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Post by neilsmith on Nov 2, 2015 21:13:17 GMT
Yes, I think that a 1" spacer will make my seats fit to the correct level. Also it seems that the ford based 'ss' gives less room for seat width because of the transmission tunnel compared to the VW Based 'ss'. So I don't think I would get a seat that is any wider than a Bedford midi seat to fit in. Thanks for advise Peter.
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Post by Peter on Nov 4, 2015 10:50:00 GMT
Welcome, I put the spacer under the front of the runner rather than between the runner and the seat so the seat rises as it moves forward. Rosie on the Scottish Isle of Arran has just ordered to two Bedford seats that were on Ebay for her SS MkII project, haven't got her on the forum yet and it's all done via the EOC email but I live in hope. Anyone got a spare MkII nose by the way?.
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Post by neilsmith on Nov 7, 2015 14:19:06 GMT
The bonnet of the car was in a poor state. It may have been easier to just replace it with a good second hand item. There were cracks around the hinges and also near to the locks. Someone had tried to strengthen the bonnet up with some rope covered in resin and fibre glass matting from underneath.
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Post by Peter on Nov 8, 2015 6:25:16 GMT
That is not bad at all compared to many. the cracks will need digging out and filling, a good wash with acetone and then fill in with resin followed by a couple of layers of cloth underneath and then fill and finish the surface should do the trick, personally I hate GRP but sometimes I have to use it. The under bonnet 'reinforcements' are a bit untidy but on the right lines although I would have used foam strips rather than 'rope', On the VW bonnet there are three such 'ribs' running from top to bottom about 1 1/2" by 2" wide. You can see what I mean here
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Post by neilsmith on Nov 12, 2015 21:54:37 GMT
I reckon that the phase 3 bonnet was improved for greater strength as I don't remember my old phase 2 VW eagle looking like that underneath. The little gas rams are a very good idea also Peter.
The fibre glass on the bonnet that I am restoring is very thin in places and seems to have been moulded with only a couple of layers of 'chopped strand mat'. I think I read somewhere that the phase 3 eagle had thicker GRP and the moulding process was done by another company like 'Rickman'.
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Post by Peter on Nov 13, 2015 21:05:38 GMT
The bodies were all done 'in house' up to the one bought in 1995 at least, certainly better made than MkII with multi composite layers. After 20 years it only has some cracking in front of the right headlight. The gas struts are on EBay for not a lot and available on various Newtont values, same at the rear for the boot lid.
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Post by neilsmith on Nov 14, 2015 20:18:01 GMT
I decided to completely remove the previous repair and start again. I used some stainless steel rod which was about 8mm diameter. I shaped it to the perimeter of the bonnet and welded the sections together into a frame. I later bonded the frame to the underside of the bonnet and after preparing the cracks in the fibre glass covered it with a couple of layers of chopped strand mat and resin.
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Post by Peter on Nov 15, 2015 14:03:30 GMT
Sounds like a solid job, should last a long time.
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Post by neilsmith on Nov 21, 2015 6:16:16 GMT
There was so many cracks in the gel coat surface of the bonnet that after speaking to a restoration specialist I decided to remove all of the gel coat with a sander. I then covered the entire surface with a fibre glass tissue and resin. The tissue had to be cut into section as it wouldn't curve around the power bulge very well. After this it was covered with a good quality filler that shouldn't sink or go out of shape under the paintwork. It has had a lot of coats of filler and a lot of sanding to get the shape back. I reckon I have spent about 40 hours on this bonnet so far.
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Post by Peter on Nov 21, 2015 10:43:10 GMT
That's a lot of work there Neil but looking good, surprising how much better it will look in primer. I cheated and wrapped mine with carbon fibre.
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Post by neilsmith on Nov 29, 2015 18:52:53 GMT
Is that the complete car or just the bonnet? Had your bonnet just deteriorated with age or was there some accident damage?
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Post by Peter on Nov 30, 2015 17:24:08 GMT
The bodywork is fine apart from the odd knock in the workshop over the years and where I managed to mess it up, like the doors, where I tried various mirrors and removed the handles and the rear wings where the Ford Sierra bonnet vents are, scoop entries still need work and the boot lid where a third brake light lived before I built it in over the rear window, stuff like that.
The 3D carbon fibre is for effect only like on the all carbon fibre Koenigsegg where some parts are left bare.
I am doing the bonnet, but not the louvres, the boot, mirrors and later, much later, under the heading 'bolt on goodies', the splitter, defuser and ground effect side skirts/canards.
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Post by neilsmith on Dec 5, 2015 11:43:19 GMT
I have now trial fitted the bonnet to the car. All the fiber glass repair and filler work is done to the bonnet and the shut lines look quite good. I am taking just the bonnet to a paint sprayer next week to have it covered with a gel coat
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Post by Peter on Dec 25, 2015 14:03:12 GMT
How is it going neil? got that paint job done or have the holidays got in the way?
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Post by neilsmith on Dec 30, 2015 17:22:59 GMT
The bonnet hasn't been gelcoated yet but the paint sprayer has been very busy. I hoped to have the bonnet on before I went away for Christmas. When I get home I will start the eagle up as it hasn't been started for a couple of months
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 9, 2016 16:08:23 GMT
The bonnet hasn't been gelcoated yet but the paint sprayer has been very busy. I hoped to have the bonnet on before I went away for Christmas. When I get home I will start the eagle up as it hasn't been started a couple of months I have now got the bonnet back after being sprayed with gel coat. It was still a little tacky so I had to coat it with PVA and water, this starves it from air and allows it to fully cure. I have fitted it back on to the car and will have it painted at a later date. I tried to start the eagle today after it standing for a few months. There seems to be no spark for some reason but at least it gave the engine a good spin over and helps prevent the clutch sticking up.
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Post by Peter on Jan 11, 2016 11:37:37 GMT
Just run the basic trouble shooter, Is there 12v ignition at the HT coil+ ? Are the points (if used) opening about 20 thou'? Are all the leads connected?
Should spark on the central HT lead from HT coil to the distributor.
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 12, 2016 18:54:23 GMT
Yes, I gave the points a quick clean, but I haven't checked the voltage at the coil. I gave the battery a good charge before hand but the ignition system has been set up with a 12 volt coil and no ballast resister. The main wiring loom had a ballast resister attached when it was removed from a doner car and I think these were used with a different coil which would have been 10 or 11 volts. I am going to get hold of one of these coils and refit a ballast resister. It would be better still with electronic ignition.
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Post by Peter on Jan 13, 2016 10:57:28 GMT
Ballast resistors were used with a low voltage coil, usually 6V, so when starting it bypassed the resistor to provide a big spark, once the alternator/dynamo kicked in it revered to the resistor and normal spark. 12v coil and no resistor is normal these days with improvements in coils etc. Pertonix is the way to go, no external box.
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 16, 2016 15:57:00 GMT
Back in summer 2015 I made a start on the gull wing door repairs. The main problem was that the mild steel hinge plates had corroded inside the fibre glass. Also the inner and outer door mouldings had never been bonded together in the window frame area, and this made the doors feel very flimsy. I marked out the position of the hinges on top of the doors and cut away some of the outer fibre glass.once I had done this the old hinges were prised out with ease. I then took them to a company who specialised in stainless steel fabrication who charged a very reasonable 100 pounds to make a pair in stainless. Read more: eaglecarclub.proboards.com/thread/2046/neils-ford-based-ss?page=3#ixzz3xWGClzrsAttachments:
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 21, 2016 18:23:12 GMT
I bonded on the new hinges to the doors with polyurethane adhesive. I had marked out where the hinges had to be positioned by drilling through the door and straight into the old rusty hinges with a 6mm drill bit. When the old hinges were removed I then laid them over the new ones and drilled straight through the holes to transfer these reference points. When the new hinges were bonded to the doors they were held in the correct place with some 6mm bolts.
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Post by Peter on Jan 25, 2016 10:53:05 GMT
That is a nice job and being stainless will out last the doors. Good idea to cut away just the roof section rather than split the inner and outer parts. Nice job,
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 29, 2016 20:17:27 GMT
I made a new top panel for the doors. I used a piece of perspex to mould it from and built it up with about five layers of fibre glass mat. When it had set I trimmed it down to size then bonded it on top of the new hinges. Then after grinding away a slight channel along the join it was blended in with some strips of fibre glass and resin.
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Post by Peter on Jan 30, 2016 15:20:45 GMT
All that and so young too, I had you older. I would add the 3D ridges in, they really add a lot of strength to the door. I did look for a photo of my door inner roof but all I seem to have are photos of the actuator bracket, I'll pop one off next week.
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Post by neilsmith on Jan 30, 2016 17:46:57 GMT
Yes that will be very helpful thanks. I fitted a new ballast resister type coil and refitted the original ballast resister last week and found that the car had a good spark and after priming up the carburetor with petrol it started well.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2016 20:30:21 GMT
Looks a good.
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Post by Peter on Feb 9, 2016 13:39:29 GMT
Underside of MkIII door, there is about a 2cm raised area from about 4cm in from the top edge and out to above the window. It could be yours is the same. Nice job on the hinges by the way, I don't know why they didn't make them from stainless in the first place as many a SS door has suffered from rusty hinge plates. not mine thank heaven, indoors too much
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Post by neilsmith on Feb 14, 2016 6:17:17 GMT
My doors are different to this as they don't have these ribs underneath. The ribs on your car must make the doors more rigid. Do you have any pictures of the door seals in the roof area? I am considering changing the lip that the seal fits onto in the roof area. So rather than having to try to push the seal into a right angle,I would change The lip to give a more gradual curve,so hopefully have less leaks.
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Post by Peter on Feb 14, 2016 16:53:14 GMT
The door seal is a 'C' section that fits on the door opening all the way around, there is no 'right angle', so to ensure water doesn't enter, a good seal is necessary between the seal and the body, a smear of sealant prior to applying the rubber is a good idea. The headlining is trapped in the seal too, but that's a whole different ball game. I think this was the one I bought from CBS or was it on Ebay, I'll check and update if needs be..
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Post by neilsmith on Feb 21, 2016 13:39:46 GMT
This picture shows what I mean about the 'right angle'on the lip that the seal fits onto. I may add some fibre glass to it to change the shape.
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