After a break of too many years, I'll be starting to hang around here again.
Long story short, after several years of agency work, short term contracts, and more than a couple of periods of under employment, I'm now in a
FT job. We've made another small human, and our eldest is now a bike mechanic.
I've sold the daily driver, and managed to get the Pug back on the road, and almost standard., so there was a bit of space in the yard.
The increadibly patient and generous DaveK has looked after the Indy for the last 8 years, and today has delivered her back to us!
First impressions are, I still need a pair of rear arches and lights, she'll need a complete fluid change, and a battery, but generally
doesn't look too bad.
Anyway, a bit of work over the winter, and hopefully back on the road by Easter!
M
Welcome back!
Congratulations and welcome back
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
Congratulations and welcome back
Wow, another two years seems to have slipped by.
Anyway, a combination of a global pandemic, lockdown and a short period on furlough meant I finally had time to work on the Indy.
So far, I've stripped the back end down, from the bulkhead behind the seats to the fuel tank, removed all the flaking powdercoat and rust, and
then re-painted the chassis, bones and rebuilt the suspension. Fitted new rear arches and got the back end back on the ground.
Front end is up in the air now, with the wishbones, headlight bar, hubs, mudguard stays and steering rack and column stripped, de-rusted and primed
and painted.
Just about to start to drain down the coolant systems to get the radiator and oil cooler off, so I can clean the rust and flaking powder coat off the
chassis forward of the engine.
Plenty to be getting on with, but looking for advise on a decent paint system for the chassis. I can't get it blasted, as the bodywork is still
fitted, and to be honest the experience of the original powder coat hasn't been great. Looking for recommendations for brush applied primer and
satin chassis black. Thinking the Frost own brand?
Anyway, hope there's still knowledgeable people around here (as I think I've decided to swap the big Zed engine out and replace with a MX-5
drivetrain).
I wouldn't fret about build time if I were you - mine took over 6 years, and others on this forum have taken far longer. My chassis alone took
over 3 of those years, until I got to the point where I said "either I finish it, or it goes". So I finished it!
I keep looking at chassis painting as it's a big job I've got to do. The problem at home is cleaning the metal, using a flap disk/wire brush in a drill grinder polishes the metal smooth, giving little to grip. Blasting leaves a rough surface so better paint grip. I'm wondering if the solution is clean, etch, then paint. The best paint seems to be A 2 pack epoxy.
Time for a quick update;
Completed the front end wire brush and repaint, and reassembled the front end.
(Has anyone got a torque figure for the front hub mushroom adapter pinch bolts?)
Dashboard, scuttle and bulkhead have all been removed, along with all the wiring.
Cooling system has been drained and radiator / oil cooler removed.
An MX5 engine, gearbox, clocks and loom has arrived from a low mileage clean 1.8VVT donor and I think I've sourced a set of indicator / wiper
stalks, steering lock, ignition barrel and matching key / immobiliser / ECU.
Fingers crossed that'll allow me to strip out the last of the sierra switch gear and go for a single donor electrical system. Just got to work
out if I can fit that lot to a Sierra steering column, or whether I need to replace the top part of the column with an MX5 part.
The car has gone over to a mate's workshop to get the engine out, cut the chassis mounts off and weld up some new engine mounts.
New radiator and fan has arrived, just need to sort a coolant overflow bottle.
Just a few bits left to sort out;
Thinking about using the MX5 fuel pump / sender so I'll have a working fuel gauge (for the first time ever!).
(Does anyone have the dimensions of the top, oval plate, of a standard MX5 fuel tank thing, so I can see if it'll fit in the top of the tank).
Oh, and speaking of other firsts, I've bought a reverse light. Quite looking forward to not having to get out and push anymore!
Final thing, is I'm aiming to fit a windscreen and heater, so I'm looking for inspiration about how to package everything on the scuttle.
Grateful for links to photos of neat installs of heaters, wipers, washer bottles and batteries!
Cheers
Mike
quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
(Has anyone got a torque figure for the front hub mushroom adapter pinch bolts?)
quote:
Originally posted by jps
quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
(Has anyone got a torque figure for the front hub mushroom adapter pinch bolts?)
I am planning on the same as the spec when it was originally fitted in the Sierra.
I understand others have failed IVA because they did not have a secondary fixing, so the hub/mushroom needs drilling and tapping and a bolt fitting too.
The sierra strut has a rib that is trapped in the clamp
http://www.fordopedia.org/parts-catalog/sierra-mk1/B2.10
That could be it! But do all other types?
quote:
Originally posted by jps
quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
(Has anyone got a torque figure for the front hub mushroom adapter pinch bolts?)
I am planning on the same as the spec when it was originally fitted in the Sierra.
I understand others have failed IVA because they did not have a secondary fixing, so the hub/mushroom needs drilling and tapping and a bolt fitting too.