Great SC rebuild.......

[Chris Spencer]

Alastair - Funny enough myself & Keith were talking about this last night - I may be able to line up a brief class for the national on a bodywork subject (not welding or painting) but one which most owners struggle with - I will let you know in due course if I can get things organised in time or not (away on holiday the week before the national so time is tight)

[Jack]

Parweld XTI 200 has current control in torch from Central welding. You coming down to give me some training? Plus get the loom in, engine started and lots of fettling.

Is this in the past tense - you have got to get the loom in and start the engine, or that the loom is in and the engine has been started?

Currently helping trapped skiers in Morzine - all flights cancelled from Geneva, looks like we might have another passenger coming back with us tomorrow if we can get him on the ferry!!!

All sounds good, lots of progress in our absence. I think Amy is planning to put a few hours in tomorrow.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Current going rate is 4000 euros for taxi ride as no hire cars or trains available from Paris to Brussels. So from Geneva to London? Suggest you auction the Subaru with condition that they take you back to London!

[Chris Spencer]

Saturday commenced with the delivery of Keiths new TIG welder which took a little time to get set up - the user manual not helping really - Keith took it for a few test laps and then set about the final two bits of welding on the main bodyshell - boot drip channel on the N/S/R corner and a panel split high in the N/S/R B post where it joins the rear scuttle & bulkhead.

I continued in bringing forward the remaining fixed panels of the bodyshell, reshaping and fethering out defects in preperation for priming.

Prior to leaving for the rugby match Keith also welded the traling edge of the bonnet - N/S/F wing where we had made adjustments to align with the B post.

I remained behind - removing the bonnet assembly to aid the painting of the bulkhead drip rail and the inner front section of the A posts. On completing the panel preperation I commenced masking all the appertures up and was about 50% complete when Keith returned -jubilant from the match, time was getting on so we called a night.

Sunday - Keith removed the paint off the N/S door which is the last panel to be stripped before setting up welding repairs to the boot & both rear wings. Various splits were found on the boot skin and frame which had suffered from accident damage in former hands, other apertures and holes drilled that were no longer required were also welded up.

On completing the masking I proceeded with a major de- dusting of the workshop prior to panel wiping the prepared areas (this is a spirit wipe to remove all contaminates from the panel surfaces prior to paint) Two coats of self etching primer were applied followed by three heavy coats of primer filler.

A brief lunch provided the time for the paint to flash dry (weather being very much on our side by heading for 20 degrees). Stopper was mixed and skim applied where required (stopper is a very fine filling compound that covers defects found at this stage of the work)

Keith continued finding small items that formed part of the bodywork - and proceeded to derust them by sandblasting.

The primer / stopper received a mist coat of black that acts a guide for flatting back (this highlights imperfections / high / low spots & defects). I then commenced the flatting back with wet & dry - this is a slow process but you must remain methodical and approach each section on a panel by panel basis - in doing so you will be rewarded with a good quaility finish when the colour coats are applied.

Dinner interviened leaving the bodyshell to dry from the wet process of flatting back. After dinner the panels were cleaned back and again panel wiped prior to being tack clothed (specialist tacky cloth that removes dust particles without leaving a surface residue).

Any bare metal that had been exposed in the flatting down process was recoated with etching primer prior to the whole bodyshell having two further coats of primer applied. Sunday was quickly running out of hours and both having day jobs to attend in several hours we wrapped up.

Lots done - still lots to do - Monday evening should see colour coats applied to the bodyshell, I am planning on preparing and painting all the other panels off the car, that just leaves the fitting up of the car, interior, odds, MOT test etc ( I thought that there was light at the end of the tunnel - turns out its just a bloke with a torch bringing us all more work)

Keith will add some images when (and if) we let him have 5 minutes !!

My thanks to Jen & Keith for keeeping me watered and fed with thanks also going to Sharon my ever patient other half.

More to follow soon.

[Chris Spencer]

Monday evening - 18.30 - I arrived to find Keith already busy, the front wings had been removed from the bonnet and were being welded / repaired as required.

I proceded to apply a black guide coat to the primer that had been applied on Sunday. Again the slow process of flatting back with 400 grit wet & dry was undertaken on a panel by panel basis - with the bodyshell left to dry off whilst Keith & Jen insisted that I be force fed !

On our return the panels were wiped clean of any remaining dust and panel wiped with spirit. I batch mixed and thinned the paint whilst Keith continued to remove any remaining dust areas with a tack cloth.

Not quite the right temperature or humidity for spraying cellulose - but we are against time so on went several coats of BRG (British Racing Green - to you madam) over the next few hours - Keith assisted by keeping the paint mixing batches on the go and helping with the airline feed to the spraygun (which always gets trapped around the wheels or something else in the workshop).

Conditions were not perfect and the spraying a little tight around the workshop - non the less as Monday drew to a close the SC gained what is probably the first decent coat of paint to its bodyshell in 50 years whilst also getting a little closer to attending a certain event at the end of May.

There is the odd imperfection where some insect has decided to go for a green paint bath, the odd dust speck etc but nothing that I can not flat back and polish to a reasonable standard. Keith looked happy that we had turned another corner.

3 lateish nights in a row so tonight I will give it a rest - no doubt that Keith and Jack will have a couple of hours - probably fitting the starter and preping the engine for a run up.

Next on my list is the prep of the loose panels while the Keith, Amy & Jack get the bodyshell fitted up - Onwards!!!!!!!

[Jack]

Chris, great job on the paint. We did indeed manage to make some progress last night, albeit being very careful walking past the painted bits!

The car is really starting to take shape now. Major milestone getting the rear painted, and hopefully all downhill from here.

Last night the starter motor went on, and earth strap connected to the chassis.

We also wired up the cable to the starter motor from the starter solenoid (or at least I think that's what it is!) and the power from the battery cut-off switch to the starter solenoid. A bit more work than was expected, as the battery cut-off has a very large diameter terminal and the cable didn't, so a bit of drilling and grunting to get it all fitted.

Finished off the evening by fitting the fan support bracket, just a couple of bolts but a bit of hard work getting it all lined up with not a lot of room for bolts to shuffle to fit. Now mounted nice and solid, the bracket had been welded while off the car due to corrosion I think, but holes were in the right place.

Me and Amy will be working on the car tonight, I think the water system is next on the list with water pump, hoses, radiator etc to go on in the hope of engine starting this weekend.

Keith carried on with work on the bonnet, welding up the weird holes in the top that nobody knows why they're there, and a couple of minor holes in the edge of the bonnet near the bonnet support frame, probably corrosion from trapped water and/or dissimilar metals.

Jack.

[Amy]

I'm afraid I haven't been round since we got back from France

I deputised to Jack tonight and last night - I was up in Newcastle with work yesterday so wasn't back until nearly 11, and tonight needed to tidy up the flat and sort out detritus resulting from our (very shiny) new bathroom.

Hopefully I'll get round tomorrow - our last chance for a couple of days as we're in the Midlands for Jack's sister's wedding this weekend.

It's great to hear the progress that's being made, and I warned the MoT centre a few weeks ago that I'd be bringing the Jupe up in May, it looks like we may make the deadline at this rate

[Jack]

More progress last night, we are rapidly heading for a point where the thing looks like a car!

Chris was round again (not sure if there's a club member of the year award, but frankly anybody contesting that one should be hoping for second place at best to Chris' work on this car) and was working on filling the boot panel. From the various bumps over the years it looks like he's got a lot to do there, but from the work on the rear of the car I'm sure it will be a million dollars once finished.

I spent the evening getting things done on the engine, the oil temperature and pressure gauge hoses have gone on, though oil temp won't be connected until we change the oil that's in there at the moment - going to run the sender from the sump plug as they are the same size, and we don't have another hole to put the plug in otherwise. Seems to make sense, and saves us doing a lot of work changing sump pans before we do the drive to Wakefield. Oil pressure hose was connected to the engine, flexible hose fitted, and the hose to the back of the gauge is in.

The water temperature gauge went in, and the wire/hose thing routed through the bulkhead to where the radiator sits. Interesting that it seems to have the wrong connector on the radiator end, but I think I've worked out a fix for that.

We also got the very very shiny aluminium radiator out of the bubble wrap to check the fit, and all looks good. Tonight I think we'll have the rubbers to go under the bracket and we can bolt the radiator in place - another milestone in the build - and start getting the waterworks installed with a view to starting the engine this weekend.

We routed the throttle cable through the fan support bracket, and once we've got the rod to connect the two sides this should be almost completed.

Also removed the filters on either side of the engine for cleaning - there was a lot of rust, and a lot of manky old paint, so these will be sandblasted now they are in bits and repainted, and the filter from the top cleaned up and repainted tonight I think.

We're heading for a complete car soon, there doesn't seem to be massive amounts left to do on the engine, and the wiring loom should be going in soon enough. Once we've got these in there's no stopping us getting the engine going, and then we can focus on getting the bodywork sorted and I can move on to the interior - we've got a floorboard to cut and a very knackered old seat that will have to do for the rally to go in.

Only one cut to the finger to report from last night, caught on a stray wire from the oil hose. In the absence of an accident book we'll have to report injuries on the internet, I've only just recovered from the nasty incident with the rivet gun and my right nipple On the upside my wrist is back to normal following a breakdancing injury, so no problems holding nuts in awkward places (oo-er) and can lift things properly again.

EDIT - also the number plates have arrived, pressed aluminium plates, silver on black, were very reasonably priced and will compliment all Chris' hard work on the bodywork hopefully. Got them from http://www.myshowplates.com/ who turned them around quickly to order.

Jack.

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

Keep at it guys and gal, I have put it in the programme!!

[Jack]

Keep at it guys and gal, I have put it in the programme!!

Paul, can you also add "Learning to drive a Jowett" for people like me who've built one but not driven one yet?

Going to have a practice at some stage hopefully, but no spare time for pootling about in the sunshine - we've got a car to build!!!

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Jack, When you/we have finished the car I will replace your name with that of Drummond who is still a named driver on the insurance policy! Need your driving record details though! I suspect Capri owners may have a more stringent test than most.

More pictures on TOPIC

[Chris Spencer]

Weds 21st & Thurs 22nd April

More mechanical progress contines along with fitting up of the bodyshell where possible. Tonight after a couple of hours sorting, getting enough amps to the starter etc Keith got the engine turning over (no ingintion or spark plugs fitted yet) but after some further sorting 75lb oil pressure at the gauge was confirmed. Jack arrived and futher mechanical odds were progressed.

Meanwhile on Weds one corner of the workshop was cleared out, Keith had previously used this area for spraying so with a suitable plastic sheet wall it formed a suitable work area for me to progress the cars panels and control the dust to one area and not allover the workshop. The boot and N/S/R wing are by far the worst panels in alignment compared with the rest put together.

Slowly they are taking shape - when working on panels that require extensive repair it is always better to start with bare metal - this saves having to feather edge previous paint coverings and gives a better quaility finish when painted. I am taking a night off tonight but should make good progress over the wekend and hope to have several panels ready for primer by the close of Sunday.

With all the rubbing down (and a great deal of it is done by hand) I am finding upper body strengths that I have not used for years - the other half approves as well - ( a more fit lean husband ?? ) - hell no it just means that I have had plenty of strength to start the decorating at home as soon as we get the car finished !!

More soon.

[Jack]

A few little jobs, as I was running a bit late due to work and having to go and pay the builders who did the bathroom.

It was great to see the car turning over and oil pressure reading on the gauge. Another milestone for all of us I think, and we have hope that we will have a running engine soon enough.

While Keith and Chris had a bit of dinner I fitted the door hinges back on loosely, so they can be adjusted for the doors to go back on. Fiddly bolts, but nothing that presented too many problems.

The reversing light sensor needed a bit of persuading so that it would turn on when reverse selected, but now seems to work perfectly and the bracket was bolted on to the top of the engine.

The dip switch was bolted into place, a bit fiddly and I managed to get a bit stuck under the car - unfortunately the shoulders and beer belly didn't help much on this occasion, but hopefully it's now in and I won't have to get under there again until it needs wiring up - I think we'll put the car on the ramps for that

Spark plugs have been checked and have gone in, more steps towards the elusive starting of the engine!

I had to get going as the dinner bell rang at 10:40pm, leaving Keith and Chris still hard at work in the garage.

Hoping to get back from the wedding this weekend to get working on the car Sunday, we'll have to see how hung over everybody is and try and get on the road by lunchtime.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Spoken with Edgware Motor Trim, Bushey, today and arranged to pick up tomorrow .

I reckon we need.
Window Channel T84 x1m
Window glide x3m also for SA
Weatherstrip T96 x1m
Door closer T56 x3m
Wing Piping from 424 or T 61 to 65 x8.5m
Boot seal I like T227 x3m
SA screen but check T624 x3.5m
SC screen T1209 frame size 3mm glass size 6mm x3.5m

[Forumadmin]

Replacement bottle of Argon gas arrrived at lunchtime, so after work I finished the last of the paint stripping and the aluminium welding. Just a couple of bits of steel welding to do on the SA windscreen frame and front valence (the SC windscreen is currently on the SA). John Blanckley is bringing the SC hood frame back on Sunday after being used as a pattern many years ago.

Early start tomorrow, then off to collect the trim moldings, before starting on the many tasks left on the whiteboard.

Will we have a mobile car by the end of the weekend?