Winter works : some color changes, tunnel mod, new diffusor

[bzguy]

Started a couple of winter works : no heating in my garage so damn cold but still I manage to get some things done.

I found all info for these mods/improvements on this forum, so credits to all of you contributing to them ; I first read a LOT on the forum, then started cracking on

I am not a native English speaker, so please forgive me any spelling mistakes

What's on the list :

- wheels refurbishing
- take wing mirrors & supports off
- mirror caps re-painted
- wing mirror supports black anodized
- mirror glasses removed & improved for stable mirrors
- take front clam off
- take front diffusor off + replace with new one
- open up air intakes
- tunnel mod

So, in steps, including pictures :

1) Wheels refurbished, red colored, stands off nicely I think :




2) Removing door cards to get to wing mirrors ; on every side :

- undo 1 philips screw in inner door handle
- undo 1 philips screw in inner door grip (black plastic pocket)
- undo 4 philips screws from speaker
- undo 1 philips screw next to mirror adjuster
- undo 3 philips screws from door frame, lock side
- undo 3 philips screws from door frame, hinge side
- undo 2 hex screws to take off mirror winder
- stick your hand in the speaker hole & undo 3 butterfly nuts ; there are 4, but the further one doesn't need to be undone
- undo 1 philips screw from the inside of the door, next to the wing mirror

Now you can safely remove the door card(s) :



3) Removing wing mirrors :

- now you can get to 2 hex screws that hold the support for the wing mirror
- you need to fiddle a bit with the white mirror bushing
- you can now remove safely the wing mirror (with support)



4) Dismantling the wing mirror :

- pop off the cover : pry on the bottom side, it should just pop off
- take off the mirror glass : it pops easily off, make sure to take out the small metal pin/spring
- the wing support is made of 2 parts : 1 part slides out (bottom side)
- slide out the alu plate from the wing mirror support (see picture)
- in the mirror, stick a screwdriver next to the big bolt that connects to the wing mirror support
- from in the alu support, I undid the big bolt by using a set of thin pliers : just turn the bolt with the pliers, the screwdriver prevents it from spinning around



5) Improving the loose mirrors :

- remove the small plastic concave part that slides in the mirror frame
- put some tape (duct tape or so) to one or both sides to create some extra drag
- install the small plastic part back
- mirror glass will not move any more when unwanted

Before :



After :



6) Wing mirrors caps are in for repainting ; they will be red as the wheels :

7) Aluminium wing mirror supports are sent in, they will be black anodized

8) Taken off the front clam to start the tunnel mod ; easy job, takes only 5 minutes, 4 hands & some WD40 :





9) Opening up the air intakes :

- undo 2 bolts from every air intake, mine were pretty stuck, so WD40 helped me
- they look like this when they come off :



- you can remove the air restricting plate in the air intake using a thin flat screwdriver, it should easily come off, but be gently !
- then, after a respray, it looks like this :



10) Tunnel mod :

- disconnect the fan's
- removed he fan shroud
- undo 4 philips screws from every side of the vertical panel between the heater box & the radiator
- remove this vertical panel
- cover the radiator to prevent damage
- I did not remove the floor, I do not have a bridge to put the car on, and it wasn't necessary in the end

It will look like this :



- behind these tubes is the aluminum plate that covers the tunnel
- undo the 4 tubes
- you need to undo 6 philips screws : 4 easily accessible
- 2 philips screws are behind 2 hex bolts (one on every side of the plate) that connect to the steering rack
- undo these 2 bolts, you should be able to undo these remaining 2 philips screws now
- get the aluminum plate out, pretty hard to do so, so I just plied 1 'leg'
- I sew off the 2 3 legs, so the plate looks like this :



- I will put some rubber strip on the lower part to prevent it from cutting tubes/wiring

this is how it looks in the tunnel : lots of tubing/wiring !



- I put 2 caps from spray cans on the middle 2 inlets on the heater box, they fit perfectly !



11) Front diffusor :

- take off the diffusor from the front clam, just undo all bolts (most of them will be rusted !)
- again, WD40 gives some good help
- the new diffusor looks a bit bigger (will stick out more) than the standard one :

Standard front diffusor :



New front diffusor :



That's it for now, I have to get some parts (SS nuts, SS bolts, SS screws, new ducting etc), make holes in the alu tunnel plate, have to get the painted wing mirror covers & the wing mirror supports back ; will be for next week, probably Wed-Thu-Fri ; I will update this thread when I can add some news

I hope this write-up can help other people doing these mods, all in all nothing really difficult, just fiddly sometimes

Edited by bzguy on Sunday 12th February 15:33

Edited by bzguy on Sunday 12th February 15:35

Edited by bzguy on Sunday 12th February 15:35

Edited by bzguy on Sunday 12th February 15:37

[mgbond]

This is great info. There is a fixes section in the noble parts forum. Could u put this in there as it would be great help for others.

Bondy

[TuxMan]

Well done Hans , some great info !!!

[bzguy]

Thanx all, I will put it in the Noble parts forum as well !

It's great working on the Noble, nothing too difficult, I just work relaxed & precise

[anotherdom]

Brilliant, need to tackle the mirrors soon to fit my carbon ones and will use the guide you have posted. Thanks.

[bzguy]

@ anotherdom : I will post asap pictures that can help you on the wing mirrors (close ups, hole dimensions etc)

[Metalman]

bzguy said:

It's great working on the Noble, nothing too difficult

I take it you haven't tried changing the centre dash panel yet then?

[JulesBliss]

Nice clear pics and good info!

[bzguy]

Metalman said:

I take it you haven't tried changing the centre dash panel yet then?

Indeed not

Bit fiddly, but if this IT guy can do it, I think anyone can do it

Reading through this forum helped me a LOT , learned the "what's" & "how's"

[Metalman]

bzguy said:

Indeed not

Bit fiddly, but if this IT guy can do it, I think anyone can do it

Reading through this forum helped me a LOT , learned the "what's" & "how's"

Oh yes. This forum is great for sure and it's helped me a fair few times, it's way better than any Haynes manual!

[bzguy]

Update :

Removed some smaller parts from the frame front to remove rust, sand down & repaint ; I found he car's number literally everywhere : small plates in the front clam, even stamped in metal parts !





Meanwhile, I got my delivery of stainless steel bolts, nuts, washers, etc etc ...

And more good news : the painted mirror covers are in as well, same color as wheels :



And the black anodized wing mirror supports, they look ace imho :



And then some dirty boring work : removing some rust & old paint from the front of the frame ; then it will be sanded down & repainted with some Hammerite





The frame (in front of the front wheels) is now all ok : repainted & dried, so I could attach the small aluminum plates back onto it (next to the radiator housing).

So tomorrow some cleaning to do, preparing the rest of the tunnel mod & then starting to put things back together !

[bzguy]

So, quite some work done today.

My hands all damaged, but very happy with the results :

This is how I modded the tunnel plate : some 50 mm plexi tubing in the aluminum plate, secured with a colar on the backside & some TEC 7 :



Couldn't easily find ducting in the neighborhood, so a bit of creativity brought me this : 63 mm PVC tubing (used for in-house ducting), inner side with kind of teflon so air can smoothly pass.

Great stuff, pretty stiff but can't complain

I got 4 m for free !



Tunnel plate installed, fixed with stainless screws, then attached the new plastic tubes with a metal colar :



2 new plastic tubes feeding air through the tunnel :



Re-installed the other 2 tubes to the heater box & all the other parts : fan shield, fan shroud, fans etc etc, all using stainless steel bolts & screws

Right side looks like this :



And this is the left side :



And a global view :



Steel cables for keeping the clam open are being treated with anti-rust stuff, will be ok tomorrow.

So I guess tomorrow I can put the front clam back, hooray, hooray

And then the most fiddly part of the whole story : re-installing the mirrors !

That's all for now folks, soon more pics

[anotherdom]

Keep it coming - really helpful.

[R0162]

Good write up ..

I would pull those ductings further in though i think the wheel will catch..

Regarding the wing mirrors.. that tape looks a bit thick...locking the slider in position is ok until you try to adjust the mirror.... the slider will just pull off the mirror back as the lugs are very weak....this also does not sort the vibration issue...the main problem is that the mirror connects with those plastic lugs and they allow play...use some double sided foam tape to connect the mirror to the mechanism and combined with the slider mod you have done you will notice a massive difference..they will be solid....just make sure the slider is not too tight with the tape...

[bzguy]

Thanx for the tips R0162, will do that !

[bzguy]

Phiew, was a busy day, and took nearly twice as long due to my stupidity :

- fixed the mirrors to the wing mirror supports
- used some fishing wire to re-connect the steel wires in the mirror (for adjustment)
- as R0162 said, I removed 1 layer of tape & put double sided tape to the mirror
- installed the wing mirrors to the car
- installed the door cards, window winder, speakers, etc ...

When I was at the last screw, I realized that I forgot this small plates from below the wing mirrors (the ones that slide in), BUGGER "rage: !

So, that means I had to do it all over again, since you can only install those small plates when the wing mirrors are off !

OK, done that, then :

- installed the steel wiring that keeps the todd open (I had the nuts de-rusted)
- install the front clam : some new grease on the bolts, front clam was easily installed
- connect the steel wires to the car
- connect the lights on both sides

And this is the final result :





I like it, what about you guys ?

Tommor I'll take her for a spin !

[mgbond]

Do the mirrors match the wheels as if they don't then it will look odd. need some outside pics as these make the colour look different?

[anotherdom]

I think it needs a touch of red on the body somewhere to tie things together - maybe a vinyl stripe or something. Top work though.

[bzguy]

Martin,

they are the exact same color, will take outside pics tomorrow

Indeed, in the garage under artificial light they look different

[bzguy]

anotherdom said:

I think it needs a touch of red on the body somewhere to tie things together - maybe a vinyl stripe or something. Top work though.

Thanx ; I was thinking about a Union Jack on the roof, but guess that would be just too much !