We do get some stuff done here
When the sun's not so bright.
But that so wasn't today. This was todays lunchtime swims and sandwiches.
Had to make she most of it.
I thought I'd better add some general 'classic car actually getting used' photos because it does actually get hooned about quite a lot.
For example - I hooned all the way to the oldschool '23 Nats. A huge distance for this little car @ around 5km this year
Quite handy having the Nats on our doorstep this year. A great weekend of catching up with loads of good mates and checking out some cool cars/eating food/fine ales etc. I didn't actually take many pics of the event full stop let alone the Imp so here's a smattering..
A sports car and a Jag...
Had a good time racing over the Takaka hill on the way back from the Saturdays cruise to Golden bay with that Jag. I don't think the Jag Six was needing to put in as much effort as my little Datsun 1200 was up the hill
Good solid fun trashing little engines.
Other O.S cars at the lunchtime stop in the bay...
On the way back, stopping for the most unlikely car to breakdown, a Corolla - did just that again...
As well as going to Nats this summer has seen the Imp doing many trips to various beaches in our bay. It makes for a pretty fun and cheap way to get around all the little roads here.
general lurking...
Spotted the Bedford CF I played a major part in building a few years ago - the van sits atop a full Falcon running gear and suspension. I never realised quite how similar the paint colour is to my Imp...
A big change this past year that's been just so good for the car is it having its own garage to reside in. Throughout the hottest days this summer its been out of the sun and kept clean - free of the usual pine pollen we get, then the dust from the yard. Its super dry in there and makes it more of an event to 'take the Imp'.
Plus it just looks so perfect in there
....
The bikes are safe and dry too. Wonderful not having all of that car, bikes and other stuff in the main engineering workshop!
Oh also this summer I spotted the perfect picnic set for the Imp (although possibly a tad too heavy/bulky..)
So yeah - the car has been used plenty over the summer even though I've not done so much on the flat six and I think this helps me keep enthused about the Imp in general. Its well worthy of a better heart.
So back to that heart. Continuing on from the last post I had the collectors in the shape I wanted and after a bit of careful trimming with the flapdisc I had them fitting close enough that I wasn't going to have to fill any large gaps with filler rod. I took my time welding them, trying to not blow through and they turned out fine...
With those in place I was able to weld the engine side of V clamps in place. I bolted the engine cross member in place and double checked the clearances. It was still lining up good so on with the welding. Very carefully too, with lots of tacks first because I had read that V clamps can easily warp if the welding is too hot, slow, uneven etc. Luckily I must have been careful enough because they stayed flat and true
Next up is the oil filler placement. I really want to get this in the right spot, not just for the function but the looks. It'll be right there on display, doing its best to upset the symmetry of the horizontally opposed engine. I decided I needed to get another idea of what's on display when the lower half of the engine is 'hidden' behind the rear valance. The top bit of this alloy box section is pretty much where the top of the valance will be (slam panel?)
The filler will have to come up to the left at a slight angle because there's no way its going to sit in front of the main pulley. I'm not yet set on the height of the filler cap but for now that can wait. There will be plenty of room in that area. I'm still going to use the extra pair of flanges I machined up when I made the filler plug. These will allow me to unbolt the vertical part of the filler tube so I can easily remove the cam belt cover. I also don't really want the tube poking up in the way, waiting to get knocked while I move the engine about the workshop or while fitting it etc
So yeah- I think I'll machine the front plate to suit the base flange, mount that, weld the lower bits of tube to suit and leave deciding the final height of the top half of the filler tube till later on when the engine is in place