Body support frame

 I've completed three sides of the support frame...

It wasn't overly difficult. The front came first as I had that curve already on a template. A series of slots and bends got me close to the body. The sides were trickier, I got the X direction sorted first then the Z direction. It seems to give good support along it's length although I'm tempted to try find some fairly stiff foam to fill the gaps. 

And this is where I stopped... As I was doing the rear support I had a couple of choices of where to route it, and I think both will interfere with the roll bar. So what I want to do next is get the body on to the chassis and mount the roll bar. At the same time I'll figure out the vertical sections for this frame and refine the bonnet verticals. So I need a dry day, which judging by the forecast I'm going to really struggle with! 

So again I consider this 'finished', albeit with a few last tasks to finish. My exhaust parts arrived yesterday so I've got that on my task list now; 

I also have the fuel hose and some fuel clips, as well as a filter an pump. That's all to fit and plumb in. Oh, and the service kit for the engine, so I can sort the engine out. 

I also need to have another go at the handbrake, I put that one off until the body was on and I might have to do the same again. So yet another job to do with the body in place. If only it wasn't so large I could managed with it being on and in the garage, as it is I have to keep things separate in order to close the door. 

Lights

 A quick stock check first...

The front has a headlight hole, they're going to be for reusing the MX5 headlights once I find a full mounting kit. The one I got from Amazon was missing a key part so had to be removed.

Also on the front are two 70mm holes each side. One is for indicators, the other I'll use for sidelights initially although the headlight does contain side as well as normal and main beam lights.

At the rear there is a 45mm hole and a pair of 70mm holes. The 45mm is the indicator, a pair of the 70mm holes is stop/brake light, then there 'should' be one fog and one reverse light. 

Car builder solutions do a set of six. Two stop/brake, two indicator and two clear, all at 70mm, and all for £42.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/70mm-lr-style-set-of-six

So that covers the four on the front, and the brakes on the back. I still need to find the smaller rear indicators (as well as side repeaters), and then reverse and fog. 

They also do a reverse light, although it is sold as a pair for £14.40;

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/lr-style-70mm-reverse

Although I'm tempted to mount these in the two holes then have a fog light as a separate unit that can be e-marked. 

If I can't find a fog or small indicator then I'll go for the ones above to get the majority of the lighting sorted, then find somewhere else to get the others.

Radiator and fan

 As planned, I got the radiator and fan fitted today. Although it did take a fair bit longer than I expected. It was mainly getting the fixings into the right place so everything bolts together without hitting the bonnet.

Still, it's all done. Some random pics;

These are the lower fixings, 19mm box section cut in half lengthways for a U channel. It works quite well because the plastic tabs fit in the channel, then the screw holds it in place. Well, it should, more on that shortly.

One either side, with slots so the fixing can be adjusted.

This is the first step of the Christmas tree, the top fixing for the radiator. Again some box section cut in half, this time mounted at an angle on a cross bar. This is my second attempt, the first design didn't take into account the temperature sensor. This sits just below the sensor. 

This is the same part welded to an a frame, along with a bracket for the fan mounts. The lower mounts for the fan are just screw holes and will share the fan mounting points. 

A better picture of the tree...

... And how it looks with the bonnet shut. I haven't put the fan or rad on here as I'd only just finished welding and things were warm.

I still love the front end though, this is the rad mounted just before I welded on the fan fixings so everything had cooled down.

So the only thing I need to figure out now is what screws to use. The holes are in soft plastic so self tappers make sense. But they need to be short otherwise they're getting to water which really isn't good. I have some short self tappers but they bind quite tightly after only a few turns. I'm reluctant to force it too much in case I split the rad. I'm going to have to see what fits better than the current fixings. Or warm the fixings up and let them melt the hole a bit. 

Next job, er... find a job!! I'm back to being between jobs again so I'm hoping to make swift progress on the car. Ooh, exhaust parts arrive tomorrow I think! That'll be a job to do, but it will need the engine back in. I do need to order some fuel line as well, four or five metres should be fine. 

Bonnet done

 Productive day today, even though it was only a few hours. The bonnet support has been welded up and fitted;

It's easier to see with the lid down;

It wasn't too bad, the verticals were just 'straight up', then I needed three cuts in the horizontal portion to create enough of a curve to fit under the bonnet. I had to profile the ends to cope with the start of the curves, but that was fairly easy.

But... I think there is a bigger issue. That picture from under the bonnet was not difficult to take, I should  have had to get a lot lower. And the support is awfully tall. Now, it is tall at the moment, and the horizontal bar is only tack welded. Once I have the body at the right height, I can adjust this to match. B

It's still high though. This is a pic from the drivers position;

I am basically looking edge on to the bonnet. If this was the car, only my forehead could be seen above the bonnet. 

There's a few things here though. This edge is on top of the side outriggers, not underneath. The bonnet also hooks under the body as well, so that's at least 40mm drop already. Then the seats have the rails, foam and cover. So potentially there is a good 100mm to go for my viewing angle. And strictly speaking only my head needs to be above the chassis. As a last resort I could drop the side outriggers below the chassis, but I don't really want to do that. Actually, as I think about it, the body is at the correct height, so dropping the outriggers won't be needed. 

As with every job I 'finish', this one isn't quite done. But it's only the bonnet pins and trimming it to match the body, so I'll count that as complete.

Time to think about the next job. Actually, a small job that'll be pretty easy to finish now, the radiator and fan mounting. Just a few tabs to weld on to the newly provisioned bonnet hinge, and job done. 

Change of plan (again!)

I have been recently watching the 'tools n track' Youtube videos where they build a 7. They've been quite amusing, mainly because they have hit many of the issues I have found, as well as some others. Unfortunately they've already cost me £200, the video I watched last night kindly reminded me that I've not serviced the engine at all. If nothing else, everything is ten years old without being run so just on age things will need replacing. So I have a cam belt kit, spark plug leads, filters, gaskets and all stuff coming from MX5 parts. 

Oh, and a few exhaust parts, but I'll come to that in a few posts time... :)

One of the other videos I watched last night was around the body tub. I didn't think this was going to apply to me, but it raised a very good point. There is a curve in front of the rear wheel on an average seven, that matches with a curved piece of metal on the chassis. In the video the fibreglass tub has the curve but the metalwork isn't there to support it. And quite rightly, it's a place where you'd put your hand to support climbing into the car. 

It then occurred to me... I'd do the same getting in and out of my car. I'd use the body (possibly even sitting on it) to support the transition, but at the moment I'd be sitting on a nice brittle fibreglass tub. It might not break but it won't be pleasant to find out. So my plan of just filling in the sides is now more like 'build some structure into the sides'. Fortunately it is just a combination of planned tasks that I've not started.

First step, build a frame. This will be built around the bodywork, something like this;

(Hmm, that didn't come out as well as I had expected... )

The red line shows an outline for the frame, this is where the strength will be put in. I'll try and get it as close to the fibreglass as possible, to the point where I could use rivnuts to fix the body to the frame. While the red lines are straight lines, there's all sorts of curves going on there that I would like to match. 

A top view shows what I would have to deal with;

There seems to be more curves showing here than in the previous shot, so it is possible that some of them are just built up fibreglass. Anyhow, if I take it slow, and use 'lobster back' curves I should be able to follow the outline quite well. 

Just looking at those photos though, I may need to rethink my plan of getting it tight to the outline. Fibreglass doesn't have nice neat corners, even with fairly sharp right angles on the outside I'm not sure I can get that close on the inside. And on the dashboard edge there is no real benefit to being so close to the dash as that is already pretty strong. Perhaps going back to the original position to build up support were it will be cut is going to be better. Well, inline with the chassis is the most logical position. 

And then there is fixing... using Sikaflex to fix this frame to the body makes sense, then use some semi-permanent fixings to bolt it to the chassis? 

I have my first job though, build that frame. Fixing it to the body and chassis can come later. As this is a chunk of work I might put the chassis on it's side for a while, then the body can be brought back into the garage and serve as a template. 

Other half of the bonnet

 This started off so well, I managed to get a piece of wood out of my stash, cut it to size and do the profile. That's when I came unstuck...

The bonnet is a very different profile to the main body. While the body is a standard curve, the 'shoulders' of the bonnet start very early on before they head down to where the headlights are. Furthermore, the fake 'bonnet' has indentations that also make the curve a little more stubborn.

Putting the template on top of the bonnet shows the issue;

To be fair, it does follow the profile quite closely up to a point, but then the bonnet edge and the curve just make a mockery of the template.

However... this support has two main targets, support of the bonnet and the ability to install bonnet pins so it can be locked. Both can be achieved by simply making the support as wide as the fake bonnet. Actually no, that isn't correct. If I did that, I'd lose the scuttle panel space that this whole piece of work is meant to give me access to. 

OK, time for me to have a think about this... One thing I am going to do is at least cut that template to suit the chassis. While it is as wide as the body, the chassis isn't. So there's no point in keeping it wider than the car it's attaching to!!

As with everything on this build, my thoughts now turn to one of the other tasks I have, the sides of the cockpit;

The front is ok, that needs a scuttle panel which is partly covered by the work described above. The back also isn't too bad, yes it's a curve but it's only about six inches or so and can be simply filled in with whatever rear support I'm building up. 

The sides are then the challenge. Logic would suggest a panel going out from the chassis, meeting another panel coming down from the bodywork, would be the easiest option. Each half would be rivetted to the body and chassis respectively, with a right angle bracket and maybe rivnuts to join the two. 

There's a few issues with that. First it won't look particularly attractive. Second I'll be losing a lot of space for storage etc. On the other hand it would hide a multitude of sins where the IVA ball of terror wouldn't be able to check for projections. 

Time to make a decision on this... I'm going to leave it for now. Once the scuttle support and rear support are done, and the triangular bits at the rear have been cut out, I'll see what would be best. 

50% of a bonnet

 Yes ok, half a bonnet doesn't sound healthy, but it's actually a much better weekends worth of work than it sounds. I managed to get the bonnet outriggers and hinges welded up, so the front of the car is exactly where it needs to be.

It started with the bonnet side of things, a quick 'inverse pi' welded up to form the body of the hinge. Then a short piece of bar to form the inside of the hinge, and with a bolt through that gave me this;

I made up the inside of the hinge while still attached to a bar, so I could position it roughly where it will live. This is where it will attach to the chassis at the bottom (albeit with a slight faux pas I'll come on to shortly);

And this failed attempt at photography shows it clamped to a longer piece of metal and heading towards the chassis at the top;

This is a better view of the same, but from above;

A quick triangulation later, and I have upper and lower fixings to weld to the chassis;

Same from another angle;

Which leaves me with this gorgeous view;

Made even more gorgeous when I sit the radiator in between;

With the rad in place I can really visualise how it will split in three to match this car;

Anyhow, enough dreaming and salivating, I still have a lot to do. 

Firstly, the mistake. Although I'm not sure it was a mistake. Basically the bottom arms for the outriggers were outside of the chassis by about 10mm. I did think I could just adjust the angle and pick up the uprights, but by my reckoning that would have had bodywork loading in the centre of an unbraced bar, pretty much where the suspension wants to go anyway. So that was a no-no. I did check the measurements, but as you can see from the photos the radiator is pretty snug in there. It was a quick fix though, a bit of metal to bring the bottom bars out and square them up with the hinges and upper bars. 

So that is the front part of the bonnet, it works really well but needs a retaining strap to stop the bonnet tipping too far forward. If I let it settle under it's own weight it'll tear the hinge bar out of the fibreglass. A retaining strap shouldn't be difficult to make up though, as long as I don't open the bonnet in windy weather!

Next job is the back edge. This needs to have a frame built as I described in the last post. It also needs to match the body, and since the body is more rigid than the bonnet I thought I'd use that as the reference. 

So what I did was turn it upside down, mark a spirit level at regular intervals and measure vertically. This is the spirit level in action;

And this is the curve when I move the numbers into Excel and plot a graph;

The curve is a little exaggerated due to the X vs Y dimensions of the image, but it shows a fairly gentle curve. The next step will be to make it out of wood and use as a frame.

The sharp-eyed people may have noticed the numbers on the left. That is the distance from the top of the spirit level to the bodywork as seen in the picture above. But not all of that is to be made out of wood. First there is the spirit level itself at 50mm. Then the lip of fibreglass, lets say 5mm. Then the big jump is from the chassis bottom to the chassis top which is 353. That means that rather than going between 670 and 712 mm, it only goes from 262 to 304. Also I don't want to make the wood come all the way down to the chassis as I just want to capture the curve rather than the complete distance. That means that while the wood template needs to be 1350 long, it only needs to be maybe 150mm tall. Time to go rooting around in the garage.

Once the template is made I can then test it on the body and bonnet, then figure out how to convert it into metal. Not only that, it needs to have bonnet pins fitted to it for the bonnet, which need to be IVA friendly. Aerocatch come up as the main IVA friendly catches, but they're not locost at all. If I could DIY them with some threaded (or even solid) rod and a few washers/plates/etc then even better.

Bulkhead

 This weekend has been very productive already (even though the temperature in the UK has dropped like a stone!), I got the full body on and was able to see how the two halves lined up. Well, I say 'lined up', it's nowhere near lining up!! I knew that already though, the whole body is designed for a different chassis layout.

What it did show me was how far it overlaps, and it's looking really good from that point of view. I have to trim down the bonnet to bring it in line, but then I'll just need some edging trim to get it to fit with the body. 

It also means I can start work on the front hinge as I know where the bonnet needs to end up. But then something occurred to me;

This photo shows where the front of the body fits... right in the centre of the scuttle section! For reference, with the standard seven body the cockpit section finishes at the first crossmember. The part of the chassis in the photo is essentially part of the engine bay, and usually hosts the battery, coolant tank, that sort of thing. Here's an example from Skov's build;

As you can see, that's quite a bit of surface area that I don't currently have access to. So I need to regain that area.

As a secondary benefit, both the body and the bonnet need support at that position. The bonnet in particular needs the rear latches/fixings so it can close and lock. So I need to make a box essentially. The front of the box will be bounded by the chassis bar on the bottom, then continuing the sides of the chassis up to a cross member that will follow the profile of the bonnet. The rear of the box will be the same process, but coming up to the body at the top. 

Once I have the edges in place, I can then box it in so it isolates engine related things from person related things. That'll be the same as how Skov has it in the picture, but I'll end up with an extra hoop for bonnet support. 

It doesn't have to be overly pretty as it's more structural than decorative. However I do need to follow the curve of the body and the bonnet. And both need to be strong enough to keep things in place, as once it's in place I'll need to remove the rest of the material from the body. 

Ah, trimming the body... what a delightful job to look forward to! I want to keep at least some of the material in place, but maybe only an inch or so. Here's a few measurements I made of the front face;

Even retaining an inch below the recess I still need to trim nearly a foot of material, and recreate it further back in the car. Oh, and it needs to be adjustable... while I've taken a few measurements I still need the option of fine tuning, so there will need to be some movement somewhere. 

(Edit) Does it really need to be adjustable? The bonnet I think yes, I'd want some fine tuning in order to get it to fit well against the body. But I'm not so sure about the body itself. I think I'll get the bonnet one done first, because I can get the hinge sorted at the same time. Then get the chassis lowered, get the body on and work with that. 

And I also need to trim the rear of the body where there are triangular parts that come down the side of the chassis. They're in the wrong place in my car so are as useful as a chocolate teapot. I'll need to trim them and design a replacement profile that will fix to the car. Hmm, that is going to be a pain in the back side, it needs to be done with the body on but with the body on there isn't much space in the garage. Well, one step at a time. 

Front end

 Oh I do like the look for the front of the car...

It's the first time in a long time where I've seen the front end out of the shed, and while it's picked up a few scrapes and dents it still shows what it could be.

The main reason for getting it out though is to confirm the radiator position, and that seems to look fine;

Which it does quite nicely. It also gives me the opportunity to fill in the voids either side like I wanted to, following this style of car;

Obviously it's only going to be in the 'spirit' of how that car looks, but I think I can get it quite close. 

Next job is to get the outriggers and hinges sorted for the bonnet. And for that I need a wheel back on. 

(Edit) Oh, and this final picture does show that I'm about seventeen shades too light with my green!! No matter, I can sort that when I come to painting, at least having the green gelcoat as the undercoat will give me a fair chance of getting to that nice deep green colour. 

Radiator and next steps

 Today was meant to be figuring out how to fit the radiator. Well, technically it was, it's just that I didn't find a solution!

The problem is the pipes, they're both on the same side as well as the thermostat. Which means that whichever way I put it, at least one pipe is trying to flow water directly into the chassis or the suspension. 

I can see two options...

1. Mount the radiator offset. Just typing that makes me shudder, and having to look at it every day would be worse. If it had been in a seven it wouldn't have mattered so much as it's barely visible, but on the Healey bodywork the front is very exposed. So having it offset would be very obvious.

2. Mount the radiator vertically. I want to go for this option, mainly because it works, and all the pipes simply fit over the top of the chassis. My only reservation is whether it will work as a radiator when it's up that way. I'll see what the people at LCB say, but I think this is a much preferred option. What's more, the original Healey radiator was vertical so it would look better. And I could use some ducting either side to finish it off and increase air flow through the radiator. 

Tomorrows task will be to get the front of the car out of the shed and cleaned off so I can put it in place. This will serve several tasks, as well as getting the radiator confirmed in place I can do the outriggers, electrics and various other things. It's been long overdue, and no doubt I'll be evicting several thousand spiders and other creepy crawlies from their home. It'll be nice to see the front of the car again though...

Painting

 While I was painting my chassis, my mind did turn to painting the bodywork. When the body arrived I could see that the gelcoat wasn't perfect. After all, I'm not paying for an Ultima body so why should I expect Ultima quality? :)

Over the years the body has also had a few scrapes and dents so it needs a top coat. My previous attempt at painting my bike showed that while it came out ok, the smell was unbearable!!

I think part of it was using a spray gun, and to be honest the thought of  a nose full of paint for the next few weeks is just not nice!! So I'm going to go for a 'roll and tip' approach, like this video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-SGcSlNmoo&ab_channel=EyeInHand

I like that the result is '90%' perfect and reflects the perceived age of the car. I had thought of going completely matt, but I think that would have turned it from a vintage car into an army reject!

In other news, the tank is now strapped in with rubber and steel straps;

The rubber does look a bit untidy though, so rather than have them sticking out as per my original plan, I'm going to trim them flush with the steel. 

The pedal box has also been securely fitted;

There is a tiny amount of flex at the top of the black section, but whether that translates into a spongy brake pedal I have no idea until I'm in the car and facing that previously mentioned 'oh sh*t' moment on the road. But with five 8.8 M6 screws, of which 2 go through the chassis frame, I'm happy it's as good as it can get without fully welding it. 

Oh, and there is an extra bolt fixing for the brake bias valve, previously it was just a self tapper into the frame to keep it in position but now that's also got an M6 through bolt.

Radiator mounts next, then I want to flip the chassis and make sure I didn't miss anything while painting. I also want to paint the seat frames to ensure they don't go rusty.  

Another long pause

 And just like that I've gone from July to October with no updates. That is quite impressive! Unfortunately it was due to another bedroom being redecorated, so the car had to be pushed to the side of the garage while I did various things with wood, plasterboard etc.

In any case, I got the car flat again last weekend, and I've been working through things during the week leading up to today. I wanted to get the chassis completely finished, and now it is;

Everything looks so much better now the tube ends have been capped and everything has had a layer of primer. The bottom of the car is still missing some paint, but most of that needs to stay bare for the flooring to be glued in place.

Once this has dried, I can get the rubber straps glued on to the fuel tank frame. I've trialled it with superglue and it's a really strong bond so I'm optimistic it'll be an easy job. Then I need to drill the holes for the fixing screws and that is the fuel tank done. 

Oh, and the engine mounts are now complete. An extra plate was welded on to the frame at the front, then an M10 hole drilled through the engine mount and the plate. They should bolt up nicely when the engine is to be properly installed. I do need to drill the gearbox mount though, I think I have positional photos to know where the hole goes.

Aside from that, I did have a plan to make some decent progress recently. My contract ended and I faced a bit of time with no job. Time that I was going to spend getting a load of stuff finished on the car. Fortunately for me a new job came up within a week, so that is keeping me busy. Maybe when this job finishes I might get some free time. 

Next few jobs;

1. Rubber for the fuel tank and fit the tank. Should be easy now the paint is done.

2. Put some threads into the pedal box fixings. The holes are there but they are purely decorative at the moment. I need to make them functional either for a nut and bolt combination or for a threaded hole. Either way will work as they don't have to be really strong. Their biggest challenge is for those 'oh s**t' moments when I'm pressing hard on the brake pedal. 

3. Radiator mountings need to be welded in place. Just a few brackets, nothing challenging.

4. Stock take nuts and bolts. Well, specifically bolts. I'm aware that during my work some of the bolts have been repurposed, damaged or are just too short for the job. I need to go through what I have against what I need, and order the difference. The main challenges are the long bolts for the rear suspension, while I remember getting some appropriate bolts I can't remember whether they were ok... or even where they are! 

5. Seats need to be upholstered.

6. Body on so the electrics can be added. 

Onwards and upwards...