My Bulldog Rebuild

[Pilgrim Anna]

Well Brian got bored and made a start on my Bulldog.

He's taken off one side off the front suspension and given it a good clean up. Who'd have known it was painted blue under all that muck and greese. 

This is how gruby it was


Now an empty space


Here's the clean up bits

[fullpint]

  Can I ask what Anne was doing whilst Brian was hard at it  Looking good, if you were near by I could of gave a hand and powder coated the parts 
Keep those up-dates coming. Looking forward to following the project..

[Bulldog Bri]

Walking the dogs and keeping the little un out of the way 

['The Gaffer']

Is there no stopping that man?

[Bulldog Bri]

Starting to get a few bits in ready to work on Annas car. Nice new SHINY brake capilpers arrived today.




The old clutch slave clinder out of my bulddog will be serviced to go in, plus a set of tie bar bushes are on the shelve ready and waiting.

[Hairy Santa]

they are posh calipers 

[fullpint]

Ideal time to get em painted with caliper paint.. Shiny bits do look nice, shame to get them dirty..

[bluehornetrider]

Are those calipers standard fitment for a triumph herald? and how much are they?

[Bulldog Bri]

It does say Triumph Torledo on the box and they do look similar to the ones on the Gentry. I got them off Ebay, £57. Though I just tried the compabilty chart and its says 'No' maybe contact the seller. Maybe these would be better 271121734946

 

[Bulldog Bri]

New brake calipers are in and bled, though small issue in that the brake pipe going into one the conector threads were badly worn thanks to Pete I got a quick replacement and the job is done. Also fitted new tiebar bushes as the old ones had completely disintigrated. 

Then sat down for the afternoon and wheeler Dealers was on restoring a Morgan +4, replacing the chassis. So feeling itchy and needing to do something else on the car, I removed the old ply dashboard that was peeling apart. It was only glued in place with Gripfil.

[Moleman]

Are you going to be putting a new ply or wooden dash of some kind Bri?

[robp]

It was only glued in place with Gripfil

Sounds great. No unsightly screws or fasteners. 

[Moleman]

If you are putting a new wooden dash in I may be able to help If you need it as carpentry is what I'm good at. No worrys if you got it sorted. 

[Bulldog Bri]

Got fed up with Annas car sat on the driveway and the Merlin taking up work space in the garage. So between me, Anna and the little un we've swapped them over.

Now I can really get started on her car, first is to strip the car down sort the few unwanted holes and cracks in the bodywork ready for spraying... then the rebuild can start.

[Pilgrim Anna]

Yay, we've got my car in the garage to be worked on in the dry. 



Hopefully in time for Stoneleigh

['The Gaffer']

Great news, look forward to the updates..

[Pilgrim Anna]

We've spent some time this week working on the Bulldog. Been clearing the bodywork of parts mainly ready for spraying. Lights, windscreen etc. Today the engine came out for cleaning and painting.

[fullpint]

Nice work Anna. Engine out to clean it! Liking that. Sort of thing I would do.

['The Gaffer']

Nice work Anna... Bri, it's about time you got your hands dirty mate

[Bulldog Bri]

Engine went back in last night, all cleaned up and looking nice. I've had plenty of practice in the last year of putting engines back on gearboxes thanks to Pete so the job went smoothly.

All thats left is to finish tidying up the bodywork before spraying, there are a few crack lines in the gel coat, but being nearly thirty years old now it's in very good condition.

[Grin-a-lot]

Looks like its progressing well, glad to see you've got Anna earning her keep as well!

[robp]

Engine went back in last night, all cleaned up and looking nice.

Nice work.  Looking good. 

[YellaBelly]

Oh the joys of rubbing down for painting.....!!

Looking good Bri.

[Bulldog Bri]

Finally finished the rubbing down and primered it all up last night.


And the Paints arrived 



A little more work to do in the car them the masking can begin. Oh fun. 

['The Gaffer']

Thats a nice blue colour, is it going to be white on blue or blue on white?

[Bulldog Bri]

Here's a rough idea I've made up.

['The Gaffer']

 

[YellaBelly]

Should look nice Bri

What sort of paint are you using this time?

[Bulldog Bri]

I've gone for Cellulose again, plenty of it.

[fullpint]

  Liking that Blue. Who picked the colour? Anna or you? Should look nice when its done.

[Pilgrim Anna]

I told Bri the sort of blue I wanted and he picked it out on the colour chart, we've got a tin of fine metalic flake to add to the blue.

[fullpint]

  Blue with flake, kool.. Should look awesome in the sun..

[Bulldog Bri]

The starter motor had badly worn teeth though the motor works great.  I got hold of a Morris Minor Starter last week only to find they have a different flange fitment  for attaching to the engine. So I thought how hard can it be to just swap the dog (the part with the teeth) over. apart from a very strong spring to compress very easy according to the haynes book. So I asked at work, in our garage workshops if they had a press that could do the job "yes we do have a press but it wouldn't be able to do that!" So my brian got thinking how can I do this?

Then I remembered I had 2 old brake drums and some threaded bar. These with a small plate made to take the tip of the starter and gave it ago.

[fullpint]

  Like it.. Mind you its a shame that you lot dont live near my unit. Ive A 20 tonne press which member are more than welcome to use..

[Sprint 7]

Very ingenious Bri.I guess you've done the job by now.Just dread to think if it had all gone T--S up it would have taken your head off.

[Bulldog Bri]

THis week has been to get the blue done on Annas car.



I will give this time to go off fully then I will be masking up for the white to go on, once thats done I'll be putting on some coats of clear.

[Krazyken]

Shouldn't Annas car be in pink?

[Pilgrim Anna]

No Way! Blue is my fav colour. lol

[fullpint]

Blue is the colour football is the game  Chelsea blue, awesome..
Cant wait to see the finish item Anne..

[YellaBelly]

Looking good Bri