coming soon

It's been a while since I have updated this blog but winters here, my funds have nearly dried up. so it's time to update this blog over the next few weeks i have paint, mechanical assembly, interior refit and engine ancillery rebuild to cover.  Specific item are alternator upgrade, Electronic fuel injection and modifiying a dizzy for engine management.

The first of these updates are planned soon so for now watch this space.

looking forward to the future the car should be back on the blacktop early spring if the engines ok.

Nigel

Fibre glass

I would normally spend ages getting rid of the horible stuff but in this case i will be adding some.  The picture below is the Mercedes C Class interior i bought on ebay. wilst the from seats are easy to fit the rear seat is a little bit more envolved. I have made a fibreglass seat base to support the seat foam. The build details are below.  I have now started to make a headliner shell so that i can use modern headlining material.

The seat foam was covered in 2 layers of masking tape as cured fibreglass seems not to stick to it. The resin was mixed with catalyst and spread over the matting. Very messy but i got a very good result. the headliner was made from hardboard that was wetted and clamped in place. Over 3 days the hardboard flexed to the correct shape, i have let it dry out and have used this to apply the masking tape to. Fibreglassing the seat was messy, haveing to apply the stuff to the underside of the room is just bloody awfull. For now i will do limited areas untill i have at leat 1 layer all over. I will extract the liner and complete a second layer on the bench.

Little progress lots of prep

Well the spitfire is now in winter storage so the beemers back in the garage, and not a moment to soon as the cover was beginning to leak.

I have started the task of getting rid of the rust on the bonnet doors and front wings. And with the bonnet being the worst i started with that.

The condition under the layers of filler,lead loading and fibreglass was rubbish so much that i should have thrown the bonnet away and found a better example. Still might have to but first i am going to try and repair it.

The front lip is shot apart from 6" or so that has already been replaced. I have now replaced most of the front lip and whilst not perfect i surprised myself at the outcome, hopefully the lightest skim of filler will completely cover the repair.

The inner reinforcement was also shot this has been partially sorted. Once this has been refitted to the bonnet i will take out the supports for the bonnet stay and redo them.

BMW Paint - more progress wow

As you can see from the pictures below the boot has been painted along with the fuel tank. Also the the underside of the car is now finished. The rear subframe and diff have been bolted in for the final time. The engine bay has been primered and rubbed down.

Boot area looks good

Underside the cleanest it's been in 30 years won't last long once the cars finished.

With this years quota of paint done the mechanical work can start.

Also got the engine bay and front inner wings painted.

Also got a Ti manifold off ebay, thanks Gus. Now i have nearly all the manifolds for a M10 engine i have decided to go with the TI manifold and throttle body. Just looks right for the car. The later 318 manifold i have i think would yeild more BHP but would look wrong. I have also just bought an E30 injection pump to supply the fuel. Might work watch this space.

Let the mechanical refit begin - This will progress slowly untill the Triumph spitfire gets mothballed in it's seaside retreat and the Beemer takes centre stage in the garage. That dates 5 weeks away.

BMW Paint

Small parts in primer

Hanging garage of car parts !

Pedal box after paint and reassembly

Shiny diff ready to be refitted.

More paint needed.

Rear area painted.

Engine bay in first coat of primer now flatted to reveal all manner of inperfections that need to be resolved before colour coat. Also repainted front subframe, Tiebar is knackered and will be replaced later.

Dash area painted.

BMW 2002 Paint At last !

Finally, the weldings done. Well almost a few last bits to tidy up but nothing that stops paint going on the car.

The interior is now sprayed, not the best job but more than adequate for something that will never get seen. Over the next month the underside boot and engine bay will be sprayed along with all the black bits, suspension parts sub frames and brackets will be completed.

That should leave me in good shape for all the mechanical work during the winter.

The paint system i have used is a newer waterbased system. this has caused some issues along with the usual suspects.

The issues i have are -

1. Contamination in the paint - Spraying in a dusty garage is never good i have a plan to counter this when i get to the outer panels.

2. Water getting on the paint ( yes i know i'm using waterbased paint ) but the effect is to ruin the colour coat - This i think is coming from the compressor, an air filtration system is on it's way.

3. The metallic base coat i am using takes a better spray technique than i currently have. More practice required. Also the drying time is far greater than i am used to to combat this more light coats of paint and a bunch of infrared heaters are required.

Update -

Well the paints finally going on the interior is done as is most of the parts that need to be painted black including the front and rear subframes. Pictures to follow this evening if the rain stays away.

I am now on track to complete all the paint that needs to be done so that i can reassemble the car mechanically over winter and get the engine running on megasquirt.

Finally a deadline that i have a chance of meeting

Noisy complaint - Little progress

Well yet again the welding is not complete however the list has shrunk from the last post. The jobs left to do are.

Finish both rear wheel wells - most work done needs tidying.
Boot bumper support brackets reinstalling.
Small hole in drivers floor under rear seat support.
Finish weld drivers floor repair.

The reason i am now so late is a neighbours that reported me for noise instead of walking down the drive and telling me to be a bit quieter !

They asked for me to spot at 6pm as they have children that need to go to bed. I don't have a problem with this but all the kids in the street play out until about 8 ish this time of year.

secondly they " think" it would be better for me to make noise early on a Saturday morning when people are trying to sleep instead of working on a Friday afternoon when most people are at work !

I challenged the last point and they came back with we dont want to hear noise when we get home from work.

Any way i made some concessions about the 6PM and since that the noise abatement officer at the council can't get hold of the complainer. Quote I can't stop you doing your hobby so until i get another complaint carry on i won't be taking any action against you. Also i have made reasonable attempts to call the complainer, If they don't reply to my call that not my fault.

So it seems that the complainer wasn't up to the fight which in my books means that either it wasn't that important to them. Or they have heard me talking to my neighbours and are now feeling sheepish for not talking to me directly.

Another theory is that i live on a private drive, the kids in the close tend to play in this area as it is safer for them to do so, and they are welcomed to. However a dismantled car is a danger to them and they now no longer play in this area. Now the kids are not quiet and they must be making noise right outside there own door and this i think is the real problem.

Anyway the plan now consists of getting the welding finished, weather permitting this should take a couple of weeks.

I will then paint the boot, underside, interior, engine bay and inner wing areas. This will at least enable me to do most of the mechanical work this winter.

The boot lid, doors, bonnet and exterior paint can then be painted next year when the temperature permits.

Other stuff, the engine is now back in one piece as i now belive that the cylinder head might be ok and the problem was the gasket. I have also painted the engine and some ancilleries. This winter i will put the engine back in the car and sort out all the new injection parts that need to be installed. and then hopefully the car will then run.

I have gained an ansa exhaust from a bmw 3 series that will need to be tweaked to fit. This winter i also want to make an exhaust manifold and upgrade the centre section of the exhaust pipe. Difficult but might be worth the effort.