John Bonnett
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Posts posted by John Bonnett
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I've now turned my attention to the driver's side rear quarter light panel which just needs the return forming and welding on. Here are a few pictures showing how I made the return. Starting with a flat strip of aluminium this was folded to a right angle and then using a shrinker shaped to follow the curve of the steel beneath it. The last bit where it bends upwards near the B post had to be stretched. The horizontal needed shrinking to follow the taper towards the rear of the car. I annealed the horizontal in order to make it easier to form where it meets the existing panel.
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John, It's looking great.
Thank you Kevin. Every now and then I have a need to assemble all the bits I've made just to give me a bit of encouragement and to show that progress is actually being made. I think with any project it is easy to get into the doldrums from time to time and a bit of assembly does provide a well needed boost.
Next job is to finish the right hand rear quarter light panel and then I'll be ready for the final in situ TIG weld which will join all the rear panels together. Once that's done I'll be on the home straight.
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Rear wing offered up to give flavour of the shape of the rear end.
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I received a standard steel roof finisher yesterday and my fingers have been crossed that it would fit my roof; certainly not a foregone conclusion. I had to open the gap a tad because two thicknesses of steel is half a mil or so thinner than one sheet of 1mm plus 1.5mm of aluminium. To my great relief it tapped on very nicely following the profile of my roof just about exactly.
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Thanks for your reply, and photo. Sorry for my late response, but I have been away.
The clips you show are like the ones for the door release. BUT, my lock rod is threaded at the door mechanism end. It threads into a 'pin' which is where the red part of your clip would locate.
I am thinking now, that what I have is a repair of old, in the absence of said clips. I think then, I need to remove the rod (unscrew it), and replace the connection with clips like you have. Where did you get them from?
(Bit of a shame, cos I broke the plastic lock 'knob' on the handle trying to refit it, I shall have to retrieve the one from the original, and fit that. One more little job to do. :-) )
James Paddock keep those clips
Open the link and scroll down about half a page.
http://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/parts.aspx?categoryID=27&vehicleId=4
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I don't think I mentioned it earlier but I am working on an Alfa TZ bonnet for my project. Amazingly, dimensionally it is close to the GT6 bonnet and should fit. At the moment it is in two halves but picture shows it offered up. It will once trimmed move back and the wheel arches will be in the right place.
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Just a practice. I think I have it. That's all right isn't it?
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John,
The car is looking good.
I've just edited your post to replace the thumbnail with a larger format image from the "direct link" popup in the gallery.
Are those home made wheel skates, they look sturdier than the normal ones available.
Thank you Kevin not only for your kind comment but for doing something with the picture that I have failed to come to terms with. If it is possible to actually have a full size picture on the page with the text rather than having to follow a link then that will be absolutely fine.
Yes I did make the skates all very cheaply from 40 x 40 RHS and castors from Axminster Power Tools. Along with the rotisserie they have been really useful.
I've had quite a game trial fitting the tailgate to give a reasonable panel gap and shut line. It is a shame that there is no adjustment on the hinges but with some packing and a bit of panel tweeking it is as good as I can get it. We'll see what the painter thinks when he comes to have a look at the job.
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I don't know what others think but I find it very frustrating not being able to post pictures directly as we were able to do on the previous website. I note that after the first few pictures that I loaded I am now left with a 20kb maximum or one thumbnail. For anyone who like myself is carrying out a total rebuild, the description of the work being done is nothing without the support of pictures and all rather pointless.
So, for the time being and until this situation changes I'll not be writing any more. But, for anyone interested in following my project I will try to keep the Flickr album up to date.
John
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In my experience, it is just a question of having enough packers, aluminium and the rubber ones rather than where they come from although the ones from Paddock are slotted which is convenient. I think each shell needs differing amounts of packing in order to achieve the shut lines. This has certainly been the case on my new shell. I sat it on the chassis and where there was a gap between the body mounting and chassis mount I just slotted in sufficient spacer to fill the gap. This ensured that no undue stress was placed on the shell when the screws were tightened.
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The final fitting of the roof and general nit picking is taking a bit of time but it needs to be as right as I can get it because this is one of the bits that will be seen and will stand out like a sore thumb if it is wrong. Hope to have a few more pictures during this week.
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The next task has been trial fitting the roof. I used a GT6 roof as a pattern so I knew it would be pretty close but the planishing operation will cause the shape to change so it still took quite a few hours to get it clamped up in the right position. I can now Cleco it and trim it ready to be welded onto the tailgate surround.
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I've spent more time today working on the tailgate shutline and it is now just about as good as I can make it.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67580543@N08/14784662320/in/set-72157632756946169
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Whether it be changing the drop glasses or just removing the window mechanism this is a question that I am sure comes up regularly. Is there any possibility that the answer so ably provided by L.K Dearing could be pinned or at least archived?
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At the moment the bonnet is in two halves split longitudinally. The Alfa is a couple of inches wider than the GT6 so the two halves will be brought together with an overlap and then trimmed and welded. I'm not sure yet whether a bulge will be needed. Here are two or three pictures of the bonnet on the Alfa TZ and I think that that bonnet will look absolutely stunning on a GT6. Mine will have a Triumph grille not an Alfa one I hasten to add!
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I've not mentioned the bonnet but I absolutely love the Alfa TZ bonnet which dimensionally is so close to that of the standard GT6 and that's what I intend to fit. I offered it up this afternoon and I think it will work out very nicely
.https://www.flickr.com/photos/67580543@N08/14932814841/in/set-72157632756946169
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Some terrific workmanship there Mike and the great thing about metal shaping inn the States is that there is a huge choice of tools and suppliers at amazing prices. They probably don't know how lucky they are. I'm completely self-taught and learnt all I know from half a dozen instructional videos made by a US craftsman.
I've just popped the tailgate on and it's encouraging that it fits and latches quite nicely. This picture gives a flavour of the shape of the rear end.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67580543@N08/14748331038/in/set-72157632756946169
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Yes please keep me posted Mike. I'd certainly like to see some pictures.
Trial fitted a couple of panels yesterday.
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If anyone is interested most of the build pictures to date are here in my Flickr album
https://www.flickr.com/photos/67580543@N08/sets/72157632756946169/
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John,
It looks like the forum has been setup to limit the size of "attachments" you are allowed to post.
The total size of all "attachments" is currently set to 500Kb, a limit you have inadvertantly discovered.
To get around the limit, you should either be able to use a 3rd party photo hosting service like Flikr, or you should be able to post photos to your "Gallery" and then reference them in your posts.
Please bear with us on this, its a learning exercise for us too.
Thank you Kevin. I'll look at the other ways you've suggested.
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The first set of pictures I posted were 98kb each. I didn't notice what the limit was then as I always reduce to "Small" before uploading but just now I've seen that the limit is 20kb which is too small to be of any use in showing detail. Have the rules changed this afternoon?
John
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Looks nice John, how much weight do you think you'll save?
And on a different note, where did you get the tail lights from because they don't look standard and I've been thinking of putting flush fitting ones on mine.
Marc
A good question Marc but I really don't know how much if any weight I shall save once the car is built up with a roll cage. The doors are amazingly heavy; not the doors really it's the glass and the mechanism that makes them so heavy. I am seriously considering fitting Lexan windows.
The rear lights I got from Stafford Vehicle Components.
http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/category/mix-match-lights/
Progress today has been slower than i expected because of an unforeseen problem with the damper top mount fouling the inner wing despite the cut out that I had allowed for it. It took some time with a power file to enlarge it sufficiently but we got there in the end. The body is now bolted down and amazingly the doors still fit reasonably well. I'm going to skin the doors in aluminium in due course just for completeness rather than any significant weight that will be saved in the process. Pic attached. Was going to be picS but even though I've tried going ever smaller with the images the message still comes through file too large. Sorry.
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Pleasing to see the forum back albeit in a form that we are not used to. No doubt the mods will redirect this thread if deemed inappropriate under this heading.
Just to recap, I am building a GT6 body with the steel panels replaced by aluminium. The shell has been built using three separate main components; a rear tub, floor section and scuttle all purchased from my local Spitfire breakers. These have been welded together to form a skeleton shell.
Using traditional methods of English Wheel and oxyacetylene welding I have formed the majority of the panels in aluminium with the exception of the right hand rear wing which will be left for now. I've taken a few liberties in the shape of the rear end and the rear wings partly to make things easier for me and partly because I'm aiming for more curves and the elimination of external seams.
Currently, the shell has been seam sealed and painted on the inside and the underside sprayed with Stonechip. A rolling chassis has been temporarily built up and yesterday, the body placed in position.
The attached pictures should give a flavour of what I'm trying to achieve. More to follow as we progress.
John
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GT6 Mark 3 front quarter valence
in Bodywork & Fittings
Posted
No Pete, there was no fibreglass on the original car. Both fibreglass and steel replacement valences are available from the stockists but steel ones were OE..
John