[AustinHarley]

That's one good thing about posting here, when I've finished a job (like the rear floor), I look back and see what I had planned and how long I thought it would take. Looks like about 3 months to do the inner arches and rear floor. Given how much I actually got to work on it that's not bad.

 

[AustinHarley]

Photos not much use today, but I did get the floor done enough to lift the body.

Cut a rear upper crossmember out, moved it forwards 20mm to improve rear seat mount.
Set pinion angle and welded in lower diff support. There may be a problem there, not sure I can get the diff out now! Might need to make that mount bolt-in.

Weldathon has started, hopefully balancing the welds to stop the frame bending. Looks ok.

 

[AustinHarley]

managed to get a couple of days out in the workshop. All the major structural welding done. I've used my digital level, which has an accuracy better than 0.1 degrees in the sub 1 degree range. Everywhere I've measured is better than the level could distinguish.
Over the wheelbase of the car 0.1 deg could still be 5mm difference, but my feel for it says it's better than that. Anything else can be taken out buy camber/caster/corner weighting.

Still got a few tube ends to close off, then it's tabs to support brake and fuel lines, and exhaust.

The bolt welded on the front is just there to allow me to lift the chassis with an engine hoist so I could turn it over.

 

[AustinHarley]

just noticed, my first post thought this might be done by 2022... ok, that was a bit ambitious! I recon I have another 20 days of actual work to get it up and running. Not including any planning/drawing/sourcing. That's 5 months of solid weekends. Hopefully work will calm down a bit and I can take some time off (9 weeks to take this year...).
I'd really like to be going to IVA by end of June.
Interior can get done after, leaves the structure readily viewable.

That's pretty optomistic!

 

[budetta]

Yes everyone keeps asking if the countryman will be done this year, have lads of time but no money------------

 

[mygasser]

Yes everyone keeps asking if the countryman will be done this year, have lads of time but no money------------

yep, i always seem to have one or the other too.

 

[AustinHarley]

I may be embelishing.... CNC'd brake and fuel clip for the lower (round) rail. Prototype, final will be black nylon.

 

[mygasser]

can't you buy flat ones for pennies and just warm them so they'll bend to fit the curve of the chassis tube? got to be easier surely.
neil.

 

[AustinHarley]

can't you buy flat ones for pennies and just warm them so they'll bend to fit the curve of the chassis tube? got to be easier surely.
neil.

I like to take the difficult route! Nah, really it's that I have the stuff so I can make something that's a better fit than something generic. Once it's drawn and coded it's pretty much push-button to churn them out. Shame so much of this good stuff will never get seen again!
It's probably something that a 3d printer would be good for, but I have zero 3d modeling skills, or a 3d printer.

 

[AustinHarley]

Where am I today? Have I given up?

Nope, plodding along with the weldathon.
The main welding on the chassis is done. Running board supports finished, tags for the brake flexies in, rear apron (and bumper bracket) fitted.
Body back on and still fits, althought the rearmost body mounts have shifted a bit. I could blame elves, but it's probably due to me moving the rear rail forwards, causing the rear rails to lift slightly when I cut them free.
I don't beleive that for a second though... must be something I'm missing.

Rear wings fit back in the modified arches. Working on the wing supports for the front wings now. Then I'll move on to handbrake, and the rad support, and a million other things.

Started thinking about exhaust. Gonna build 2. One by cutting up the standard mazda exhaust which will be nice and quiet and compliant, and one 2.5" stainless. If that's 'too loud' I can use it just for shows off road......

 

[AustinHarley]

Been a while, work kinda got in the way.
Managed to get a few days here and there;
Wing supports all done- modified original Austin.

But at some point the goose neck that hods the headlight has been replaced. It's wrong for the car, probably an earlier pre-28 one. So, gonna just make both new.

 

[AustinHarley]

and finally, the rad surround reworked and bracketed to the chassis. Allowed me to mount the rad. This is an early Honda Civic rad, ebay special 'uprated 3 row'. Came with shroud and fan as well. (and thermostat/relay/wiring for £118 with next day delivery!)
Used the original Mazda tophat rubbers to support it.
Still got to brace the mounts and do the top mount. Will get out and do that today.

 

[AustinHarley]

and if you've been following, a while ago I found the rearmost body mounts didn't line up after the final welding. Measured and did a few drawings. The rear part of the lower rails kicked up 1 degree when I cut them free to mod the chassis. This has shifted the rear mount by 5mm.
Will cut those welds and pull it level next time I lift the body off. Might as well do it right than try and bodge something to make it work as-is.

 

[AustinHarley]

Update: lots of small stuff going on, most of it not photogenic.
Dues to an oversight, when I put the engine in I found the thermostat housing was hitting the rad fan. Cut and shut the housing with some fairly poor ali flame welding. It'll probably work, but a backup plan is an early housing that orients the stat vertically and gives me room. There's more to it than that...

Started on the exhaust. Lots of headscratching to find a way through the rear suspension and not use space I need for the fuel tank.
Had to shorten the exhaust manifold to bring it up in line with the rest of the exhaust. Lots of messing about counterboring the flange so I could weld the pipes back in as they were originally.
More exhaust parts on order so I might be able to get that done on Saturday.

Found a place for the handbrake and got that mounted, made up cable supports for the rear cables/splitter.

 

[mygasser]

nice fixes for some awkward problems mate. seeing how low the gearstick is (that is the gearstick next to the handbrake?) in relation to the seats, are you going to extend it up for comfort and then add a quick shift to keep the throw about the same as stock?
neil.

 

[AustinHarley]

Hi Neil, thanks. Yep it will be extended to suit. The original was about 18 inches long so that's the look I'm going for. Will see if it needs a quick shift. Not sure how that would be engineered. I don't mind a long throw- it's a cruiser rather than a racer after all.

Got the exhaust mostly done today. Mig working better than expected on stainless. Not as neat as tig, but it works. No photos as none of them really show anything usefull!

 

[mygasser]

you'll probably fine a quick shift is available for that gearbox. have a look on ebay mate.
neil.

 

[AustinHarley]

an update, as it seems I've been away for a month!
Combination of lots of domestic stuff to do and a loss of mojo.

I'm at the stage in the project where the 'big stuff' is done so I've not got those tasks to sink my teeth into. However some of the smaller jobs still take hours!
It's come back a bit now as I have some direction.
There's also the slighly demotivating part of having to take it all apart (wings off, bulkhead, pedals, engine out, body off, etc)
to do the next job. It only takes half an hour, but it goes from looking fairly complete to a bare chassis again!

Stuff done in the last few weeks:
1/ Cut the rear chassis so I could pull the lower chassis rails straight. All done and the body mounts line up again. Just got to check the diff pinion angle as that might have moved a touch. Not finish welded yet, I'll wait till I need to pull the body off again.

2/ Exhaust all made- apart from an end can which I'm not sure it needs. Stainless welding with the mig went very well. I could grind them back and polish, but, it's an exhaust.
Even all the rubber mounts done. It's the fiddly bits that take time.

3/ Handbrake cables routed and fixed to chassis, new extended front cable made., including a couple of delrin bobbins to stop it flapping about, and the captive thread in the chassis. Need to get a custom cable made for one side as it's got to run much further than on the mx5, and has to clear the exhaust.

4/ Fuel system worked out. There was a bunch of pipes, a solonoid, a boost sensor(?). Pretty much all can go as it's just the evap system. When all boiled down there's just one feed from the tank and no return. Simple. I like simple. Made a braket for the fuel pressure reg which now gives me a landing point for the pipe from the tank so I can run that. I could have used the MX bracket, but, well, mines smaller, and rounded, and, I like to mess about.

So will be continuing fuel system for a while, including making the tank. I've salvaged the in-tank pump and sender from the MX.

 

[AustinHarley]

I'm making a tank. nothing to see here.

Lots of drawings, a cardboard model, a new-to-me tig (something to re-learn this weekend!).

 

[budetta]

Yup lots of cutting and welding, could do with an AC TIG myself to make my intake .