1946 Morris 8 Series E - off to storage

love the work and creativity going into this project!

JP

Not heard the term "Engine Bridge" before. Always fun to learn a new language!

today was mainly filled with trying to dispose of 6 x 20ft high budlias (i may have let them get a touch out of control). They were dispatched in the end so I snuck into the workshop for an hourish.

not overly exciting.

the mirror of the last tube made.

P4054533 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

fit up wasnt too bad

P4054534 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

tack tack, weldy weldy

P4054535 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

stiff as a stiffy stiff thing thats stiff.

now to make the bolt on bit.

Evolution of card templates used trying to get it to fit spatially.

P4054536 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

Used to make some metal bits

P4054537 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

turned up a spacer

P4054538 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

the lower of the two piece of steel (the one with the hole cut in it) i fettled for ages but couldnt get it to fit without making the spacer about 70mm long. It only needs to be about 40mm long so the lower bracket will be changed to a different design that fits.

Align and tack in the top bracket.

P4054539 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

P4054540 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

should get some more workshop time on Saturday. Will hopefully get some more Morris and Escort progress.

Yep. The rad will sit within the black radiator cowel ahead of the bridge. There's quite a lot of room there so should get a decent sized rad in.

It's pretty stiff but the bits are all fairly light weight so it's hopefully not overly heavy.

Made the other half of the bracket to hold the pin.

P4074556 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

This was a pain to get to shape and weld in. It looks its solid pin, however there are 1.5mm thick washers top and bottom to allow for some shimming to fit.

tubes are going to go something like this.

P4074557 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

trim trim trim, file file, trim, file, fettle.

P4074558 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

tack it all together. Box section is there to prevent the two bulkhead legs from springing in when final welded.

P4074559 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

Forget to take pics for a while...

Welded the tube solid. Marked out the centre of the front pin, drilled through, adjusted with the file for alignment, tacked the pin in position.

Final weld

P4074560 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

P4074562 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

all going well so far, as when the bolts are released nothing springs. Bolts can be done up by fingers and nothing is tight.

There will be two other members that are welded to the bulkhead tubes, and bolt to the front pyramid. they will be positioned a bit like so.

P4074563 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

it looks tight to the exhaust etc. but here it loads of room as I want to maximise space for the turbo this side, and the inlet manifold the other side.

before that thought I want to make sure the legs to the bulkhead don't pull in. Sounds liek the ideal time for a swagey hole gusset.

Mark out lines parallel to the bulkhead.

P4074564 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

CAD work

P4074565 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

transfer to steel

P4074566 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

cut out holes. I got fed up with how much effort was needed to turn the Q Max cutters. As it was steel bolt, on steel nut, on steel cutter, it was almost certainly under head friction on the bolt. I could have put in grease but thats only a temp solution. £2 from a bearing supplier, needle roller thrust bearing and ground washers under the head. Very little force needed to turn now. Should have done this ages ago....

P4074567 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

holes cut, curved the end by dressing over a piece of tube. Length set so it goes to the mid point of the tubes.

P4074568 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

goes something like so

P4074569 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

but cant have plain holes.... thats a bit dull.

Much better

P4074570 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

looks more finished at the back with a radius on it.

P4074571 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

wasnt sitting quite right so gave a slight fettle

P4074572 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

I'm still in two minds if I should remake this with a curved leading edge (bulkhead side) just to soften it a bit. It'll be a are to make as its curved in two directions, however it'll be the first thing you see with the bonnet off, so may be worth it. Contemplation required.

The fancyness is one of the bits I like rather than anything else. It would just look more special. I may make a prototype and see.

Yep this should be the last bit of frame work, other than the bulkhead to cage links and seat frames.

After that it's mainly brackets and mounts (handbrake, wipers, etc.) Of which there are many....

I tend to agree that a curved edge would be more in keeping plus about 2/3 the size - For details have you considered the tube and washer type connections rather than the tabs for the connections that connect the chassis to the body? - An issue with tabs is that any flex and they snap at the HAZ.

Today the escort job took longer than expected, so there wasnt much time spent on the morris.

Using the other gusset as a base I drew this up.

P4154594 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

made some rounded points and trimmed it to shape

P4154595 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

transferred to steel and added a 20mm strip at the top to turn into the leading edge.

P4154596 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

And trim to size and shape the leading edge

P4154597 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

I thought i might need to make a former, but using a length of 25mm tube, a rubber mallet and a panel hammer i managed to dress it to shape a lot more easily than i thought it would go.

trial fit

P4154598 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

its too low at the edges so trimmed it to straighten it.

P4154599 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

a drill a hole for the swage tool. And realise after the first one something looked wrong (top hole). I'd measured from the added on 20mm strip. no the true start point. So re-drilled further down.... and the drill wandered when i did it so its fractionally off centre. I r annoyed.

P4154600 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

and swaged hole added.

P4154601 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

Due to the size of hole / swage its drawn the edges in slightly.

Back side.

P4154602 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

as there's a couple of bits wrong if I am going to go for this style i'll re-make with an extra 10mm each side, then trime to size after swaging the hole.

hmmmm.

this (1)

P4154603 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

or this (2)

P4154601 by jono_misfit, on Flickr

I'm swaying more towards 2 at the moment, will see how I feel by next workshop session.

Another vote for version 2