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Started on the GRP moulds. The little front one looks ok. It has sagged a tiny bit, but when offered up to the front of the car it fits well. So I'm sure ill get something from it that works. Mould cleaned, prepped with mould release wax, and PVA solution.  The big one was basically unusable. It had deformed so much that you wouldnt be able to get a part out from it. I think someone had recognised this and bonded an ally angle section across the top side, but this hadnt prevented the centre section from sagging. Alan the GRP maestro attempted to open it up with chocks to see if it was possible with out chopping the mould up, and it just about moved somewhere sensible. It moved even more when the ally bracing was cut off. This movement was enough to encourage us that the mould wasnt total scrap, so we persevered. Unfortunately the rear side where the Police Stop lens goes is still well out of shape. So we cut a piece of wood the correct size and with more chocks of wood, opened it up, then laminated the wood inplace to hold it there. Thats about as far as we have got. The plan is to do similar to what blackpropracing suggested. We will hold the sagging section in position with chocks, the cut external ribs and laminate them to the outside of the mould. Then it should be somewhere close. The droopy top held open, chocks have moved it about 30 mm.   Glassing in the wood   |
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Great news about the police signs, hopefully you can sort out the warping. You're very lucky to get them, each force used their own pattern of sign they wanted fitting, although some would obviously be the same (compare yours to the Met version). Glad they fit up to the old tailgate as well as the rear reds (do the bottom ones screw into the spoiler?), after all this hard work, authenticity will be everything. Don't quote me on the radio, but maybe Ken will be able to confirm the type by the pics? So, sirens. This was a big changeover period for forces, each choosing their own equipment. GMP had already started fitting wailers to their Sierra and last "D" reg Capri's by then. You can bin that bloody awful American set you've got.........lol. Thankfully Ken has given you the definitive answer that Lancs were still using the two-tone/klaxon style on these SD1's. They're not the same sound that the early Met SD1 has fitted in Dave Butlers video, they're the electronic type. You can pay silly prices for horns on eBay, let me know as I might know how to get hold of a decent set through a friend. Someone mentioned GMP unmarked cars were still using klaxons on the early 00's. This was the TASS specialist car crime group (later the TVCU, and now TVIU), made "famous" by the BBC series X-cars. You can watch them on YouTube. Some of the cars they used back then were XR4x4, Cosworth 4x4, Cavalier 4x4, RS2000 4x4 and Astra 16v. Looking forward to more updates. [/quote Hi Carl, again thanks for the info. If you could track down a set of horns that would be great. DO you know how they were controlled? Is it just 2 switches of do i need a special controller? I remember X-cars and the two guys in the unmarked silver sapphire cosworth. Great TV. |
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Oct 18, 2017 13:21:26 GMT
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Your rear window & tailgate is the modified one with a taper to the bottom corners before the straight edge - the very early cars had a straight bottom edge with no taper and the rear windows were only fitted with a rubber - so a straight string in but I would seal with this www.dortechdirect.co.uk/arbomast-autograde-sealant-for-windscreens.html - front windscreens being bonded originally with a Bostick Solbit - do you have the chrome trims for the front windscreen (or are they available) - always check that these are not sprained before fitting the windscreen - most of todays windscreen fitters will be clueless when it comes to fitting this - back in the day I fitted hundreds of them - if you need any advice when it comes to fitting it - just let me know - Chris Yeah this is a very late series 2 so has the deeper rear screen. Thanks for the link. Where are you based? Jim - Just underneath Reading but I get all over the country on occasions - it all depends on timings really - most of the advice for fitting the screens / what to watch for if getting it done by someone else etc can done with a pm though - Chris |
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Oct 18, 2017 18:07:44 GMT
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More progress with the GRP spoilers. The little one came out pretty good. It will require some filler before paint, but its going to look good once finished. The mould had distorted slightly, but this wasnt apparent until i offered it up to the front of the car. So while it is still green and curing i have clamped pieces of wood to it to pull it straight. Fresh out the mould  Lens balanced on  Clamped  The other mould is still very much a work in progress. I cut three ribs for the outside. I used a pair of profile combs to get the shape and then cut them from 1/2" plywood. These were gobbed to the mould and when that goes off, Alan will laminate them on properly. Then the wedges can be taken out from inside and hopefully we will be ready to make a new part. It looks promising, as when the mould was offered up to a newish tailgate it fitted very nicely. Profile comb  Ribs  On tailgate  The fit  Working with GRP can be quite time consuming. Lots of dead time waiting for the resin and waxes to cure. But i spent some of this time being entertained by the feral cats that frequent the farm yard. They are incredibly timid and yet seem quite curious about people and probably food scraps they occasionally get thrown. Lately they have mostly been getting the dregs of sardine tins and sardine oil. No wonder their coats are so shiny. There is a lot of spilt grain so plenty of rats and mice so the cats don't go hungry.  Cat most unimpressed when i offered it a stalk of grain  Also got overflown by two Apache gun ships. don't see those very often.   |
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Oct 18, 2017 18:38:45 GMT
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proper job !! great work.
i guess there is also some historic / heritage significance in repairing that mould. i mean its now in great shape for the next fellow (whoever that might be)
its been a great year for micing! our completely domestic cat is living outside and averaging one a day just from rural hedgerows !
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Last Edit: Oct 18, 2017 18:40:12 GMT by darrenh
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Oct 19, 2017 17:51:07 GMT
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proper job !! great work. i guess there is also some historic / heritage significance in repairing that mould. i mean its now in great shape for the next fellow (whoever that might be) its been a great year for micing! our completely domestic cat is living outside and averaging one a day just from rural hedgerows ! Yeah i think so. Certainly will be much easier for anyone else doing one. I'm considering making a batch up. Making my own copy mould will probably be quite expensive though. |
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Oct 19, 2017 17:54:27 GMT
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Ive been trying to track down a Marconi RC690 radio. Whilst doing some random Googling i found this fascinating website. www.dtels.org/html/tvp.htmlIt hosts a number of Thames Valley Police Training Videos from 1987. They were made for the roll out of the new style equipment including the RC690. Its seems all so old fashioned now, with very cheesy music, and the presenter had a big perm and glasses. I love the old oscilloscopes, green screens and huge keyboards. Video 4 shows the UHF / VHF unit that the PCUK car club have. |
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Oct 20, 2017 15:45:06 GMT
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More progress on getting information on radios. I made enquiries with a chap who knows about vintage radios. I was asking if he had any Marconi's going spare and told him why i was after one. He replied the following.... "GMP would have used RC690's but Lancashire probably didn't. The antennas on the cars in the picture look to be low band VHF so could have been the old pre warc VHF channels and older equipment still fitted.
The change over 1985 onward with the full change being completed late 80's .
While composing this email I remembered I asked an FOI question of Lancashire police a few years back when I was researching some of my website. They gave me a very good response and a quick search found it.
88/89 was the Warc changeover and the radios were BE544 for cars that needed to talk to other forces such as traffic and storno CQM6114 for standard patrol cars.
Prior to the changeover they used Pye Whitehalls, Pye Vanguards, Pye Cambridge and GEC RC602.
Most likely Pye Whitehall for the Traffic cars as they were AM/FM and could be channeled for surrounding forces.
So I would think Pye Whitehall
There's a picture on my website here
radiohistory.uk/WhitehallBroc.htm"So looks like it could be a Pye Whitehall like the one below.  |
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Oct 20, 2017 17:58:32 GMT
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This question was asked on another Police preservation site for a motorcycle restoration. The go to person seems to be COMMS PMR - policeradios.co.uk Richard Allport. Getting excited now with this build moving quickly!!!
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Oct 20, 2017 19:12:05 GMT
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This question was asked on another Police preservation site for a motorcycle restoration. The go to person seems to be COMMS PMR - policeradios.co.uk Richard Allport. Getting excited now with this build moving quickly!!! Oh wow, never even heard of that. Good link. Thanks! |
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Oct 21, 2017 15:31:03 GMT
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I collected the boot spoiler this morning from Alan. He has been working his magic over the last couple of days and managed to get a usable part out of the mould. I wasnt sure this was going to be possible considering how deformed the mould was. He told me it was a right mare to get out of the mould, it took him an hour! The final result is really impressive. I test fitted the rear lens and it it sits really well. No hint of any sagging as there was originally. I did the final fettling of the rear edges by offering it up repeatedly to the blue tailgate. Took a while, but i didnt want to sand too much off. Last thing today i put some filler in the imperfections. Need to but some brush able filler primer to get the final shape. If you ever need any GRP work done i can highly recommend Comptech Laminates, ask for Alan. They can do everything from small individual parts to complete car bodies. They are currently working on a historic March 75S race car. www.comptech-laminates.co.uk07802 816121     |
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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Oct 21, 2017 16:44:30 GMT
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Also got overflown by two Apache gun ships. don't see those very often. Where are you, I'm sure I saw those on Friday near Swindon. |
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Oct 21, 2017 17:21:55 GMT
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Also got overflown by two Apache gun ships. don't see those very often. Where are you, I'm sure I saw those on Friday near Swindon. That was Molash in Kent, not far from Canterbury. The weird thing was they flew really slowly, almost like they were looking for something and yet I was on a farm in the middle of nowhere? |
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Oct 23, 2017 13:06:04 GMT
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 Image from facebook For your info your car will definitely had proper two tone air horns, not a siren, please, please, please don't fit a siren. The 825 & 827 Rovers that replaced the Rover SD1s also had two tone horns. Other than the rear red lights that would be two position with constant red and flashing red options, it will have had headlamp flash, both sides flashing at the same time. |
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921 
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Oct 23, 2017 14:00:56 GMT
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Here is an ensemble photo of how it looks with the spoiler and 4 x rear reds. If I'm honest, i didnt really like the rear reds, especially as fitting them will involved drilling even more holes in my nice white paint work  But they really have to go on to keep it original, and I'm not aware of any other constabularies fitting lights in this way. D825GEC sister car to mine  Just sat wondering why the bottom reds point down - then worked it out that they are at the right angle if tailgate up....Keep up the good work James |
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Oct 23, 2017 14:18:59 GMT
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Image from facebook For your info your car will definitely had proper two tone air horns, not a siren, please, please, please don't fit a siren. The 825 & 827 Rovers that replaced the Rover SD1s also had two tone horns. Other than the rear red lights that would be two position with constant red and flashing red options, it will have had headlamp flash, both sides flashing at the same time. Just been discussing the emergency equipment with Jim and wondered about these items in particular. That info is great. Would the headlamps flash with all four beams, or just the inner mains? Also, can you remember much about the switchgear for it all and how/where it was fitted? |
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Oct 23, 2017 14:33:52 GMT
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I don't know, I was sat inside!
I suspect that the headlamp flash was wired into the headlamp flash wiring from the normal factory wiring in the indicator stalk.
I know that the wiring for them (on the later 827's) was wired via relays on the front inner wings. The relays used to stick on occasionally and you had to clout them with your staff to free them up.
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Oct 23, 2017 14:54:57 GMT
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I have no actual knowledge of what was used at the time but is there a reason why you could not use an single or two indicator relays to drive a relay to control one rear and one front light on each side of the car?
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Oct 23, 2017 18:39:41 GMT
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You mean a flasher relay to drive a changeover (5 terminal) relay? That sounds like it would work, but you would need either a load resistor (to simulate the current draw of indicator bulbs), or a solid state flasher relay for which the flash rate is independent of load.
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Sometimes, others may not understand why you like a car so much. Sometimes, you may not even understand why you like a car so much. But none of that matters; all that matters is that you like the car, and having it makes you happy.
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Oct 23, 2017 18:52:43 GMT
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I don't know, I was sat inside! I suspect that the headlamp flash was wired into the headlamp flash wiring from the normal factory wiring in the indicator stalk. I know that the wiring for them (on the later 827's) was wired via relays on the front inner wings. The relays used to stick on occasionally and you had to clout them with your staff to free them up. Hi Lakeland, are you saying you also used to drive this car? |
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But they really have to go on to keep it original, and I'm not aware of any other constabularies fitting lights in this way.
