased to see that the problem was definitely the fuse box and everything is working OK now.

Then I left the engine running for a bit so I could test the heater.

Unfortunately, it was so hot on the driveway, the heater acted like a fan cooling my hand down.

It was only by turning the heating control switch from fully open to fully closed and back again, that you could notice the heat.

But at least it looks like that is another thing working the way it should.

Rather than follow a strict time line, here are the other jobs I tackled grouped together…

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Battery Box Drain Hole:
This could actually make the Top 10 of most over-engineering solutions on the build.

Still, I fixed the hose in position.



Then zip tied it as close to the bulkhead as it would go.



Yet another blurred photo, but there is a "finger" sized gap between the tyre and hose on full steering lock.



Thankfully, you can barely notice the hose when the wheel is fully turned.



At this point, the hose was extending below the chassis.



So I can it a quick trim to tidy it up some more.



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Gearbox Cover:
I wanted to test fit this, so I could check the best way of joining this to the hand brake panel.

Unfortunately, I quickly realised that the heater controls are in the way.



This is the gearbox cover from Michiel's Spyder #47, which inspired some modifications to my own cover.



End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Tuesday - Part 2:
My false access panel over the "coin tray" worked out pretty well.



So that was screwed into place.



But I made a bit of a mess when attempting the band across the outside surface.

The passenger side looks OK, even if the photo is blurred.



But even a blurred photo can't hide the fact the bend at the bottom on the driver's side came up short.



So this was removed with some very careful angle grinding.



But the real problem with the gearbox cover is that there is a gap between it and the bridge to the hand brake panel.



Originally, there was a special rubber seal between the two, that no one appears to sell anymore.

So I was planning to make a new join from aluminium sheet, a bit like this Sammio Spyder.



But today I had a small brain wave about an alternative approach using a section of left over rubber boot lid seal.

This could either be fitted to the original bracket like so.



Which would give me a seal like so.



The seal would still work, even if the cover went further over the join.
( It just doesn't look like there is a seal there in this position. )



It could also work if I put the seal on the edge of the cover itself.





I will make a final decision once I have finally got all the pieces in place.

But before that, I want to give the cover a coat of Tetroseal, so it blends in with the floors.

End of Part 2…

[Paul L]

Tuesday - Part 3:

Chasing Oil Leaks:
Jacked the car up and propped it up on both sides.



Then spend ages checking / tightening any bolts I could reach around the gearbox/sump/clutch.

No photos, but this was hard work in a confined space on a hot day.

Note: I also cleaned any remaining leaked oil from the exhaust pipes and re-tighten the joins while I was under there.

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Front Footwell to Lowered Floor Pan Join:
Whilst it is good news that I can re-use the original Spitfire gearbox cover to hand brake panel "join"…

The bad news is that there is now a gap on both sides between the footwells and floors.



I had deliberately left this gap until I knew what I was doing with the "join".

But now it needed to be sealed, so I covered everything up and sanded down the surfaces.





Before bridging the two gaps with fibreglass matting





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Not sure how much time I will have available tomorrow, but I hope to get a bit more done.

So until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Wednesday Morning - Part 1:
I was back in "standby" mode for work again today, so, in between lots of domestic chores, I chipped away at the car…
( As before, I've grouped the activities rather than follow the strict timeline. )

Floor Gap:
Sanded down & cleaned up the fibreglass matting I applied last night.





Etch primed it.





Removed all the masking tape and some of the dust sheets.



Then covered the joins with Tetroseal.





Leaving the cockpit floors looking like this.



End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Wednesday Morning - Part 2:

Seats - Cleaning:
There is quite a bit of construction mess (filler, resin, etc.) on the seats.





I managed to clean most of it off, but have still been left with a rather "lived in" look.





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Gearbox Cover - Painting:
"Plan A" was to cover the whole thing with Tetroseal, including the false access panel.



But the bolts were looking shiny in the sunlight, so the panel was removed before the Tetroseal went on.



Then the panel went back on again.



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That was it for the morning, but stay tuned for the afternoon session…

[Paul L]

Wednesday Afternoon - Part 1:
It was absolutely boiling hot on the driveway when I finally got back outside.

Gearbox Cover - Fitting:
I removed the heater control panel from the dash.



Then I fitted all the clips for the self tapping screws.



Unfortunately, this is the start of another day full of blurred photos.



Initially, I fitted the seal to the gearbox cover like so.



Then I added some 'sealing compound' to all the edges where the gearbox tunnel would sit.
( Originally, I had a long rubber strip to seal this, but this should do a better job.







Then I spent literally hours, sweating like a pig and cursing like a trooper, trying to make everything fit.

Apologies again for the rubbish photos, but the 5 bolts on the vertical section of the bulkhead would not play ball at all.

There is one in the top middle.



Then two on each side.



Plus a further 5 self tapping screws on either side.



Once I finally managed to get the bolts through the holes, I had to rope my wife in to hold a spanner on each nut, while I tighten up the bolts.

End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Wednesday Afternoon - Part 2:
I then smoothed out the sealing compound around the edges, including the "join" piece.



By now I had to remove the rubber seal and hit the "join" with a hammer to get a better fit.

So, for the MOT, I have stuffed extra sealing compound into the gap like so.



But, at some point, I will add an aluminium panel across this area.

At this point I didn't have the strength to carry on, so I will re-fit the heater control panel another day.

Which means that this is where I finished off and I am very glad this job has been ticked off the list.





I can't believe what a HUGE difference it makes to the cockpit as a whole.
( And, obviously, it will look even better when I have finished. )

Until next time, take care, Paul.

PS
It is now absolutely lashing down outside.