a bit of this and a bit of that.

[mygasser]

we turned the coilover's adjusters all the way down (2" ish) so we could add stands under the bottom ball joints and lift them 'til the coils make contact at the top simulating shorter struts. with the heavy old essex v6 in there it'll lower it some more. we need to know if we can get away with the billies as they are so even if we have to cut the coils for mock up so be it. we made the anti roll bar front clamps and plates so next we'll get the struts set to a) length and b) the right distance front to back, then we'll get the plates welded in place.
neil.

[mygasser]

today we measured the strut positions (front to back) each side and matched them up with the wings and wheels back on to a) get them the same and b) get them centred in the arch. next we pushed the rollbar, clamps etc up to the corner brackets and tacked the 'base plates' to the corner brackets. lastly we dropped the rollbar back out of the way and fully welded both base plates. we can clean it all up tomorrow and bolt the rollbar in place. re the issues with strut length and or crossmember height, we're going to trim the springs for now and if the alignment's still not right swapping to shorter struts will be the route the owner will take. steering column next and he wants to keep the zephyr wheel/column switches etc so as the box has been cut off at the bottom (inner and outer) of the column we'll turn a nylon bush then slip and weld a splined shaft in the inner column so a uj can fit there with another at the rack.
neil.

[jsf55]

Good effort getting anything done in this heat

[mygasser]

it was like being the wicked witch in the original 'wizard of oz' movie....... ''i'm mellllltiiiiing''
neil.

[mygasser]

nothing done today as it was 32 here today and higher still in the garage. the carb' kit arrived for the cortina so we...... oh, i've not mentioned the cortina have i? it's the green mk5 i've been working on for over 20 years now and has been seen briefly here before too. it came in as it has what seems to be a fuel starvation issue, it'd idle all day but drive it and it'd cut out within 1/2 a mile every time. the carb' and inline filter would be empty so lots of winding over and it'd eventually restart he said. once here he also asked us to service it (2.0 pinto, easy) and check the brakes as occasionally the pedal sinks to the floor at junctions. so we've pulled the tank's sender unit and checked it's clear, replaced every single bit of rubber hose on both feed and return lines with ethanol proof hose, carried out an engine service, converted the ignition to electronic with accuspark parts and replaced both cambelt and fanbelt. there, you're up to date. this has been going on alongside the zephyr work so it's been busy in this heat. as i mentioned the carb kit for the 32/36 weber arrived today, needed as the accellerator pump diaphram's pouring fuel out over the manifold..... not good. tip run tomorrow then once it cools down a bit we'll pull the carb' and get it cleaned and rebuilt.
neil.

[Happydaze]

When it cools down some it might be worthwhile insulating the garage roof. My first garage had a tin roof, boiling in summer, freezing in winter and terrible condensation issues. Overcladding it with z purlins forming the gap which was filled with insulation ( cheapo fiberglass) and it was an OK place to be all year round.

Chris

[mygasser]

i have a wooden and felt roof so luckily no condensation issues. i plan to (when there's time?) insulate between the rafters and board the ceiling with 3mm ply painted white. we did that at dad's first workshop over 40 years ago and it made a huge difference to summer heat and winter cold. i keep putting it off as i want to raise the whole roof up 2 feet on short stud walls, but i'm kidding myself it'll happen really. the extra room we'll add to the side towards the house will help a lot so if i ever want more height under the ramp i'll probably dig a shallow pit to get the standing room there. first we need to catch up a bit so my nash can get on the road, it's been too long since i had a 'car' on the road.
neil.

[Brizey]

When it cools down some it might be worthwhile insulating the garage roof. My first garage had a tin roof, boiling in summer, freezing in winter and terrible condensation issues...
Chris

I can relate to that Chris. I built a beach buggy, a Triumph chopper and my old roadster in just such a garage (my dad`s) which also had a dirt floor and gaps in the corrugated tin walls/roof. I feel blessed with what I have these days!...

[mygasser]

i've been there with corrugated tin roofs, my dad's first workshop used to be a huge potato store on my grandad's farm. dad bought that part of the farm along with other tin farm buildings. most were built with second hand materials too so the tins had many extra nail holes that'd drip in the rain. i spent many fun hours as a kid on the roof in the rain with a lump of tissue and a mastic gun, lol. i did the same on my garage i built over the road and that was framed with used timber and i clad it with used box profile tin, nothing changes......
neil.

[mygasser]

oh and at 38 degrees today nothing was done in the garage, we sat indoors with the a/c on 20 most of the day. the only time we went out was to get 3 more kittens , 1 black boy i've called hemi (my 3rd with that name) and 2 ginger boys i've called ronny and reggy, or 'the twins' for short
neil.

[mygasser]

it's finally cooled down a bit, only 26-28 here so much better. we refitted the carb to the cortina and fired it up. it needs a bit more petrol before a test drive as it's down near the red on the gauge.
so we took the roll bar brackets off of the zephyr, drilled the second hole in each on and nibbed the high spots off of the welds. lastly they both got some gloss black spray paint before we can refit them and bolt the roll bar in place.
neil.

[jsf55]

Much cooler and working outdoors on the teardrop has been pleasant, Is that the Cortina finished ?

[mygasser]

Much cooler and working outdoors on the teardrop has been pleasant, Is that the Cortina finished ?

not yet mate, it needs testing to make sure it won't die 1/2 a mile into a drive as before. also he mentioned (when he dropped it off) the brake pedal 'occasionally sinks to the floor. in the last 10 years it's had a master cylinder and rear wheel cylinders and there's no signs of any leaks or fluid level going down so.... the calipers had stuck a couple of years ago when he got it out in the spring so they may need replacing (they're so cheap new it's not worth rebuilding them). we'll also remove the master cylinder and check it for internal rust as it can suffer just like the calipers. i've had master cylinders push/bleed fluid back into the reservoir when under pressure before so that could be happening here and would explain the symptoms. we'll see.
neil.

[mygasser]

you know when 'you can't see the wood for the trees'? well we had another rust repair on the zephyr's n/s/f chassis rail. where the bumper brackets bolt to the outside of the chassis there was some rot so after cleaning that out a patch was cut and drilled before welding it in place. we'll get it ground up later before refitting the corner brackets and lastly the anti roll bar.
neil.

[mygasser]

so this evening we refitted the modified corner brackets and ant rollbar. then we adjusted the tca's the same each side and lastly set the tracking to roughly straight ahead to make it roll easier than when it arrived.
neil.