Roadster & Dave - Thanks for the good wishes chaps, thankfully the antibiotics have finally kicked in.
I really hope that 2016 will be the year this car finally makes it onto the road, even if it is just in primer.
Which would be a great excuse to get out & about to meet some of the people who have supported this build over the years.
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2016 - A Slow Start:
Whilst I'm still not 100%, at least I can now spend more of the night actually sleeping rather than coughing my guts out.
So absolutely no chance of doing any car work outside at the moment, which is leaving me a bit stir crazy.
And thinking too much about wheel alignment and wheel arches while "medicated" is probably not a good idea either.
Still, here are a few more wheel arch examples I found…
All of which are helping to convince me that I should not worry about the wheel arches at all, as the overall car will still look OK/period.
The harsh reality it that my sloping drive makes it impossible for me to check this properly myself.
The alternative is to incur the extra cost required to transport the car to somewhere that could align the wheels for me.
Now I've already budgeted for transport, at some point, to a Triumph specialist to set up the engine, sort out the clutch, etc.
Originally, my plan was that this specialist would also carry out the first MOT, allowing me to drive it home.
But the reality is there is a ton of small jobs required before I can get an MOT, so I would be putting myself under a lot of pressure.
So I have now come up with an alternative plan that, I hope, will allow me to make progress in the right areas:
Phase 1 - "Home":
- Reshape the rear driver's side arch.
- Extend the rear inner arches to meet the body shell.
- "Seal off" the remaining gaps at the rear end of the car.
- Fit the internal cockpit panels.
Phase 2 - "Away":
- Triumph specialist help, including wheel alignment.
Phase 3 - "Home":
- Reshape the front arches and extend the sides of the body shell.
- Complete all remaining work required to get the car on the road.
Overall, I think the above is a good compromise, especially as far as the front arches are concerned.
As I need the front arches to accommodate the wheels turning, as well as going up and down.
Plus there will be a serious amount of "cutting & shutting" required to the bonnet/body shell at the front.
So it makes a lot of sense not to start that until I know the front wheels are in their final "resting place".
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It was actually this photo that really got me thinking about all the front arch reconstruction work required.
As, initially, I couldn't work out why the gap "excess" was not bigger.
Given this Ribble "Cordite" Demonstrator was also running 13" wheels (not sure of tyre profile) and they looked "lost" in the arches.
Eventually, it dawned on me that my bonnet already sits much lower than the demonstrator's.
( Following all the other wholesale butchery I have already completed. )
I couldn't find a "head on" shot, but in the photo below, you can see the bottom of the bonnet opening sits just below the cross member.
Whereas, you can see here that my bonnet opening sits much lower compared to the same cross member.
Sorting out this whole front arch opening area will make a HUGE difference to how the car looks & should be a major improvement compared to the original.
So it is the right decision to delay the start of the work required in this area until everything is where it should be.
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Whilst I haven't actually made any progress on the build, I do feel slightly better that I have a plan in place.
Until next time, take care, Paul.
