John Bonnett
-
Posts
1,260 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
77
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Store
Events
Posts posted by John Bonnett
-
-
Hi John,
Nice project! I'm just curious, what is it that you have wrapped around the rear leaf spring, and why?
Roger
Hi Roger
The spring has been stripped down and lubricated with graphite grease. The wrapping is Denso tape which is waterproof. This keeps the grease in and the dirt out. It costs a tenner for the tape and is well worth doing. I'm really surprised that more people don't do it.
John
-
1
-
-
John,
Getting even closer to the finished car.
I see you've mounted the new bonnet catches ith screws in the traditional way.
Why don't you take the opportunity to weld in some studs for an invisible fixing system.
Kevin nice to hear from you. I'm not sure how I could weld in invisible studs but would be interested in your ideas and a bit of clarification.
With many thanks
John
-
The new bonnet catches have just arrived and fit nicely into the recesses that I formed in aluminium. These sections can be located accurately into the bonnet by picking up on the mounting holes in the steel reinforcing plate and welded in.
-
on trucks they went to all black with a number imprinted on each wire , there could be 200 wires in a sleeved bundle, great when the marks disappear
stick to something bright and colourfull
Pete
All correctly colour coded Pete
-
As I mentioned earlier, each circuit is fused and this has a large knock-on effect on the main loom behind the dash. Within the loom are many inter connections linking various circuits which I don't need because they are all separate. So I'm fast coming to the decision to go the whole hog and replace the loom with a new one custom built. It's going to add a week to the project but it will then be like a Saville Row made-to-measure suit rather than an off-the-peg offering from Burtons. Apologies to anyone wearing a Burtons suit if indeed the chain still exists. The bespoke loom will ensure that the terminals are just the right length to suit the new positions of the instruments and switches. I spent a happy hour or so working out what colour coded cable would be needed and all is on order now. So I guess the decision has been made.
-
Look forward to hearing more about the engine. Put a standard 1500 in mu Bond and now considering swapping the 1300 spit engine out of my hersld for the same Love the torque
I'm a bit cagey on the actual spec of the engine but it is bored to +70 making it 1561cc.
Today has been spent on detail jobs including re-routing the petrol pipe to the pump. I wasn't happy with the previous effort but at the third attempt I managed a result that I was happy with.
-
Sorry Aaron,I forgot to say that it is a 1500 engine.
I managed to get the fixings in for the dashboard which should make it a very easy matter to remove it should the need arise. it wasn't totally straightforward because the position of the holes in the backing prevented the Rivnut tool being used. But I got round that by fitting them as captive nuts.
-
Hi John sounds interesting, I have been meaning to ask what the engine was going to be, I suspected a 4 Cylinder given the GT4 name, is it a 1500?
Aaron
The engine is being built for me Aaron by John Hewitt Racing. He and his brother race a 1500 engined Midget and in 53 races they have won 50 and crashed on two. So a good pedigree. My engine is not a race spec but should produce a good 100BHP of usable power at the wheels.
-
Doig
I bought a sixteen way fuse box from one of the online auto electric wholesaler's. It uses the modern double spade type fuses which are far more reliable and easy to replace. I'm going to locate it on the bulkhead platform to the right of the battery box. I'm going to split the existing eight circuits so that each has one dedicated fuse.
In addition I have five other fuses inconveniently scattered behind the dashboard which I'll also transfer to the new fuse box.
I'm also going to use the remaining three fuses to give the horns windscreen wipers and overdrive a dedicated feed.
I'm lucky to have an old TR5 loom that I've stripped to get the right gauge and colour coded wire.
I'll post some photos once I've finished.. This could take a wee while since I'm on holiday and when I get back I've to finish my ongoing struggle to refit the windscreen stainless surround.
Wish me luck-I'm going to need it.
Cheers
Alan
Alan, you might find it more convenient to buy new correctly colour coded cable because in my experience when re-using old cable even when the insulation is cut back, the copper is black and not great for soldering.
Also, modern thinwall cable is available, also colour coded which has several advantages.
Autosparks have a good website and will supply all you need.
regards
John
-
No pictures but work is continuing. I managed to fit the right hand rear wing today; not a job i was looking forward to bearing in mind the difficulties with its counterpart on the other side. The wing is secured in two ways; by M5 stainless steel studs which bolt up to the body and, to make sure it doesn't move, Pliogrip two pack epoxy panel adhesive. The studs have to line up perfectly with their respective holes and coupled with the liberal addition of the adhesive makes it a messy and awkward job with always the concern that it might cure before the wing is tight against the body. Fortunately, much to my relief the job went smoothly and is now done. Another job to tick off.
Another job I finished today was forming the recesses for the bonnet catches. I'm waiting for a pair of new catches and I'll put a picture up when they arrive.
You may remember that I'm using a MK3 Spitfire scuttle and with that comes the minimalist dashboard which I really like. What I am trying to achieve now is to make the dashboard quickly and easily demountable just like the centre section of the MK4. It is very convenient to be able to access the wiring if the whole thing can be unscrewed and pulled forward. Problem here is that there is not much to fix captive nuts to but I'm working on that and hope to come up with a solution shortly. Pictures to follow.
There has been a slight delay on the arrival of the engine because of a problem fitting the distributor. The engine builder is supplying a Lucas electronic distributor matched to the characteristics of the engine but unfortunately the diameter of its shank was too large to fit the Spitfire pedestal. It turns out that the Lucas distributor fitted to the MG Midget 1500 (which mine is) is a different model and needs of course an MG pedestal. One is on the way so I'm hoping to get the engine the early part of next week.
-
Mine car was 5 years old when I bought it and the clamp was satin black. It got lost some years ago and was recently replaced with a shine stainless steel one when I realized no clamp is an MOT fail!
Interested to hear about your fuse box upgrade, the original is a very poor design and I have something better to replace it. However it's only a maximum of four fuses and I'm wondering if I should go for something with a few more. I would love to know what you've done and maybe some pictures?
Upgrading the fuse arrangement is something I would heartily recommend. The standard system of twenty Amp fuses is a recipe for disaster. Imagine, in the event of a short circuit, what will happen to the low capacity cables in the loom before a twenty Amp fuse blows.
If you look at the standard fuse box you will see that quite a number of different feeds come off the three fuses. It is quite a simple job to split these and feed them through individual and appropriately rated fuses. This will help in a number of ways including reducing the risk of an electrical fire, ease of fault finding and less chance of disabling the car.
There are a number of suppliers of everything you would need to do the job and two that I use and find very good to deal with are;
Autosparks and Vehicle Wiring products.
-
Heres another small point ,
prop couplings have a face runout tolerance of around 0.002" maybe as much as 0.005" so any paint needs to be removed or the paint can affect flatness and give vibration, the face should be clean and dry
paint makes a good lubricant , and the coupling surface grip is lost
apart from that the latch recess looks brilliant
pete
Pete, what would I do without your very timely advice? I actually inherited this diff all painted and if it had been me I probably would not have painted the mating face. But having said that, I doubt I would have given a thought to cleaning it off. So, thank you once again. I'll attend to it in the morning.
regards
John
-
Pete I'm very grateful to you for mentioning the potential problem with the diff mounting bolts working loose. The bolts are now very tight, fitted with new star washers and the heads wired. I was unable to track down the correct Wedgelok bolts outside of the States so I hope these measures might prevent a disaster.
I have been experimenting making a recess for the bonnet catch. The one in the picture was just an experiment but although it is a bit rough, I think the method is going to work quite nicely.
-
1
-
-
Building up the chassis has been one of the most pleasurable jobs I can remember. It's lovely when everything is either new or clean and freshly painted. And, having been together before with the dummy build everything fitted into place perfectly.
The wire wheels I bought new from MWS who supplied and fitted the Michelin XAS asymmetric tread tyres. They are an eexcellent firm to do business with and their products superb. I'm really pleased with the look of them and cannot wait to see them on the finished car.
I've wrapped the rear spring with Denso tape which will keep the graphite grease in and the water out. I used it before on the GT6 and it worked really well.
-
1
-
-
I believe Ian Faulds has a number of GT6 tachos that he has converted to electronic operation. Drop me a PM and I'll pass on his email address to you.
John
-
132856 x 4
Rimmers have nice photo of this little sod
guess theres loads of wrong ones out there,
its not till it comes out you find the problem.
Its a hairy way to come to a halt
pete
Indeed Pete; not something you'd wish to repeat. Even Canley offer the same part number. Looks like I'll be drilling the heads and wiring. I'm very grateful for your advice because it is not something I would have given any thought to.
-
A good call Pete. They look like standard bolts with separate star washers. If I can't source the correct ones I'll drill the heads and wire them. Thank you very much foir the heads up.
A couple of pictures attached. The rear suspension is now finished and brake and fuel lines clipped to the chassis.
regards
John
-
1
-
-
Jon, while its all accessible and youve nothing else to do .......whip out one of the 4 front diff plate mount bolts , have a look they should have a tapered shank as the holes in the carrier are larger than the bolt thread dia.
as Ive had one naff bolt come loose here and jam the prop its both very noise stop but darn inconvenient
they are whats called a wedgelok bolt with a internal sttar washer , anything else can work loose
mine was a recon from a 'reputable' retailer , with the come loose std bolts fitted
first time in my life we needed recovery, as not able to sort on the road side
Pete
Thank you for the advice Pete. I'll check one this very afternoon.
John
-
As a result of unbelievable stupidity on my part that I'm too ashamed to share with you I have lost a couple of days getting the build started. But, all behind me now and we are off. After less than three hours, the rear suspension is pretty much there. I used my own method to attach the spring but, approved or not, it worked very easily. The three pictures show the way it was done. Once all together, the spring will be wrapped in Denso tape which will keep the graphite grease in and the water out. More as it happens.
-
1
-
-
Newton Commercial make the moulded carpet and the quality of the product and their workmanship is absolutely excellent. Compared with normal carpet, it is the most expensive option but in my view the best and certainly the easiest to fit. The moulded pieces fit perfectly to the wheel arches, A post and the heel board. James Paddock may well sell it at the cheapest price but certainly worth shopping round.
-
John the work on this project is stunning, so please that you have kept posting pictures.
Keep up the great work
Aaron
Thank you Aaron, I certainly will. I collected the chassis today from the powder coaters so I'm almost ready to begin the final build up.
-
2
-
-
Hi,
I'm restoring a mk1 and wondered if anyone knew how I can identify what sort of dials it should have? I have a combo of smiths and jaeger ones but don't know how to find out which belong to the actual car. I have the heritage certificate and all chassis/engine numbers etc (they match, amazingly).
Cheers,
Ben
Ben, Neil Fletcher, a TSSC member has a MK1 and may well be able to help you. If the PM thingy is working i can give you his contact details privately or I'm sure if you ring the Club Angie will pass them on.
John
-
I seriously considered getting one but when I discovered that professional car thieves have detector and blocking devices what was the point?
-
I'm still waiting for the chassis but have been putting the time to good use. I've got the windscreen washer system assembled so that's another job that can be ticked off. I'm using a late 1500 Spitfire steering column with the wipers/washers on the left hand stalk. Quite modern really. So I have the benefit of an electric pump which is a big advantage over the manual one.
Although not everything is in place, all the mounts are now in for the components that fit onto the scuttle shelf with the exception of the Filter King which will wait until the body is on the chassis and the engine in. The sharp eyed amongst you may have spotted the inertia switch which will give a lot of peace of mind. As I mentioned before, I'm using an Astra MK4 header tank and this has the benefit of a coolant level sensor.
So, all progressing well.
-
3
-
Aluminium bodied GT4
in My Triumph Restoration Project
Posted
Kevin, I've been thinking about your suggestion of using invisible studs but the standard mounts are needed to locate the aluminium recesses in the correct position for welding into the bonnet.