Thrashed

Looks like I can actually make this one and I will be in the kit!

Thanks for organising again Richy. Good to see everyone.

Hi Richy. Can you add Bob and Di to the list please cheers

Hi Richy Please count Dee, Paige and myself in. Thanks

Now Sold

I have a set of doors for sale. They feel like a moleskin type material. They have never been fitted. dimension’s in the pictures are rough to give an idea of size and shape. Windows are covered in protective film. Ideally collection and not sure they would survive postage, but happy to post at buyers cost and risk. £100 for the pair.

I have 2 new demister units. They are 12v 168w. Bought from car builder solutions but didn’t use as went a different route. Full details of the units can be found on the car builder website https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/electric-demist-heater Happy to sell individually or as a pair. £15 each including postage or £25 the pair including postage.

See you there Richy. Me, Paige and Bob will be carvery’ing beforehand if anyone wants to join. We plan to get there for 5:30-6pm for food.

No promises. Depends on how the phone call goes tomorrow!

I got fuel today so I am good to go. Morrison’s let me brim the tank in the Skoda. Anyone going for Carvery before hand?

See you there Rich. What time you planning arriving?

October/ November 2020 Now, it has been an age since I even opened the garage door. The good news is I got through the final exams and managed to pass them all first time. The down side is that the exams, running the business and a very heavy workload meant the kit has not had a look in. The work situation is not likely to slow down any time soon, so I started looking at other options. Option 1 - sell the kit as a nearly finished project. Option 2 - just mothball the kit work on it as and when I get spare time Option 3 - find a 3rd party to finish the kit A separate issue and solution has also arisen as we need more office space so one way or the other the kit need to be moved as the garage is getting converted to office space. The good news is a local friend has a storage unit. It is on a farm with 24/7 access and only a couple of miles down the road. It is an old barn that was used to store potatoes. So, the kit is off to the spud shed! This means after loads of consideration I will keep the kit. All of the other option for a weekend toy just don’t work for one reason or another, although getting back into bikes I very tempting! This is when all the stars and planets aligned to answer my prayers. As you will have seen, our very own Richy B has opened his own business for all things, kits, classic, American and cool! As soon as I got wind of this I jumped onto the phone and discussions started to get to the top of the list. Richy has some tidying and organising at the Unit so we have set a date for the kit to get moved over to him in Tamworth to get the kit finished! I have given him a very poor scrap of paper with a to do list, but the main part was that Richy has complete licence to do what he sees fit to fix the issues I will have caused and finish the bits on the list. Anyone who knows Richy or has seen his 2B with a V8 will know his attention to detail and skill level so I know the kit will come back better than I could do myself or even imagine. No timescale was set so this would allow Richy to run this as a project in the background whilst still working on other paying customer cars. Stay tuned for the car being moved and Richy working his magic.

26.07.2020 Been a while since the last update. The last few months has mostly been faffing about to get the screen sitting perfectly. This has involved the screen coming on and off about a million times!! It turns out the reason it would not sit straight is that the car is not square! To be more accurate it is the scuttle. The measurable centre point is around 20mm from eyeball centre. Weeks of measuring and trying did not work, so i decided to make it look right, rather than being measured right. Just hope not one takes a tape measure to it! After i figured this out, i then fitted the glass for the final time. I left the rubber trim long at this stage. This will help when it comes to painting. I will be able to mask under the rubber, spray the frame and then cut back the rubber for a nice neat finish. This is what it looks like now Overall I am pleased with the result, but it has been a lot more work that I first thought it would be. Next up is to fit the wiper. First off I started with the wheel boxes. It all sits reasonable well and sweeps as well as i would expect. It's not perfect, but for the number of times it is likely to be used it will do. The next job will be to fit the wipe motor. Luckily I have enough space to fit either side of the scuttle, but my preference is the passenger side. The motor is reversible so once it is fitted it can be adjusted to ensure it pushes/ pulls the correct way.

18.5.2020 So a little milestone this weekend. The bulk of the windscreen frame has been completed. It wasn't that bad a process in the end, i was conscious i only get one go, so it had to be right. Just a bit of time and thought on the best way to do it was all it took. Below are a few pictures. Trying to do it and documenting the job is not easy as you need 3 hands at the best of times. First part was getting the side frame and lower rail clamped together. I used an M4 bolt, drilled the hole at an appropriate angle and clamped it all together. This pulled everything nice and `tawght!. I played around with which way to feed the bolt and settled on the head inside the lower rail. This allowed me to countersink the side frame which with a ground down bolt keeps is very low profile to the side frame I was concerned about how much clamping force I could apply. I wanted to make sure it had enough to hold the glass in place, which is why I went for the bolt, rather than a screw. I was not happy a screw would have enough threads biting into the frame. My first attempt proved I chose well as I managed to bend a bolt tightening it up. This was a double edge sword as it proved i had enough clamping force, but also that i didn’t need to use maximum effort to get the result i needed and wanted. Next up was to be brave and fit the actual glass!! I was very nervous and very careful, but it went like a dream. I am well happy with the result and fit, so next job was to fit the rubber into the channel and make sure it all lines up. I also trimmed the ends of the side frame. I decided to go with the curve of the lower rail. A bit of lube on the glass and rubber and it all slid together nicely. The next job will be to pull it all aparts again! This will be to drill and tap/ helicoil the side frame for the side supports. I am not brave, accurate or skilled enough to risk doing it with the glass still in, but felt like it needed to be complete so I can fit the car perfectly. Once this part is complete I will be able to trim the rubber and cut down the bolts. Then it will be onto the painting! As a side to the windscreen I had a little delivery from Dan. He was kind enough to mill an EGR blanking plate. It is just a cover/ beautification plate, but man it looks good. It fits a treat and really finishes the side of the engine. It is a shame it is hidden away behind a fuel pipe and wiring as it deserves more of the limelight.

3.5.2020 A little progress this weekend. The fittings for the brake and clutch lines arrive during the week. This was a case of screwing them in and nipping them up. All easy enough and the net result looked good. Next job was to add some fluids! I started with the coolant system. The system took just over 7 litres. I thought this sounded like a lot but when i checked the Haynes Book of Fairy Tales, it suggests that an MX5 system takes 7.5 litres. The good news is that i have no leaks. This is without the engine running, but still a good sign. Next fluid was the clutch. The gear stick turret needed filling with oil. The HBFT suggests that this be filled with 300cc of gearbox oil. The clutch reservoir was next to get filled. I also did some research on the fluids. It suggested the Dot 4 is able to deal with higher temperatures, but the Dot 3 is more resistant to moisture. I used a Dot 4 fluid. This was the suggested oil in the HBFT so it seems good enough. With fluid in, the next job was to bleed the system. I turned to the trusty Gunson Easibleed. This has never let me down and has always made brake bleeding quick and easy. That was except this time. The caps that are supplied with the Easibleed are far too small for the Compbrake reservoirs (girling style) which are about 65mm. The option was to but a cap big enough or a more modern version. I decided to take the opportunity and upgrade to a pneumatic fluid bleeder. This will connect to the air compressor and will pull the fluid through the system, removing the air as it goes. In the meantime I went with a bit of pedal pushing. This `highlighted’ the first connection that i had not done up tight enough. It is amazing how such a small amount of brake fluid can travel. 5 minutes later, all cleaned up and ready to go again. This bled much of the clutch, but will finish once the new bleeder arrives. Not having enough Dot 4 to do the brakes, i have left this for next weekend when the new bleeder and Dot 4 arrive. Next little tinker job was to sort the steering wheel buttons. I have 2 buttons on the wheel. The right hand switch is a momentary button, which will be used for launch control and the right hand is mostly likely to be used for a map switch function. Probably a normal mode and sports mode with flames and pops! The momentary button is from when I had the Omex launch control. One of the pins on the back was broken. This was probably from when I soldered the previous connections and the plastic became hot and brittle. This time i will be using a different method. I saw this on a youtube video and thought it would fit nicely for my application. The pins on the back of the buttons are 2mm. All the usual crimps are too big. The method i saw was an econoseal pin. This then fits in the slot in the middle of the pin on the back of the button. The pin then folds over 180’ and is crimped on. A bit of heat shrink and a rubber boot later and that is one side done. I will probably hot glue inside the boot as a bit of weather protection as the securing nut for the button is only 2mm thick so not much for the boot to grip onto. Just waiting for the other side to turn up and that will finish that job off.