The rebuild begins......again.

[markh1]

itsallyellow said:

This is what dave was going to do on the race car. Will be very intresting to see how yours looks.

Mike

So if you put these covers on yours does that mean you will keep the updated dual headlights and just put the cover over them or revert back to the old style lights like I have?

[markh1]

It will look pretty much like this...

http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/1996/Brands_...

But lenses wont be as dark.

[markh1]

Got back a load of my interior bits that I sent off to D&C Trim yesturday. The ideas for it came from Andy (Motorsportrescue) from this thread...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

The yellow bits that you can see including the material which is genuine Alcantara cost £120 to do. The carpets where £360. They currently have my 'egg' and rear parcel shelf. The egg is yellow on the inside and purple alcantara on the outside and the dash, door cards and headlining are purple.

Obviously most are going to find it quite an offensive colour scheme but I love it

[markh1]

Thanks! I like being a bit controversial. A bit like the headlights I am sure it will provoke some reactions!

[markh1]

I think the carpets were good value. It is all the carpet in the car I have had replaced not just the mats. Other places I got quotes from were considerably more.

[markh1]

The whole lot was done by D&C Trim. They are the guys that worked at TVR originally and they use the original stuff that TVR did so it matches perfectly.

[markh1]

Spent Saturday up at plasticman's putting the fuel tank in and changing the frotn uprights. It is being picked up today and taken to Esser Works in Horsham to be sprayed.

Here is a few more pics of the front light conversion...

[markh1]

Plasticman's name is David.

I am really pleased with the look, they seem to 'finish the car off' really well.

I am going to get the paint shop to spray inside the light apparture black to give the appearance the lights are dark and give it a slighlty meaner look.

The lenses are the ones from the last edition Chimera's.

Edited by markh1 on Tuesday 1st September 11:26

[markh1]

It is now at Esser Works to be painted. They will try and have it ready by Saturday! I was originally just going to have the front end resprayed but I have now decided to get the roof, drivers door and back done also.

I have just got a new phone with a better camera so the pictures from now on shall be better (hopefully!)

This is a picture of the wheels unfortunately the laquer and shine on the wheel sort of disguises the colour and metalic effect.



Over the weekend I trimmed the centre bit under the dash. I put the alcantara over the top of the carpet to give it some padding. The holes are for the imobiliser light, key etc

[markh1]

Last night a good friend of mine who designs most of the major carbon fibre parts for the Mercedes-McLaren F1 team kindly gave me a sheet of 1mm thick carbon to make a dash out of. It looks a bit rough and ready because it needs to be sanded down and laquered. From start to finish it took me two hours to make.



I superglued the old dash onto the carbon and then put some small g-clamps on it to hold it securely. I used the old dash as a template to cut round.



It is quite tough stuff and made mincemeat of a jig saw blade!

Edited by markh1 on Friday 4th September 07:54

Edited by markh1 on Monday 7th September 11:34

[markh1]

Actually now you come to mention it I was resting on the case of my nice new DeWalt angle grinder which now has a few scars in it! I don't actually own a work bench, it is one of my winter projects to build one!

Edited by markh1 on Monday 7th September 11:37

[markh1]

I am in the process of putting it back together and there are a few things that I am not sure about.

In the picture below there is a pipe that comes from the drivers side wing and I am not sure where it goes. The same with the little wire that I am holding.

Is anyone able to enlighten me as where they go?



Cheers,
Mark

[markh1]

Thanks for you input chaps! Having speaking to Ridds over the phone he told me that it is the vacum pipe for the brake master cylinder.

Here are a few photos of the progress so far, most of the stuff that has been done you can't really see though. The guy that sprayed the car is coming tomorrow evening to fit the lights and when that is done I will post up some better pics.





In the crash one of the airbox mounts was buckled so my dad kindly made up some new one from stainless steel (they still need to be drilled)

[markh1]

That pipe rubber pipe that had me puzzled was the vacum for the brake master cylinder and it goes here...



The little wire goes onto the big plug on the starter..



Ridds kindly came over to mine yesturday morning and he managed to solve a lot of the little issues I had with the car. We got the coolant pipes sorted, power steering pipes sorted and lots of other little things done.

My friend came to help me on the weekend and one of the things he did for me was make up a carbon fascia for the aircon controls to match the dash I have made. Unlike the dash where the carbon completely replaces the old dash, the carbon has just be layed over the top of the old bit of the veneer.





One of the other jobs I got done yesturday was visiting 'Think Auto' and getting some new oil pipes so I can fit the oil stat and oil temperature sender. I took my old oil pipes to them and they said they were far too heavy duty. They are the sort of hose that JCB's use that need several thousand psi resistance. The steel reinforcement in them prevents the push fittings being used. The new oil pipe I got is rated to about 250 psi which is plenty, it is much softer and with the help of of some silicone spray (Ridds top tip!) the push fittings went on easily. The fittings are barbed and do not need any clips over them.

Oil pipes showing oil cooler removed...





This is the adapter that goes into the oil filter housing...



This is the temperature sender unit for the oil temperature gauge. It is located on the oil feed pipe from the sump. It is not pushed on properly in this pic.



Here is the oil stat fitted...





I had someone to come and fit the screen yesturday but the new screen I have is a bit too big on the passenger side and a bit small in the middle. It is the right screen so the solution is to get the screen trimmed at a local glaziers.

Edited by markh1 on Wednesday 9th September 08:16

[markh1]

Good call Shayne, I have just given him a call and am getting the guy who is fitting my headlamps as I type this to measure my old screen and see which one I have.

[markh1]

It turns out I have the wrong screen! Thanks for pointing that out to me Shayne! My car takes an early screen and I had bought a later screen.

So I am now £420 lighter but will have a new screen friday morning.

Anyone want to buy a later screen for £200??

[markh1]

Yeah it was painted at Esser Works. They turned the whole thing round in about 3 days!!

I think I am still on track to get it MOT'd on Saturday as long as I don't encounter anymore major hurdles. Everything in the engine bay apart from little things like the washer bottle and the airbox is done.

A rough list of the things I have to do is...

Bleed the clutch
fix the dash and instruments in place
put the seats back in
put the bonnet and door back on
adjust handbrake
put wheels back on
adjust headlamps
Coolant, gearbox and engine oil

There are a few other minor things obviously that need doing but they are not essential for MOT...

Fit new headlining and door lining
fit rear seats and belts
sort aircon
suspension and tracking setup
rolling road tuned

Edited to add: If I do managed to get it MOT'd on Saturday that would mean the whole rebuild would have taken 10 weeks which I think is quite good.

Edited by markh1 on Wednesday 9th September 15:56

[markh1]

No thats tonights list! Friday will be spent rectifying all the things I have done wrong!

Your help is much appreciated Matt, it would not be possible without you!

[markh1]

Hi Dean,

I am in the office tomorrow im afraid but I am around all day friday if you want to pop over then?

: Update on windscreen saga :

When I got home I thought I would measure the old one against the replacement one I already had, they were the same! So I thought I would see what the fitter was talking about when he said it would not fit. I test fitted it myself, and what do you know...It fitted! All it needed was to be pushed in!

I hope I can cancel the new screen that I ordered today!!

Edited by markh1 on Wednesday 9th September 20:20

[markh1]

I am sure I will have no problem returning it if nothing else but it is still an inconvienience I did not need! I will speak to the windscreen company tomorrow and see what they say.