Ahhh

It has been far to cold and miserable to go to the garage so I am stopping for Xmas and will start again in the new. I should have the gearbox back by end of Jan start of Feb and until that is fitted I am a bit stuck for things to do.

So I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and may 2011 be a great year for all

Doors , Boots and things

The boot lid is now fitted and closes and locks - didn't think it would at one point.

Door locks and glass are all in as is the speedo and switches.

Now I just need to get the gearbox rebuilt and the engine running and think about MOT - this won't happen until the windscreen is in and it looks like I will need a specialist windscreen company to do this.

Update to follow in two weeks

Peace and Calm needed

It was going so well untill the gearbox issue.

I have finally found someone who can do the converstion but it is going to cost quite a bit as the box will need to stripped and overhauled as well.

So in the meantime I get to clean a lot of glass and rebuild doors

Hopefully will be able to get back to the garage this weekend

Gearbox Dilema

The engine and gearbox are now sitting in the car. Unfortuantely the gearbox needs some modifications.

The original gear lever was located at the front of the floor well and on the new gearbox it is between the seats.

Now I can either cut the floor pan to fit the gear box or I can mess around and change the gearchange remote from the old box to the new.

So this weekend I will look at both boxes and make a decision - lets hope it's the right one

Not there yet

It all seems so simple - yeh right.

A couple of weeks of playing and I finally finished the wiring - just got to put a battery on and test things - as soon as I have fitted the lights - windsreen wiper motor and all the switches and then I can fit the engine.

This seems to be taking longer than I allowed for but it will be finished - hopefully - this year.

Now to try and find nuts bolts and washer of the right size

Suspension finished

It's been a hectic week one way or another but I have finished the rear and front suspension and the braking system. The steering will be finished today and then onto the wiring.

The wheels are back from the paint shop so tyres will be fitted this week and then finally the engine can go in.

Hopefully she will be running in two weeks and then the fun bits can be started. That will be the windows and roof lining - unless I can find someone who knows how to do them :)

Torsion Bars

The front suspension on both sides has now been removed. New trunnions fitted to both sides along with all new brake cylinders and suspension bushes.

But the torsion bars have been a nightmare. To take them off wasn't to bad, but to put them back on is going to be a real pain. The main reason for this is because the engine is not in the car and therefore there is no weight to hold the car down. So I now need to be novel - do I ask a couple of friends to sit in the engine bay - or should I put an eye bolt into the floor to anchor the car - decisions decisions.

I will update later this week how I do it

Axle completed

So the axle is finally in (See photo links) not tightened down as I painted part of the axle before I realised  -that was the part I wanted to place the jack. Doh!!

Anyway it will be back on 4 wheels next week and then I can turn the car round and strip the front suspension.

All being well the front suspension and the wiring and brakes will all be finished by the 13th August as I have taken a week off to do it.

More photo's to follow

Busy busy busy

So a couple of weekends of family time, and the auditors have finally gone which means I actually got to work on the car last weekend.

The old axle has been completely removed. The under body from the rear to about the back seats has been undersealed and all is now ready to refit the rebuilt back axle. This should happen this weekend and also - time permitting - the brake pipes and wiring loom will go in.

Lets pray to the rain god to go on holiday so that I can complete this part of the build :)

She's Home

Well Mandy was delivered home last night at 9pm and I have posted photo's - if you click the link above.

Now the fun begins - a bit daunting really as there is a lot to do and I do not want to scratch her so I had better be careful.

As soon as she is running and MOT'd she needs to go back to the body shop for a final alignment of doors ect... and a final polish.

Not quite sure how long this is going to take now but we are on the final run.

Next job is to strip the back axle and rear suspension to be replaced with the axle I recently built.

She's Painted

Well the Moggy has been painted - not completely as the boot and other bits and pieces need to be completed but she will be back in two weeks.

The engine is complete including new clutch and the gearbox is on. Back axle is completed and ready to fit.

So the real build starts in two weeks and will probably include a lot of late nights and skimmed knuckles - but as the old saying goes "no pain no gain"

Right off to the garage to clean out all the rubbish ready for the car

Finally the engine is built

Finally I have finished the engine build and all seems ok.

Now the gearbox (which is of unknown quality) and this will be a challenge. I probably won't find out how good it is untill it's in the car but hey it's only about 11 bolts if it's scrap.

Now I need to get the car back so that I can do the wiring loom - braking system - interior - suspension - back axle god this just keeps going - but we will get there :)

Still onwards and upwards

Crankshaft

Well the second crank did exactly the same as the first crank. Seized when the main bearings were tightened. I took it to a local engineering firm who have polished the journals and now all the conrods spin on the crank as they should.

It meant removing the pistons but that has worked out well as they needed decoking and the engineers did that as well. So this morning is going to be the engine rebuild day - so long as i can find a piston ring compressor.

Photos later today of the build and hopefully of a complete engine

In Primer

What a week.

Went to see the car Monday and it is now in Primer - having a problem finding the correct paint code so that they can start painting,but should have that soon.

The engine build didn't go very well. Put the Crankshaft in and tightened the main bearings and everything turned nicely. Put the big ends in and tightened them down and the crank would not turn at all.

I took the crank back to the supplier - 200 mile round trip - and it seems that when the regrind was done it was done to close to the tolerances. Anyway will set it all up at the weekend and hopefully it will be ok.

Will hopefully have the car back fully painted in a couple of weeks

Can't wait

Painted

Finally I have been able to fiinish painting the axle and engine.

The engine is completly stripped and ready for rebuild. The axle just need the wheel bearings and brakes to be finished.

Should all be done by end of day tomorrow. Thank god for bank holidays.

Re Photos

I have finally worked out how to link Photobucket to Blogger.

The link at the top will redirect you to my photo album which shows all photos.

Just off to paint the bumper support bars and axle, strip the rest of the engine and clean ready for painting.

What happened to the weather?? I thought I was going to have a really sunny day to do this - nevermind at least it's under cover

Still more to do

Ok so the guys at Carworx are doing a great job but they keep finding more things to change.

The rear boot closing panel had some small holes so we have decided to change it for a new one. Hopefully we are on track for the car to be finished and back to me at the end of April.

The axle has been a complete pain due to the wheelbearing nut - thanks go to Giles for having the right size socket (I'll get it back to you in the next couple of weeks)

The engine is now dismantled and the new crank was delivered yesterday, so as the weather is so nice I am going to start the clean and painting of the engine today.

Apart from that I finally finished my mums shower yesterday - just need to paint the bathroom door and then I can focus on the moggy

50 in May so not long to get this finished.

The Paint has Gone

It's been a hectic couple of weeks what with bathrooms and Audits.

However the Moggy has finally had all the paintwork removed and I have to say Tony who owns and runs Wet Blast did a fantastic job as the photos show.

There are some more panels that need to be changed but absolutely no filler in the car at all - so all in all well worth doing.

Now it's back to the body shop for the preperation and paint.

The axle is now stripped as is the engine - photo's to follow

CARS IN PAINT SHOP

The car has been collected and is now in the paint shop. The blasting has been organised and should be completed by end of next week.

Looks like were on schedule to have the car back by end of April - then it's only mechanical :)

Bathrooms

Well I haven't been around recently as I have been tiling and fitting a bathroom for my mum.How I became a plumber and tiler is a bit uncertain but I think I will put up a photo of the finished project.

Anyway the car will finally be stripped today ready to go to the body shop next weekend.They want the wings - doors removed so that is todays project. Photos later

Getting Better

I have finally had the painter round and have a few more things to dismantle before he will take it away to do the bodywork. Fortunately it's not much so should be ready by the end of next week.

Have found a 1098 engine and gearbox and will be collecting that on sunday.

Will not be able to do much over the next few weeks as I am refitting my Mum's bathroom but hey ho it's all good fun.

Finally Back

It's been almost a month since my last post and it's all due to year end and weather. The snow is finally melting and I am off to pick up the passenger door tomorrow.

I am also hoping that my friend who does the bodywork is coming over to have a look, so we should have more photo's soon.