More floor and fuel!

Well, as promised, a CD with the photos of our weekends work arrived in the post today. I've also included a couple of shots taken before we stripped the car. Today I welded yesterdays work on the fuel tank. The weld on the first seam went really well until just over half way when it began to distort and pull apart. I stopped and re clamped it then tried again - pity because it was looking good until then! The result will hopefully hold fuel but if it doesn't, I'll try a tank sealant!!! I then cut a hole in the top and let in the mount for the fuel pump. This was (carefully!) cut from the top of the Fiesta tank. It welded quite nicely onto the tank - 2 bits were a bit awkward and had to be patched up. The photos look worse than the reality! More soon I hope!

Pedals, floor and fuel tank

Well, for once lots to report since my last entry. I finished the clutch pedal and went to work on the throttle pedal. A cable of unknown origin proved to be the perfect length. The end was trimmed off and the end from the Fiat coupe cable used instead. The pedal end was welded onto the transverse shaft and the result was a working pedal linked to the engine! That took much longer to actually do than it seems when it is typed, partly because the position of the clutch pedal had to be adjusted so that there will be room for a left foot rest next to the pedal. Next was a visit from John and family for the weekend. The aim was simple - fit the floor! Saturday went well. The chassis was stripped in very short order and flipped over. The tedious process of cleaning the surface rust off the chassis began, followed by priming with weld through primer- I'm still not sure where some brackets will be going as yet. The floor was then cut from 18g steel. The sheet I had wasn't quite wide enough to fit in one piee so a join had to be made down one of the tubes. Fortunately it worked out just right and only 1 long cut of the sheet was necessary. I was using my 'big' angle grinder with a metal cutting disc, which seemed to work well! By sunday, we were on to the business of drilling pilot holes - I decided to bond and rivet the floor rather than weld, risking distortion! The floor was treated to several coats of etch primer before it was bonded into positon using sikaflex 221 and rivetted. The end results were very pleasing - no 'boing' from the floor. no photos as yet as the hard drive on my laptop gave up and I was unable to get the photos off Johns camera - they're on the way to me as I type! Today I movev on to the fuel tank. Firstly I made a mount for the master cylinder reservoir, which allowed me to work out how much space is available. I then made a prototype tank out of cardboard. I intend to have a removable bulkhead in the passenger footwell as this is the only way to get the tank in and out! I then cut a strip of the steel that I used for the floor and bent it into the required shap. In the absence of a sheet folder, I used some conveniently sized angle iron and g clamps - the result isn't perfect, but should suffice. Now I have to pluck up the courage to weld it.....

Clutch!

Another snowy day, a little more progress. Today I continued with the clutch pedal. I am using the shaft from the original Rover pedal box and mounting a bespoke pedal onto it using nylon suspension bushes. I wanted to use a coiled spring as a return spring and spent a little time today making this arangement work. When I finally did, it projected above the bodywork so it had to be modified again! Once this was sorted, I spent ages making sure that the pedal was in the correct place before tacking it in. Finally, I made a beacket to hold the tunnel end of the throttle transverse bar (not shown on photos). The end result was very satisfying as it meant that I could sit in the car and operate all three pedals for the first time (the brake pedal looks a bit strange, it works well) I didn't make Brrrrmmm noises, honest!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all readers of this Blog! Today it snowed! Allowed home at lunchtime as the snow was looking bad - the Lincolnshire Alps can be treacherous at this time of year! I managed to finish the brake master cylinder bracket at last, although it was hard work as the fan heater and extension leads from the garage have been donated to keep an elderly guinea pig warm! That meant no power tools (except the welder which has a lead long enough to reach the only plugs in the garage!). The results can be seen here, along with the throttle pedal . The positions have yet to be fully finalised but won't be too dissimilar to what is shown here. More soon I hope!

Slowly, slowly

At last a little progress to report, if no photos to show for it! The last few weeks have brought more time away with work, however, I have managed to get a few hours in the garage. The pedal box has been exercising my thoughts for a while now - even with the brake pedal bracket I was so pleased with. i mocked everything up in the car and wasn't at all happy with the positions of the pedal pivots. Also, I was never happy with the ration of the clutch pedal. I decided to remake the clutch pedal, this time as a pendulum pedal, rather than floor mounted. This enabled me to retain almost the original pedal size and ration - a much better state of affairs. I then reused the floor mounted clutch pedal as a throttle and made a transverse rod so that the cable only has to travel to the centre 'tunnel', and not loop around into the footwell - photos will make this clear! Finally, I cut up my precious brake pedal bracket and remounted it in a better position. The overall effect is that there is now a little extra leg room on the drivers side and scope to move the pedals back if required. I would have taken photos but I want to wait until there are a few less clamps holding everything in!!!

Still alive, honest!

Well, it's been a frustrating 6 months with little meaningful progress to report. Once back from my 'holiday', spare time was taken up with a major kitchen refit. This had the effect of not only taking up any time thay have been available for car building, but also resulted in the garage filling up with non-car related DIY items. Once the kitchen was finished, it was a necessity to clear the garage before any work could commence. It was decided that some of the panels/doors from the old kitchen could be usefuly employed as boarding for the loft in the garage which had been partly boarded by the previous owner. I ascended into the loft to complete the task but at some stage, trod on a board that was insecure at one end! All I remember was feeling like I was in a Harry Potter flu-tube and ended up on my backside on the garage floor. On my way, I landed on the front of the car. Fortunately, the suspension cushioned my fall, however, some damage was done to the front - the nose panel was damaged ant the light broken off. I was very lucky though as I landed a few feet away from a box of off cuts that, had I landed on them, would have taked a core sample from my torso!!! Resultant injuries meant a few more weeks off followed by a (careful) concerted effort to re-sort the garage. Now that task is complete, I once again find myself on 'holiday' in the same sandy, dusty place as before. Oh well, I'll keep at it I guess although some sort of miracle where the car gets finished for me in some sort of 'Overhauling' scenario!!!!!

Progress recently has been a little minor tampering with some trial bodywork - photos to follow!!!

Keep watching - hopefully progress soon.....

Back again

Finally back in the country following a couple of months in the desert! Re-introduced to wife and kids and managed a short while in the garage today. Just before I went, John and I drilled through the rear upper chassis rail for the harness mounts. Inevitably one of the chassis tubes was in the way - a result of not knowing which seats were being used when the chassis was made. There was no other choice, within the constraints of the SVA mount heights, other than to cut open the tube and re-weld it. The mounts themselves are thich wall threaded bushes. At the rear end, I welded thick washer to the tubes. These were fed through the chassis rails from behind then welded in. Another washer was slipped over on the front side, then welded up. This is what I got on with today. The welding went OK, although I was probably over-zealous trying to make sure of good penetration. As a result, some of the welds don't look as neat as they might but I am sure that they are secure!