John Bonnett Posted April 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 Fuel, brake and clutch pipes are now made and installed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishmosh Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I think you will find it works well.made a differnce in my dhc herald 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rougeherald Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted April 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mishmosh Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 You will find many prople condemn the dynamat as a rust trap. Time will tell ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rougeherald Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 looking impressive John Will the car have le mans style head lights? Cheers aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncanhorner Posted May 3, 2015 Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 After a decent day's work, the bonnet skin is now permanently fitted to the frame so there's no going back now. Dressing the aluminium around the steel tubes is a slow business but it is coming on nicely. The bonnet is made from NS3 which is a very tough aluminium alloy and not the easiest material to work. It responds to a bit of heat which does make it more malleable. I'm not talking annealing temperature, more of just a warming up. This certainly helps when working out the crinkles that appear when shrinking is needed. A few pictures follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 The last day or two have been quite physical with all the hammering, trimming drilling and rivetting but it is a very good feeling that the bonnet is now finished and fitted to the car. Following dressing the aluminium around the tubes and clenching on the steel backing near the scuttle, the last thing was to wire the wings. Instead of a return as on the standard car, the aluminium is wrapped around 4.2mm galvanised wire to give it strength and rigidity. This was a pleasurable job and the result very satisfying. I can now make the inner wings which are going to be fixed to the chassis rather than the bonnet. But before that, I think I'm going to pop the lights in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essjaycarp Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Great work John and a lovely big work area. It the other full working GT6 yours also? I used to have a late GT6, in white. Would love to own another, to be a brother to my Vitesse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 Great work John and a lovely big work area. It the other full working GT6 yours also? I used to have a late GT6, in white. Would love to own another, to be a brother to my Vitesse. Thank you Steve. No I sold the French Blue MK3 last Summer. I bought it as a donor for this project but it was far too good and original to butcher so I put this project on hold while I restored it and in return it gave some really memorable and enjoyable long distance trips to France, Spain and the Isle of Skye. The new car will be far more frenetic and I have a feeling that we will be aware of every mile travelled unlike the GT6 which covered great distances with contemptuous ease.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Today, I've mounted the headlights, Wipac Quadoptics, and the indicators which are housed in little pockets sculptured into the sides of the front wings. All being well, by close of plat tomorrow I'll have made the loom and all will be connected to the main loom via a waterproof plug and socket. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 With the headlamps and indicators mounted it was just a question of making and fitting the bonnet loom to get everything working. The bonnet is mounted using quickly detachable hinge pins and the looms meet via a six way waterproof plug and socket. It was a very nice feeling to connect the battery and to find that everything worked as it should. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonnett Posted May 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 Today, I made a start on the inner wings. These will be fixed rather than being part of the bonnet. There are a number of advantages in this arrangement not the least being a reduction in bonnet weight and less chance of distortion and cracking. I managed to get the upstands for both sides done but it was a fiddly job getting the shape right as well as ensuring that there were no clearance issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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