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Wooders28

Full scale car projects?

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13 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Recently finished these seats.  Couple of niggles with the patterns but overall a good fit 

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Wow!! 

They're absolutely stunning!! 😍👏

 

Night and day better than my attempt, using replacement ,restoration seat covers.😳

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Do I need to pull through wee O ring clips tighter, or is that the foam that's away? 

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Made the box for under the sub 

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Not the neatest looking, but it'll be getting carpeted, so should be fine once that's done.

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 Sits quite well

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Thinking I may need to sort a couple of rattles out though 🤣, probably a trolley jack, and random nuts and bolts scattered about didn't help..

 

 

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1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:

Wow!! 

They're absolutely stunning!! 😍👏

 

Night and day better than my attempt, using replacement ,restoration seat covers.😳

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Do I need to pull through wee O ring clips tighter, or is that the foam that's away? 

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Without seeing the condition of the foam underneath I couldn’t say if it’s good or not.  The wrinkles on the top of the bolsters could be because the cover needs to be pulled down the back a little more and at the same time that seam needs pulling down at the front.

Problem I’ve found is with ready made covers you don’t know if the pattern has been made smaller to compensate for old original foams.  The metal O rings should be closed up when fitting a cover but it’s dependent on the position.  So ideally take pictures remove the cover and start again.  You need the top fitting snug over the foam.  No hollows or saggy wrinkles.  Then hog ring either the top of the bolster seams first or possibly the horizontal seam first.  Then give the back another pull to keep it all tight and to see if it shows up any wrinkles or hollows, manoeuvre cover all the time to keep it straight and wrinkle free, pulling on the seams and back and watching if creases appear or disappear with each pull.  Gradually the cover should be looking better, massage seams to lay the way you want.  It’s very hard to give advice without seeing how the cover is originally fitted.  
Those tans seats I did took roughly 2 1/2hrs to fit the backrest covers per seat.  It’s not a quick job.

Your seat cushions look ok though 👍😊
 

 

 

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The subwoofer box build has worked well 👍.  You could line the inside with Dacron wadding to help stop reflection back to the cone if you haven’t done already.

if you find the time to separately box the 6x9 speakers as well then you will have a lovely sounding system when it’s all complete.   Just a thought, to gain a little extra volume you could make an angled spacer ring to fit the speakers cabin side.  Then when you cover in carpet you get the nice contoured shapes rather than flat with a speaker on top.   I know it’s extra work but it’s make something good to something special 😊

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Removed COBB air filter to clean and swapped with a fresh new one.  This filter is also used on my other WRX so will always keep one clean with zero car downtime while the filter dries.  :D 

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This is with the COBB air box lid removed exposing the filter that I swapped and cleaned this morning.

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Been a while since I've done an update, but with kids school holidays, an actual holiday and holiday shift cover in work, garage time has been a bit limited (I was hoping to get the car outside, and go through some bodywork bits too, but the great Scottish summer weather didn't oblige 🌧️) 

Also, doing wiring doesn't really look like you've done alot, even though you've spent hours at it...🤦‍♂️🤣

Think I've managed to sort the marker light issue, not the 2 min fix I'd hoped, but it works.

Used capacitors (similar to 'Glitch Busters' we use on escs /recievers), to keep enough of a charge, and hold on a 5 pin relay, (plus a diode ,so the power didn't just dissipate).

Felt right using red , black and white wiring...😏

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Next, I wasn't happy with the blower relays just nailed onto the bulkhead/firewall, or with the cheap fuse box for the Megasquirt ecu, so decided to put it all into one neat (?) package... 

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Bit of loom tape makes it look a bit prettier ...ish 🫣

 

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The old jeans have 3 uses, first was it hides the other wiring I've not wrapped yet (or won't for a while, until and get it making a rumbling sound, and know it works!). 2nd, it stopped me catching other wires with the soldering iron or dropping and excess solder onto them, and 3rd, stopped the little pins I was crimping & soldering (yeah, I did both...) disappearing into the abyss when I dropped them (there's only enough pins with the kit, and spent more time than I'm going to admit, trying to find one I dropped, that didn't hit the floor, which turned out to be wedged in the tiny gap, between the header tubes..🤦‍♂️

 

Hopefully now the joys of summer are behind us, and back to 'normal' , the winter woes and -10 temps, with not being able to feel my extremities are a few weeks away, I might be able to crack on....

 

So what do you do, when you've checked off a few things on your list?

Add more to the list! 🤦‍♂️

Came up on Facebook cheap enough (would have cost more in just shipping to get one sent over the pond), 'Just' means I need to pull the axle to bits and also the decision on what final drive ratio to go for.....🤔

2.41 gears in atm, which puts it around 45mph per 1000rpm in 4th, but thinking 3.43's? ,to go with the overdrive box, which puts it around 31mph per 1000?...although 3.08 puts it at around 35mph..

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I know exactly how you feel regarding the weather.  We watch the news and the world seems to be on fire or extreme heat.  South Wales it’s rained non stop for nearly the past 9 weeks.   
jobs to do outside have waited and waited.  Now we seem to be in a rush as it’s not long before the nights draw in 😕.

regarding your diff ratio, I think it depends if you just cruise around or want Uber acceleration.  Your engine has the torque to pull tall gear ratios.  Slightly lower diff ratio would make it feel lighter for acceleration obviously less mpg. 
Not a direct comparison but I’ve kept my low ratio diff in my 77 Jag xj6 for acceleration but then fitted a 5 speed box to bring the revs down at speed.  Best of both worlds then.    The original 3 speed auto used to max out the top speed to 120mph.  The 5 speed pulled 135mph with no other engine tweeks and didn’t have enough torque to hit the red line flat out. More importantly at 70mph the revs dropped from 3500 to 2800.  
I’ve had a play with the engine now so I should get it to or very close to 150mph.  That’s if I ever get the car finished.

 

 

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Oh just looking at my pictures, if you still have the all red American spec tail lights you can fit a green bulb to flash as an indicator to glow orange through a red lense.

I tried it out on my Jag American spec all red lenses and it works well

 

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23 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

I think it depends if you just cruise around or want Uber acceleration

I don't do cruising, but it's more what my wallet can cope with tbh...🫣

The closest drag strip (that run a serise I'd run in, there's a strip up here, but its more hot hatch), is a 500 mile round trip, and the Pod is 700. Even cheap 95 RON is over £6 a gallon and not likely to get much cheaper.

 

Thought about a pair of tall profile tyres for travelling (not donks...😳) , then a pair of drag radials to fit when there , but that'll mean I need a trailer, but then I'd be restricted to 60mph...

The converter is around 1600 stall,  so doubt it'll lock up before then, and the cam won't do much before 2000 anyway (might have gone too aggressive on the duration for a long intake runnered TPI , but I'll need to see what numbers the combo throws up on the rollers).

23 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

The original 3 speed auto used to max out the top speed to 120mph.  The 5 speed pulled 135mph with no other engine tweeks and didn’t have enough torque to hit the red line flat out. More importantly at 70mph the revs dropped from 3500 to 2800.  

Similar , the car came with a 3 speed, with 3rd being 1:1, the gearbox now is a 4 speed, with 4th being 0.75:1, so technically I can go 25% lower on the final drive, and still be the same....

 

23 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

if you still have the all red American spec tail lights you can fit a green bulb to flash as an indicator to glow orange through a red lense.

I tried with some green LED's, and they just looked a murky red.

Started making sequential lights (nearly finished one, but at 600 per unit, it's a sore job).

Tried various LED bulbs, the SMD high intensity looked red, these aren't as bright, so need more, but look better imo.

 

 

I've just made 2 small strip boards, to just do a 'stock' indicator in the corners for now, should get it through an MOT , (although, i believe it only needs the first one, then it's MOT exempt, but could still get pulled and points if anythings defective, so I'll still be taking it for an annual look over).

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Give it to you for making your own lights.  Far more knowledge than I have.  I thought I did well with a green bulb lol. 😲

I’ve been having fun sorting out correct length bolts etc whilst putting it back together.  I had painstakingly cleaned up most of the fixings and then re-plated them.  Hidden stuff in stainless especially in difficult to access areas.   Just burns hours doing details a bit like the wiring and wrapping and cutting then crimping etc etc.  sometimes I wish my hobby was just the model cars 😕

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1982 Mini, owned 9 years, off the road for 4. Currently at the body shop fixing holes. 

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16 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Give it to you for making your own lights.  Far more knowledge than I have.  I thought I did well with a green bulb lol. 😲

Cheers mate! 

Having knowledge, and having time ,are two different things!! 🤣

 

17 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

I’ve been having fun sorting out correct length bolts etc

Looks stunning though! 

Hate the fresh paint stage though, absolutely terrifying at putting a scratch on it. 

I've ended up drilling out captive nuts, retapping or helicoiling, cutting studs off and welding on new, as half the car is imperial bolts , which just aren't as easy (well, cheap) to replace, as metric!! 🤦‍♂️

 

16 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

sometimes I wish my hobby was just the model cars 😕

🤣🤣, absolutely!! 

Car guys are car guys though...🙄😁

 

2 hours ago, ADRay1000 said:

1982 Mini, owned 9 years, off the road for 4. Currently at the body shop fixing holes. 

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Brilliant!! 

You decided on a Power plant?

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1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:You decided on a Power plant?

Ha, keeping the original A+ 998 that has a pre-Mini head from a Minor… it’s a mutt. 

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2 hours ago, ADRay1000 said:

Ha, keeping the original A+ 998 that has a pre-Mini head from a Minor… it’s a mutt. 

You having hardened valve seats fitted, for unleaded? 

 

These are a tempting conversion, on a 1275 lump...

https://www.motorworks.co.uk/mini-cylinder-head-kit-k1100-16-valve-enk00003-1.html 

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About time for an update!! 😬

Having tested the lamps the dash, i still wasn't happy with the illumination, so added a few more leds to the mix...

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Does mean it's got a busy though.

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I've replaced some of the gauges in the cluster, with 'uk spec' ones (ie, in Centigrade, so I don't have to start doing maths in my head...) and figured it would be a great place for the oil pressure warning light, but that would mean cutting open a brand new gauge, so....

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Cut the ring that holds the glass in, removed the glass (it's not getting replaced, as there's a plastic lens to cover the lot anyway), supported the face, and cut an 8mm hole for the ebay purchased warning light.

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Actually thought it would be brighter than that, as my plan was to wire the 'check engine' light above the voltmeter, to a high water temp switch, but not sure now.

Although, there's a pressure gauge (built into the rev counter, but not really room for a light there, as I've fitted a Park brake/ brake warning light and an Overdrive light on there already...). There's also a chevy oil pressure switch I've wired into the fuel pump relay in serise with an inertia switch which will cut the fuel pump out (I've wired in a bypass button, just incase I'm in the outside lane at the time, where I'd rather be replacing the crank, than getting ploughed into at 80mph..),  and also an oil pressure transducer, feeding the ecu for data logging, which with some programming (🤯) can have it cut power, spark etc at,  psi oil pressure against RPM graph (20psi at 5000rpm probably isnt healthy, but wouldn't trigger the pressure switch, or low pressure light, but could programme to bring on the light and drop the rpm), so it'll probably do.....🙄

Bit of a dogs dinner, but it all works ,when testing off a 12v supply..

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The loom tape and a few 2, 3 and 4 pin plugs ,certainly makes it look a bit more respectable 😁

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Whilst the soldering iron was out , I wired up some relays for the electeic windows. The window motors pull a fair bit of current, but GM thought the wee switches where enough, they're not.

An up and a down 40amp relay for each, should be enough-

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Having nailed it all together, the engine turned dash looked a bit, meh..

 

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What I thought, wrongly,  was that just the lightest of buffs, would have it sparkling again........urm

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Sooooo, that's something else I need to add to the list 🤦‍♂️

 

 

Having muttered to myself for a good while, I thought I'd do the easy task, of 'just' fitting the heating ducts, mainly as I had a nice box of it all, I got off ebay a good few moons ago.

Thinking back, it was delivered to my folks house, and was a good few months before I picked the box up. My folks had checked it, and said it was full of plastic ducting, so job done......😬

Coming to fit it however, it turns out I'm missing a few bits, got duplicate parts of some, and not even for my car other parts.....🤦‍♂️

 

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Not done a massive lot since the last post tbh, Christmas, then off work and away for the New Year, then 2 children's birthdays in the January (yeah, we planned that well, but, my birthday is April, so.....🙄).

Managed to source all of the missing heater ducting I needed, and got delivered. Certainly not 'as new' but there's not a great stock to be picky in the UK..

Some of my ducting has been damaged at some point, meaning mounting brackets where smash/missing. A bit of spare flat bar, provided small enough to fit in the duct groove, and a decent mounting point.

With the amount of cracks / damage , I invested in a plastic welder, actually only £13 off Amazon, so it's earned its keep in its first job! 

 

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Next was to mount it all, and test to see if anything would catch (ie, speakers, injection wiring loom etc). Doesn't look pretty, but cable ties , bottom of a milk carton (should goto the center heater vent, but theres a fuel pressure and a temp gauge in there, so a cheap way to blank off...🙄) and gaffer tape did the job 😁

 

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With the dash in, I could measure the space for the new ECU in the glove box, it needs to be easily accessible for tuning, and also live logging with a laptop plugged in, or SD card data logging.

Like a glove...😁

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Happened to see the Alipne sub on offer, so....

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 Turns out, Alpines 10", are bigger than Kenwoods, so needed to enlarge the holes, but a power file made short work.

With the front speakers installed, speaker cables run up the passenger side (running all power up the drivers side, try a reduce interference), and checked for heater duct clearance. With a 1600w 4 channel amp for the speakers ,and the 1200w mono amp for the sub, it actually doesn't sound too bad!! 

 

 

With a plastic welder in my mits, a cracked Lin Bin, replaced the milk carton stopper, as a more permanent fixture, figuring with the Scottish weather, it'll be mostly used for blowing hot air, to demist the car in the summer, when it's raining...

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 Bit of a lick of paint, and you'd never know 🫣

 

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Started to strip my Capri to a bare shell ready for a rotisserie.

Engine out 👍🏻

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how it’s looking at the moment, stuck on getting the brake lines and parts right…

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Dash fitted, screens front and rear fitted, expensive coated exhaust manifolds fitted.  Not far from first start up in 9 years 😳

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