1981 Midas Coupe - Project Zippy.

I'll be honest. I find exhausts hateful things - mainly because I am working on my own and don't have access to a lift or similar. That said, the exhaust is ON. It is clamped together, the LCB is anchored to the gearbox, and the only thing that wasn't quite right was the centre hanger I had made. It was putting unnecessary load on the centre bobbin - because of the way the exhaust bends the clamp which was welded to the hanger couldn't sit straight. Using it like that would make it go through bobbins every 5 miles or so, even the reinforced ones. I had a re-think.



As I do not want to weld my nicely-coated exhaust (you wouldn't either if it had cost THAT much), I have thought laterally. A while back my initial thought on hanging the centre pipe to the beam was to use a bit of metal bar welded to the exhaust and a late-model Mini rear rubber mount (see picture below).







Instead of welding it to the expensive exhaust, I figured welding it to the clamp instead would be a better idea. At least it would if the welder wasn't playing up. So although the exhaust is "on", there is a bit of wood holding up the centre section whilst I figure out what's wrong with the welder. In the meantime, here's a pic of what it will look like once fully done!

Another hurdle cleared. 😃👍

Strong and does the job is all you need 👍

Sorry to hear the sad news about your dad, Dave.

Sincere condolences Dave,

A very difficult time but I found remembering the good times helped,

Take care of yourself and your family,

Nigel

Sorry for your loss

Sorry for your loss

So sorry to hear that Dave, take care and please except my Condolences.
Don't rush back on the car it takes time to adjust.

Thank you for the messages of condolences and support. It really is very much appreciated. I can't pretend that it's been an easy time, but I am starting to get there. Lots still to arrange but all is ok.



I figured that an hour or so back in the garage would be beneficial, so I had a tidy up first, then started on something that wasn't an exhaust or a dashboard (I REALLY didn't feel like doing more dash work at the moment). The headlining. Or, more importantly, something that was screwed to it. The Mk1 Midas has a Fiat 126 rear view mirror and interior light all rolled into one unit. And it seems that the old adage that some Italian build quality isn't up to much rings true in this case. The light lens that fits onto the base is hard plastic and clips on with 3 brittle tangs. I have two different lenses, both of which are missing one tang. This makes the design useless, as the lens simply falls out thanks to Sir Isaac Newton's favourite discovery. It's a really poor design, but then I suppose if the car in question was first introduced in the early 70s, its life expectancy was more than likely to end some time ago. In theory I could get another 126 mirror unit with good lens, but I would more than likely be throwing money after something that would probably break again.



So I decided (as with a few things in this car) to do it slightly differently. I would fill in the holes in the one piece headlining with good ol' chopped strand mat and resin, then put an interior light in its place (design is yet to be decided). I would then get a mirror to either mount on the screen, or on to the dash top once it's completed.



I grabbed a Jaffa Cake box for Cardboard-Aided Design, then covered it with parcel tape. I then taped this to the headliner, and flipped it over. Out came my resin and fibreglass, and I carefully filled up the holes. I will make sure it's all ready to be modified once I decide on my interior light set up.



This thing will be moved on. I don't like it as I think it's a really bad design.







Of course this leaves a hole needing to be filled...







...so out came the CAD and some tape...







...which was quickly followed by some fibreglass and resin.







One final thing - I am not sure whether the headlining (which is a one-piece bit of fibreglass) should be kept as is, painted with textured paint, or recovered, possibly in a lighter colour to make the interior a bit less sombre. What's everyone's thoughts?