|
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
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Nov 21, 2015 5:59:53 GMT
That dash looks amazing it must have taken many hours to get to that stage. I was going to keep my dash in the black gel coat Finnish. Your car must be about the best one that there is out there. Do you think that you will take it to a show in England? I have never yet actually seen an 'SS' at a kit car show yet. Is there much in the way of kit car shows in Spain?
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
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'.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Nov 4, 2015 18:35:19 GMT
It would be a shame to loose this forum. I will continue to add pictures and information about my Eagle restoration on 'My build diary'.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Nov 2, 2015 21:19:04 GMT
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 31, 2015 16:54:49 GMT
I bought these seats from a breakers yard in essex at a cost of £75. They came from a 'Bedford midi' and there are not many seats that will recline and be narrow enough to fit an 'Eagle'. They have a nice slim lever on the side to recline them. I had to make a template of the floor area so that when I fitted a set of universal seat runners I could calculate the best place to drill through the floor. The seats are only loosely fitted at the moment and I will need to make up some spacers so that they fit a little more level. When I have finished the bodywork and had the car painted I will have the seats recovered in black leather or vinyl.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 24, 2015 12:28:56 GMT
After being painted with satin black paint it was fitted into this position along side a heat control valve so that it doesn't get too hot inside the car. I fitted it as high up as possible so not to reduce leg room for the passenger.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 24, 2015 12:17:44 GMT
The heater that came with the car when I bought it was from a 'mini' but it hadn't been fitted to the 'Eagle'. The build manual tells you that the best place to locate it is under the dashboard above the passengers feet.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 24, 2015 12:12:06 GMT
I fitted rotating heater vents in the dashboard so that they can direcct warm air to the passengers and can also be rotated around to demist the windscreen. They are available from 'car builder solutions'or 'demon tweeks'.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 19, 2015 18:33:05 GMT
For the dashboard a Cortina Ghia instrument cluster was used, and I made up an aluminium fascia for it to make it less like it came from a donor car. The wiring loom that came with the Eagle had been cut about and was in a very poor state. I brought a second hand Cortina loom but it wasn't designed to take a rev counter so I had to swap some of the terminals around where it connected to the cluster. I also had to add a wire in between the cluster and negative side of coil to make rev counter work. To make it all fit correctly some small wooden blocks were bonded under the dash and covered with fibre glass. metal brackets were screwed between the cluster and dash where blocks were bonded in.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 18, 2015 12:11:13 GMT
You are making great progress with your Eagle. Have you got any pictures of the headlamp motor support that you constructed for your car?
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 13, 2015 18:05:28 GMT
I made up some additional support for the headlamp lifting bar, this was to prevent the bodywork wearing away where the bar passes through to the headlamp pods. I made it from some cut and drilled black plastic. I will still need to make up a bracket for the motor as the bodywork flexes when the headlamps are operated. This will all probably have to be removed again when I get the car painted.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 12, 2015 18:19:54 GMT
You may have already seen the post on 08th August but 'seedog' has the moulds and may be able to make you some.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 12, 2015 18:10:42 GMT
Yes the motor that I have must have a built in stop switch as the headlamps lift up and go down as they should. I had an SS a few years ago that had a two switch and relay system as you describe. I have copied the instructions for headlamp system from the original build manual that was printed in the early to mid 1980's. See below. If you click on it, it will 'blow up' big enough to see. I know that there is a newer manual that shows a different set up.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 9, 2015 17:22:20 GMT
Setting up the headlamps correctly took me quite a long time. The fist thing that I had to do was free up the headlamp lifting motor. As the car had been standing for many years the motor had seized, but I was able to free it up and get it working. Fortunately an original build manual came with the car and I followed the instructions within it on setting up the lifting bar and also wired it up as recommended in the manual.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 2, 2015 17:06:53 GMT
Yes, I think I may be moving that fan over to the right side of the radiator. I have driven the car on and of the drive only. I may find that when given a long road test it may run a little too hot. Also I may have to drop the radiator down slightly as it is touching the bonnet.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Oct 2, 2015 17:01:23 GMT
Welcome Steve, I am an owner of a cortina based eagle ss and Live in Ipswich. You can see the progress of my car on the build diary section of this forum. It is listed as: 'Neil's ford based SS'. I do have some cortina spares if you are interested.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Sept 27, 2015 14:40:54 GMT
A battery support frame was made from 25mm square tube. It is bolted to the Cortina front cross member,and also helps to support the front fibre glass bodywork behind the bumper. In its original form the Eagle body isn't very well supported at the front end,and this has caused some stress cracks in the fibre glass gelcoat.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Sept 27, 2015 14:31:06 GMT
I decided to use an electric fan which has a thermo switch in the top radiator hose. The battery that I am using at the moment is a little on the large side but is good for stating engine and carrying out electrical checks. I will be changing it later for a smaller one. Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Sept 9, 2015 18:31:13 GMT
A rubber seal was fitted onto the scuttle panel where the bonnet closes. This helps prevent water from running onto the engine and HT leads. When I brought the car it came with a 4 branch manifold but I had to cut this in about 3 places and re weld to make it fit and not touch on the chassis. You can see it is also a very close fit to steering column. I had to replace the radiator, and I fitted it into position with the radiator cap about an inch from the under side of the bonnet.(The build manual tells you to fit it like this). The only problem was that the auto choke and heater were difficult to bleed air out of. So I decided to make up a new radiator top hose that had a filler cap built into it, making it easier to fill up and bleed cooling system. View Attachment
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Sept 9, 2015 18:27:17 GMT
A rubber seal was fitted onto the scuttle panel where the bonnet closes. This helps prevent water from running onto the engine and HT leads. When I brought the car it came with a 4 branch manifold but I had to cut this in about 3 places and re weld to make it fit and not touch on the chassis. You can see it is also a very close fit to steering column. I had to replace the radiator, and I fitted it into position with the radiator cap about an inch from the under side of the bonnet.(The build manual tells you to fit it like this). The only problem was that the auto choke and heater were difficult to bleed air out of. So I decided to make up a new radiator top hose that had a filler cap built into it, making it easier to fill up and bleed cooling system.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Sept 6, 2015 5:56:26 GMT
There is an 'Eagle ss' side window for sale on ebay for £15. It looks to me like it is a earlier type for a phase 1 or 2. I know from experience that these can be easily broken when removing rusty old bolts from the hinges. when I broke one I used the other side as a pattern ad had a glass company make one out of some toughened glass. It was a little rough around the edges and scratched the door when opening the window.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Aug 25, 2015 18:03:12 GMT
I set the valve clearances before the head was fitted to the engine. Once head was fitted there is very little room for the rocker cover to be fitted. So engine mounts had to be removed so that the engine could be dropped down enough to allow rocker cover to be fitted. You can see that it is all very close to body work. I have seen a lot of Eagles with the bodywork cut away at the back of the head but I was reluctant to do this as it weakens body and allows rain water to run onto the engine.
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Aug 17, 2015 20:09:18 GMT
I was fortunate enough to find a 2000 pinto engine for sale that had been reconditioned including lightening and balancing, and had only covered a few hundred miles. The only problem was that it was not suitable for unleaded fuel. So I obtained a recondition head from a 2000 injection sierra that was suitable for unleaded.It did not include a camshaft so I brought a new fast road kent cam kit. I was told that this would give 10 to 15% more power. Before the engine and gearbox were fitted I painted the front cross member/axle and the front part of the chassis. I fitted gearbox first then engine block and lastly cylinder head once the block was bolted up to gearbox. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by neilsmith on Aug 14, 2015 17:57:53 GMT
The gearbox was removed and when it was stripped down it was found that some water had got inside. It was probably because the gear stick had been left out and water leaks to the inside of the car and condensation had found its way inside the gearbox. A complete overhaul kit was ordered, that included all synchro rings bearings gaskets and seals. I stripped and cleaned the gearbox when it was re assembled it was painted mat black and the alloy parts polished. It took a couple of days to complete. The next thing to do was to obtain a replacement engine. Attachments:
|
|