Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[aaronjb]

I've looked at the odd Dutton from a distance .. usually rubbing my eyes and wondering why anyone would buy one

I "fixed" the roll bar issue by using chrome ones (rather than stainless) from a different supplier - they were 'better'.. not perfect, but wrangleable into fitting at least.

Next job was to finish fitting the harnesses now that the roll hoops were in. I needed to drill "up" through the threaded bosses already welded to the chassis in order to break through the floorpan, and I didn't want to damage the threads so .. I turned up a little sleeve, 9.5mm OD, 6mm ID, and about 70mm long. Surface finish isn't great because I had the power feed set up for threading so had to hand feed the length several times - but it's functional:



I have remembered how much I love working on the lathe.. should have been a machinist!

Anyway, it was a nice slip fit through the threaded bosses:


So I could jack the car up and drill through the guides - this is one of the few times that the scissor lift was a hindrance as it really got in the way of the jack!


Opened up the holes to 11.5mm from the top and put the eye bolts in and voila! Belts:


No seats, though, so it's a bit uncomfortable.. Really must put those back in, but need to finish fitting the heater first - that's next up.

[biggriffin]

Sorry but I must,,, A heater in a Cobra with a soft roof Is Mr jb going soft in his dotage.

[aaronjb]

Sorry but I must,,, A heater in a Cobra with a soft roof Is Mr jb going soft in his dotage.

For the IVA, there has to be a method to demist the windscreen - the commonly accepted method is a heater (the examiner will check the air output).. a heated screen alone should comply (and I have one) but I don't know of anyone who has been through the IVA using only that to pass and it's hard for the examiner to test.. so, heater it must be 

[dave the builder]

Sorry but I must,,, A heater in a Cobra with a soft roof Is Mr jb going soft in his dotage.

For the IVA, there has to be a method to demist the windscreen - the commonly accepted method is a heater (the examiner will check the air output).. a heated screen alone should comply (and I have one) but I don't know of anyone who has been through the IVA using only that to pass and it's hard for the examiner to test.. so, heater it must be 

so a propane torch to heat the screen Vice grip garage style is not acceptable 
there a bit picky these IVA people 

[dave the builder]

Vice Grip Garage clicky for those who've not seen it 

[biggriffin]

Sorry but I must,,, A heater in a Cobra with a soft roof Is Mr jb going soft in his dotage.

For the IVA, there has to be a method to demist the windscreen - the commonly accepted method is a heater (the examiner will check the air output).. a heated screen alone should comply (and I have one) but I don't know of anyone who has been through the IVA using only that to pass and it's hard for the examiner to test.. so, heater it must be 

 That's me told, every day a school day 
   No windscreen,, be cheaper, then fit later..

[aaronjb]

   No windscreen,, be cheaper, then fit later..

I do know people who have done that! However .. you then have different 'sharp edge' rules to abide by (stricter ones) that make other things harder to comply with, and an examiner could (if he was feeling really pedantic - and some are, most aren't) say that you had presented an 'unfinished' car and make you go away and come back again later..

so a propane torch to heat the screen Vice grip garage style is not acceptable 
there a bit picky these IVA people 

I think they frown on that .. although one mate did use the testers kettle to empty his footwells of water after driving to the test in the rain, so they're not that picky 



I have one of the T7 Designs 3.5kW lightweight heaters (actually, two, but that's a long story) and I've been upside down in the footwell (as has my Fiancée!) trying to fit it for .. a few days. In the end, I realised I just couldn't persuade the water hoses to bend that way, plus the outlets for the demister vents were all on the wrong sides. Although it's highly configurable, there just weren't enough openings for what I needed so out came the step cutter and tin snips!

I had to make an extra cover plate to cover what would become the 'front' outlet (facing the end of the footwell and in the way of the water hoses):


Then punch out two new outlets and drill the mounting holes:




One small change after that is that the new cover plate had to be riveted on - the nuts foul the (computer case) fan inside. Now all I need to do is get back in the footwell, upside down, on my back, and get it all back in place for the nth time

[Varche]

Hats off to you. I hate car heaters. I am convinced that the heater is the first item that comes down a production line and the rest of the car is built around it. All that laying on your back fumbling with your neck about to snap.

[Keith ABS]

 The blower motor is the first thing fitted in an Opel Monza Varche. Second is the heater matrix,
Entire dash out to change either

[Doctor Gollum]

The blower motor is the first thing fitted in an Opel Monza Varche. Second is the heater matrix,
Entire dash out to change either

Pretty much the case with most cars, which makes owning older cars such fun

[aaronjb]

The blower motor is the first thing fitted in an Opel Monza Varche. Second is the heater matrix,
Entire dash out to change either

Pretty much the case with most cars, which makes owning older cars such fun

Then I recommend a Corsa (newish shape one - 2008) .. I had to look at the blower motor on a friend of my OHs; glovebox out, pop out a trim panel (fingertips only) and it's right there staring you in the face.

Which is handy, given they don't last very long That problem was solved when the car was used to ram-raid its way out of a (commercial, not residential) garage, though, during a theft of tools & safe burglary.

[aaronjb]

The heater is now in - I've since replaced the jubbly clips with the correct size, and secured the air hoses to bonded-in cable tie bases so they can't flap about behind the dash:


One of the last remaining "big" fibreglass jobs was then to make the holes for the sidepipes (thanks to Dave for his advice via Facebook, ensuring I didn't make the big gaping holes in totally the wrong place):


It does seem like I need to put the collector in the freezer for a bit, or get the torch on the front end of the sidepipe, in order to be able to get it all the way in.. they are a bit 'snug'. Tail end is fine and is just a slip fit, but the front end is what you might call a 'press fit'. The holes will probably need enlarging a little (especially toward the bottom), but they're basically there now and with the pipe set beside the car on blocks it looks very nice indeed. Of course, since there's nothing at the front end to attach them to, they're back to sitting in the upstairs hallway..



Ho hum.

Might tackle the carpets next (spoiler: I didn't), because that seems like a 1000-piece all-white jigsaw, at least to figure out where it all goes. Then maybe drop the spare engine in, mated to the gearbox, so I can get everything else plumbed in ready for an engine that actually runs..

[Andy B]

.....

You'd think that a roll hoop from Dax would match the chassis from Dax, right?

Wrong!



With all my strength yanking on the third leg (fnarr) I can just about, maybe, get the bolt started.. it's ~7mm off, half the bolt width!

C'mon people.. jigs? Quality control? Unheard of in the kitcar world, I believe.

It's only half a hole out!  A podger would soon line them up ....   

[Nick W]

The blower motor is the first thing fitted in an Opel Monza Varche. Second is the heater matrix,
Entire dash out to change either

Pretty much the case with most cars, which makes owning older cars such fun

Then I recommend a Corsa (newish shape one - 2008) .. I had to look at the blower motor on a friend of my OHs; glovebox out, pop out a trim panel (fingertips only) and it's right there staring you in the face.

mk 3/4/5 Cortina:
Open the bonnet
Undo 3 self tapping screws that secure the heater box cover
Undo both jubilee clips, and pull off the hoses.
Swap the heater matrix.
Reverse the above list, top up the coolant and call it done.


Granadas are very simi!ar.

[aaronjb]

It's only half a hole out!  A podger would soon line them up ....   

But then the podger is in the way of the bolt you need to get in 

While ruminating on the carpet and wheels, I had a fiddle with the wing mirrors I have.. I used the fixings that should be used for the soft top clips here, which left them far too far up the windscreen. I've since moved them further down on a slightly different bracket fixing. These are IVA friendly mirrors so they have to meet all the exterior radius requirements and fold out of the way in the event that they should hit a pedestrian. Damn pedestrians.



Also threw both seats in* and the harnesses so we could both sit in the car and make brum noises..



I was going to add the dash .. except I realised I re-fitted the steering column too far to the right the last time I had it out, and the dash doesn't fit. D'oh! Need to fix that.

*I say threw, but that is one annoying job as my arms are just too big and lack sufficient joints to get to some of the seat to frame fixings. Next time they come out, I'm tempted to weld the nuts on the underside of the seat frame so that I don't have to reach under the seats to bolt them in! That would make much more sense, although it precludes the use of nylocs, of course.