Mister Towed's Tai Chi build

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by GazDavies

Surely it would have a cooling effect wouldnt it? So long as you could get the correct mixture of fuel/air/water/methanol then it should in theory have lots of benifits including more power, better economy, longer engine life with few/no drawbacks.

Ive flown aircraft with methanol injected engines but have to admit that I know very little about it.

Spot on with that one Gaz, the engine should develop more power and torque, use less fuel, produce fewer oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust and be less prone to valve failure as the water soaks up the heat that causes valves to burn out.

Getting the volume right is important, inject too much water and the engine can be damaged pretty catastrophically, so I researched it thoroughly and came up with a safe figure of 35cc/minute for my motor. I'm actually injecting a bit less than that as my 35cc/min nozzle is based on a 100psi pump and mine's rated at 70psi.

I still have no idea whether it'll make a jot of difference to an otherwise unmodified engine, but in theory it should make measurable improvements. Ultimately the whole caboodle cost me less than the price of a tank of fuel for a modern saloon car, and if it knackers my motor, Vitesse engines are always popping up on ebay for a hundred quid or so

As for under bonnet clearance, I measured twice, added a slope to the front edge of the airbox, measured twice again and made absolutely sure it cleared.

Which it did, right up until I let the engine run at a slow idle when it started rattling against the underside of the bonnet

So, scoop number three has ideed made an appearance, albeit a bit more subtle than the other two -



Sanding, sanding sanding tomorrow, but I wish the weather would warm up as it was bloody freezing today.

[davecymru]

I feel for you matey as I know EXACTLY what you're going through with the sanding! And I bet you're loving every minute of it !

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by davecymru

I feel for you matey as I know EXACTLY what you're going through with the sanding! And I bet you're loving every minute of it !

Thanks DC, at least the finishing post is now actually a reality even if I need to squint a bit to see it.

Having slept on it, I woke up knowing I didn't like the third scoop

So, I decided a blister would be more appealing to the eye. A search of the net showed that a ready made one the size I needed would be about £40. As that's about £39.99 more than I wanted to spend the only option was to make one myself.

I said last year that I'd be using Easter Egg packaging as a former if I needed a blister, but none of the eggs we had this year had anything suitable. after a bit of head scratching I got out the stainless modelling mesh, safety scissors, 'glass matting and resin and this is the result so far -









Needs a bit of filling and shaping, but I'm much happier with that already

[Paul L]

Nice work Mr T and another step closer.

Good Luck, Paul.

[Mister Towed]

Started on the road towards paint today.







It'll be on jacks now until it's silver

[tlrtone]

Crack on Mr T can't wait to see it on the road!

[davecymru]

Good luck! Just be prepared for silver "powder" to get _everywhere_ as you go through the paint/flat/paint stages. I'm still finding things in the garage covered in red dust from mine even now!

[Nike55]

Originally Posted by davecymru

Good luck! Just be prepared for silver "powder" to get _everywhere_ as you go through the paint/flat/paint stages. I'm still finding things in the garage covered in red dust from mine even now!

Is it possible that Mr T could end up looking like Ziggy Stardust?

Can't wait to see how it turns out - I understood that silver was one of the hardest 'colours' for a non-specialist to spray (could just be a rumour started by a paint pro though) but I was hoping to have a go myself - so full candid details and photos please Mr T.. 'coz if you can't do it I won't even try.

I really hope it looks as good as it should.

[oxford1360]

Good luck, T. Should be stunning.

[Mister Towed]

Thanks for the support guys.

Unfortunately my internet router went 'pop' last night while I was watching an episode of 'I Clavdivs' on the BBC i-player. It was possibly a bit high brow for my internet connection, which was clearly designed for people who prefer The Only Way is Essex and porn.

New router is due to arrive in about a week so I'll be off line until then. My mobile phone internet connection is painfully slow and I've had to pop next door and borrow a computer to type this post.

At least it means I can concentrate on preparing my car for paint instead of endlessly surfing the net for advice on how to prepare my car for paint, which is what I've been doing for the better part of two years.

Anyway, I'll take lots of pics of the prep work and post them when I've got 'tinternet working again. Who knows, I might even have a painted car by then.

Oh, and I only found out that silver is the hardest colour to get right after I'd bought the paint.

[garyh]

Good luck, T.

[Viatron]

silver can be a pain, be careful you dont enmd up with stripes in it, dont ask me how i know!

[Nike55]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

1. 'I Clavdivs'...was possibly a bit high brow for my internet connection..

2. ...endlessly surfing the net for advice on how to prepare my car for paint, which is what I've been doing for the better part of two years...

Oh, and I only found out that silver is the hardest colour to get right after I'd bought the paint.

1. I think your internet connection ran away from Livia in fear of its life. I've got a copy on cd if you really need a fix - pm me sometime.

2. That goes to show how hit and miss the net can be - one of the first warnings I read was 'avoid silver' - which naturally meant that was going to be a definite choice. Not sure now.

Look forward to updates.

[Paul L]

Mister Towed: - Great to see your car all wrapped up and ready for the painting to start.
If you are going for a "rough & ready" race car look, I'm sure you will be able to make the silver work.

Good luck, Paul.

PS
I've seen a build thread for a car getting a "liquid metal" paint finish & that is total madness in terms of prep!

[Mister Towed]

New internet router arrived today, hooray!

Can't believe how reliant we've become onn the internet these days. I lost count of the number of times over the weekend I thought I'll just google that, then realised that I couldn't

Anyway, it's nice to be back and I'll try to get the prep done within the next ten days...

[Mister Towed]

Today I've been filling and sanding, filling and sanding, filling and sanding. Just call me 'dusty'.

I'm now gaining a better understanding of why a pro paint job costs what it does, but I'm determined to finish it myself.

Can anyone tell me how to 'flat' a curved panel though?

[mikmiglia]

Hi well small block , and make sure to sand im all directions otherwise you will
Put flat spots in one area.

Plenty of guide coat of corse inbetween rubbing down.

[Mister Towed]

Cheers mike, will give it a go.

[Paul L]

Good to see you are getting stuck in.

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

... Just call me 'dusty' ...

Funny that, I'm typing this with clean hands, but the rest of me looks like a chimney sweep!

So after a long day outside on my car I'm off to the shower.

I'll update my tread with words & photos either later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Seeing your car in paint (or even primer) will be great motivation for me.

Good luck, Paul.

[Mister Towed]

Some visible progress today, my car's now all one colour for the first time in its life -





That's the etch primer, hopefully to be followed by a couple of coats of high build tomorrow, then a fill and sandathon.