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Oct 12, 2020 13:04:03 GMT
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Yesterday I figured out that I had no excuse for not drilling the holes for my nice new dials, so I cracked out the measuring stick, a Sharpie and the very last of my masking tape to make sure they were in the right place. I drilled a pilot hole for each of them and got out the holesaws. Typically, I only have a 51mm or 54mm. The dial is 52mm. I used the 51mm holesaw as it much easier to make the hole slightly bigger once cut than the other way round! A small amount of relief work using the sanding drum on the Dremel and both dials fitted in nicely with a tiny amount of drag. Perfect. Once done, I did a whole load of sanding over the dash. I then set about giving the dash its first coat of filler as there were numerous low spots and the occasional hole. This will be dealt with when I get my next load of sandpaper, because I have run out off that too. Joy. Dial positions marked out And holes cut - they sit nicely. Quite a lot of smoothing needed...
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Oct 12, 2020 12:36:52 GMT
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I junked the rubbish Sharp speakers the other day as they have been replaced by a pair of Celestion 3s. Total overkill, but they sound glorious!
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Oct 10, 2020 16:07:20 GMT
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Lovely car, lovely colour. Reminds me of the Mk2 1300GL I looked at with a mate with a potential to be my first car. We walked away as the wheel bearings were shot and its doors were rather obviously stuffed full of P38 and the Clacton Gazette. I was then brought up on Minis but have always thought about the Escort that got away
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Oct 10, 2020 15:33:27 GMT
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I had a bit more time spare this afternoon so I popped in to fibreglass the new instrument pod mounts in place. I figured that the easiest way to do this was to keep the pod in place while they dried. I first of all roughed up the aluminium on the wire wheel on the bench grinder before glassing them in place. I only had the remnants of any chopped strand mat left, so it does need some tidying up. I do have a new kit on order so it will be properly sorted once this arrives. Whilst the resin was drying, I had a look at the two 2" dials for the centre of the dashboard, and I realised that the voltmeter did not have a securing bracket with it. So I had a look in the spare brackets box (yes I do have one!) and there was almost a perfect length of steel, even with the correct sized hole in the middle. One problem - it was curved and also covered in black Hammerite. I hammered it flat on the vice before attacking it with a sanding drum attached to the Dremel. I then gave it a touch of shortening and then some grinding to shape to clear the bulb housing and all was well again. It's now had some paint and is currently drying. Some of the messiest fibrglassing I've done. But they aren't going anywhere. New securing bracket made, cut to shape, and... ...painted in the last of the Satin Black I had in the can.
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Last Edit: Oct 9, 2020 14:13:58 GMT by mrbounce
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Peter C I love reading about your 2 saloons. I like a Mercedes (I have an SLK as a daily) and particularly like your methodical approach to fixing things. Your two are both lovely motors and a credit to you.
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flyingphil I love your Sprite. I too remember it from reading about the Rover V8 championship in Street Machine and it's brilliant that you still have it. Fabulous bit of kit!
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When my friend's caravan tyre went, We went to the local tyre fitter's on the off chance and asked if they had any part-worns. They grabbed one and did it for the price of drink. We took them cakes later on. Might be worth an ask?
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Motorhead's Ace of Spades is one that never fails to make me drive faster!
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Had a pair of those in my old Mini 25! For me it was Huey Lewis and the News' Power of Love - this was the first song I played on my first solo drive in my first car. Who cares that was on a TDK cassette in a no name stereo? Every time I hear that song it takes me back to that November evening 😎
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I think the real reason that electric cars have come to the fore rather than hydrogen powered has nothing to do with green energy or cost. It is simply down to the right rich people shaking hands on deals. Nothing more.
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Grabbed another couple of hours today. I figured that I would make the dial surrounds a permanent fixture and broke out the resin and chopped strand mat. The resin was pretty gloopy before adding the hardener so wasn't exactly the easiest to work with. It's not pretty on the back but it is solid, and only requires a minor bit of tidying to make it more presentable. Once this was dry, I needed to think about how to attach the pod at the top as I had of course cut the mounts off. Using the remains of the original mounts which still had the clips in, some screws and some aluminum, I made a mock-up of what I wanted to achieve. Not pretty, but it gave me an idea of what I wanted to do. I grabbed some more old aluminium sheet and cut two strips. I then riveted these to the clips and will either fibreglass them in place or potentially rivet them. Maybe both, Depends on what I think will work better. Untidy fibreglassing, but it is bleeping strong. Mulling over ideas is always good, because... ...it often makes you come up with a better solution.
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Nope, none of that - that's what the red line is for - remember I am not the long-haired one who owned a Black Mayfair Rev counter, standard Mini dials, volts, oil pressure, That'll do.
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Nice to finally see the end potentially in sight! Am willing the rain to stop for a bit!
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Fabulous story Dez - thank you for sharing. My Unicorn is a GTM Coupe. Not an earlier Cox GTM (although they're awesome) but the later 1980s version built for 12" wheels. They only made a few hundred of them but they do turn up from time to time, generally in pretty usable condition. I have never been in the position to get one though be it storage or spare cash. Classic Mini-based, they're mid-engined and I like to think of them as a Ferrari Dino that's shrunk in the wash. Two Mini front subframes were used, which bolted to a steel tub. The top is fibreglass. Ideally I would like a yellow one, but hell, I would even have a brown one. If and when I get the Midas finished... I think the Unipower GT is a better looking car but each to their own. Maybe NudgerSS but it only costs a fraction of the Unipower. One of those will cost 5 or 6 times what the GTM would. And there's less of them. Plus I saw the GTM in a magazine when I was about 14. That sort of things stays with you!
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Last Edit: Oct 5, 2020 22:07:39 GMT by mrbounce
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Another hour or so this afternoon saw me remove all the ribs around the outside of the pod. I was actually fairly gentle with it and used a Stanley knife and sanding block rather than getting the Dremel out. It's now significantly tidier than before, so I figured now was as good a time as any to start making a bigger hole. I traced around the outside on the back of the dashboard with a Sharpie and out came the cutting disc on the Dremel. I then proceeded to make a ridiculous amount of dust before making a big hole. Of course, nothing is ever quite right first time (especially with this car!! - must be the owner), so some minor fettling was needed before I was able to push it home. There's a couple of very minor gaps, but nothing I can't deal with. I am thinking of actually bonding it in as there's no real reason for it to be removed. It looks quite good, but will be much better when everything is the same colour. Ribs, lumps and mounting areas removed Trace and hack And in place. Looks good.
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My Dad hired two different Carlton Estates in the early 90s. The first, a black one, was truly dreadful - a real "Monday morning" car. It drove as if it was seriously down on power, the ride was awful plus it was generally uncomfortable for such a big car. Fast forward 2 years and we had a white one for 4 separate occasions and put probably over 1500 miles on it despite only hiring it for a weekend at a time. Compared to the other it was a revelation. Supremely comfortable and effortless to drive. My Dad proclaimed it the best all-round car he'd driven to date. Lovely bit of kit. If I needed to move a wardrobe or two I would look for another, but it doesn't really make sense as there's just the two of us.
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Fabulous story Dez - thank you for sharing. My Unicorn is a GTM Coupe. Not an earlier Cox GTM (although they're awesome) but the later 1980s version built for 12" wheels. They only made a few hundred of them but they do turn up from time to time, generally in pretty usable condition. I have never been in the position to get one though be it storage or spare cash. Classic Mini-based, they're mid-engined and I like to think of them as a Ferrari Dino that's shrunk in the wash. Two Mini front subframes were used, which bolted to a steel tub. The top is fibreglass. Ideally I would like a yellow one, but hell, I would even have a brown one. If and when I get the Midas finished...
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That is a cracker!
And those wheels - from Image??
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