Royale Sabre - Take two!

[Amir Manzoori]

Job well done, as no one could do it better than yours elf.

[peterux]

Originally Posted by Amir Manzoori

Job well done, as no one could do it better than yours elf.

It would be nice to have a few elves in my garage....they could finish my car for me for Christmas!!

[Amir Manzoori]

Sorry for the misspelling. The sentence should have ended with YOUR SELF and not yous elf

[Mike]

Originally Posted by peterux

It would be nice to have a few elves in my garage....they could finish my car for me for Christmas!!

......... and spoil all your fun?!
No, let the elves help Santa and leave you to do what you do best

[peterux]

I've been putting off completing the gearbox cover so decided it was best to complete the mods on the propshaft tunnel first.
The Sabre is designed to use the Ford Sierra handbrake and cable. This is mounted to a steel plate mounted above the propshaft tunnel.
Since the BMW engine and gearbox are mounted higher up to clear the front chassis crossmember the propshaft runs higher in the tunnel and now fouls on the handbrake mechanism.

Handbrake by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Here you can see where the handbrake clevis pin fouls on the propshaft.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I tried raising the handbrake by putting 20mm square section ali tube between the tunnel top and the handbrake mounting plate but the handbrake cable half moon bracket fouled on the top of the tunnel. So I decided to cut the top of the propshaft tunnel of with a slitting disc in my angle grinder to allow me to raise it by 20mm.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then prepared two strips of 3mm plywood to temporarily hold the tunnel tops raised by 20mm. Here is the plywood strip fixed with self tappers on the passenger side.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

With the passenger side tunnel top fixed and the handbrake refitted I could now see the problem better from the drivers side. Despite raising the top of the tunnel by 20mm, the clevis pin was still resting on the propshaft.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I didn't want to raise the tunnel anymore but realised I could raise the handbrake on its mounting plate without the puller rod fouling on the plate, so I cut and fitted two 10mm spacers.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

With the tunnel raised and the spacers fitted the clevis pin was just clearing the propshaft but still a bit close. The clevis pin is not a standard Ford part and was fitted by the original builder.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I cut the clevis pin down and re-drilled another hole making it a better fit. I plan to replace the old split pin with an 'R' clip or maybe try to source an original Ford pin with a circlip. This picture shows the clearance with the handbrake in the off position. It's even better with the handbrake pulled on.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

Here's the handbrake and tunnel fixed with the plywood former on the drivers side.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I then dismantled it all and cleaned up the surfaces of the tunnel with a flap wheel in the angle grinder. Then re-assembled with brown packing tape applied to the plywood to stop the fibreglass sticking to the plywood formers.

I've filled the gaps with P40 GRP filler. I will then overlay both sides with a few layers of GRP to restore the original strength of the tunnel.

Handbrake Tunnel Mods by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

When the the tunnel is finished and in its final position I can then move on and tackle the gearbox cover.


...peter

[peterux]

Well with Christmas and New Year celebrations over and all the decs put away it was time to get back in the garage before spring arrives and other outdoor projects become a priority again.
It's been b***dy cold in this part of the country and my garage is old detached and often colder inside than outside.
I thought I would tackle the wiring of the dashboard thinking that would be something I could do indoors but all the preparation work has been outside in the cold....

The Sabre I bought had the dashboard surround covered in cream coloured leather by a professional upholsterer in about 1995. The leather covering was very dirty after 22 years of neglect! My original plan was to rip it off and start again but I thought I'd have a go at restoring it first. I tried various cleaners but the most effective was Vanish carpet cleaner. It's come up quite well but some small scuffs will need to be treated.

Dashboard surround - before by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

And after cleaning....

Dashboard surround - after by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

The dashboard surround is mounted by this central bracket that bolts to the scuttle frame plus a 'z shaped' bracket at each end. The central bracket clashed with one of the warning lamp holes already pre-cut in my dashboard, so I had to mount it slightly rotated.

Dashboard Surround mounting by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I'm using a Ford Sierra fan motor switch. I had to make a metal plate to mount the switch behind the GRP dashboard surround. These little jobs can be very time consuming!

Heater Fan Switch by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

I couldn't find any warning lights that I liked so I made these out of two different lamps. The bodies are LED indicators from Hong Kong and the lens was cut of the top of a Europaspares lamp. The lens was lapped flat and then carefully bond to the body with clear silicone sealer.

LED Warning Lamps by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

And finally for this update, Durite period looking fog light switches mounted in the 'IVA dashboard exempt zone' (hopefully!).

Front and rear fog light switch by Sabrebuilder, on Flickr

More to follow next week.....

....peter