In the beginning
I first heard from a friend about the car, he told me that a friend of his was selling a mini based kit car but couldn't give me any details of it, I arranged to go and view the car thinking it may be a Mini Midas or similar but when I first saw it, it reminded me of a car I was familiar with from the 70's, the Clan Crusader but it didn't look quite right and I knew the Clan had an Imp engine, looking around it had stick on letters saying McCoy which then I was not familiar with, I asked the price, he told me £200 and I gave him the money. It wasn't running very well so I organised a trailer to get it home.
I got the trailer and went to collect the car to bring it home...
The next day I had a good look over the car and didn't look too bad but had mechanical issues which I decided it was time for an overhaul, engine, gearbox rear sub-frame, the usual mini problems and later purchased a donor mini.
The interior was shabby but nothing that couldn't be improved.
I had the car a few years before serious work was started, women's requirements got in the way, you know what I mean, get married fix up house, move, fix up house etc etc....
Well I got the car on the 20th January 2004 so work out how much time I havn't been able to get on with it.
Anyway, I was helping my eldest son put a Vtec Honda engine into his mini but he wasn't putting enough effort into it due to him working 50 miles from home and it looked like I was going to do it for him, there he was wrong, I had other thoughts, I gave him a deal which let me have all the parts he had for the Vtec conversion which I could then put into the McCoy but I never made the deal until we had the engine running because a lot of work would be needed to get it to fit the McCoy and I wasn't prepare to cut the car to get it to fit with knowing it was a runner.
In the mean time in slow time I started stripping out the McCoy to fit the parts from the donor mini just in case.
This had to come out....
and this along with several other parts that had seen better days...
The engine bay was stripped and cleaned...
On doing this showed a problem with the firewall suffering from heat off the mini exhaust, that would need repairing...
The door cards were removed along with the rest of the interior and the part have been stored until I get back to them.
The fuel tank would also need some work....
None of this would be needed as I would be fitting a beam axle with new swinging arm assemblies that my son had got new for the mini, but I would refurbish the swinging arms as spares...
This lot had to go... and it would become apparent that the front valance would need cutting to allow the Vtec exhaust to fit.
I am not sure what my son was thinking here but I think it would probably be 'This will be a monster with my Vtec in'
Keep up the good work. I think you are right though. It should fly with a Vtec in it.
What a great project. Yes will fly and with work will handle like it is on rails
Looks great, very retro 8)
Thanks, lots more to come here on this build I hope you like it
I said to my son 'It would be a good idea to inspect the engine before we bench tested it' because it was bought off E-Bay and collected from the back of a van somewhere in London and we didn't have any history of it. All he knew that the engine was from a Honda Del Sol and it was a 1.6 B16A2 Vtec unit with gearbox.
We emptied the sump and with horror about a litre of water came out with the oil and sludge, so the sump was to be removed for further investigation
On removal of the sump the bottom end looked surprisingly clean but the sump itself was full of sludge.
The small amount of emulsified oil was removed....
The main and big end bearing shells and crank were inspected and only a small score was found on one of the shells..
So all was cleaned and rebuilt..
While the engine was out a new clutch assembly was fitted along with a new timing belt and tension pulley.
Looks like it will be a nice job once its in, the B16 is a nice revvy little engine, I loved it in my VTi back in the day. 160bhp should do the trick :)
Heath Robinson would have liked this, I pulled a bench out into the garden and clamped the sub-frame, complete with engine and mini fuel tank a radiator and wiring harness, stuffed an old silencer into the manifold with fire gum attached a battery and tried to fire it up...
Go here for first trial video https://www.flickr.com/photos/38377409@N05/21958733473/in/album-72157658176284393/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/38377409@N05/21958733473/in/album-72157658176284393/)
The problem was the immobiliser within the ecu, the steering column was from a different car than the ecu, so the internet was called for, I went searching for possible solutions and it came up trumps, a guy on a Honda forum described in depth on how to by-pass the immobiliser circuits in the ecu, this meant opening it up cutting a couple of resistors out and putting in a few links, after doing this, this is what happened next
Go here https://www.flickr.com/photos/38377409@N05/22553939166/in/album-72157658176284393/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/38377409@N05/22553939166/in/album-72157658176284393/)
POMPEYAL,
Welcome to the our club. That is a good looking and rare car and an excellent first post. Good luck with this excellent project.
Ian
Well, I have done an awful lot more with the car, which I have documented, I didn't what to place it all on at once, as I have only been here for just a few hours I have had a nice few views already and I want to keep the intent going, its so easy to swamp you with what I have done , just say if I am updating either too fast or slow and I will adjust my posts to suit... ;)
Colossal effort!! :D
Well the deal was done and I had most of the parts to complete the job so I thought, time to make it fit.
The engine was removed from the sub-frame and then the engine bay was cut about to make it fit
I set up a pair of straps around a piece of 4x2 straddling the wings and the sub-frame and started to lift into position, cutting material from the car allowing it to raise into the correct position, this is how I envisaged the hole assembly would have to be installed. When putting it in the mini there was a removable flip front so no problems were there, I did at one stage consider flipping the front of the McCoy but changed my mind.
Finally after removing material from the inner wings and the front valance it was in..
The sub-frame was bolted at the top but the two lower mounts where sitting off the body, The area around the mounting plates on the car were cleaned back to the glass and pads were glassed into position, the sub-frame mounts were dressed in cling film, the sub-frame was re-fitted and the pads were shaped to fill the gap.
The sub-frame was forward of the front valance so some cutting was required there.
Now for the frame and the engine, the engine was refitted into the sub-frame and the whole assembly onto a trolley I had made earlier, the car was jacked and the lot was slid under.
Then the car was lowered and more bodywork cut away to allow passage...
Don't fit.....
More cutting..., as you can imagine the car has been going up and down like a fiddlers elbow by this stage..
Do fit...phew..
Next was the issue with the exhaust manifold and front sub-frame cross mount plates, something had to be done with the front valance to tidy that up
More cutting in order then, gees this car was light before but at this rate there will not be much left...
That's better now to put some strength back..
That's better.
On removal of the fuel tank it didn't look too bad and there was no sound of rust rushing about inside, if I were to use it again it would have to either be run with an external or an internal fuel pump and as I like a challenge I decided for the latter, a pump from the same car the engine came from, I obtained a pump from a civic with the same engine and checked it out against the tank, depth was a perfect fit and the rest of it seemed to be too, the only problems I had now were where are the baffles in the tank and how do I remanufacture the opening for the pump to fit...
After browsing the net I fortunately came across these images, result...
Brilliant the pump will fit between the baffles and I know where to cut the hole...
Hmmm next was how to fit it, I could either cut a civic tank up and use the interface from there and weld it into the tank or I could do it the hard way and do it properly so I opted again for the latter...
First I had to design and make a tool to create the swaged edge for the gasket to seal against, so into work, knocked up a tool and then done this...
Get old tank...
Mark out and cut holes...
Trial fit pump..
Fit tool and tighten, loosen, turn, tighten, loosen turn etc ...
Remove the tool and hey presto a nice swage...now for the fixings...
Clean interface in and out and clean fixings.
Silver solder fixings In one by one allowing to cool at each fixing.. (NOTE: Ensure the tank has been completely cleaned off any fuel vapours if you want to try this at home, I will take no responsibility if you blow yourself up)
All done and pump now fits.. now to make it clean and sealed inside and nice on the outside
Now for the back, the old sub-frame was in serviceable condition believe it or not but not for me, I wanted to use the beam axle my son had for his mini, the problem with these after market items they do no cater for everything and the beam was no different, it did not have provision for the handbrake cables so as its what I do I made that right...
Having that sorted the beam was drilled for fit and powder coated..
The beam was offered up and centralised, the car drilled and then bolted into place, I will be strengthening the heal plate it fits to later...
Nice new coil overs..
Refurbished swinging arms with new brake parts and bearings were then fitted to the beam, all the geometry will be set up at a later date..
I was going to have it sit on revolution 12" wheels...
But decided on these 13" Starmags..
The problem with all McCoy's they sit high in the arch at the rear, even using hi-lo coil overs, I have thoughts on righting that later.
Next was the boot lid, first thing was to flat back and fill the hole that some previous owner drilled for a hideous ill fitting spoiler, maybe he liked it but not my cup of tea, I have other plans on that front and I am considering integrating an air brake...hehe
A few coats of primer..
And a couple of top and that will do for the time being..
As my eldest boy works at McLaren, he got me an invite to their yearly show for employees, so onto a trailer, 50 miles up the road and then on show, It got quite a lot of attention as people thought it was a Clan Crusader but couldn't work out why it had a engine in the front...
We had a good day talking about the car and putting people right about the car and also enjoyed walking around all the other cars owned by employees, we also had the privilege walking through the factory....I wish my garage was so spotless...
During the long time working on this car my house extension including my new garage was build, the garage boasts carpets and central heating, power and light, now things can really get started and I would not have the weather, lack of light and the cold to stop me, but there is always the wife and a new kitchen and dining room had to be done before I could get on...
but after I had satisfied I was allowed to continue with my quest...
Engine out again....
And started on the engine bay harness..
This is incredible workmanship Pompeyal - excellent job
Ian
Thanks Ian, you haven't seen nothing yet....
More to come tomorrow...:)
I loved the idea with the copper pipe and nylon discs - genius!
Ian
Thanks Ian, I was an apprentice coppersmith pipe fitter and making templates was all part of the job. I the exhaust was to be seen I would have had it bent and if I were looking for the last ounce of performance. As I think the car will be running well enough I wasn't overly bothered with the exhausts performance.
As the original position for the alternator on this engine was at the rear I had to come up with a mod to front fit it, so first I made an aluminium interface plate that would pick up on the lower engine block holes...... Note on the plate's top right hole, this picks up with a tapped hole in the block and when the bracket is fitted the top right hole of the bracket set itself up perfectly for the belt alignment.
I acquired an alternator bracket from a Honda Prulude which was front mounted, the holes on the interface plate were drilled to suit the holes of the bracket so it could be mounted it the correct position.
Because the alternator I had was smaller in size I wanted to for that rather than a Prelude one so I offered up the alternator to check what mods were required.
The pivot on the alternator was a perfect fit and the belt aligned with the crank pulley just as planned.
The lower hole on the alternator was out of position and didn't follow the path on the bracket , this I had to slot.
I space out with washers the miss match on the adjuster and later made correct size spacers to replace the washers
All worked fine so I then cleaned the bracket and gave it a coat of paint.
The next thing to do was change the connector on the harness as the harness was for an OBD1 ecu and the alternator was from an OBD2 ecu.
I decided to fit the Honda steering column rather than the mini one so I could use the Honda loom and all the niceties of a later column, this gave a few problems at the rack end because the splines were different.
I gave it a thought and then stripped down a old mini rack I had and removed the pinion, I took it into work, made a heat sink and with the inner bearing race still attached I had my welder build up the end over the existing spline.
Then jumped onto the lathe and turned it down to a size I had experimented with earlier, before this I had done test pieces to get things right before I attempted the pinion
Then I set a medium straight cut knurling tool and put on a new spline
Once completed it was tried into the Honda steering knuckle and hey ho a finished pinion. The reason I left the inner race on was because the new spline was to be larger than original and wouldn't slip over.
Well that went well so I stripped down a new mini steering rack hoping to fit the modified pinion but all was not well, the pinion was of a diffent pattern than the old one I had done the mod on so back to work to do it all over again with the new pinion
Once done at last the rack was rebuilt and fitted into the car.
Now for the column, as the car was made with a ply-wood shelf which supported the mini column I had to make up various brackets to allow the Honda column to fit, first I fitted the knuckle to the rack but on doing so it fouled the fibreglass around the hole so that was ground back down to allow full rotation
Then the column was fitted to the knuckle and a bracket was made to fix the top of the column to the ply shelf
As the column is adjustable I then made a support for the mid section of the column
Then the ply shelf was drilled and all bolted into place
The throttle peddle was the next to be sorted as I was using a Honda cable and due to where the engine sub-frame covered the original cable hole for the mini I had to re-position the hole to miss the sub-frame
As the Fibre glass was thicker than the steel firewall from the Honda I manufactured a carbon-fibre interface plate
The the peddle needed to be altered to suit the new cable position
The peddle then was warmed and bent upwards to achieve enough travel but not so the it sat above the brake peddle
The engine was refitted into the car and the cable run in
The throttle body was the fitted and the throttle was tested for full travel
All good there
I now discovered a major problem, the throttle body inlet was looking straight at the clutch master cylinder, now that's not good, I had a few options here, I could either buy a set of individual throttle bodies or go the hard way and modify the one I had..
Well a challenge it was then, there seems to be a theme going on here, if I can go the hard way then that's the way to go, my thoughts on these things are, anyone with enough money can go and buy all the nice new goodies and bolt them on but I wanted to make this mine so the modification was the way to go.
So here goes (Caution: this part of the build took some time and I want to thank both my welder colleagues for all the work they put in for me here)
First things first, I need to cut and shut the ports to allow the throttle body and chamber to lift up and forward away from the clutch master cylinder, I decided where to cut and then machined both the cut faces flat and square.
After I checked the measurements and angles of the machined part, incase I needed to make further changes after a trial fit.
After checking there became a mismatch of the ports, this was expected and I was going to put in spacers later to compensate for the errors
A trial fit was done and the spacer thickness was determined
Once knowing the thickness the angle for each spacer was measured
Then I manufactured them
Once made all was cleaned and this is where my welders made it all come together, after lots of cursing of course
One side done....now for the other half
After fettling a bit more from the fuel rail to allow for the throttle movement the was on last thing to do..
The brake vacuum take of pipe was facing in the wrong direction
So after gently heating the casting around the pipe I managed to rotate it to the required direction
Now it was completely assembled and ready to fir to the engine..
Happy with that...
This is looking ace, well done! and such high standards, You certainly dont hang about as much as much as i do!
Hang about, what do you mean? uploading my diary so far or building the car, I have had the McCoy 12 years now and it has been worked on when I had the time, mind you I have done loads on it this year, can't wait to get it finished though, I have promised myself an Aston Martin but I don't want it left on the street so the car must get finished first.
Incredible dedication!
I acquired a complete Honda harness that I was going to modify to suit the McCoy, It was a harness from a civic so I would have quite a few bits to cut out, first I took the rear harness and rebuilt that, removing the electric window wiring and anything else I didn't require
Then I started to fit the engine harness and the engine bay harness for the lights etc, this I would cut about removing unwanted bits later.
The parts of the harness I didn't need were the ABS, Air con etc
I made drawings of the wiring and what was for what, labelled all the ends and then it was ready for stripping, I didn't want to do that yet because I didn't know what was required for the ecu, so I started the cabin wiring (Warning: If you have a nervous disposition look away now)
Well if you can make any sense of that lot without getting a head ache please come and sort it out because it has done my head in, I won't let it beat me but I will be doing it in stages, it had taken an age to get here, looking through wiring diagrams, sorting out what is needed, what may be needed, what isn't needed or of it was effected by what had been or was going to be cut out.....Hmmmm, needless to say I have left this alone for a while now to get my sanity back
Loving this thread. Can't help but admire real craftsmanship. I find myself thinking of all the great things i could do if only I had the skills and access to the kit. I'll have to just keep dreaming and carry on bodging the best I can with the skills and tools I do have!
I'm guessing from your username that you are from Portsmouth way? Hope you can make it up to a meet once its all done so we can have a gander at these miracles in the flesh.
Hi sanzomat, glad you like it, I find if I need to do anything I am not sure of I just research as far as possible and try out different ideas away from the car, I am fortunate enough to have access to a machine shop and two great welders, in the next episodes of the build I leave anything to do with these facilities and start relying on my small amount of past experience and take on the bodywork, I hope you like that as well. If you want any tips don't hold back, ask and I will see if I can help, thats the good thing about these forums, the info you can reap is brilliant and most people like to pass on there knowledge, it don't cost anything apart from a small amount of time
Regards Alan and yes I am from the Portsmouth area... :)
Electrics are always fun, not, but you are doing the right thing in labelling the wires.
Well I have been pondering on and off about the headlight originally fitted to the McCoy, they do start to grow on you after looking at them for so long, but you here from people, clan owners as well that they preferred the rectangular head lights that were fitted to them, well yes I think I agree they do look better than the round ones, I also looked into having pop up headlight so I got some from a Mx-5 but when trying to fit them, I discovered with having the Honda engine in the bay they would not fit, so they are for sale, then I decided I wanted to change the front styling so got a new pair of motorcycle rectangular head lights that would nicely fit..
So I started and cut off one of the healight pods to see how they would look..
OK they would work so I started to put some shape into the wing using expanded foam...
Hmm that may work.. but I would have liked them lower in the wing so I reworked the foam and glassed in flush following the wing shape
No.. I had another thought, that's trying to be too much like a clan, so the I thought about twin projectors, so I ripped out what I had done and had a re-think...
So out came the card..
That could work, it measures up and a pair should fit in there.. but first I had to build up the inner wing which had previously cut away to accommodate the sub-frame to cover the near side engine mount..
With that done I set off to reshape the wing, firstly getting some perforated aluminium, cutting it to shape, covering it in cling film and clamping it in place
Then fibre glassing in...
So if anyone would like to purchase a pair of rectangular headlight, brand new in the box then these are up for grabs....
Well off to the glass suppliers and I was told the resin may have been contaminated, he was probably referring to me doing it but no, I didn't so no joy there then, I have bought some more and some gel coat and continued with the off side wing.....
The pod was glassed in and allowed to set the layered up to build any low spots but keeping a small under-flush amount in readiness for the gel coat, as it is difficult at this stage to judge the final shape, I have laid on some gel coat and when it cures I will rub it back to see how much more and where I will need to build the low areas, hopefully I should have the wing in shape by the end of the weekend....
A bit more done , I just need to sand out the hole again to build up the shape to be the same as the near side....
Once I am happy with the shape I will then be cutting up the bonnet to fit into the new profile and remove the old bulge and build in a new one to suit the extra height required for the Vtec engine..
I prepped up the offside light port by cleaning back to the gel coat and plugged the hole with a coil off lino wrapped in cling film, then weighted it so that it fitted snuggly, then flooded the space left to just over flush with the wing with gel coat, when it has cured I shall shape it back to suit the near side port..
A couple more hours spent on the wing, I removed the plug, sanded back the gel coat rounded the edges and filler primed, it looks much better now and the same shape and size as the other side...
Next I shall tackle the bonnet, I will probably reshape the bonnet I have then make a mould from it then make a complete new one, I am sure that will be more successful than using a patched up one.
I have done a bit of work over the last couple of evenings and firstly I wanted to sort out the hole for the gearshift. The original shift was for an early mini and required a gaping cut out, first I made an expanded foam plug then covered in cling film, supported the plug from under the car and glassed over the hole, then a coat of gel and recut the new hole to suit the new Honda gearshift.
All looking good. Only 1 comment. I expect you've probably checked but with the headlight units set so far back from the leading edge and quite low will you have a dark patch in front of the car? Can't help wondering if the frog eye look was partly to achieve the minimum headlight height.
Thanks for the comment sanzomat, I did check the regs on the height and mine are still within them, as long as it passes an MOT I am not worried really about light as I will only be using it as a track day car and occasional meets during the daylight hours. At the moment it may be the pictures deceiving you but the front of the car is about 2 feet off the floor looking up.
I hope you guy's are enjoying my diary, I have been wowed with the number of views in such a short time, I am nearly up to date with the diary as far as the build goes, once I have updated as far as I am with the build I shall then keep it up dated as I go along.....
It has been a master class!
Ian
Very interesting... More than I would be taking on, and makes my rebuild look small... lol :D
I have had other thoughts on how I should approach making a new bonnet, as I had half a sheet of 9mm MDF kicking around I though I would try to shape it into the form of the bonnet. There is a double curve on the existing bonnet and unfortunately it doesn't correctly follow the curvature of the wings, reason being is from the original light pods forward, the curvature wasn't in close proximity of the wings so it wasn't obvious, now that the new bonnet is, I will need it to follow the wing curve precisely. I placed the board over the car covering the engine bay and weighted the corners to encourage the board to deform.
To help along the process I draped a damp sheet over the board
Over night there was some movement in the shape of the board so to encourage it even more I re dampened the cloth and added more weight
Continually dampening the cloth in the morning and evening the spring back has reduced quite well so I have started reducing and re positioning the weights. I will be continuing this until the board stays in the form required without the aid of weights.
The double curvature is also happening so when finished it will not just look like a one dimensional curved board.
Loving the assortment of heavy things used to weight it down. Half expected to see a garden gnome on one corner...
I think if I had interest in garden gnomes I wouldn't be able to do what I do.....lol
I'm also thinking we may need your help when we need something machined for the Go Inspire project. :)
I had to shape MDF for a house archway a couple of years ago but found it really easy if I used a wallpaper steamer. Hot and wet it is really pliable and it takes the memory out of it really quickly. Heat principally on the outside of the bend to aid the stretch. Once cool and dry the new shape is set without tension or any temptation to return to the old shape. I guess to that slight cross curvature would also be possible via this method because it becomes so soft. A compound cure is likely possible.
Now to deal with the gap at the front, first was to cut out a piece of ply to take the shape at the front
Then the leading edge was sanded down to remove most of the step were the ply meets the MDF
Next was to fit the board, it was placed into position and wedged at the rear to maintain the shape at the top then screwed at the front to secure.
Next it was off to the shop to buy some modelling clay, this was applied over the board and around the edges to smooth out the required shape.
This was then left to cure over night........................... total disaster in the morning the clay had shrunk something rotten and cracked all over the place leaving all that work a total mess so it was all removed ready for a re-think, mind you I wasn't really happy with how it looked anyway so nothing really lost apart from more time.
I made up some fibreglass strips in readiness for my next cunning plan..
A change of thought so as to add some shape into the bulge, I removed the board then cut it to form vents, hmm that may look better I thought so the next thing was back off to the shop.
Arrived home now armed with plasticine, that won't dry and shrink so back with shaping, I was going to shape the plasticine into what I liked and make it a bit smaller than required, cover it with cling film and glass over, then remove the plasticine, refit and bond in the glassed shape and apply P38 over to finish and sand to blend.
Right off I went
Hmm this if starting to look like a naff American muscle car, not the image I wanted so had to have a re-think.
Ha I know, I have a intercooler scoop from a Suburu, I could incorporate that I thought, so I removed the plasticine and placed it onto the bonnet to see what I thought...
That's it.. it will keep the looks of an old English sports car, Aston Martin, Austin Healey sort of thing, so got the old grey matter working again and made a start...
More MDF was required so back to the shop....
First cut to rough size and mark out the shape and lay in place,
Then mark out the underside of the front edge for feathering then sand the front edge down
The front edge was sanded down checking the profile at each line to check progress until about 2mm thickness of the front edge was left.
Hi chap ... awesome build lots of detail ... loved the use of the copper pipe with nylon bushes to template the exhaust!
I was trying to remember where i saw the stunning chap in the blue overalls earlier on one the thread. I too worked at mclaren in 2013. He had a black rx7 i believe then ... Say hi to him from me (Rich from Bristol).
Keep up the good work.
Hi Rich, yes that's my boy, still got the Rx, 423 BHP now with the BIG turbo upgrade we fitted to it, bit of a pig to get it to fit but again with a bit of fabrication and wrapped knuckles we got it all in, its a real monster. Thanks for your comments, I do like to think out side the box if you know what I mean. Mike is still at McLaren and loving it, he is auditing the cars now and sometimes brings them home, first the 12C spider then recently the 657 LT, I've still to get a ride out in a P1 but I am sure that will happen one day. I will let him know you said hello...... Just spoke with him, he said which Rich ...lol.... he knows a few
Great detailed build thread. Thanks for taking the time to post 8)
Thanks, glad you like it, still some way to go but if it gives anyone fresh ideas and helps them along the way, thats what these forums are all about...
Very interesting re-build ::) Looking forward to seeing it on the road. :P
8)
Not half as much as me Brian.... :)
Now I am impressed with the pace as well as the content. Whatever you are on - I want some!
Ian
Quote from: Iancider on 19, December, 2015, 07:23:43 PM
Now I am impressed with the pace as well as the content. Whatever you are on - I want some!
Ian
I am on a promise to myself, I am looking at getting me an Aston Martin Vantage but not until the McCoy is finished, or at least on the road, so I can garage it, so give yourself some incentive and go for it...... 8)
Nitromors used to be scary stuff, bit like superglue used to be. All too safe now ::)
Quote from: 'The Gaffer' on 22, December, 2015, 11:39:23 PM
Nitromors used to be scary stuff, bit like superglue used to be. All too safe now ::)
Yes I seem to recall using it when I had my Elan, you had to be very careful how long you left it on for!
Still looking good though mate. :)
QuoteNitromors used to be scary stuff, bit like superglue used to be.
Mmmmmm.....
EthylMethylMethacrylate ;) :D ;D :P
Bonnet continued
Right , I hope all had a merry Christmas and received all the parts you require to finish your projects, I have sent the wife back to work and now I can continue with mine....
The scoop for the bonnet has protruding fixing points so I fettled out the plug to suit
Once completed I gave it a quick coat of satin black to find more imperfections and also sealing the bare MDF.
More filler required, so applied around areas to fill any imperfections, hmmm been here several times and getting quite fed up with chasing my tail, I have decided that any small problem areas that remain will be cleaned up from the mould, first I will only need to do some light rubbing down and second the gel coat will be more forgiving as the gel coat is a lot harder than the plug.
Final rubdown and repaint... mask around the car and plug supports and ready to go..
Applied a liberal amount of mould release agent....
Now to hope for the best, a covering of gel coat, I really hope it all releases after all this prep work....
Now the waiting game for a good few hours and then for the glass......
Bonnet continued
Right the mould has all been glassed and support rails fitted....
Once cured the plug and mould was lowered to meet the car......
The profile looks good and then.......
Aaaaarrrggghhhhh.... I need a break
Bonnet continued
Right worse nightmare ever but needs to be tackled, the plug didn't release from the mould, well after a rant and a day off I took in the job of trying to recover the mould with limited damage, I ripped off the supports and then scored the surface of the plug, then put some water in and hoped it would soak in and give me a chance..
After an hour and a lot of scraping out the MDF I thought this is not working too well...
After another 2 hours I decided to try something else, scrape it out dry...
2 hours later that got most of it out...
Now for the steamer.....
Another hour or so.....
And another...
Most of it out and now to think about the paint, into work tomorrow to ask my welder for the details of the paint stripping spray he has recently has had good results from...... No more messing with nitromors...
Wow. Lots of hard graft there!
Really enjoying reading this thread.
Quote from: pompeyal on 03, January, 2016, 08:29:53 PM
... into work tomorrow to ask my welder for the details of the paint stripping spray he has recently has had good results from...... No more messing with nitromors...
I would be very interested to know what he recommends too. I have been disappointed with modern paint strippers.
This is the stuff, only found 2 suppliers in the UK and here is the cheepest, I am going to try it tomorrow to see if affects fibreglass and I will update the diary
VHT SP575 STRIP FAST PAINT REMOVER
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-SP575-STRIP-FAST-PAINT-REMOVER-/111399103106?hash=item19efe76a82
Says 'metal only' in the listing. Not sure I would trust it on fibreglass.
Really feel for you after all that work getting the surface perfect. I hope you can salvage something from it...
Quote from: benchmark51 on 04, January, 2016, 12:58:12 PM
Says 'metal only' in the listing. Not sure I would trust it on fibreglass.
And wood, lol but my mate still has some so I will try before I buy..
Quote from: sanzomat on 04, January, 2016, 01:19:22 PM
Really feel for you after all that work getting the surface perfect. I hope you can salvage something from it...
Thanks, nothing that can't be sorted I'm sure, just more work and time....
I fear the problem was in using MDF. It is Medium Density Fibreboard and very sensitive to moisture. There is a waterproof grade that is normally green and wont expand from moisture and does not de-laminate. Ironically I made an archway once by steam bending MDF!
Removing the pant with paint stripper would be really risky and might marr the surface if not completely dissolve it. As there should be wax under it you might be able to melt that with a gentle waft of a heat-gun and peeling it away.
If it is not dimensionally critical you could also make a new surface on the inside via filler or primer and rubbing down but it is a lot harder in the female than the male.
I also wonder if the wax was thick enough. Some recommend using MacGuires and building it in several layers, allowing it to set each time. Sorry it went wrong.
Ian
Quote from: Iancider on 04, January, 2016, 10:52:57 PM
I fear the problem was in using MDF. It is Medium Density Fibreboard and very sensitive to moisture. There is a waterproof grade that is normally green and wont expand from moisture and does not de-laminate. Ironically I made an archway once by steam bending MDF!
Removing the pant with paint stripper would be really risky and might marr the surface if not completely dissolve it. As there should be wax under it you might be able to melt that with a gentle waft of a heat-gun and peeling it away.
If it is not dimensionally critical you could also make a new surface on the inside via filler or primer and rubbing down but it is a lot harder in the female than the male.
I also wonder if the wax was thick enough. Some recommend using MacGuires and building it in several layers, allowing it to set each time. Sorry it went wrong.
Ian
Hi Ian. I dont think it was because of the MDF as this had several coats of primer and paint on it, the surface already has some scratching on due to the removal of the MDF but I will sort that out by rubbing it back, The release agent I had used before but not over paint so I think that was the main problem, never mind can't cry about it just need to sort it...
What a nightmare!!
This is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
I have just stumbled across your build and have only got to page 3 so far, but will read in full this evening. I need to pick your brains about fibreglassing some time too.
8)
I think Ian may be right as Primer paint wont seal the mdf enough, we use a sealer first & you will be surprised how much gets soaked up by the mdf which does seal it nicely. We then use a two part epoxy primer paint that really seals it lovely & with some wet & dry gives a brilliantly smooth surface finish. I can give you the make of the paint if you wish. :)
Bonnet continued
Right tried out a few things tonight just to see how it went, VHT Strip Fast certainly lifts the paint into a gooey mess and I didn't leave it on long then scraped it of quickly, this seems to not have attacked the glass underneath, mind you it wasn't on long. Cleaned back with spray gun cleaner, "Neogene", can't leave that on to long either, that will attack the glass, next put down some Nitromors and a spray of VHT Strip Fast over the top, left for a minute or two then with a soft brush rubbed it around then scraped of the mess, that seemed to work as well so I think about ten hours of stripping and sanding back I may have a workable mould, I will just have to see....
Quote from: Moleman on 05, January, 2016, 08:18:50 PM
I think Ian may be right as Primer paint wont seal the mdf enough, we use a sealer first & you will be surprised how much gets soaked up by the mdf which does seal it nicely. We then use a two part epoxy primer paint that really seals it lovely & with some wet & dry gives a brilliantly smooth surface finish. I can give you the make of the paint if you wish. :)
Thanks Moleman, I don't think I will go that way if there should be a next time but as I am no fibreglass guru I have made a costly error in time but hey ho if you don't try you don't find out.
Quote from: CC Cyclone on 05, January, 2016, 02:55:06 PM
This is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
I have just stumbled across your build and have only got to page 3 so far, but will read in full this evening. I need to pick your brains about fibreglassing some time too.
8)
Thanks and enjoy the read, I am not sure I will be able to give the answers you want on fibreglass though, ask anyway... :)
Ive just read this in full and wow the standards are amazing! Youve clearly put alot of thought and effort into it! il be checking in for the updates.
I may also need some advice on using gel coat in the near future :)
Bonnet continued
Tried out this stuff, worked a treat on this fresh paint but not sure how it would cope with old car paint finishes, will be trying that out later..
I went round covering 300mm squares and leaving for an hour
I continued this until I had removed the majority of the paint, I didn't try to do too much at a time because it does create quite a mess
I started sanding back the imperfections but forgot to take a picture, shall do that later, I am sure with a bit I work I can recover the mould so I though I would reinforce the edges by bonding on a flange... First I covered around the bonnet opening with cling film and placed the mould over...
Then I cut some fibreglass roving woven tape into lengths and positioned them around the mould...
Then mixed up some resin and applied it to the tape
I will now leave that until it starts to set off then cut some strips of fibreglass mat and do the same.
Bonnet continued
Well the strips of glass have been added and then set with resin, once set I will trim around the flange and get on with polishing back the inside of the mould
Removed the mould from the car and now you can see that I have some polishing to do along with some minor repairs,,
Bonnet continued
Done a few bits during the week for the bonnet, made a pair of bonnet hinges with brackets and a latch pin and bracket, just need to get the bonnet sorted out......
Ahh, you progress has returned to mere mortal pace now! Have to admire your perseverance. Hope it comes out of the mold properly this time.
Thanks sanzomat, I will be going to the mad house if this sticks, if it does I think I will get the car finished apart from the bonnet then wrap it over with cling film and spray over that.... I am sure it will fool the MOT man... ;D
Good luck, I hope it goes well this time. :)
Quote from: Moleman on 22, February, 2016, 10:24:16 PM
Good luck, I hope it goes well this time. :)
Thanks and so do I ....
Hopefully perseverance will pay off 8)
Quote from: 'The Gaffer' on 23, February, 2016, 10:14:14 AM
Hopefully perseverance will pay off 8)
You bet, second coat of gel applied, no turning back now...
Its going to be perfect this time. Take a video of the action
Quote from: Gary RH7 on 23, February, 2016, 11:19:09 AM
Its going to be perfect this time. Take a video of the action
I don't know about that...lol, If it comes out the mould I will still have some rubbing back I am sure, still got my fingers crossed though...
After the initial pace, I guess you are playing this long to raise the tension! How cool is that!
Good luck!
Ian
You have my sympathies. I have a big package from ec fibreglass with all the component parts in, that has been sat in my hallway for a week. Working up to trying to combine them into
Something useable.. keep us updated I am using this thread as inspiration.
Bonnet continued
Second coat of gel and a run of roving woven applied
Cut out the glass mat for the rear of the bonnet, laid it on the applied the resin
Left that to set for a few hours, cut out a sheet of mat for the front of the bonnet and applied resin...
Cut out and laid on some edge reinforcement mat and added doublers for the bonnet hinge positions, the latch bracket and the trailing corners
And finally applied resin, now to let that little lot set off nice and hard then onto positioning and bonding on the hinge and latch brackets.
Bonnet continued
Right here goes, went around the edges using a piece of plate and a pair of mole grips to break any over bond...
After a bit of struggling hey presto its out, what a relief, no damage to the bonnet and a small amount to the mould.....
Trial fit of the aperture and its looking good, I now need to clean up the edges until the fit is good then back into the mould to complete the strengthening and final mat later...
That's a lot of hard work there, I'm surprised you didn't go with your own design for the bonnet duct, you have pretty much re-designed the front end of the car as it is ;D
Big thumbs up.
Phew - I can breath now, I've been holding my breath for days!!!!
Good to hear. :)
Thanks guy's it had me worried for a while, as far as the bonnet scoop goes it will be bolted on so if I want to change it at a later time it will be no big deal, I really need to get the bodywork finished so I can get back to the wiring and the rest of it, I would liked to have taken it to the jap fest at Silverstone this year and have it next to my son's Rx-7which will be on show but that won't be happening, maybe another year when its had some track time under its belt.
Proper job!
Ian
Bonnet continued
Lined the mould with cling film and after cleaning the bonnet edge placed it back into the mould for finishing touches.
Doubled up some fibreglass sealing ribbon and bonded it around the bonnet, this will then be soaked in resin and glassed over
Next the final layers of glass mat...
Bonnet continued
Shrunk on some heat shrink over fixings to avoid contamination when applying resin
Applied resin to reinforcing ribbon..
Next to lay up the final layer of mat and seal all the edges with gel coat...
I can't wait to see the finished bonnet on the car.
I bet your camera is really sticky now ;)
Sticky! My fibreglassing is like that - everything I touch gains a little bit of car unintentionally :D
Bonnet continued
Sorry for the delay, had an holiday... back to the bonnet then, cut a piece of glass for the back final skin and applied the resin
Next using the fibreglass ribbon I made up an air dam to stop any water ingress through the scoop to get to the ignition electrics
Once positioned a coating of resin was applied and allowed to set giving support for when the glass mat when applied
Next the mid mat section cut and resin applied
Next allow this lot to set off before the last piece of mat...
Looking really good now. 8)
Quote from: Moleman on 20, March, 2016, 08:36:49 PM
Looking really good now. 8)
Useful step by step instructions on how to make a new nosecone?
Quote from: sanzomat on 20, March, 2016, 08:41:39 PM
Quote from: Moleman on 20, March, 2016, 08:36:49 PM
Looking really good now. 8)
Useful step by step instructions on how to make a new nosecone?
Now you are rubbing it in Dave ::)
Now Now stop fighting amongst yourselves and thank you.... :)
That first time fit was better than Ford ever achieved with the Escorts!
Lol Ian, I have had a few Fords in my time and soon when this is finished I will be getting another one which will push this from the garage and will take its place, I will build another garage for the McCoy later but I have promised myself this particular car for a while and it is keeping my enthusiasm up on the build....
Bonnet continued
Applied some satin matt to the underside of the bonnet and assembled the furniture...
The bonnet catch needed a slight adjustment because it was riding high when closed, so back to work and lowered the pin by 7mm..
When the bonnet was in place it was found that the edges on the car around it had to be sharpened up so while the bonnet was off I built them up which improves the panel gap look..
I made some captive nuts today to replace the too short captive bolts that came with the scoop, I had previously drilled the hole to fit the scoop but as the glass bonnet is thicker than the bonnet of the Suburu from which it came the bolts were not long enough
Refitted the bonnet and aligned the front edge then drilled the car for the bracket fixings and secured it, the bonnet shape had some shape errors so I then pegged around where I needed to reshape and applied heat and weights to persuade it to move until the desired curvatures had been achieved.
A few more tweaks required and some edge sanding and hopefully it will fit nicely....
Bonnet continued
Started on refining the bonnet fit tonight, ensuring no rubbing on the front edge as it hinges up, some light sanding to the edges and adjusting the panel gap has done the trick..
Done a trial fit of the scoop to ensure that it also cleared which it done with about an 8mm clearance..
It needs some heat adjustment doing to the rear edge and some grinding back a little and then it will be really close..
Little by little its finally getting there and next the front spoiler..
Great work, very inspirational.
If you come to my house you could fit some doors for me - lovely job!
Quote from: Iancider on 31, March, 2016, 10:29:33 PM
If you come to my house you could fit some doors for me - lovely job!
Its a bit of a distance to come over to you, i am sure there is someone closer in the club that could help you out there, talking about doors one of mine needs some attention, I wonder if my hot air gun would sort that out, it is a bit of an ask, soon see later when I give it a try...lol
Wow this is good stuff - who need pole dancing with content like this!
Quote from: Iancider on 02, April, 2016, 10:37:35 PM
Wow this is good stuff - who need pole dancing with content like this!
Thanks Ian, sorry about the last picture, it looks like something you wouldn't want to pick up...lol, I am not sure how much success I will get from this, I will need to flange the mould and cut it through so the finished item cam be released, I will see if this one works then if OK I will make the other 3, if not I will have to have a re think...
It's damned clever Ian but with no disrespect to the amazing work going on here I am leaning towards the pole dancer tonight! (well it is a Saturday night at nealy half 11!!!) ;D ;D
Ok, after just reading pompeyal's last post I have had to sensor myself and sit myself on the naughty step, what with cling film and provocative words I think I'll give the pole dancer a miss and keep watching here for the next installment!!
Sorry guys you will have to wait a bit for that.... ;D
Front spoiler continued
Right then, carrying on with the mould for the N/S support of the spoiler I cut out a strong back from MDF to the shape of the glass mould and adjusted the shape for best fit...
Once in position I applied glass mat and resin both side to bond it onto the mould..
Once set I cleaned of any whiskers and applied a layer of gel coat inside the mould
Then I drilled and reamed 2 holes through the strong back for some dowels and a further 3 holes for some fixings the cut through the centre of the strong back to make the mould in 2 halves, this will allow me to remove the finished artilcle from the mould later.
I applied 5 coats of wax to the mould halves..
Then bolted the 2 halves back together and applied another coat of wax..
After leaving for a short while I applied a coating of PVA release agent and allowing it to set....
Once this has had sufficient time to dry I will the start laying up the gel coat and fibre glass into the mould to make my first spoiler support....
Looks like Photo Bucket are going to send there self to the wall by stopping all that use it for posting images onto third party sites. This will screw our forums a treat, sorry guys but I don't think I will be trying to get all my photo's back here unless someone knows a quick and easy way, Thanks for looking anyway. Regards Al
As far as I know I haven't ever used photo bucket.
I've put so many hours into this diary it's wound me up. I may turn the diary into a book and see if it sells...lol