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 Right - join Part A to Part B etc, etc, etc (currently 27,296 views) |
| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 6th, 2010, 20:13:40 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Got one!
This is the one I was told about last year, when I signed up on here, from Acespeed in Shipley.
It came complete with engine/suframe/brakes and the like:
and is fitted with a nice new oil cooler!
Don't think I'll need an oil cooler, but you never know  .
I'm going to have to learn these new fibreglassing techniques though - for some reason they've put the loom through the bulkhead right behind the carb. Doesn't look right to me!?!
It's the 3rd Mk6 shell produced (No1 is the Heritage demonstrator, No2 may have gone to Japan, so could be the first Mk6 UK customer car - thanks for the info Richard!), and was supplied in 2006. Andy Harrison of Acespeed wasn't too impressed with the finish though, so had the body prepped and painted Porsche GT orange. But with lots of work on, it got put to the side, and the project ground to a halt. After two years sat in the corner of the workshop we managed to agree a price so now it's mine  . Having sat for a couple of years (albeit in the workshop) the seatbelt mounting points have got a covering of rust - the first job I'll have at Easter is to paint these with Krust!:
I could've bought an older car cheaper I suppose, but I've always been keen to build a new car - it'll just take a bit of time while I save up some more pennies (and overcome the miriad of IVA problems I'll encounter along the way!).
It came complete with carbon fibre covered dash:
(Oh, and see my nice new carbon fibre knob! Lovely!)
How long is this going to take? Well, the cars in the North-east and I'm not, so it may take some time I'm afraid (Oh and now I know John Dickens is up that neck of the woods, there'll be lots of questions flying his way  . Then again, with the internet, you'll all be getting questions!!!)
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 6th, 2010, 20:54:16 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Having a good look at the car last night I noticed that only one of the front subframe, rear mounts had been attached. Speaking with Andy when they attached the towers there was a gap on one of them, he was intending to make a spacer plate to take up the slack.
Likewise, at the front of the subframe there was no mountings, with a 1" gap on the nearside:
and a 1/2 - 3/4" gap on the offside:
Now I've read enough threads on here about these cars not being symetrical, but is this the norm? I think I'll invest in some adjustable bottom arms, and adjustable rear subframe brackets too!
Another thing! The battery box has been bolted in the hatch area, right in the middle. It's not positioned there on the Heritage car, and Garry's Mk4 has a moulded battery box located in the rear left corner. Anyone know where the demonstrator car has it located?
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Reply: 1 - 599 |
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| Peter Bremner |
| Posted on: March 6th, 2010, 23:55:21 |
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Big Member
Location: Ongar, Essex
Posts: 410
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| The paint is a good match for the Flymo.... |
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Reply: 2 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2010, 14:52:32 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Quoted from Peter Bremner, posted March 6th, 2010, 23:55:21 at here |
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The paint is a good match for the Flymo....
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Peter - the sad fact is the Flymo'll be a damn sight faster than the car for at least a good couple of years..... |
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Reply: 3 - 599 |
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| Garry Scott |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2010, 23:31:28 |
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Medium Member
Location: Bristol
Posts: 151
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Nice one mate, glad you got one and a very good base to start with!
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Reply: 4 - 599 |
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| Matthew Payne |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 09:25:23 |
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Medium Member
Location: Bawdeswell, Norfolk
Posts: 105
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That looks really nice. I'd have loved to started with something so fresh...
The Asymmetry of the Mk 1-4 is fairly well documented. Its also very easy to see with the naked eye (especially on mine!) on the front. The radiator box never looks square, which is why I decided on the 45 holes, rather than one square hole. Looking at the first 2 pictures of yours, its easy to see how much better (read square) the front is... but looking at the indicator reccesses-its still not perfect!
I dont know about others, but rather than make up spacers, mine pulls in nicely when everything is bolted up.
What engine are you going with? Im sure you've got the MPI aswell... |
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Reply: 5 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 10:06:27 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Cheers Garry!
Matthew, yes the plan is to make it an MPi.
The first job is to strip it right back to a bare shell, have a look at it and decide where to start. I've got the MPi looms (which won't be going through the centre of the bulkhead), engine, steering column (for the updated switchgear) and heater - basically I want to use as many MPi parts as possible to try and keep the electrics as straight forward as possible.
As said, this is going to be a long project - the cars' currently at one end of the country, I'm at the other and its going to be like that for the next 12-18 months.
I have got the engine down south with me, and I've already ported the head to go on it (just a bit of chamber work to do), so I could crack on and rebuild that (I'm looking at a 1330, with Swiftune SW5i cam, 1.5 rockers etc, ultimately with a different ECU). I'm just thinking it may be unwise to rebuild the engine now, only to have it sit for the next 2-3 years  .
As for the shell, the first thing I'll do is to fill in the bulkhead loom hole, and put a radius on the corners of the oil cooler cut out. Not having had a good look at the front subframe, rear mount, I don't know how big the gap is to the mount. Would'nt 'pulling' it in put an extra stress on the shell? (Or would it cause everything to line up properly ) And I'm assuming that the front of the subframe does in fact attach to the shell, as per a mini? (There are no holes in the front of the shell like there are on the mini).
I'll probably look to use a Fiat Cinquicento radiator (they've been well received on here and are quite cheap!) - I take it, it's best to mount it in the front box in the verticle orientation (against where the oil cooler is currently sitting), as opposed to the inclined front-most surface?
And so the questionning begins!!!
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Reply: 6 - 599 |
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| Matthew Payne |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 10:22:14 |
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Medium Member
Location: Bawdeswell, Norfolk
Posts: 105
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Im sure that pulling in too far might put a little stress on the car, just depends how far is too far! I believe the holes are left to be drilled out by you... As each car/subframe is slightly different!
Am I right in thinking the Mk6 uses a late (single ower bolt) subframe? If so, surely the rubber teardrops will fit in the gap from the subframe to the body? I know they are different gaps... but it'll get it closer!
My radiator has been fitted inclined under the front - Helps me with space for the throttles out the front of the engine |
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Reply: 7 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 10:38:00 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Matthew - of course. I'm forgetting you're going K-head crossflow!
Fitting it up against the inclined surface (with a mesh grill for protection) would free up some space, but Paul Harcourt has posted on here (guess what I've been doing!), a verticle mounted rad within a manufactured bulkhead. Guess I'll get the rad and fan and offer it up, see what works best!
Yes, the car uses the single tower bolt subframe (someone else on here has suffered from this on an earlier car, if I remember correctly) so I can use the subframe I've built up so yes, the rubber/poly teardrops may do the trick - well remembered!
I've just spoken to Heritage - I'm planning on going down and having a look at the demonstrator. I'll see what they've done. I need to order another chassis plate to mount on the right hand side of the car (as per IVA), and I should be able to see if they're supplying the correct windscreen now too (although a heated screen does appeal!). As I said, I don't think they've had much to do with IVA! |
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Reply: 8 - 599 |
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| Allan Brown |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 21:32:37 |
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 Administrator
Location: Billingshurst, UK
Posts: 452
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| The reason for leaning the radiator forwards is to give you more clearance for the distributor. But if you are using the MPI engine I guess you won't have that problem. |
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Reply: 9 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2010, 22:10:10 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Quoted from Allan Brown, posted March 8th, 2010, 21:32:37 at here |
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The reason for leaning the radiator forwards is to give you more clearance for the distributor. But if you are using the MPI engine I guess you won't have that problem.
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Yep - no Marigold waterproofing for me!!!
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Reply: 10 - 599 |
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| paul harcourt |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2010, 16:21:01 |
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Big Member
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 363
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| I leaned the radiator forward to give me clearance with the starter motor solenoid and distributor as the Mk 3 I had originally had the separate solenoid mounted on the inner wheel arch. |
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Reply: 11 - 599 |
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| Garry Scott |
| Posted on: March 10th, 2010, 22:40:00 |
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Medium Member
Location: Bristol
Posts: 151
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| why dont you use the MPI rad? one of the lads on my forum has broken his MPI and is selling a load of bits of inclusing a complete rear subframe and engine plus all the loom and ecu, have a look on west country minis! |
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Reply: 12 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: March 11th, 2010, 21:04:32 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Garry, I'll have a look, but I'm pretty certain I'll use the Cinquicento radiator. It has the advantage of being alloy (therefore not rusting), smaller (but still able to handle the expected power/heat produced), and a damn sight cheaper than the MPi front mounted rad.
I am after an MPi tank though, so I can utilise the fuel pump, swirl pot and pipework with a new MM (minivan) tank. Oh, and I've got a rear subframe already - not an MPi one (with the mounting point for the fuel filter) but a brand new one, nontheless. I'll make up a bracket/drill some holes, to mount a filter.
I spent a good hour and a half at Heritage in Semmington yesterday speaking to Rory Macmath. He was able to give me a good idea of what needs to be done and how best to do it, for which I'm very grateful.
There are a good number of differences to your (Garry's) Mk4, as you'd expect (but that's the only other car I've had a good nosey around!). For example, it's not an option to route the main loom through the sill recess, it needs to be routed internally. The front mounts of the front subframe need to be offered up and then the mounting holes in the body drilled to accommodate. Rory was also able to offer a suggestion to seal the fuel tank filler pipe:
Offer up and the tank, secure the flexible filler pipe the cut lengthways a piece of drain pipe (previously 'fitted' to the exposed length of fuel pipe). Place this around the filler and then laminate it back together, sealing the top and bottom of the drain pipe to the shell! Must remember that when I get to that stage!
As I thought, they weren't too aware of the differences to the IVA (from the SVA). But it would seem I got a better bargin than I realised - he was able to give me an idea of the price of the car as supplied .
Other things I've been thinking about - I wasn't given the small bonnet locks when I got the car so would like to use lockable aerocatches if I can find a way of mounting them. There is a space for the battery, to the left of the spare wheel well on the demonstrator. It would seem to make sense to me to relocate the battery from the position it's in to there, and to use a sealable battery box too. Can't hurt for IVA!
Oh, and I received a copy of John Dickens' fibreglassing book through the post today! Hopefully Chapter 13 (and a little practise!) will help me get rid of the hole in the bulkhead!!! |
Last modified March 11th, 2010, 21:09:48 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 13 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: April 1st, 2010, 20:30:55 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Right, having nothing better to do the other night I went in the garage to scare myself:
...and came away thinking it might not be as bad as it seems. As Matthew has already said - it really is a case of plug and play! (It helps when you've got an MPi to compare the loom to - see it in th ebackground with the bonnet open? There'll be a lot of that ahead! )
There's very little to the rear loom - I'm sure there must be a way to feed that through the sills. We'll see.
I hope there's a lot of room behind the dash - theres a lot of wiring to fit in behind there! I'm a little disappointed to discover the loom goes through the centre of the bulkhead on the mini too. Given the difference in shape, I'll have to come up with a solution to that (I don't really want to mount it there - space is too tight.) And I count three holes needed in the bulkhead to pass the loom through.
And how the heck do you get the engine loom to look neat and tidy! There's a lot to be said for a 60's vintage 850 MM! |
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Reply: 14 - 599 |
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