John Bonnett
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Posts posted by John Bonnett
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Another day spent soldering terminals but good progress made with the three supplementary gauges now wired and fitted as well as the hazard warning switch and warning lamps. Working in the steering column area is not easy because of the restricted access but the middle part of the dashboard should be very much easier particularly because the the wooden piece can be fitted (and removed) with the gauges fitted.
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With the steering column now installed I've been able to connect the plugs and sockets to the main wiring loom and begin checking that the individual circuits operate as they should. Still a few days needed to complete the wiring but all is progressing very nicely.
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The body is on
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John,
There is no end to your talents.
NeilF
If only Neil!
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I've fitted the twin linkage for the accelerator cables and also drilland tapped the thermostat house for the pipe adapter. This is for the 6mm stainless steel return pipe to the header tank. By turning the thermostat housing through 180 degrees, a standard GT6 bottom hose will fit straight on which is nice. The GT6 bottom hose will also fit the bottom as well. I'll have to fit a half inch stub pipe in the bottom hose and the last picture show me machining a short length of stainless.
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This morning has been spent on small jobs which can be done more easily with the body off. I tidied up the the exhaust mounts that I'd made yesterday and tightened them up as well as fitting the necessary clamps. it was also a good opportunity to fill the diff and gearbox with oil. Finally I modified the accelerator pedal to take the twin cable block and drilled the scuttle to suit.
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Body to go on this weekend Aaron. Quite a bit of plumbing before the engine can be started but I'll do a video to mark the occasion
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Great progress today thanks to a fantastically quick turn round on my powder coating. This has enabled me to get the oil cooler and the radiator fitted. While easily accessible, I fashioned a couple of mountings for the exhaust pipe.
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The new propshaft has arrived and is fitted and that was the last thing I wanted to accomplish before the body goes back which hopefully will be this coming weekend. Mike Papworth pulled out all the stops to get the propshaft to me in double quick time which was very much appreciated. This one is like the GT6 prop with a splined sliding joint rather than a CV as on the Spitfire 1500. Working length is 37.75".
I've installed the main wiring loom and it is mostly connected via plugs and sockets to the fuse and relay system that I have designed. Whilst I have tested the individual circuits on the bench I shall have to wait until the steering column is in place and all the connections made before I can finally check that all is well and that everything works as it should.
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I was lucky enough to be able to acquire a GT6 MK1 dashtop crashpad and which I recovered using material and excellent instructions from Owen at Parklane Classics. I'm really pleased with the result and it is now fitted in place. I had the demister ducts shot blasted and powder coater matt black and after quite a struggle, these too are now in place and connected up to the heater.
I'm going to run an oil cooler with this engine and it is going to be mounted in front of the radiator in the ducting. I welded up a simple U frame from rectangular extruded aluminium and picked up on the mounting holes on the cooler. These items will be powder coated and once back fitted on the chassis.
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I needed somewhere to mount the high intensity fog light switch and the cigar lighter so I've made a panel which will do the job. It fits in the contour of the dash on the passenger side but still accessible by the driver. The panel has now been covered in black leather cloth to match the rest of the dash.
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Hi John,
Really enjoying watching your car come together.
I used the same fuse box as you when I rebuilt my GT6 and mounted it in the passenger foot well. They are a clever design and I particularly like the bridge terminals allowing up to 5 fuses to be fed from a single wire.
http://www.autosparks.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1273
Chris
Hi Chris, You've done a very neat job.
It was the possibility of splitting a single feed into up to five outlets that appealed to me as much as the panel fixing. It certainly simplified things no end.
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Plenty of small jobs done today but they all count and have be addressed at some point.
I'm using a late Spitfire 1500 steering column which has the benefit of the wiper and electric washer controls. The wiper switch was faulty and needed replacing and the going rate appeared to be between fifty and sixty pound. However, the Mini switch is pretty much identical and less than half the price. So that went on today along with a new ignition switch.
I'm using a MK3 GT6 fuel tank but with the filler neck facing the rear just the same as on a MK2 GT6. However, I have retained the original neck on the side and will be incorporating a breather. I fabricated something suitable from a piece of two inch thick wall aluminium tube with a 6mm stub pipe Teed in.
I'm really pleased with the semi-flush mounting fuse boxes which are accessible and unobtrusive. The snap-on covers are very neat.
I also fitted the triple gauge panel which will accommodate oil pressure, oil temperature and water temperature gauges.
The Webers use a twin cable arrangement and the necessitates modifying the accelerator pedal. The picture shows the twin cable block offered up. Predictably, one cable comes out immediately under a captive nut. Nothing is ever easy!
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John,
Great to see the engine in place. It is realy looking good now. A couple of years ago I bought from my local motor bike shop a black spray paint for very high temperatures, it is called PJI Fast Black and is good for +800 degrees C. I used it on the manifold and it is only now beginning to fade. Surprising the difference it made to under-bonnet viewing.
Keep up the good work,
Regards
Neil
Neil, nice to hear from you and thank you for info on the paint. I've never found a paint that will last very long on the manifold and exhaust so a good recommendation; thank you.
All going very well at the moment and hope the same with you. Once the body goes back I shall feel that the completion is in sight.
regards
John
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Another update. I've tried making a drain pipe with larger bore clutch pipe. Using my flaring kit and then a drift and hammer produced a sizeable thin flange which would be more than adequate for the job in hand. I'll post all the photos if this turns out to be a success.
Cheers
Alan
I'm confident it will work Alan and following your remarks I'm going to put drains in the tailgate. I'm just a bit concerned about sealing the pipes given the relatively small seating area and the possible leverage should the pipe be knocked. I wonder whether brazing the copper in might work. That would certainly be strong enough.
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The engine is now bolted in which is another step forward.
Before the body goes back on I'm changing the diff which is much easier when everything is accessible. I've taken advantage of the time to drill and tap the casing for a drain plug.
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John
This is getting spooky! I've just come in from the garage after looking at flaring a piece of brake pipe. It looks like a definite possibility. I think forming a recess around the hole is the key to ensuring the drain is at the lowest point.
A brake union could be temporarily fitted under the flare and it could then be hammered flat while the pipe is clamped in a vice. This should increase the size of the flare and also reduce it's thickness.
Unfortunately this will all be delayed due to an impending French ski trip.
Cheers
Alan
Great minds Alan, that's what it is. I'm sure it will work.
Interestingly, on my project which uses a MK3 Spitfire screen frame the water trap is not there. The profile is quite different.
Do hope the skiing goes well and look forward to hearing how our idea pans out when you get back.
John
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The problem is now resolved. On checking the Canley site I discovered that the propshaft I was iintending to use is actually an overdrive one and not as I thought, the longer non overdrive type. Flange to flange is 38 inches which suits exactly the non overdrive prop. New one on order and problem sorted. I can now go ahead and bolt the engine in.
http://www.canleyclassics.com/technical-archive/propshaft-problems/
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I'm absolutely delighted that you are back and that the project is still alive. I found you posts and pictures really compelling and your skill absolutely jaw dropping. I do hope you will find some time to do a bit more and share it with us.
regards
John
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John
I've been thinking about the drain holes again and may have come up with a solution.
Drill a hole large enough to pass the pipe through from the top and then form a recess all the way around the edge, similar to a sink drain recess.
You would need to source a steel or brass pipe with a flange on the end. This flange would sit in the recess with a silicone seal between the mating surfaces. The flange could then be contoured using something like JB Weld. You could even pre-fit a flexible tube to the end of the pipe before it is inserted through the hole. This tube could be routed into the engine bulkhead via one of the wiring loom holes. Simples!
We'll not quite, I need to source a small bore pipe with a thin flange. Any ideas fellow Forumites?
Cheers
Alan
I've been thinking along the same lines Alan. I wondered if a concave flare on some copper brake pipe would do the job with a light countersink in the screen channel.If the copper were fully annealed the flare could be flattened so that its edges were more or less flush and then It could be epoxied in and as you say piped out through the bulkhead.
John
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John
I've thought about doing the very same thing. Although the logistics of fitting drain holes and a pipe underneath each one seems extremely difficult without taking out half the dashboard.
This has already turned into a 'right said Fred' job so I'm loathe to make it any bigger.
Has anyone else attempted this before?
Cheers
Alan
I too baulked at the job Alan but what I did do was fill the whole area with Waxoyl just before the fitter put the new screen in. Obviously not a lasting cure as the drains would have been but I hope this has bought time before remedial work is needed.
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These lower corners are a serious water trap and a good mod would be to put drain tubes in.
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I've made a lot of progress in a short time. The gearbox is now fitted to the engine. as are the DCOE40s and the SAH manifold.
I made a mistake fitting the bolts to the top wishbone mounts. The nuts fit on the outside not on the inside in the captive arrangement but it was the work of less than an hour to change them round.
I made up a very long pipe to go from the clutch master cylinder to the slave cylinder on the gearbox to check that the clutch operated properly. Fortunately all was well but if it hadn't have been it would have been easy to remove the box and sort it out. Not so quick once in the car.
I now have a slight problem to solve fitting the engine into the chassis. I'm using a combination of engine and gearbox that Triumph never intended. This is the 1500 four cylinder engine mated to a GT6 close ratio gearbox. The GT6 gearbox mount is too far to the rear so the mounting plate will need re-drilling to move the mount forward. The 1500 non o/d propshaft is nearly the right length but perhaps half an inch too short. So rather than having a bespoke propshaft made, I'm looking at moving the engine back sufficiently to make it right.
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Well, tomorrow I get the engine so great excitement and once installed things can move on apace. However, there's another few days work left on the wiring so I'm going to try to resist the temptation to put the engine in as soon as it arrives and get one job finished before starting another.
I collected another batch of powder coated parts which look superb. These include the demister ducts, steering column support bracket and the early transmission brace; all done in matt black.
The metal part of the dashboard and the sides of the windscreen frame are now leather cloth covered, so plenty still going on.
More pictures to follow.
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Aluminium bodied GT4
in My Triumph Restoration Project
Posted
A good question Aaron but I really don't want to think, and indeed anyone else to think of my car as a Special. If I'd used a Zetec/Type9 then yes it would have been unquestionably a special but it is totally Triumph with subtle body styling changes much in the same way as an E Type Lightweight is different from a standard one . So I think Triumph GT4 Lightweight might fit the bill.