S2!

[JonSE]

My plan after speaking to a couple of people is to now reassemble the doors, front / rear panels and headlight pods to ensure they haven’t warped before the whole lot goes for paint.

I’m really not looking forward to doing the doors but can’t justify paying someone for hours to fettle them at current rates. I think this might be the sticking point to some extent in terms of making progress this year, or I might get lucky.

Aim still remains to get the car running under its own power as soon as possible, so get the panels aligned, body and chassis back together after paint, engine done and the wiring in place! Really hope to do all this in under 2 years.

Plan is still to paint the body off the chassis after stripping the boot floor paint plus a few other details and sorting panel alignment.

Any thoughts on the above most welcome, I’ll be going back now in detail over the @Fridgeand @Djs44 and @Lotusfabblogs plus others to determine the running order for this like a big meccano kit that needs teasing back together!

 

[Fridge]

Depending upon how far they are stripped and what work is done to the window frames the doors will be a pain, and though helpful, you'll find no matter what you do prior to paint they'll still need a lot of work on final assembly.

I assume you checked them prior to disassembly? I cant remember what state your car was when you bought it.

I'd advise new phosphor-bronze hinge bushes as a bare minimum. And do nothing until they are fitted into the door beams.

If you have marked the position of the window frame and check strap attachment points ie. the angles and position along the beam, that will be your biggest advantage. I had put in a light score mark on my beams for this purpose.

Though a more thorough and professional finish, I'm not sure I'd recommend powder coating your window frames due to the effort it takes to refit the quarterlight glass. And given it's relatively rarity (on an S1 at least), the danger of damage during that process.

Depending upon how far you intend to disassemble the doors there is little benefit from marking the penny washer shims, though all information is useful at the end of the day, as an indication at least. You'll find you'll have to start from first principals. A seemingly endless task. So to recap do that after you've fitted those bushes. Not the original plastic type which won't last.

Contrary to other comments about door SJ Sportcars' door rubbers, I have not found them a problem. Like any new rubber they just need careful banging into place and adjustment of the window frames afterwards. I noted that the S1 featured on the recent Top Gear programme leaked from the tops of the doors. That car would benefit from some attention in the door frame angle. Which will mean more than adjusting with the penny washer shims. Mine took a little effort to get right. Patience is a virtue in these circumstances.

I'm also not sure of the worth in spending time on the bonnet and rear hatch, but the lamp pods may benefit from a test fit.

Overall, better off spending time progressing the other parts of the restoration. Heater box, steering, suspension, interior panels, and gearchange linkages etc. It is a momentus task to completely rebuild these cars without wasting time on stuff you'll need to redo once painted anyway.

I hope that helps.

[Fridge]

Glad you got the bodyshell sorted @JonSE as I know that getting it done right was a big concern of yours.

Crack on with that suspension ready for the engine and transmission to be fitted would be your next priority. The rest will fall into place. Progressing the small, self-contained jobs in any downtime whilst waiting for those larger assemblies.

[JonSE]

OK, who was it?? 😁😁😁

 

I contacted DVLC and asked them which PPW numbers they might release in the latest sale, I asked them if PPW 306 might be available. They said not but they would release 306 PPW.

Good enough I thought, very steady bidding then it caught fire and too rich for me!

Well done whoever nabbed it, will look good on whichever car it goes on 👍

 

 

[LOTUSMAN33]

Nice, at £3k that wasn’t bad for a non age related bond plate.

PPW306P went for £4910.

[Lotusfab]

It wasn’t me I forgot about it!

[Fridge]

Not bad for a pre-reg number. But not my thang. Unless it's the cars original number. Mine's worth about £3,000 or so.

 

https://dvlatimedauction.co.uk/auction/B246/306PPW

[JonSE]

I think VAT and fees took it closer to £4.5K in the end…..good plate for someone just not me!

[Fridge]

How are you getting on @JonSE?

Have you made any progress on the body shell since its return?

[JonSE]

Thanks for asking!

Not much progress, the mods were allowing water to pool in a couple of void areas that were created so just re-instated some 10mm drain holes to allow a couple of gallons of water to drain out. 

At least I hope they were voids and not ballast tanks for when it becomes a sub again….

Shell is back in garage to allow it fully cure, paint man is ready when I can present all the panels to him, so I need to strip the doors down to the shells as a priority now and strip the paint off the front bonnet to move forward…

 

 

[Fridge]

Looks good. Yes, you need those drain holes. Good find!

Great idea to let the body shell cure in your dry garage prior to painting etc. As there is enough moisture in that fibreglass as it is.

[JonSE]

I reckon by the time I sort what I need to it will be autumn and the paint guys should hopefully be ready, but want to ensure they keep it inside etc….

Reading Fabians post about electrics I’m tempted to have my loom de-taped and gone over by an auto sparky as opposed to buying new, also to add a separate fused power line forward to allow a take off for the lights, heater and windows etc under relay control. I have the colour coding so this might be the better option.

Had anyone used a distribution block they could recommend for this for automotive use?

Should I use 25A wire for this as would prefer too much capacity as too little!

[Fridge]

Yes, good to see @Lotusfab following my advice 😉

Feeding those items with a dedicated power line will greatly improve their performance and will be safer too.

I have just used a third Lucas fuse box for the additional power line and items. Clunky, but it is the same as the original two, and there's room for it in the glove box next them too. Just needs an additional aperture cutting in the side.

I have reused the original glove box as the replacement from SJ Sportcars is made from modern millboard which is a lot thinner, and as a result is flimsy. I have reinforced the original sides using new millboard, and given it a coat of Hy-Cote satin black. Looks like new. This has worked well over 15 years for the cubby box on my open 1961 sports car.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Fridge

[drdoom]

Everything one might need for upgrading the electrics.

 https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/

Cheers

[Fridge]

And remember to crimp connectors, not solder!

[Lotusfab]

2 hours ago, JonSE said:

I reckon by the time I sort what I need to it will be autumn and the paint guys should hopefully be ready, but want to ensure they keep it inside etc….

Reading Fabians post about electrics I’m tempted to have my loom de-taped and gone over by an auto sparky as opposed to buying new, also to add a separate fused power line forward to allow a take off for the lights, heater and windows etc under relay control. I have the colour coding so this might be the better option.

Had anyone used a distribution block they could recommend for this for automotive use?

Should I use 25A wire for this as would prefer too much capacity as too little!

Your in an ideal position to refurb the loom yourself, its really easy! Buy the blue crimp tool and connectors from Auto sparks. No need for additional wires just upgrade the loom wires you have. Colour coded from Autosparks they cost pence per metre. Cut the old crimps off and put new ones on. I will do some pics on how to crimp if you get stuck, seriously the only difficult bit is matching the crimp tool to the crimp and wire size. Auto sparks have done this for you as the tool comes with insulation and crimps.
Disagree on the solder. Crimp and solder which it what I have just done to the fan wire where it joins the relay. You need a really powerful soldering iron. I bought a 90W for £17 on Amazon. When you solder it welds the wire to the crimp making much better contact and if your crimp is dodgy like my one was it won’t matter. I have a modern blade fuse holder in my glovebox now just for the fans.

To be honest I only soldered that one because of the high current load and I am confident in my crimping ability. My electrical engineer friend always does both. Hes currently traveling across Europe in a car he restored.

Oh I bought a new glovebox from S and J it was too thin to support the fuse holders so I fibreglassed the end to reinforce it. No problems after that.

[drdoom]

Not to continue flogging a dead horse but crimping is the sole manner by which battery terminals are secured, doing so with appropriate tools at this time. Quite clearly up to the task of conducting major electrical loads.

[Paul Coleman]

On 24/05/2022 at 16:01, JonSE said:

It will be interesting to see if you end up regretting filling those 'ears' in when you're sat in traffic watching the temperature gauge going off the scale 🤪

[JonSE]

Interesting point on the cooling!

I had an S2 previously and switched the cooling ducts over so the off side rammed air into the carbs, the near side then fed the engine top end.

I think the cooling provided was really marginal and only worked when the car was under way, so didn’t make much difference in traffic!

I don’t think it allowed too much latent heat out at rest and really could have used a bi directional fan to extract air when stood and help draw air in when moving maybe.

I’m hoping with a new cooling system / radiator, better fans and modern coolant mixed quite rich that the car can cope better than when it was new.

I can always hack an ear back in but reckon I’ll fit a powerful fan in the engine cover to force air around the bay when stood.

I’ll definitely have a fan over ride and will keep an eye on the gauge!

[Lotusfab]

On 26/05/2022 at 17:11, drdoom said:

Not to continue flogging a dead horse but crimping is the sole manner by which battery terminals are secured, doing so with appropriate tools at this time. Quite clearly up to the task of conducting major electrical loads.

They are if crimped correctly with the crimp matched to the wire size and tool. Crimping and soldering simultaneously overcomes the poor crimp issue. I now have a lot of experience after 8 years of practice.  At the start I did at least one substandard crimp as shown on the fan wire. If I had soldered it as well maybe it wouldn’t have overheated. Anyhow if your not convinced just crimp.

[Fridge]

@JonSEif you have problems with overheating, though I don't think you will with the same upgrades as you mention, then you could always fit a bilge blower in the engine bay, but not in the engine cover, as you'd want to use the cooler air from the outside, not the luggage area.

Though I'm not totally convinced they work that well for the effort, especially in the woolly wilds of Yorkshire with its open, largely traffic-free roads. I'd want to see some definitive proof with supporting temperature measurements before hitting that trail.

[Lotusfab]

I measured the temperature inside the engine cover at 83 degrees with the engine at operating temperature. As soon as the blower comes on it rapidly starts to reduce it was down to 73 degrees quite quickly. I then turned the blower off. I think if left on it will have a significant effect. I noticed the main fans cycled quicker when supported by the bilge fan. Although, I agree unless you are stuck for hours on a hot day in heavy traffic with your other upgrades you probably don’t need it. I did a days filming in 35 degrees and the three Kenlows cooled it enough. I plan to operate it to extreme limits of heavy traffic, so have put the extra fan in as a back up.

[Fridge]

Have you retained the remote monitoring functionality @Lotusfab?

It would be interesting to see how this aftermarket cooling works over an extended period of testing. Though I've not yet experienced vapour lock or other problems associated with hot engine bays. However others have, but I was never convinced their hot starting issues were a product of poor carb tuning, or from using incorrect ignition coils etc.

 

 

[Lotusfab]

No I removed the sensor, but I may link the blower to a digital controller, but not at the moment. I never had any start issues even in 10 hours operation at 35 degrees.

[Fridge]

Shame, we won't really know if it makes any difference at all. At least it is an option for @JonSEif he finds his car suffers with cooling issues in the future. I don't really see that being the case however.