John Bonnett
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Posts posted by John Bonnett
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Well done for sorting it out Steve. Most electrical problems are caused by corrosion particularly with the earth connections. But in you case rather than being an earthing fault, it sounds like the problem was in the green and red cable at the front being starved of Volts.
John
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Joining lengths might need special skills, like TiG, but knowing of yours, John, I'm sure you include that!
John
I'm okay TIG welding aluminium John if it's on a flat surface and at a comfortable height where I can sit down and rest my arm on something solid to avoid the shake. I would imagine that the lower rail would need to be screwed on to enable to panels to be fitted. I guess the channel would need to be wide enough to accommodate a felt channel as well as the window. I might well have a play after we've come back from France.
I've just stripped the doors down preparatory to re-skinning and the reduction in weight without the glass and the winding mechanism is surprising.
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Ah! Reminded me of the windscreen surround from a LoCost, as described in Ron Champion's book.
He suggests "round-edged aluminium extrusion, as used in shower cubicle construction"
He gives no more clues, but does describe a self-built tool to form the curves.
Loads on eBay, under "aluminium extrusion".
John
I didn't think of looking on Ebay John. Thank you. You're right and this outfit might be able to supply just what's needed.
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A frame,for the door window?
If you make short angle sections and rivet them to the upper door frame, they will stop the the window being bowed outwards at speed. The windows are bent inwards as you close the door, to clear the angle pieces.
JOhn
Yes the door windows John Something along the lines of a Frogeye Sprite. The windows slide and are held in extruded channel. I've not come across a supplier of the channel. Hence my question
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Some good progress has been made over the last few days. The headlining is now fitted together with the side trim panels. The windscreen went in today and I have just finished making the recesses for the bonnet catches. You may remember that i made them separately but in the end I decided to have a go at forming them straight into the bonnet. One side went well and the other did not but fortunately I was able to recover the situation; a vertical split in the aluminium when it was formed. TIG welding of aluminium is not my strong point particularly when welding downhill and trying to fill a 2mm wide split. But all turned out well in the end.
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I've got more than passing interest in polycarbonate windows and what I would like to know it where to get the slotted aluminium extrusion that can be made into a frame.
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The problem cannot be in the flasher unit because the right indicators work. It is the switch after the flasher that directs to the left or the right so if the flasher were faulty neither side would work.. If they worked once then the bulbs must be correct. Perhaps the clue is in it has been standing over Winter so I'm inclined to agree with Pete that there is an earth problem. But it is odd that both front and rear left side are affected. Do the hazards work? If so perhaps the problem is in the column switch.
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Although you have cleaned it I would still suspect that the problem is in the earth south of the horn push.You could just as a test connect it direct to the battery earth terminal and see if the horn works then. It should work with the ignition off. There is a constant feed to the horn on a brown wire direct from the control box. It sounds as if it needs the extra volts from the dynamo to make the connection. Just a thought.
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Today has been spent on what I term "Fag end" jobs; insignificant in themselves but vital they are done. So what exactly? I Stonechipped the pieces of the body that were hidden by the rotisserie frame and could not be done with the rest of the underneath. I then noticed that some seam sealer was needed where the aluminium wings join the sills and further back along the lower edges.
The base of the air intake ducting looked as if it might vibrate so I've sat it on a two inch wide strip of self-adhesive foam and as a further precaution screwed it down to the front cross member.
The twin horns are now fitted, one on each side of the chassis and the wiring clipped to the chassis. Finally, I fitted one half of the waterproof plug that will be used to join the bonnet loom (lights and indicators) to the main loom. The lighting loom will be made to suit once the lights are fitted and the bonnet mounted.
Tomorrow, the headlining is going in which is really exciting.
Pictures to follow.
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Fantastic almost Zagato-esqe body. GT6 always hinted of more / better curves potential! When and where will we see the car?
Will you consider moulds off that body or any kind of duplication?
I'm hoping the car will be at the Grand Prix de Tours in the Loire Valley at the end of June. Although the number of jobs is rapidly diminishing, there is still a lot of work to do to get it on the road and that's without counting the engine failure before it had turned a wheel. I don't think I mentioned that before but it was a case of one skim too many and the pressure blew a hole in the paper thin metal the size of a penny piece straight into the water jacket. It emptied the contents of the header tank into the exhaust in about ten seconds. Hey ho!
The headlining is going in on Tuesday and once that's in the screen can be fitted. I've made a good start on putting the moulded carpet set in with all the holes for the seat belts and seat anchorage points punched in ready. They are such a good fit it has been an absolute pleasure to install them.
There's more work to be done on the bonnet and inner wings to be made. Unlike on the standard car, the inner wings on my car will be fixed to the body much in the same way that they are on the Sprite and Midget; quite simple affairs but sufficient to stop stones from dinging the inside of the bonnet. This arrangement has the advantage of reducing the weight of the bonnet and the stresses on the lightweight hinges.
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looking impressive John
Will the car have le mans style head lights?
Cheers
aaron
Yes Aaron, it will have the perspex covers.
Today, I have finished the air intake aperture and started installing the moulded carpet set. The bonnet still needs more work in forming the catch recesses and clenching the aluminium to the steel frame. Plenty to do but coming along nicely. More pictures directly.
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Right, today, I've bitten the bullet and started work on fitting the bonnet.
First job is to wrap the aluminium around the steel radiator aperture frame. This has been complicated by the fact that the frame is the wrong shape on the bottom corners and sits 20mm behind the aluminium. Poor workmanship on my part. So I have had to weld on a bit more aluminium. This involved trimming and tapping a radius on the bonnet edge and forming an identical radius on the piece I wanted to weld on. This was tucked under the bonnet aluminium and a TIG lap weld made. To make the job a bit easier I've done it in two parts; the second will follow tomorrow.
Filed off the joint is all but invisible. So a pleasing day's work.
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Hi John, your car is looking really special now with the bonnet on, true craftsmanship. Re the tail gait and doors, are they steel skinned or Aluminium?
Cheers
Aaron
Hi Aaron, yes we are getting there now step by step. The tailgate is original steel but the doors will be skinned in aluminium without the feature line. I'm going to fit MK3 Spitfire door handles rather than the later ones.
The headlining is being fitted early next week followed by the windscreen the following week. I'm almost ready to start finishing the bonnet. This involves dressing the aluminium round the air intake aperture frame, wiring the wheel arches, forming the bonnet catch depressions and the list goes on. Soon be starting a night shift
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I think you will find it works well.made a differnce in my dhc herald
That's good to know. I've ordered a set of moulded carpets which are on their way to me. The set is for a GT6 but with a Spitfire tunnel carpet. I've found Newton Commercial very easy to deal with and the change from standard was no problem for them.
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I've now installed the Dynamat both in the roof and throughout the car in an effort to reduce drumming and road noise. I'll never know how effective it is because the car has never been on the road so nothing to compare it with. But just tapping the roof before and after fitting showed a marked difference. The Dynamat is very thin and easy to apply.
I cut out and fitted the hardboard panels that sit behind the headlining aft of the rear quarter lights. So we are now ready for the headlining.
I've also fitted the tailgate hopefully for the last time. It closes nicely and the shut lines are acceptable.
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We picked up the bonnet yesterday and it still fits the car which is a great relief. I've got quite a bit of work ahead of me to finish it but getting it has been a big step forward.
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Further progress made with the brakes bled and a very good pedal almost straight away which is unusual for me. Not having a servo must help. The pedal was always quite spongy on the GT6 which was fitted with a servo. I've also fitted the door seals which was quite a struggle with them be so stiff and unwieldy but we got there in the end.
I'm collecting the bonnet tomorrow which is exciting.
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The brakes are now semi-bled just needing another session to get the rest of the air out. A lot of time was lost trying to sort out why the purple and white from the roof light was discontinuous. This is the wire that is earthed to bring the car illumination on. All sorted in the end. The passenger's glove box is now fitted as well as the driver's door seal and a seat. My bleeding partner will now be able to operated the brake pedal in comfort.
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Fuel, brake and clutch pipes are now made and installed.
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A step closer to starting the engine with the tank now in and the alternator (which allows the water pump to be driven) fitted. The fuel line from the tank to the pump is now in place with just the front pipe to be made.
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Today has gone well with the exhaust system in and the Rotoflex tie rods now in place. Both were fiddly and time consuming jobs but good that they are now done. The tank is the next thing to go in and a step closer to to start up.
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The radiator arrived today, looks ideal, but has thrown up a couple of questions.
Clive - the fixings you mention that take the 6mm bolts, are these the 4 holes on each side of the rad, might seem a daft question but they don't appear to be threaded, or does the bolt cut the thread on first use? They are also pegs on the bottom which could be used also I guess.
John - It appears from your photos you have used these mounting holes. I guess a visit to you would answer this question but time is against me at the moment to get the car ready for the 26th, so can't get over.
The radiator also has a vent hole on the top, presumably as return back to the header tank, as the Corsa header tank has 2 small outlets would it be preferable to run back to that or blank off?
I did actually tap M6 threads in the plastic bosses Darren and then fitted short lengths of M6 stainless studding. I prefer this to screws because the studding can be Loctited in and there is less chance that the plastic threads will wear away which might be the case with screws when they are taken in and out..
My radiator also has the bleed port on the top right hand side. I fill the system with it open and as soon as the coolant appears pop a blank on. The Astra tank does have a take-off that could be connected but I didn't do it on the GT6 and haven't on this one either.
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As I reported on my GT4 thread, I realised very late that I needed a pre-engaged starter which is unique to the Dolomite 1500 and very very scarce.
I telephoned our area organiser Sue Franklin to ask her if she knew of anyone who might have one spare and whilst she didn't what she did do was to email all the AOs and I believe put my request onto Facebook and within twenty four hours I had the offer of two starter motors. This was an unbelievable response that saved the day for me.
So, through these pages I would like to thank Sue for a wonderful bit of networking and for the kindness and generosity of two of our members Richard Briscoe and Sean Singleton who replied so quickly and were able to let me have the starter motors. I now have one spare which is ideal and the project is back on course.
Thank you all.
John
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Looking fabulous John, the work that has gone into this project is just stunning.
Just a word of caution. If using a Filter King to regulate the output of a Facet pump, be careful. My own experience with this set-up was not a happy one, and in the end, downright frightening...
As recounted on a previous thread, I had a Filter King wound right down to prevent over-fuelling and leakage at the SU HS4s on my Herald 1500, using the Facet square top pump. It worked fine for months, but one day the Filter King gasket ring blew out of its housing and flooded the boot with petrol, leading to a rapid evacuation from the driver's seat by yours truly. One spark and I would have been carbonised!
Your Webers may require more fuel, so it may not be an issue in your installation, but if you do find you have the adjuster screwed in so far that the acorn finisher will barely fit, then be careful. I went back to a standard pump after the above scare, but if you do need to use an electric pump and regulator, there are better options out there.
Regards
Steve C
Thank you for the warning Steve. I've used this combination on several cars including the current trials car with each running DCOE40s. I've never had to adjust the the filter kings but perhaps I was just lucky. The pump I'm using isn't actually a Facet but it is equivalent to a silver spot.
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=22187
I've always used a red spot before but this one delivers less. We'll see how we get on.
regards
John
Aluminium bodied GT4
in My Triumph Restoration Project
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The door skins have now been removed but before new aluminium ones can be fitted the shells need a bit of work; nothing too serious fortunately.
I've added the final bit of tubing to the bonnet frame to support the lower valence round as far as the wheel arches. So next is to attach an insulated barrier to prevent any galvanic action between the aluminium and the steel and then the skin can be fitted.
