Harry's Roadster rebuild

[Mike]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Harry had been writing an awful lot about his roadster rebuild and so we agreed to make a build diary section of the forum for him. Everyone is really interested in these restorations so please think about adding yours too

Hi Harry

Can I add my encouragement too.

Have a look at how many visits there have been to the build diaries -it really does show how much interest there is in what others are doing with their cars.

Your recent flurry of posts is a tonic for a lot of others - its nice to see someone new come in with enthusiasm and tackle the unexpected problems that inevitably arise.

Glad to see you start a build diary - post a load of photos as you go!
- who knows, you may even encourage others to have a go too?

Mike

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Hi Harry

Can I add my encouragement too.

Have a look at how many visits there have been to the build diaries -it really does show how much interest there is in what others are doing with their cars.

Your recent flurry of posts is a tonic for a lot of others - its nice to see someone new come in with enthusiasm and tackle the unexpected problems that inevitably arise.

Glad to see you start a build diary - post a load of photos as you go!
- who knows, you may even encourage others to have a go too?

Mike

Thanks Mike and Cameron, It's a good project to pass an hour or six in the evening and of course we learn or remember a few things along the way eh. ( I'm learning how much it's costing, hehe) Good job Ebay is so handy, I'm waiting for a few items at the moment, such as Gaskets, seals, Paint etc and my rack from Earlpart, as soon as I have my recon rack fitted I can push the car outside and give what remains of it a good jet washing ready for a bit more rubbing down and a bit of primer and Hammerite over the chassis. I can't say I've come across the " Build diaries" I'll have to take a look, as for my photo's, I have many, but this site will not accept them due to their size, and I cannot find the time to fiddle with whatever is required.

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Harry's Roadster

if you wish you can simply send me the photos one at a time by email and I will happily do the resizing for anyone

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

if you wish you can simply send me the photos one at a time by email and I will happily do the resizing for anyone

Thank's Cameron, I might well do that, if I remember correctly I can email 2 - 3 at a time ??

[dcunn]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Likewise, happy to help Harry.

You could always post a CD ??

Rgds DC

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Morning all,
Due to delays with my steering rack ( I need to fit it to push my car outside to power was what remains of it ) I've occupied myself with a few other jobs, and there's no shotage of them, I've done quite a number of mechanical jobs - Engine ready to go back in, ancillories fitted to it, I've also repaired or replaced a number of items, again the engine and the gearbox, but most of my time has been taken up with small body repairs and rubbing down, where any "Star type cracking has occured in the fiberglass panels, I've bonded a few extra layers of fiberglass beneath then opened up the cracks, then filled and flatteded them, ( We will see how this works eh ) so the latest job is removing the back axle ( I had no plans to do this ) I gave it a good clean ready for painting and new oil this afternoon. I was thinking again yesterday !! has anyone thought of or priced up the cost of having the fiberglass panels formed in Aluminium ?? I bet the price is sky high ??

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Evening everyone,
Not a great deal done this afternoon, I painted up the back axle and leaf springs, then dismantled the used gearbox cross member I bought, cleaned it up and painted that too, I also sent for new rubber mountings from Ebay ( £7.00 ) I thought the old mounting would do but they were cream crackered ! So I finished off by cleaning up and painting the rear chassis area before I refit the axle tomorrow.

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Evening everyone.
What lovely weather for a run out in the Marlin, well, the Axle etc is in place, I cleaned up the wheels and refitted them ( About the only items that never needed dumping or repairing ! ) My steering rack has still not arrived, so I pushed the car out onto the drive to power wash what remains of it, what a fiasco it was too, quite funny really as the front wheels have a mind of their own, I had to push it a few foot then straighten the wheels ( Several times ) I must say that my power washer does a cracking job, I have one of those spinning nozzles, and it rips everything loose away, including some rust, never mind paint, and saves a lot of work. Once I had it back in the garage, I waited a day for it to dry then painted the remaining Chassis etc in black Hammerite, I started on the bulkhead and inner wing panels too, I must say that I'm not too happy about the hammerite finish on the bulkhead, and I was tempted to rip it all out and remake it as it seems the only way to get it looking good, so a few corners have been cut. This car seems to have been up to all sorts over the last 30 odd years, judging by the number of holes in it one would think it had been Al Capone's get away car, also some hefty chunks of angle had once been attached to the chassis at one point, ( Would this be to do with trials ) ?? I'm also making a new Aluminium battery box, I'm waiting on some Aluminium arc welding rods to be delivered, I have gas welded Aluminium before now but never knew about the arc rods, this should be interesting eh ?? I have also bought a 2 tonne engine hoist, and cannot believe how substantial it is for the money ( £ 130.00 inc postage ) how on earth is it done ? it was delivered 18 hours after I ordered it ( well impressed ) so tomorrow I will fit the engine and gear box ready to fabricate some gear box support. Well that's all for now. One little tip I can leave you with - don't drink and paint !!

[listerjp2]

Re: Harry's Roadster

I like the tip, lol.

Adrian

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Afternoon all, after another four hours looking for rag's, goggles, my key's etc then putting my hoist together, I finally fitted the engine back in place, a good deal trickier than I expected too, I could not get the combined engine and box in from above, it kept catching on some obstruction or another especially the bulkhead, so I put the lot down in front of the car and lifted the car over the engine, then lifted the engine up and over its mountings, a result was had ! So now the gearbox rests on a block of timber until I fabricate a cross member extension for either end of the MGB cross member. I also shortened the prop shaft by 160 mm to suit, welded it up, cup brushed and painted ready for refitting tomorrow. Also stole another towel to keep me going in rags !!

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Well, I managed to sort out an MGB CVJ for my Marina propshaft so that it mates up with the MGB gear box, and it fitted too ( Same spline dimensions) so I fitted it as soon as I got home from work ( Had it from the Welsh MG center £20.00 ) he also stocks the spindle and bush kits for the HS4 carburetors, £10.00 each. Once I fitted the propshaft I started to work out how I can fit the pair of HS4 carbs that came with the replacement engine, I though I'll fit these, then overhaul the other pair at a later date, the pair I'm fitting have got the original linkage etc, but I need to cut a few small slots in the heat guard so the the linkage levers have room to swivel ( I can see now why the set up with this car looked so odd ) It had been fitted with two choke cables, then fitted with a double cable choke, odd linkages and a weird spring setup, but it did work! I had also made new shorter studs for the carbs to attach to the manifold and guess what - no 5/16 UNF nut ( Back to ebay ! )

[Harry]

Re: Harry's Roadster

Well thats another weekend gone and a bit more work done on the Marlin, I was also working this weekend so not too much time to do work on the car, most of the last few weeks has been spent rubbing down, priming the car body and panels, then looking for faults, of which there are multitudes, then repeating the process gradually filling in the faulty areas with stopper, it would help if I could see the problems in the garage, but I can't, I have to take the panels outside ( when there's no sun about) and check them over, so four repetitions later, I'm still at it, I have to be honest, I'm not a great fan of fiberglass bodies, especially old distorted ones. Also did a few mechanical jobs, new clutch pipe, a few bits of wiring done, I fitted another new thermostat housing, the last one was less than 12 month old and it developed a 30mm crack, so I cut it in half and discovered it was less than 1mm thick in places, total rubbish, made in China and sold on Ebay. While I was doing the Thermostat I noticed that the engine temperature sensor had been snapped off in the casting ( Not my doing, I bought the engine and never noticed this ! ) anyway, I gave it a good talking to, and arranged all the tools in front of it, and it must have got frightened as it practically fell out once I'd pushed the third drill bit through it, so I then fitted a nice new unit. I then mowed the lawn and cut my hedge, had my Sunday lunch then off back into the garage to start making a new transmission tunnel, I've cut out the sides so far. And that is it, my back said enough !!