Firstly all four doors are now welded, rust/rot free, back on the car and primed ready for the new paint.
The two back wings and front nearside wing are also sorted...
This is the front offside wing about to be given the treatment, should be finished by the end of the day...
As for other things... the interior is nearly finished and is looking great. No pics yet as it was all covered up at the garage but it is basically as new (black vinyl) with extra support put into the two front seats to make the twistier parts of rallying easier. At present the interior is bare:
Mechanically the main bits have yet to be started but the whole exhaust is off. The front box is currently being worked on by Graham. I saw the section he'd been tinkering with and he's enlarged the baffles and opened it up a bit to allow for a faster breathing system. From the front box back it will be a fully bespoke stainless system exiting in one slightly larger back box and pipe. Should sound nice. Combined with the new four branch carb and a damned good service it should pump the output up a bit and give an easier breathing engine.
Speaking of which we're going to do some work on the front airvents. At present a lot of that area has been taken up with the registration plate...
The plate will be coming off (the bugger is riveted on) and new airvents created and a vinyl bonnet mounted licence plate popped on like the early Jaguar E Types...
I think that about covers it for now. Work has begun today on the sills and chassis so by the time I go back (in about 3 weeks) it should be nearly there and ready for the complete respray.
Oh, I managed to pick up a pair of period spot lights - Cibie Super Oscars. They were bloody expensive but will be much needed in the low/no light sections of various rallies.
Ok. Over and out, I'm off to Devon for a week with the family...
Looking superb! We looked at Cibié Oscars for the GS - we'll need four - and as you say they are expensive! For us it'll be more like finding good (and much cheaper) generic 7" round lights and fitting Cibié covers... what a CHEAT!
ReplyDeleteThe exhaust mods sound worthwhile and I think the idea of giving better airflow into the engine bay is a must. Will you be changing the carburation? And is the flywheel going to be standard?
Hi Phil,
ReplyDeleteI'm really pleased with the Cibies, just got to think about where and how to attach them. They're the wide range lenses rather than the pencil long distance lights so I may pick up another set of long-ranges just to give the authentic quad-spot look like you'll have on the GS.
I really think that the exhaust and radiator/vent work will do a lot for the car. The flywheel is a bit of a conversation topic at the moment. It seems a lot of the original long-distance racers were actually de-tuned. I think we'll probably end up not bothering and keeping it as is.
As for the carb - yes, the plan is to replace the stock two branch Weber with a 4 branch unit. Combined with the exhaust it should give some more poke but not at the expense of engine life.
I'm really looking forward to getting it back on the road now the sun is out. I'm showing the car at the Hebden Bridge Vintage Weekend in early August which I'm looking forward to too...
I picked up a quad-light rally light bracket set at an autojumble recently. They are pretty good, but if they aren't suitable for the GS I'll let you know.
ReplyDeletePhil