fiddly bits - October-November

18 Oct	I’ve fitted horns, coil and ballast resistor, and wired up the alternator, which now has a drive belt too! The rear trim covering the seat belt support frame is in place. The nearside door trim is also in place, but needs some fettling. It doesn’t fit well around the piece of moulded fibreglass that covers the door hinge, and will have to be re-worked. I’ll probably take the opportunity to replace the ‘fir tree’ fasteners, which only seem to work once, with some spring clips. A steering column extension has been made in aluminium and is ready to be drilled so it can be located in place. This supports the indicator switch – though I’m uncertain where I’m going with that. I wanted a switch that dipped and tooted as well, but the one I’ve got looks clumsy and almost obscures part of the speedo. The Ace dashboard layout preceded column-mounted switches, and somehow they don’t look right. I’ve obtained all exhaust components, bent the pipes as required (they’re shallow bends and my Machine Mart bender does the job, with a little care), and the offside system is complete and trial assembled in position. I’ve managed to get 5” ground clearance (about the maximum feasible), though this may reduce when I sort the front springs. I’m not yet happy with the exhaust hangers, there’s more work to do there.   I’ve removed and covered the dashboard, which is ready to go back and be fitted out. Note this exercise will be repeated post IVA.
02 Nov	The dashboard’s in place, and a number of switches and instruments are now hard-wired in, though gauges are not yet clamped in position. The steering column extension is fitted and clamped in position. I note the steering wheel boss needs a little machining work to match the tapered section of the steering column, just behind the splines.   I’ve been busy under the bonnet too. I’ve finally primed and fitted the tappets and pushrods, torqued up the manifold and fitted the carburettor. The static timing has been crudely set and ignition leads and plugs are in place. I’ve made and fitted a battery tray from 2mm alloy sheet, piped the fuel feed to the carburettor and fitted heater water pipes and hoses.
07 Nov	Fitted the oil pressure gauge pipe, and battery connections – though I have to finish off the isolator switch mounting on the scuttle under the bonnet. Also decided to have a go at making the ‘short-shift’ conversion on the Rover gearchange, having received an offer of alloy welding. I think it’ll look a little less agricultural than the Sherpa change.
14 Nov	Finished the isolator switch, and I’ve been wiring dashboard switches, fitting seat runners to the driver’s seat, machined a conical female taper into the steering wheel boss and generally fiddled about. I’m going to the classic car show at the NEC this weekend with a shopping list of odds and sods. I’ve had the ‘short-shift’ welded, though I’ve yet to see the result, and I’ve also found someone who’ll install the new CWP into the axle. The cost/difficulty of obtaining special tools is a factor. Next job’s to take the axle out and strip the halfshafts, ready to be operated on!

September Update

27 Aug-18 Sep

Holidays and family visiting have prevented much progress, though I now have all three looms joined together and most of the holes drilled in the dashboard. Windscreen fitting is required before finally fitting the dashboard. Other than that I’ve been making components for the new handbrake. Hope to get stuck in better before the end of September!

21-29 Sept

The handbrake lever’s finished apart from the weld required when the lever that connects with the cable is in the ideal position. The cable’s also fitted temporarily. The capscrews didn’t help the manifold problem – they were even more impossible than the hex heads! With some difficulty it is just possible to get a spanner on the offending screws and tighten them, but it needs patience.   I’ve replaced the Lucas starter motor with a geared  one from Powerlite. The Lucas unit needed repair to the main terminal which wouldn’t have been easy, and when all’s said and done its condition was unknown. I wanted to have the best chance of startup when the time came. The Powerlite unit is much smaller and lighter.     Faced with an ultimatum to clear the spare bedroom (!) pending guests staying, the windscreen is now fitted! A bit of a struggle drilling the holes for the retaining screws, and a bit stiff the day after! Fitting needs careful measurement to ensure compliance with the dimensions recommended by Gerry’s Build Manual.         Following this the dashboard’s been drilled for the instruments and switches, and is now in place, though will need to be removed for covering with leathercloth. The intermediate steering columns been removed and had the grooves milled in place to receive the clamp screws.   I’ve fitted the trim covering the seat belt mount, and the seats are loosely in place. I’ve also fitted the nearside door trim – though this will have to be removed later for remedial work. I made a template from thick paper and accurately drilled the holes for the ‘firtree’ fasteners – but really these are one-shot fasteners, and are damaged by removal. Unfortunately the fit around the GRP moulding that covers the door hinge isn’t good and I need to re-work the trim panel to increase the clearance here and make it fit better – which means fitting new firtree fasteners which in turn means separating the cloth from the hardboard backing.   Gerry’s propshaft has arrived and is now fitted. Good to see it’s fully greasable!   The next major job will be the exhaust. At the moment I’m proposing to build the system myself, using primary and secondary absorption silencers, and 1.75” pipe. This is really a bit too large but silencers taking smaller diameters are not readily available, it seems. I propose to make up a couple of dummy silencers with wood and card to find the best positions.   I have the remaining ignition components – leads, coil and ballast resistor – on order, also over-riders. As of tomorrow – 1st October – I become semi-retired, so hopefully progress might be a bit faster!

August progress

06-17 Aug	Steam Rally at Chelford yielded material to make the cross-linkage behind the engine block (from a commercial vehicle wiper linkage!), which coupled with three Rose joints and some linkage components I’ve had in stock for many years, has seen the throttle linkage almost complete – except for a single ball joint to fit to the carburettor . I’ve also loosely fitted the engine bay loom in place. The relay stack and fuse box will need some ingenuity to fit around the throttle linkage on the footbox top. I’ve distracted myself with a number of small jobs, I really need to concentrate on finishing one before moving on.  I’ve been planning the alternator ‘bracket’ – which will be just a long sleeved bolt going through the pivot brackets. The bolt preload compresses the sleeve and prevents the load of the alternator stressing the threaded connection. The previously mentioned commercial wiper linkage has yielded a turnbuckle which I may be able to use as the tensioning link. A suitable long bolt has been obtained from the Tatton Autojumble today. Other finds included a gearknob, 45 degree cooling hose elbow (now fitted to the radiator bottom outlet) and a metal tube – ex Norbar torque wrench handle – which will make an ideal handbrake lever.
18 Aug	Fitted the demister ducts under the demister chrome outlets. This needed a bit of ingenuity, the ducts have each been drilled in two places to take a piece of 6mm diameter brass bar, cross-drilled and tapped M5 to take the screws which fit through the chrome outlets .Gaffer tape may be needed to make sure it’s all ‘airtight’!   The top of the driver’s footbox is now sorted, the relay stack and fuse box have been fitted around the throttle linkage and the result looks quite acceptable. A picture’s worth a thousand words ……  I’ve started to run the loom around the engine compartment. There’s not too much slack to reach the earth on the nearside chassis, so needs a bit of care and thought. There seems a lot of wire for the N/S lights – I’ll check that again!   The dash is in position now having holes drilled to the steel frame. Button head screws, for safety, aesthetic and IVA reasons.
22-24 Aug	Using some thick aluminium plate bought at a local steam fair, made a plinth for the relay stack, and a bracket for the alternator. The alternator’s now fitted, (some modification to original plan) not without a deal of fiddling, turning, milling and drilling! I’ve incorporated a turnbuckle in the tensioning link, making adjustment easier and more positive than the usual slotted bracket arrangement. Next job is making a spacer for the water pump pulley, so that all pulleys can sit in line.         Wondering about the indicator switch mounting. The outer column doesn’t protrude through the dash, so unless I can extend it with a sleeve there’s nothing to fix it to.
25-26 Aug	Used a piece of ¼” aluminium plate to make a spacer for the water pump pulley. Sounds easy – but took a good few hours. The spacer needed to be like a large washer, about 3.5” outside diameter and 2.25” inside diameter. There are three ¼” holes on 3” pitch circle diameter. The inner diameter is stepped (2.25” and 2.35”) and the outer face needs a raised spigot to locate the original pulley. A combination of milling, drilling and turning to produce, now fitted and all pulleys aligned.   To make clearance for the V belt drive to the alternator, the header tank had to be moved forward about an inch. While under the bonnet, replaced the offside block drain tap (which slightly fouls the blockhugger manifold) with a ¼” BSP taper plug. Noted that the two lower central screws holding each manifold to the head are practically impossible to manipulate with a spanner. These need to be replaced with 3/8” UNC x 1.1/4” long socket capscrews.

July 2013 update

08-13 July	Most of the major work done on the cooling system. This includes routing the pipes to and from the radiator, and arranging vent lines  to avoid trapped air. I’ve used flexible sections of pipe, and modular inserts for fan switch and connections to the header tank. I’m just short of a 45 degree elbow for the radiator bottom hose, which I hope to pick up at the local August autojumble. Fitted the windscreen wash bottle on the nearside inner wing and the pump just below.
20-28 July	After a week out sampling the delights of Vienna (business unfortunately) I’ve received new bundy tube and drive gear for the wipers, also new wheelboxes. I’ve carefully marked out and drilled through the scuttle top at an angle so the angled spacers line up properly. I’ve cut and flared the 5/16” bundy tube to fit the wheelbox locations, and the wiper motor sitting above the passenger footbox.  The wiper motor’s been cleaned up and repainted. Infill panels have been made in aluminium and riveted in place to bridge the gap between the bottom of the inner wheel arch and the footboxes. I’ve replaced the clutch slave cylinder – bought last summer as ‘new old stock’ it turned out to be seized solid [note the bore diameter is about 7/8” or 22mm]. The inlet connection is M12x1mm female thread which is most inconvenient. I’ve ended up buying a flexible hose with the right clutch connection from Rimmers, but this then needs the other end fitting modifying to fit the 3/8” UNF female thread on the master cylinder. A job for the Myford, when I get round to it. I’m still a little concerned about the clutch – the pushrod doesn’t look like it will have much travel. Maybe it doesn’t need a lot, I hope I don’t have to remove the gearbox to sort it out.           I’ve fitted windscreen washers (IVA-proof), piped them up and tested them – the jets look a bit low, hope they’ll hit the screen! I’ve also almost finished the demisters. Just need some 5/16” brass rod to make the fixing I have in mind. I’ve cut the rear bulkhead to make space for the propshaft, and fitted both pieces of the tunnel. The front piece has needed some relieving around the gear lever. The boot handle has been fitted and an internal latchplate made from a spare piece of brass sheet.
31 July	Modified the adapter at the master cylinder end of the clutch pipe. Also spent some time identifying and labelling the ends of the under-bonnet loom.
02-03 Aug	Recommissioned my MIG welder – unused for years – and managed to weld the modified rear bracket for the gearchange housing. This is now finished, apart from whatever needs to be done to fit the reversing light switch and make it work.    I’d had an idea to make an accelerator pedal pivot from an old aluminium pillow block bearing; a few hours milling, drilling and turning has resulted in something at least as neat as those commercially available. At least I think so. And it won’t be on display as it sits on the top of the footbox well under the front wing. I’m now acquiring what I need to make the rest of the linkage.

June progress

Holidays in early June – a lucky, fine week in the Isle of Arran – but consequently no progress on the Ace! However, in the last few days I’ve made an adapter plate and finally fitted the fuel pump. Everything’s very tight and a third hand with double jointed fingers would have been a real asset. This took a long time, and really would have been much easier with the body separated from the chassis. Whilst doing the job I did wonder whether it would have been a better option to bolt the pump to the underside of the cockpit floor just behind the rear chassis outrigger, but persevered with the standard location.   I also drilled the chassis and fitted the P-clips to support the fuel line on its way to the engine compartment, wondering why I’d bought 16mm clips – 13mm would have been a nice tight fit. I used 5mm Rivnuts in the chassis. I routed the fuel line up the side and across the top of the nearside inner wing, feeding the Filter King which I fixed in a forward position above the damper.   The seat belt frame was also fitted. This is fairly straightforward, but needs a bit of care to make sure everything lines up, particularly the bolts holding the bracing struts to the main frame.   I’d got tired of lifting the bonnet on and off, and decided to fix the bonnet stay. The Rose joint is positioned on the offside of the bulkhead, the retaining clip on the nearside. I’ve also drilled the bonnet for the lock escutcheons, and fitted the locking mechanisms. The escutcheons with their little hinged flap protrude at least 7mm so may have to be removed for the IVA test.   I’ve ordered the seats from Gerry. We were impressed with the quality and comfort of those on display at Stoneleigh. I’ve also ordered the loom – which has to be made to order depending on engine installation.

Obtained and fitted correct 13mm P-clips for the fuel line. Fitted ‘IVA’ front indicators. The big job has been to fit the pedal box – it’s now loosely in place, waiting for the brake balance bar to be delivered. Meanwhile I’m making up the remaining brake pipes. I think the pipe runs are neater if the rear brakes are run from the outermost cylinder. I’ve also decided to make this a 0.7” bore, leaving the cylinder feeding the front brakes at 0.625”. This should reduce any offset on the balance bar, and leaves me with a 0.625” cylinder for the clutch, which I hope will do. The front plate of the pedal box isn’t flanged, and instead of a large cutout I’ve opted to make three smaller cutouts in the end of the footbox to accept the profile of the master cylinder flanges. These profiles have had to be replicated in the aluminium cladding panel, which is now riveted in place.             I’ve been pondering the gearshift – the Sherpa gearshift I have is certainly in the right place axially, but canted over to the right so the gearknob (when I’ve fitted a new shorter lever) will be quite close to the steering wheel. I want to reduce the cant so it looks a bit more normal, at the same time lowering the position of the gearshift housing so I can improve the mechanical advantage with a shorter gearlever. It all looks do-able with a bit of re-drilling of the gearshift housing mounting holes – time will tell!

Sherpa gearshift modified as follows: new mounting hole drilled on the nearside of the vertical flange face connecting with the gearbox, between the two existing holes. This allows the effective length between gearlever ball and actuating lever to be lowered by about ¼”, which increases the mechanical advantage to the gearlever,  which will help as it has to be much shorter than the Sherpa original (which stuck out above the scuttle top!); the lower end of the gearlever – the pin that sticks through the spherical bearing on the actuating lever – has been shortened by ¼” to avoid clashing with the tailshaft casing on the speedometer drive bulge; the spring dowel pin has been driven out and the Sherpa ‘wand’ replaced by a shorter straight lever (knob to be acquired). With a bit of adjustment to bias the lever into the 3rd/4th plane, all gears seem to be selectable and the lever is usefully, rather than extremely, biased towards the steering wheel. The clamp bolt holding the spherical bearing housing to the gearbox actuating rod has been replaced with a button head setscrew as the head looked in danger of fouling the underside of the lowered gearshift casting.     I’ve made up a bracket for the fluid reservoirs from some galvanised steel sheet I had to hand. I might replace this in stainless steel when I acquire a piece. The bracket bridges between the rear of the offside wheel arch and the footbox. Careful positioning should allow reasonable access.   Fitted a Mallory twin-contact distributor. This required the removal of the drive gear and cutting off the oil pump engagement dog from the shaft (gear held by 1/8” spring dowel), the dowel hole in the shaft opening up to 3/16”, and fitting the drive gear and flexible oil pump drive from the Lucas unit. My Lucas Opus unit, although apparently new, was missing a key component, needed wires replacing and seems to have a bad press. Being an oldie, I know where I am with points and it seems more in the spirit of the age I’m replicating!

During this fortnight I’ve received the seats and loom from Gerry. I’ve fitted the petrol tank, through-floor connection to pump, vent and also fitted the rear part of the loom in position so I could wire up the fuel sender. The sender was modified to fit the float on the single wire – the extension wasn’t necessary. The marking out of the body was spot on for the quick-release fuel filler. The boot stay’s also in place, but may need a few mods.   I’ve also fitted most of the lights, except for the side flashers. Now it has a proper face!     I’ve made a framework for the radiator header tank, and am in the process of designing the cooling system in a way that will eliminate airlocks. The ideal position for the header tank is on the bulkhead, the highest point under the bonnet, but the pipework gets rather extensive and it competes for space with the bonnet stay.   The chrome demister guides are now in place, and the body slotted for the air flow. I’ve sent for new wiper wheelboxes and bundy tube. The holes have been drilled to accept them.

May progress

01/06 May	Busy cutting, bending and shaping the engine bay aluminium panels. By the end of Bank Holiday Monday I’d completed the inner wheel wells, and formed the panels for the nearside footbox and the scuttle. I’ve flanged and joined the panels to give the appearance of a continuous fabrication where possible, though this has been more time-consuming than I expected. In a few places I’ve had to use longer rivets than the 3/16” x 10mm ones bought in bulk from Screwfix; fortunately I had a small stock of 3/16” x 12mm long which has held out so far. In joining the flanged panels, the rivet has to go through two thicknesses of aluminium and often an increased thickness of GRP where the lay-up joins two mouldings. The rivet then has to fit through a washer to clamp against the GRP rather than just relying on a crush fit in the drilled hole. If working alone, the washer can be easily held in place by masking tape while the rivet is expanded. Where it shows most, I’ve spaced the rivets at 2” pitch. It looks right, but that’s an awful lot of riveting, some of which is accessible only with a short-handled riveter. It takes its toll on the hands!   If I’m going to get the engine in before the end of May, as planned, I need to get weaving with the footboxes and scuttle panel. The latter needs marking out and drilling for the heater inlet and outlets, and possibly for some blind grommets in anticipation of loom and control cables. I’d like to have had the footbox to install, at least temporarily, to finalise the brake pipes before the engine goes in, but I’m still waiting for Gerry’s fabricator to send it, after two months. Also still outstanding from him is the fuel tank, grill and hood bows. Patience unfortunately is not one of my virtues!   I’ve almost talked myself round to NOT separating body and chassis to fit the engine and gearbox. I know the fitting would be much easier with body removed, but I have to balance this with the difficulties of body removal, storage and re-fitting. I’m stuck with a single garage, and space is at a premium. One benefit of the single garage is that I have a 500kg lifting beam spanning it, another is that I’m lucky to have good headroom. So, with a bit of fiddling with the slinging, I should be able to slide everything in through the bonnet opening.   On BH Sunday Penny and I went to the kit car show at Stoneleigh. I’d arranged to collect the seat belt frame from Gerry at the Hawk stand. On the stand was a very well finished ‘Ace’ with BMW straight-six, and next to it a new chassis featuring transverse leaf spring suspension! What next, steering box and drag link for the ‘Ace’? The show provided an opportunity to study colour schemes and interiors, helping us make up our mind on both counts. I also found the little hinged escutcheons for access to the bonnet catches, and the T-bar to operate them. This brought back memories of our TR2 some 40 years ago!
08-12 May	A big effort these few days to finish the sheeting in the engine bay. I bought some 3/16”x14mm rivets which make life easier. Overall I’m happy with the result, there are a few imperfections which can be polished out or disguised, and the overall effect is pleasing. As I still don’t have the pedal box (promised for delivery by Andy Davies, Gerry’s fabricator for week commencing 13 May) I’ve not riveted the offside footbox end panel in place.       I wanted to have the bulkhead panel drilled for the heater, and in doing so I actually fitted it (maybe not finally) in place. It’s a bit fiddly to install the necessary spacers. The heater’s from a Spitfire. It’s now arranged as a ‘fug-stirrer’ rather than a fresh air type, by spacing the inlet fan about an inch away from the bulkhead. Note that while the heater should be mounted reasonably high above the transmission bulge, it’s upper regions will have to compete for space with the wiper bundy tube. I’m not quite sure how this is going to fit yet, so hopefully I’ve erred on the side of caution when leaving space. Both the fan motor and the leak-tightness of the matrix have been tested.   I’m almost ready to install the engine and gearbox. I have to flood the oil pump with Vaseline to ensure it primes, and tighten down the cylinder head bolts. Then the engine has to be transferred from the stand to the trolley for the clutch and gearbox to be fitted. There isn’t room to fit the clutch assembly when the engine’s bolted to the stand.
14-16 May	Good news this week  -all the outstanding items from Gerry’s fabricator arrived on Tuesday – tank, pedal box, hood bows and frame and grille. Spent some time assembling the master cylinders to the pedal box, and also trial fitting the radiator, which arrived from MGBHive. Gerry’s radiator support panels need to be fitted to the inner front wings, then marked out in situ and removed to drill the holes for the radiator. I found a new 14” Pacet ‘sucking’ fan on ebay, which looks just the job.
22-27 May	My target for the end of May was to have the engine fitted. The heads were bolted down and carefully torqued, the oil pump opened up and all cavities filled with Vaseline. I hoisted the engine away from the stand and onto my tool trolley, where it sat a little precariously while I fitted the clutch, using a home-made (but very accurate) aligning tool.  The gearbox was then hoisted into position, and with a little jiggling the input shaft engaged in the spigot bush. I then realised I didn’t have any of the right bolts to fasten the two together (you need 6 x 3/8” x 2” UNC and 2 x 3/8” x 3” UNC). I managed to find a couple of studs and some Whitworth bolts which will be OK until the right ones come from Namrick. Fortunately everything’s quite accessible with the engine in place.   I’d originally planned to separate the body from the chassis before installing the engine and gearbox. This would have made the installation easier, but as it happened not that much easier. The length of the engine and gearbox is about a foot longer than the bonnet opening, so it has to be lowered on the slant, and then straightened as the gearbox enters the transmission tunnel. I’d placed a wooden trolley under the car to support the gearbox end, and this was moved back when the gearbox was lowered onto it. The final lift of the gearbox end was manual, to locate the 8mm threaded rubber bobbins in the holes provided in the chassis. The engine mountings were aligned behind the chassis brackets. This took a very small amount of persuasion, but to put them in front would have required more, and had the crank pulley practically in contact with the brake pipe running behind the front crossmember. However, looking at the gearbox mounts, they look slightly strained, as if the holes should have been slightly further back, though the end of the gearbox is very close to the chassis crossmember. Maybe a spacer under the bobbins would help?   I’d worried quite a bit about clearance under the bonnet for my 3” deep Edelbrock air filter. Gerry had given me the impression there was plenty of clearance when we first met him last October, and this was confirmed by approximate measurements before installation of the engine. Nevertheless, when fitted it looked high. I was quite surprised when the bonnet fitted perfectly, and when I investigated through the front grill opening (before fitting the radiator) I found I could wave a length of ½” dowel between filter and underside of the bonnet. Appearances can be deceptive!   I’d removed the gearchange extension before fitting the engine and gearbox. Looking at the gearbox in place it’s obvious the extension needs shortening, so this job will go on the list.   I fitted the fan to the radiator with the ‘quick-mounts’ supplied with it – it seemed a bit odd to be poking the plastic ties through the matrix, but after very slightly modifying the fan cowling to fit between the top and bottom header tanks, it all looks fine and the mod is invisible. It took a bit of time to accurately mark up and drill the radiator support brackets, jobs like this seem so straightforward but invariably are time consuming to get right.   Next job was the fuel pump. I wanted to do this before losing the little rubber isolation mounts! Now this really is a job which would have been much easier with the body off! I laboured for several hours on Sunday morning, after which I hadn’t got it fitted, only measured up for a mounting plate which I decided is needed. The problem is – when you keep the MGB lever arm shocks – the pump and the nearside shock absorber are competing for the same space, it’s very fiddly and then when I thought I had the pump mounted right, the shock absorber wouldn’t fit back without fouling the pump inlet connection. I’m now making a mounting plate which bolts to the original mounting holes but positions the pump further forward, closer to the glassfibre rear bulkhead. I’ll take a picture when it’s done.   I abandoned the rear end due to rain, and found a job I could do at the front of the car, nosed into the garage. The grill opening has to be trimmed back about ½” all round to clear the grill, and this needs a long blade on a jigsaw, and plenty of protective tape around the front of the car, as the jigsaw can’t sit flat on what it’s cutting. The flange through which you need to drill four holes to fix the grill in place is narrow, and I found only the bottom holes I drilled went through the fibreglass, the top ‘holes’ coincided with the edge of the trimmed fibreglass. I drilled some small pieces of aluminium to form ‘washers’ which when riveted through retained the grill in place firmly. The rivets can be easily drilled out for grill removal, which if I don’t need to do for the IVA I will for spraying.

April Progress on the Ace

1 / 2 April	The pile of old cereal packets has diminished – Making templates for under bonnet cladding! All used and only about half done – need to increase cereal intake. Spent some time setting up the front hubs. The offside one is now OK, but still don’t have enough shims for the NSF – though it turns freely enough, there’s no perceptible end float. Also got the tracking adjusted – as suspected it was miles out, and the difference to the effort required to push the car is striking. I’ll reconstruct one of my tracking gauges (made from secondary glazing extrusion!) in due course to check and adjust more precisely.   Measured the wheel diameter and the dimensions of the wheel well. The Avon Turbosteels measure 26.7” in diameter at the crown, while the wheel well is 26.5” across flats at the top, tapering to 26” at the base. An aluminium fabrication is fairly straightforward and can be made without the taper needed to withdraw the GRP from the mould. A 1200 x 1200mm sheet of alloy is required.
3/7 April	Little progress this week, Spring is almost sprung and other domestic duties are intervening. I have managed to make up the rear brake pipes, though. Took delivery of the Mini front bumpstop rubbers supposedly required for the rear axle, only to find these are treaded 5/16” UNF whereas the mounting holes in the chassis are 7/16” UNF. I’m reluctant to waste the rubbers, so I’ll make up adapters.   Took the cylinder heads in to Headshop Warrington to be fettled – mainly to align the valves with the seats. Fitting new guides, as I’ve done, loses the concentricity of the valves with the seats, and it’s a bit beyond my capabilities – and tooling – to recover this effectively.    I’ve also taken delivery of the ‘rubber bumper’ steering UJs. I’ve yet to fit them but they’re significantly shorter than the others, at 3.5” rather than 4.5” overall. Only downside is they are sealed units, i.e. no grease nipple. Hopefully I’ll be able to fit them before too long; there again, the MoT is soon due for the Elise and some work is required …..   I’ve finally got round to ordering the aluminium needed to sheath under-bonnet areas, and to make a new spare wheel well. I’ll just have to find some room to store it!
8/12 April	Aluminium sheet arrived early Monday morning (Metals4U). Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings spent some time marking out and cutting out for the spare wheel well. Very easy with the jigsaw. A few modifications needed to the design, hopefully iron those out over the weekend, and fit the steering intermediate column if I get the chance, though I’ve more than a handful of other pending jobs to address.   Collected the refurbished cylinder heads, skimmed 3 thou, 3-angle recut of the valve seats and the valves assembled in place. Nothing to hold up completing the engine build now.
13/14 April	The spare wheel well’s almost finished, just need to complete the riveting of the vertical seams. Bought some etch primer, and some stonechip for the underside. It fits in OK. Note the clearance is quite small between the front vertical panel and the Panhard rod, about ½”.   The new steering joints are now loose fitted to the intermediate column, so now we have steering! I think the intermediate column could stand being about ¾” shorter, which would then make a neater fit into the UJs.   I’m really looking forward to getting rid of the 8’ x 4’ sheet of aluminium from the garage – it’s a real nuisance sliding it to and fro to get access to all the tools behind it, so next job will be the underbonnet plating. I’ve given up hoping to consume enough cornflakes to make all the templates out of the packets, and bought some robust lining paper from B&Q.   Thought I’d got the right union for the front brake hydraulics – but the brake light switch I have has a 1/8” BSP taper thread, whereas all four tappings on the new union are 3/8” UNF. Back to the drawing board!   April isn’t going to be the most productive month on the Ace – Our other two cars both have MoTs due, Saturday afternoon was spent with oil change and pre-MoT inspection on son Nick’s BMW, Sunday morning new rear pads and discs for the Elise – and Sunday afternoon overhauling the lawnmower and cutting the grass. Part-time working – which I hope to move to in the Autumn – is looking very appealing!
17/21 April	Finished the wheel well, painted satin black inside and stonechip externally. I did think of leaving the interior bare metal – but not much is visible with the spare wheel in place, and black fits in better with the rest of the boot interior.   The steering column’s been shortened by about 3/8” at each end, and now fits without danger of the protruding spline fouling the yoke of the UJ. This was a particular problem of the upper UJ where the angle is more pronounced. To shorten, I first fitted a yoke from the ‘too large’ I already had, reversed to allow hacksaw access to the end to be shortened. Although you can make a reasonable job of cleaning up the cut spline with a triangular needle file, knocking off the old yoke removes any residual burring and ensures the spline fits the new UJs.   I’ve made templates for all the underbonnet aluminium panelling, part cornflake packet and part lining paper. The lining paper I bought is a bit too stiff, but I’ve made the best of it. I marked the outline of the templates on the 8’ x 4’ sheet and cut out all the pieces – there isn’t too much to spare, so a little thought in laying out the templates was needed.   I’ve loosely assembled (most) of the top end of the engine, mainly to see if there were any snags. I haven’t put pushrods or tappets in at this stage, I want to fit the tappets – freshly primed – just before I’m ready to start the engine, and that won’t be for some time. The new Performer manifold and Edelbrock carburettor, together with the rocker covers which I’ve laboriously polished, look good, all sitting below the big pancake filter.   My long-awaited eared spinners arrived this week from Midland Sports and Classics. They look fine, but for now will go into safe storage, they won’t be needed until post-IVA.
22/30 April	Obtained and fitted a brake light switch with a 3/8” UNF thread, and completed the nearside front brakepipe connection to the union. I’ve been concentrating on making underbonnet cladding panels. The ‘firewall’ panel is screwed temporarily in place until I see how everything else fits up to it. I’ve made the nearside footbox panels but again so far they’re loosely in place. The panelling sounds straightforward but needs careful fettling and some thought about sequence of folding - especially to get the best out of the new folder. The alloy is white plastic covered on one side, which prevents unsightly marks and allows easy marking during fabrication. This is then peeled off after final assembly.   I’ve been distracted this last week by the need for front brakes, radiator fan and MoT on the Elise. I’m pleased to say it passed the MoT on Monday 29th, with no adverse comments. The radiator fan change involves dismantling much of the front of the car and took me a day and a half!   So now that’s out of the way I can concentrate on the next job for the Ace, which after the underbonnet cladding will be engine and gearbox installation, which I hope to have completed by the end of May.