Moving Units... I sure miss the insulation

Monday 8th April - Got told that as far as the previous occupant is concerned the repairs are finished.

Time to crack on then. Started by refitting the old lights that were hanging by the wires. Cut the wires back and had to swap a 6ft double for a 5ft single so I can retrofit the LED tubes in the near future. Happy it wasn't going to blow up I put the power back on.
Its is now quite a nicely lit room considering the ceiling is raw plaster. I'll mask off the light fittings for painting around then take the masking off to do the majority of the room. There was a broken wall light, thats been replaced with a 50w LED floodlight which works really well but is still directional so will need to get the others up to match. That will give me plenty of non directional 'daylight'.
Got a cement mixer donated free by a neighbour at the shop so I can sort out the yard and the workshop floor. If I can find some old lancashire bricks I can also brick up the windows. There is a chap on the estate that has some sort of door/window company, i'll see if he has any replacement glass units I can use to frame up before next winter as the original windows are truly awful.

Tuesday 9th April - Bought a dishwasher off facebook market place for £35, less than 500yd detour off my commute to work Had a few issues getting it in and out of the van but it's done now. Still have to find the right spot and wire / plumb it in but (providing it runs) should help getting all the old bits cleaned. Did the last of the 5ft tube fittings using an LED unit and had another damp down and sweep up. Actually looking quite clean now.

No I haven't tried the wishdasher yet... but I did do some cleaning, table assembly and photo's...

Table is roughly 7ft x 4ft, made from scrap racking, unistrut and a lump of 12mm ply it comes apart so it can be put into the van.
It's due to be mounted on braked rubber castors so it can be moved out into the middle of the room.
It will easily take the weight of a Legerra bodyshell or with the top off can be used as a mobile chassis stand.
I think having big things like this on wheels or so they can be broken down when not in use is going to be useful.



I got a bit enthusiastic with the spray gun with water in while 'damping down' . Seems I may have inadvertently had the nozzle open too far and the pressure set a bit high Did the job though



Ceiling is still raw plaster. I'm a bit reluctant to start lobbing paint on it just in case the landlord decides he wants it finish plastered and smooth.
I'm leaving the other wall lights until I have daylight, again I want the Landlord to sign off on taking that wall out or at least making a decent sized door in it. Although I'm thinking an apology after the fact may be more efficient than waiting.



Well, you can definitely say I've moved some stuff in through that big door. My first job has been to bodge some ramp holders onto the trailer as I'm fed up with having to make room in the van after there is a car on the trailer and I can't get to the bar above the axle to strap them down. Not quite finished yet but the runner part works, just needs the bar putting over the top to stop them bouncing about under the load.

New to me wishdasher due to be plumbed in and a test run done at the weekend (when I've got time to clean up the mess if it all goes pear shaped) wonder if a pinto block will fit?

Maybe time to slap some paint up tomorrow night, that'll be a bit messy

Hi, I found this some time ago for larger engine parts. -



Colin

Sunday 21st April - Time to actually try getting a car in. Of course I know it'll fit but will I have enough room to get two in and work round them?
Cranked the door open just enough after clearing just enough space to drive in.
Car fits fine, no real issues, didn't hit the floor with the exhaust so all good. 
Changed the rack, set the steering up again and it should be good to drive tomorrow, hopefully the lads will be in at the National Tyres place down the road from the shop so they can check my settings on the tracking. Fairly confident as done it a few times now  



Took these from up a step ladder to try and get more in the shot. Not got quite enough angle on the camera to squeeze it all in.



With a foot of space behind the car I do have plenty of room in front. But the Leggy isn't a big car, certainly shorter than the Dutton Sierra which will be the first thing that gets worked on after this. 
I think I've got just enough room to drag the crane back with the engine on if I move the wishdasher



I think opening the other part up is a must, getting some skates is probably a good idea too. 

Everything i've used is dumped in here until I finish decorating the other part of the unit... There's an awful lot more stuff still on pallets that will have to be thinned out before I try to put it onto the shelving.

Project 2, A dinghy that belongs to one of the customers in the shop who doesn't have a dry space to fix the hole in the hull or move the rollers into a more suitable location.
Basic glassfibre repair makes it a nice, easy job   ... Ya think! 



After towing it from Skelmersdale to the unit I know the trailer is too short, the wheels need moving back or the trailer extending and the boat moving forward. Slightest hump in the road caused the whole thing to leap into the air.

Can't really do much until the B Type is done, its basic matting and filler work but will be trying new fillers including Plastic Padding's gelcoat marine filler.

I'll post details and photo's as I start work.

[pendant mode] Dutton B Plus/Malaga chassis [pendant mode/]

Keep up the good work

Fixed that for you - and I was just referring to the chassis type - it's not a B chassis - and the B+ also had bonnet ridges - what would make it a Malaga B+ as a model would be the Pheaton type front which is what many people ordered as an option - Malaga front B plus rear, as the B plus front was curse word and so was the Malaga rear hence the Phaeton S1.

Oh why oh why is my head still full of all this Dutton Model .

As a penance for my pendantry have a Dutton B type as I looked at photo's of clean new units but thought that would be going too far



This is all due to still having some regrets about not building that Alfa engined B type road test car replica.

B Type is 1" tube - Brazed and is a very different sort of chassis - Plus most of them are Triumph transverse spring IRS at the back with just the final few with a live axle usually Anglia to keep it narrow - Live axle chassis below - I also had a Triumph one - Horrendous.







The B+, Malaga and Pheatons S1 and S2 all have a very similar chassis with the large angled rail running front to back. My B+ chassis was not brazed as far as I can recollect so if that one was brazed then it could well be an early chassis.

The B type is quite a lot smaller than the cars that followed and owes much more to the Lotus Seven that inspired it.

Seems I'm bringing my work home with me more and more these days.
Customer pranged her Fiesta, bought most of the repair parts from me through the shop apart from the bonnet which she got second hand. Nice condition black bonnet, shame the car is ocean blue with white stripes
Lacking the dry warm space to repaint it she was a bit stuck so I offered to help. Delivered as a black lacquered bonnet by the end of friday night it looked like this.



Left it 24 hours to dry and then wet sanded back.  Dryed it of, tack ragged it and sprayed the centre section with white gloss. Time to walk away and let that dry.
This morning went back and wet flatted it again. Masked the two white stripes up and sprayed the ocean blue base coat.
That'll do for now.



Wet flat and lacquer tomorrow. Then just leave it alone for a couple of days to go off.

Had a couple of visitors as well as the fiesta owner today.
Many thanks to Danny for getting mucky and dropping the broken (very very broken) type 9 out of the Sierra. Seems like the front bearing fell apart and destroyed a couple of cogs   He's run off with the remains to see if it can be fixed.
Thanks also to Andrew who shifted some of the old shelving into the new unit, set it all up and filled it with boxes from one or two of the pallets next door in storage. Can start rooting for all the bits I've been promising people the last few months now. We also moved the wheel polisher so I can get on with some of the backlog of alloys too.

There still seems like too much stuff to go in the unit though.