Grizz’s Purgatory, Rezin Rockit 🚀 SUMMERTIME FUN 18/09/23

I am a bit strange, not everyone gets to get closer…..

For whatever reason (nickwheeler may not agree) Nick and I seem to get on, able to interchange and swap roles and jobs mid stride, tease, laugh, mock, suggest, advise and learn from each other, mostly I feel he teaches, but I seem to have managed to share knowledge as well.

Glad you are entertained, I struggled in 2019 when I had that cardiac issue.

Life is good.

Think I shall steal the webbing battery restraint for my buggy
Ttfn Glenn

You're getting the worst of both the solid clamp and the webbing doing it like that.

If you have some more webbing, cut it so that you bolt both ends to holes drilled in the bridge. That will pull the battery down and stop any sideways movement, which you don't have at the moment. It will be easier to fit without the long studs, and look better too.

I like the hot cutting and sealing of the holes; I would have ground a cutting edge on the tube and then struggled with frayed edges

Go for it.






Will get done.







Power failure since 11.00 today.

Two power pilons down.

Not sure when we will have electricity again.

Means nickwheeler and I had no power down at the garage tonight.

So all progress was non energy dependant.


Also no heating in the house.




Storm Eunice still tearing up the world outside.

That gets a groan from me.

Well done

So nickwheeler popped in for the afternoon yesterday.

Power failed so I could not get on with day job stuff.

He came bearing many gifts……l. The advantage of living one flight of stairs above your workshop.



CDS. (Cold Drawn Seamless)



Machined and pre-drilled to take a load of welds, once slipped on the combination of Ford and Mazda steering parts to create a strong, safe new part.



Result

Firewall needs a bit of work to fit and allow full functional use of knucklle.



Also in the tub, a variety of weld in threaded bungs for earthing the battery and power leads, plus the foundation of the battery bridge.

Nick has been busy.

Another beautiful bit of hot rod fabrication is this bulkhead fitting for the throttle cable.



After coffee, chat and status checks, we headed for the garage to get a few small but important jobs done, that needed no electricity.

Using torches after dark, Nick left around 18.30 and I headed to Sally’s place for dinner as we still have no power.

Woke up and still no power, except for what I managed to charge up on the iPad at Sally’s last night.

Lets hope some form of power is restored today.

Part of yesterday’s zero emissions progress was another one of nickwheeler ‘s crafty longterm ideas.

The Mini heater box, fan and matrix from the original kit car was one speed and no more than lukewarm.

Where as it was mentioned that the MX5 heater was a furnace and also 4 speed

So dismantling to the sum of its parts, discarding 50% of the useless bulk and redesigning the blower box, exit vents and matrix positioning could lead to a win.

So while I searched for a ready made solution (think random discarded containers) Nick grabbed some pizza cardboard box, scissors and masking tape.

He won………..

Further fine tuning and fitting needed.

Also the transmission tunnel needs a hefty chunk of surgery and sculpting to allow the blower to fit under the scuttle and behind the firewall.

More added to the list of tasks.




Today the power is still out and no prospect of a repair today either. A freezer load of food to be discarded.

Not impressed with that at all.

But apparently we are not a priority.

So this morning I cleaned up the carport area after the storm yesterday.

Of course the wind and rain waited just for that point where I was done, to start all over again.

So now it is cold, wet, windy and raining outside.

But earlier on I did make it down there to remove the front wheels as I want new valves fitted that were not done when the tyres got fitted as the plan was blasting and painting.

While I was there I decided to clean up and reset the tie rod ends as the front end was way out of line.

New short term lodger John came down when he got up to see what I was up to.
He is a Trike rider and builder having a full strength V-MAX based trike. He lost a leg at at age 24 in a motorcycle accident when he was T-Boned and had a high thigh amputation.
He works as a driving instructor and has a keen mechanical eye.
Nice guy to have about too.

So an extra pair of hands to hold a twin pair of vice grips on the steering rod.

I also cleaned up the threads on both sides so the steering toe in could be fine tuned once the car is completed.



Once the threads were done and reassembled I fitted the space savers so the wheels can get taken to the tyre shop.



Military spec?

Rake.



Now sitting indoors with a drink and a fire warning my heatless, cold, dark house.

Anyone know a main grid electrical man or woman.

Get me some electricity

And internet.

Actually, I do. But he's going to be busy sorting out which jobs get done, and deciding which team does them.

Spoke to engineers a few minutes ago.

They are trying to get permits for replacement of the pilons that went down.

Loads to do.



Hopefully by Monday afternoon.