E-type déjà vu. The second rebuild

[mph]

Astacus said:

Nice. I would be interested to know how you dealt with t he corrosion and what you painted/coated it with. I imagine that is an area that gets a lot of exposure.

Grit blasting and powder coating should sort it out.

[lowdrag]

Exactly, and before anyone comments the lock wires are to be cut off and rewired north-south so they don't cross and rub.

[conkerman]

Disc and pad change looks like a laugh.

Your car is luvverly and I am quite jealous

Fab colour choice. Classy.

[Kdb550]

lowdrag said:

Exactly, and before anyone comments the lock wires are to be cut off and rewired north-south so they don't cross and rub.

Two of them are currently antilocked as well ie the tension is the wrong way and will make it come undone.

[Hooli]

I think I prefer the dragster suspension, the tiny wheels on that blue subframe look too close together. It'll roll like a pig

[lowdrag]

No sooner the word than the deed. Here are last night's updates:-



Incidentally, you'll note in the first picture that some metal has been welded to the cage. It had split, and it was far simpler and cheaper to repair than to pay out serious money for a new cage..







ETA And to think those silencers are already 27 years old! The rear ones are newer due to "yumping" and we broke them after many years.

Edited by lowdrag on Friday 28th March 07:30

[lowdrag]

Well, after six months of "it's stuck in customs" from one supplier another rad fan was ordered from S1 Spares in Rotherham and overnighted yesterday. It wasn't important before, but is now holding things up. Similarly, the new screen, purchased from CMC, also arrived. The big sticking point is down to Slower-than-a-tortoise Cables, who've had the instruments since mid-January yet still haven't done them. Assuming that they this time hold to their promise, we'll have them in two weeks, then the car goes off to BAS for the hood to be made, then it's the final stretch and Lee will drive the car a few hundred miles to shake it down before I pick it up, which all being well will be mid-May. Our plan is to go up to the Lake District, swing across to Heartbeat land, then down to Norfolk, Essex and Kent (to show her to the person who owned her in 1974/5) before swinging along the south coast to Portsmouth where we'll do an oil and filter change before catching the boat home. First half of the running in completed then. Really looking forward to seeing the old gal again after her Botox treatment. We have not been separated for this long before, ever.

Edited by lowdrag on Friday 28th March 12:50

[andyps]

If you find yourself in the right part of Yorkshire I would love to see it and be very happy to buy you a pint of proper beer rather than that London Pride you get near Le Mans

[RichB]

andyps said:

If you find yourself in the right part of Yorkshire I would love to see it and be very happy to buy you a pint of proper beer rather than that London Pride you get near Le Mans

I'm sure the London Pride in Le Mans isn't at it's best but if you're comparing it generally then you're having a laugh. Yorkshire beer is all piss and froth which has to be forced through a Barnsley Sparkler to make it look drinkable!

[lowdrag]

Now now boys! You must remember that to us exiles any pint of English ale is pure nectar. There is a pub near Alencon (serves fish & chips too!) which makes its own beer, but there is nothing to me like the Tichborne Arms near Winchester, 15th century, thatched, in the middle of nowhere with all the barrels behind the bar. Or any real ale pub come to think of it. We now use the CAMRA site to plan our trips, staying in a real ale pub wherever possible. I also find that the food in the CAMRA pubs seems to be of a higher quality for some reason, but my taste buds might just have been sharpened by the excellence of the quaffing.

[kev b]

I used "slow cables" last year and they took ages, even longer than their estimate.

This year I sent a Porsche speedo with the usual odometer failure to an old chap in Yorkshire called JDO1, I sent it on Monday pm and it was back on Thursday, very impressed.

[lowdrag]

More pictures arriving. Two of the fan and blades. The beauty of this Cool Cat (American) fan is that it draws little current, bolts exactly where the old windmill did, and moves 2,000 cufm of air:-





Here the header tank and radiator are finally bolted down and filled now that the fan is in place:-



Finally, the spaghetti that is the wiring loom is ready for when Tortoise Cables return my gauges:-



Lee has nothing but praise for this loom bought from Barratt's. Everything is there with no exception, every wire is the correct length, all the colours are correct. How nice to be able to say good things about modern replacements.

[Le Mans Visitor]

I am in awe of Lee and the workmanship he is putting in to this project. He has done this single handed and must be working 24/7!.
I live within 10 minutes of him and have said if he needs a hand with anything (attaching big bits like engine etc) to give me a call. I have heard nothing.

A very skilled and enthusiastic restorer. I sure Lee is oblivious to this thread but am sure he will be astonished by the attention it is getting.

[RichB]

lowdrag said:

Lee has nothing but praise for this loom bought from Barratt's. Everything is there with no exception, every wire is the correct length, all the colours are correct. How nice to be able to say good things about modern replacements.

Tony, is this loom in traditional canvas or plastic coated wire? I don't know what's period in the E-type. What about the clear plastic covers on the spade ends? Just interested. Rich...

[lowdrag]

The loom is done in braided cotton, just like in the day, and all the individual wires are colour coded as they were then. The spade covers I suppose are just a modern enhancement. Here's a cropped photo to show you better:-

[lowdrag]

Now for something extremely rare, and you have to know your E-types to understand. Butler was a company owned by Lucas, but traded separately under their own name. Roughly, I seem to remember,the first 1,200 cars were equipped with these chrome surrounds for the number plate lights. A pair in their box sold recently for over £300 but a dear friend gave me these at the New Year. Here they are rechromed:-

[RichB]

lowdrag said:

The loom is done in braided cotton, just like in the day, and all the individual wires are colour coded as they were then.

That's excellent Tony, I wasn't aware that such things were available. I assumed H&S had prevented the manufacture of stuff like that.

[Le Mans Visitor]

lowdrag said:

Now for something extremely rare, and you have to know your E-types to understand. Butler was a company owned by Lucas, but traded separately under their own name. Roughly, I seem to remember,the first 1,200 cars were equipped with these chrome surrounds for the number plate lights. A pair in their box sold recently for over £300 but a dear friend gave me these at the New Year. Here they are rechromed:-

Wow, that must be some very special friend parting with them!

[Camoradi]

That fan is a beauty. Make sure you have the handbrake firmly on when parking up on a hot day, otherwise when the fan cuts in the car will be on it's way without you!

[wibble cb]

RichB said:

lowdrag said:

The loom is done in braided cotton, just like in the day, and all the individual wires are colour coded as they were then.

That's excellent Tony, I wasn't aware that such things were available. I assumed H&S had prevented the manufacture of stuff like that.

My frogeye loom is braided cotton, admittedly from nine years ago, but its certainly possible to obtain, anything else would look odd!