Scottie, don't worry, Mister Towed gives good advice.

I salute your detailing and mods :becky:

I know he does, he's helped me before, and I know you do too. I'm
happy that I'm in good hands, which is why I'm here.

Thank you for the helpful comments.

One last thing, I've been doing my repairing of cracks,bonding of brackets etc with Isopon P40 Paste from Halfords at about 12 quid for only
600 grams.

I saw some advice for "Bonding paste" 5K for £20 or so.
Do I go for this? and is it as strong as the P40 stuff, it sure as hell is a lot cheaper.
will soon be getting to the bonding body- to- car stage and this stuff sounds good, is it?

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0e5c7f52.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse162850f.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc3ff03ec.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps44effb09.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd5556c41.jpg[/IMG]

Rear lights
 

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1f7d773f.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb9997707.jpg[/IMG]

It's going to look very nice Scottie, I love those rear lights.

Just make sure you mount the luggage rack the right way round when you do the final fit. The raised lip goes to the front - it's not meant to stop your suitcase sliding off when you load it, it's meant to stop your luggage shooting forwards and beheading you if you crash.:twitch:

MrTowed - I always thought they shoul have the lip at the front but every image I can find on the web has them shown as Scottie has his.

http://www.hardencoachandmotor.com/i...pbarcenter.jpg


Scottie - Have you fixed the wrong bit? I can see why you would want your big boot flap for practical purposes and I think it looks great with the lights but on the original wasn't the boot opening just the very back bit that you have glassed shut?

For what it is worth, I asked Chris to do exaclty what you have done for my Z300S

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...psa2b5d189.jpg

Yep, everyone's been fitting them the wrong way round since Mazda resurrected the affordable sports car in the late eighties. I guess the gap between the death of the British open top and the rise of the Japanese alternative meant society forgot the safety lessons from previous decades. This manufacturer knows what they're doing though -

http://www.roofrackshop.co.uk/Car-Pr...ks/00083c.aspx

Hello to Mr Towed and WCA!!
Well we have a fine row going on here then!!

At first MR T, I thought you were taking the p, as I have never ever seen a rack mounted with the flap at the front, but what you say is logical for sure, however, if decapitation is the price to pay for a good looking car, then so be it!

WCA, you are correct,in that the D type had a kind of post box slot at the rear in order to post the spare wheel in.

And the XKSS was the same, but this is a good example of where compromise steps in. I wanted a large useable boot, which I now have, in order that I would not have to carry decapitating luggage!

That is exactly the type of compromise I am willing to allow. ( for me personally, practicality wins over originality )

So you see I am not a purist!!

Could someone please give me some advice on the following:
I posted this text earlier, but so far had no replies

Quote:
One last thing, I've been doing my repairing of cracks,bonding of brackets etc with Isopon P40 Paste from Halfords at about 12 quid for only
600 grams.

I saw some advice for "Bonding paste" 5K for £20 or so.
Do I go for this? and is it as strong as the P40 stuff, it sure as hell is a lot cheaper.
will soon be getting to the bonding body- to- car stage and this stuff sounds good, is it?
Unquote

Hi Scottie,

(The following is based on trial and error and a bit of reading - I am no expert.)

Bonding paste is usually harder and more brittle than filler. Hence, it is harder to work with once it is set. Better quality fillers have a little flex in them.

I made my own P40 using polyester resin and chopped-up matting and it worked well. I mentioned the proportions on my build thread.

I looked into making my own version of P38 (referring to my fibreglassing book) but I would have needed an additive (to make it softer and less brittle) and a talc filler to thicken it. By the time I would have bought those and used the resin there was no real saving on the Halfords (yes, I said the word) Easy Sand product which is ~£25 for a 3.5l tin. It is a match for Isopon.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165625

I look forward to see what those with more experience of GRP products have to say.

Hi Scottie,

I am not a purist either and agree your solution is far more useable. Exactly why it was my solution too. ;-)

Keep doing what you are doing and you will have a lovely car. As they say, if it isn't hand built then it is just traffic

Thanks for the positive comments WCA.
The red car looks terrific, when do you actually take possession of it?
I understand Chris took it to the show where the car was the star ?

Hi Oxford 1360,
Thank you for the info, I will follow it up.
Like you, I don't really fancy messing about trying to mix stuff when I seem to have so much else to do.

Thanks again

I drove down to exeter to see it. The photos don't do it justice. The proportions are spot on. There are a few little details to finish which hopefully Chris is working on at the moment. I hope to pick it up when I get back from the States at the end of next week.

Still need to sort out some proper wire wheels. 2 of the 4 I bought have got worn spindles so need replacing. Watching a set on ebay at the moment but if anyone has some 15" wires with a 42mm hub (not jaguar basically) then give me a shout.

Do you have a body repair specialist store nearby Scottie? I took a trip to my local one in Hull, they gave good advice and got an industrial size tin of filler for the same price as Halfords charge you for a small tin.

WCA

I have a set (4) second hand 15" wire wheels I was about to put on e-bay. They are in varying condition and would certainty need blasting/powder coating.

Peter

This is much more cost effective and exactly the same quality as P40:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U-pol-FIBR...item4acab47a75

But if you are talking about bonding the GRP body to the steel Spitfire shell you can use a flexible adhesive, something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/U-POL-TIGE...item43c124443b

or this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIKAFLEX-2...item3f2ae8bbd5

Fix the body in position with tech-screws until it has cured.

Sorry Nick, having a day off! Shame on me.....

Enjoy yourself Chris!

Chairman - I will contact you regarding the wheels

{EDIT} I seem to have managed to remove your email address and phone number from my records so have PM'd you regarding the wire wheels.