I fitted a new exhaust to a friend's Freelander and kept the old pipe work.

https://i.imgur.com/isvuHiTh.jpg

I trimmed it down a little.

https://i.imgur.com/eRULUKEh.jpg

It was a near fit but the silencer exit pipe fell short so I extended the whole thing by about 60mm and all was good.

https://i.imgur.com/X1TXL8jh.jpg

So, it might not be a shinny £600 stainless steel performance exhaust but it is a complete functional side exit exhaust that has been made for the cost of a little time, a few scrap parts, some welding consumables and a few rubber exhaust mounts. :dance:
If I get a spare £600 I might replace it but for now you just can't beat "much cheapness" :amen:

Finally, just to put the cherry-on-the-cake the GPS speedo arrived and fitted perfect.

https://i.imgur.com/ywqqiG3h.jpg

On the whole it's been a very satisfying day all round. :lalala:

Nice work on the exhaust. A dab of high temp paint will do wonders.

The finished exhaust ended up very close to the body.

https://i.imgur.com/NBmGsS0h.jpg.

As I like the way many of the original "D" type's recessed the silencer into the body I thought I would try and copy them.
First I cut a hole a little bigger than the silencer into the body.

https://i.imgur.com/WFQZI8uh.jpg

Then I made a fiberglass mould using a cardboard tube.

https://i.imgur.com/6sLTnVqh.jpg

I fitted the moulded section into the hole which matched the silencer just right.

https://i.imgur.com/kXgTwWoh.jpg

Finally I took moleur advice ad added some VHT paint.

https://i.imgur.com/q6z2wMuh.jpg

Again I very pleased with the results. :roll:

looking good! Well done

I think wrapping the pipe before the silencer would look good

Mike – Great news that you might have a potential buyer lied up. :cool:

Especially as if they put their money where their mouth is, they could decide the final colour etc.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Had a chase-up phone call on the "D" type so it's back on the ramp!!

This time I removed the body work.

https://i.imgur.com/PKGieoth.jpg

I intend to finish the electrics, note the GPS speedo sender on the top rail.

https://i.imgur.com/QvW2IVzh.jpg

The passenger side dash is now finished and the gerrbox tunnel covered :smile:

https://i.imgur.com/agYgCosh.jpg


The fuel tank was behind the seats but after I reworked the hand brake setup I was able to re-use the original tank which sits under the rear floor.

https://i.imgur.com/DtoAN5th.jpg.

https://i.imgur.com/Y6JA3zHh.jpg

With the fuel tank removed I rebuilt the rear cage frame giving better access to the "new" luggage area under the rear body.

Now that most of the interior floor is now covered I intend to re-paint every thing in silver before finally fixing the body down. :target:.

https://i.imgur.com/nvInJWrh.jpg

Repainted the interior in silver.
I also re-worked the rear body support giving better access to the boot area.

https://i.imgur.com/ORpBmOHh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tWu4Ox6h.jpg

Looking much better. :eusa_dance:

Repainted the interior in silver.
I also re-worked the rear body support giving better access to the boot area.

https://i.imgur.com/ORpBmOHh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tWu4Ox6h.jpg

IMHO, It Looks much better. :eusa_dance:

With the body off the effort that when into the exhaust down pipe is evident. :ohwell:

https://i.imgur.com/tCq19YYh.jpg

The body is now screwed and bonded into place.

https://i.imgur.com/q6z2wMuh.jpg

I can finally start "filling in" the gaps left behind. :icon_biggrin:

https://i.imgur.com/ynnLwEyh.jpg

looks like this is all coming together nicely. :cool:

Got around to finishing the aluminium work on bulk head area. :high5:

https://i.imgur.com/Hin8IoNh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lprIeArh.jpg

As there was room I thought I would make the N/S inner wing into a storage box, which should prove very useful in the future. :nerd:

https://i.imgur.com/DoNNOQ7h.jpg

Mental note = get help when handling and cutting a 8' x 4' sheet of aluminium !!!!!

Next troublesome task is fitting the doors properly!! :fear:

Some good progress there ...If you are using the Tribute 'Mono-hinge' items , I found them quite easy to fit , getting the flex out of them , as with any hinge of this style , is the tricky bit ...it didn't matter so much on a race car if it chipped the paint a little by flexing , but it's a bit more important on our recreations ..The blue F120GR has little locating pins at the rear bottom corner of each door to hold them when closed ..in the same way a lot of cabriolets over the years have done ..

The hinges are the Tribute " Mono-hinge" style..
There are now welded to the frame work but getting the door to shut well is going to be an effort !

Not helped by the fact I fitted the inner body door shuts flat to the car only to find out they should have been set on a angle to accommodate the door inner skins. :icon_redface:

I intend to use these bear claw door catches.

https://www.carbuildersolutions.com/...ches-pair-75mm

They will hold the doors shut and the pins should help locate the doors in place. :tape:.

Here my problem with the doors.

Unfortunately I made the door inner shuts flat where as they should have a inward slope.

https://i.imgur.com/fZKraSRh.jpg

This meant the hinge bottom edge had to be cut to fit.

https://i.imgur.com/wK6p7shh.jpg

As did the bottom of the drivers door.

https://i.imgur.com/XOa3e7Nh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/aCe4EDLh.jpg

In contrast the passengers door fits much better! Although the bottom of the hinge still had to be cut to clear the inner door shut.

https://i.imgur.com/gLx0PsYh.jpg

The main time and effort will go into getting to door to function properly and get a reasonable shut line. :eusa_think:

.

Got to play with the front suspension today.

This was the standard set-up.

https://i.imgur.com/sWhOC5Dh.jpg

This is the first effort which I thought was about right.

https://i.imgur.com/ggiPCBEh.jpg

I was going to leave it at this height but found I couldn't get my ramp jack out as the ground clearance between chassis and floor was only 50mm !!!

After some effort I ended up with this.

https://i.imgur.com/tSd9TYvh.jpg

I am left with a ground clearance of around 70mm which will have to do for now. :doubt:

This beasty is now running and moving under it's own power :peace:

The question now is what to do with it? :nerd:
I have always fancied building a "drop tank racer" but getting hold of a suitable tank is difficult now-a-days. :icon_frown:

https://i.imgur.com/Ywf9XxGh.jpg

foam and fiberglass come to mind.

The "D" type replica now has a lovely bright blue spark but fuelling issues have now appeared.

I think it's because the carbs are at the wrong angle to the manifold.

https://i.imgur.com/6NiBbFzh.jpg

If you look closely the "flat edge" of the float chamber is angled back about 15 degrees.
I think this angle is preventing to floats from doing their job of shutting off the fuel. When I turn on the ignition I get fuel pissing-out of the carbs like six water pistols which is quite funny to see but dangerous in the workshop!! :scared:

The regulator I have on the fuel pump is turned right down but this makes no difference. :sad:

I think I am going to have to remake the inlet manifold !!!

Re-made the inlet manifold using the first part of the old manifold and added silicon tube to make up the rest.

https://i.imgur.com/4SSdQEoh.jpg

This has now altered the angle the cabs sit at.

https://i.imgur.com/RBkjqNlh.jpg

I also adjusted the float height on all carbs.
Thankfully this stopped the water pistol effect and I could now try and start the car. :thumb:

On turning the key the engine spins over but not at a good speed.
I suspected the battery so a new battery was purchased. This helped but I had to bite-the-bullet and get a new starter motor so not much change out of £250!!!:mad2:

https://i.imgur.com/aOr3hlth.jpg



The motor now spins over nicely with a nice blue spark and after much effort I finally got the engine to run but it would only run at idle speed and run very lumpy.
When I tried to open the throttle it just coughed and spluttered.

As the ignition timing was about right I think it's a fuel issue so on checking the jets I found the idle jets are 12.5 and main jet are 137.5

Idle jets range from 10 to 60 so I went for a mid range jets at 35.
Main jet range from 10 to 160 so I went for the largest jets at 160.
All should be here next week.
Again not much change from £70 so a very expensive few days. :faint:

Also I have now fitted an alternator in the tight spot between the engine and suspension turret and attempted to completed the cooling system.
I say attempted because the cooling system appeared quite confusing with several strangely placed take off points so I just took an educated guess at where I thought the pipes should run and have hopefully got it some where near right.

https://i.imgur.com/lnfJcQth.jpg

Still hopping the drive this on or before the 21st of the month!:lalala: