little bit of progress report...............

engine & gearbox are in :D :D

was quite surprised how much the front of the car dropped when i took the tension off the engine hoist :eek:
checked ride height clearance = 5inches from tarmac to bottom of the lower chassis rails close to the footwells,
also the only part that is lower than the chassis rail is 25mm of the gearbox bellhousing, does that sound about right?

felt good seeing the engine in the chassis :)

cheers
andy

Andy

Well done mate, good progress there! Ground clearance sounds about perfect, that's what I'm aiming for. As long as nothing will hit the floor when you have a puncture using your chosen wheel/tyre combination, everything should be fine.

Cheers and well done

Adrian

Thanks Adrian, must admit i hadn,t thought of the puncture scenario:eek:
looking at the chassis, if i have a puncture then i still think the respective wheel would hold the chassis off the tarmac,

cheers
andy

Well done Andy
 

That is good news, it certainly must look a bit different with the engine & box fitted :cool:

Wheels on mine by the end of the month :D

Good going for me, I have only been building for Two years :cool: :o

Well done dude,

Get us a photo mate!

My V6 fitted too, just! Keep an eye out on your postbox! Santa's coming again!

Thanks Ronnie/Spikehaus.

yes it looks so different :)

guess who forgot to take the camera today????:o

photos tomorrow i promise.

i,ll keep my eyes peeled for the postie, tho he tends to be in & out of our garden quite quickly as the 8 dogs are always eyeing him up :D :D

cheers
andy

James May off Top gear this week reckoned that over 5000 posties get a bite each year, are they all from your house????

:D pleased to say that none of my dogs have tasted a postmans leg yet,
they can see the postie but are behind an 8ft fence, tho it must look pretty scary having a German Shepherd & 7 wolf looking dogs watching your every move :eek: :D

when we first moved in some kids climbed into the garden to get their football, the dogs were loose in the garden at the time, kids ring the doorbell to ask for their ball now,:D

andy

Andy I can forward you my pics I took today for you to post on here if ya want?:D

as promised here are a couple of photos of engine in the chassis, tho it will come out again to allow painting & fitting of the floor.

andy

Nice one
 

Your progress is looking good Andy :cool:

Always nice to see the engine in its new home ;)

The build is coming along nicely, you'll be done in next to no time :) :)

Well done Andy! We are neck and neck now on our builds, but I think you will be in the fast lane from now on!

Did you clean that again???

:D i must admit :o its had a bit of a clean up, tho i,m not kidding myself , i know there is still ALOT of work to be done, but yes it feels good seeing the engine in place.
here,s a side photo showing the clearance, the only bit below the chassis rails is the bottom of the bell housing, i,ve used a shortened Zetec sump.


even tho the engine clears the bottom rails of the chassis there is still clearance above the oil filler cap to the bonnet.

andy

Looking sh*t hot mate!
Wont be too long until you can have a blat up a "private" road!!

Cheers Ronnie,Spike & Jase,

here,s a photo without the nose.
where i,m building (at mothers house) she lives in a quiet close/cul de sac approx 400mtrs long, not exactly private but you know;) :D
stripdown time tomorrow, then painting & floor should be in by end of next week, so once thats done i can start putting it together to stay together at last:cool:


excuse the gaffer tape, that was used to hold bonnet in place whilst checking clearances.

That`s looking very good, if you don`t mind me saying so Andy!
I have spent all day trial fitting my Zetec engine but I aren`t sure how high I can go with it, would you mind measuring the height that the nosecone & bonnet are when fitted, i.e. above the top rails so I know how much clearance I have to play with? Thanks, Dennis

Hi Dennis,
thanks for your kind words :)
yes no prob , i can measure the available space for you, tho it,ll be tomorrow as my car isn,t at my home address, if you PM me your mobile/landline number i can call you whilst i,m with the car & get any measurements you wish, would that be ok for you?

cheers
andy:)

Thanks Andy, you have a PM, Dennis.

doing well andy. im sure you dont go home some days.

spent the afternoon rubbing down and painting my wishbones. hopefully gonna be test fitting the engine on sunday if the weather is good.

cheers Ash, yeah it seems like that some days, :eek: :D
the wife always sends me a text to remind me that if not home in next 15 mins my dinner goes to the dogs :eek:

good luck with your engine trial fitting,

andy:)

Looking good andy :)

Give me a shout if you need a hand as you know im only 15mins away :cool:

Dont know how long you plan on keeping that engine in but if you want i will come help you change your valve stem oil seals as they are probably brittle and perished if they aint been done already (common prob) and are quite cheap and simple to change without needing to take the head off.

Thanks Mark, yes please to the offer of your help, i,ll PM you & arrange when etc. thanks.:)

here are 2 more photos, as from a discussion earlier today, these pics MIGHT help when placing the gearbox into position.
if anyone wants a photo of a specific point for the engine/box position then just shout (PM me ), tho the engine will be coming out in next few days:eek:

Looking great Andy, though I can;t see the decal! :rolleyes:

:D yeah ya can ;) its on the bottom of the gearbox, :eek: :D

thanks Slim, still a long way to go, but day by day its getting there.

cheers
andy

Well she's rollin rollin rollin. I thought I to would be posting a couple of pics today of my rolling chassis. Stayed out in the garage last night to the wee small hours and was mega chuffed to have reached this mile stone and couldn't wait to shout about it until .............. my wife and youngest daughter where in a three car accident this morning. Everyone ok but when I arrived there where four ambulances, lady on spinal board etc and was quite scary. Of course she was the last car and will have to take a large portion of the blame for not leaving enough distance to be able to stop. So shit day waiting in hospital etc. Car will probably be write off so build will need to be put on hold to gather some funds, you just know payout will be crap and excess to be deducted etc. Off to get some cider!!

J

:eek: Jimmy, i,m glad to hear your family are ok physically, the car is a bit of metal & stuff that can be replaced.
best regards to you & your family,

andy

Sorry to hear about this Jimmy, it kind of puts things in perspective at times. We all understand that your project may be on hold for a while, but don't be a stranger to the Forum. You can still talk about it even if you can't be building. Maybe if you post what region you are in, someone near you will let you sit in there Roadster?

had a busy day yesterday, had to remove the engine & gearbox yesterday, (don,t ask why):o

so took the engine out yesterday morning, engine was only out for half an hour:o & then back in it goes,
cos it took less time than i thought it would i decided to start fettling the bodywork in readiness for final fitting hopefully next week, got quite a bit done .

here,s a pic from yesterday....



cheers
andy

Looking good andy :)

By the way have you seen a blue felt tip pen anywhere? i think i dropped it somewhere outside your garage last time i came to see you! :D :D :p

looking good, cant wait till mine starts taking shape properly.

:o :D
nah... i nicked that from my mothers bingo bag, lol

thanks for your kind words Mark & Peter, its amazing what a boost it gives when it starts to look like a roadster :cool:

cheers
andy
ps, engine is in for good now, after a little mishap.

Cool
 

Looking great Andy, the Roadster is certainly taking shape now :) :cool:

C'mon, spill the beans on your misshap :D

If you do, I may go public with my major cock up :o

That`s looking really good Andy, go steady or you`ll have nothing to do over winter!
Do you think you can do me a favour and measure your bonnet for me?, I need the measurement from front to rear (along the centre line ) & along each side where it meets the side panels (front/rear also).
Thanks, Dennis

Dennis, no prob, pm me your contact number again & i,ll phone you tomorrow & get any measurements you need.


Ronnie........:o :o

guess who forgot to put the metal plate between the box & engine block into place when i,d fitted a new clutch & then in excited haste installed the engine back into the chassis :o

if anyone needs an engine removing from a Roadster I now think i could do it with my eyes closed , i,ve done it soooooooo many times :D

come on then spill the beans Ronnie.

andy

Andy, you have a PM, thanks, Dennis.

Fair do's
 

That must have been a bummer but an easy error to make.

If only my cock up was that easily sorted :(

As you know, I have been spending the last couple of weeks having a darn good clear out of years n years of clutter that I have been hoarding in the workshop.

My build is now sitting proudly on its wheels in the middle of the workshop. I have oodles of room to wander about & admire my progress.

I have the rear wheels on my extra level section of the floor ( Used to be my fabrication area ).
Thinking that this would be an ideal chance to set the rear wheel camber, I grabbed my MF builders square for some initial indication of the amount of adjustment required.

Squatting down by the rear wheel, ohhh the bliss of having the room to sit on the floor next to the build :D

My joy was very short lived !!??

I soon noticed that I have sort of, er um ........... have the upper rear shock mounts in the wrong place ( Too far to the rear ) & the shocks are slightly on the piss :eek:

They are going to be a real bar-steward to cut off. Kinda hoping i'll be able wash them off with my BOC Firefly gas axe without causing too much heat distortion.

If the worst comes to the worst, I guess i'll have to re-work the plates :o

If that is the only major cock up that I make during the build, i'll live & learn !!

Hopefully we can meet up somewhere too.

Nice work mate, looking bloody good.

Cheers

Rich

Andy, got your message Thanks very much, couldn`t call you back your number didn`t show up on my phone, but thanks again, will speak soon no doubt, Dennis

Thanks Rich, if ever you fancy driving up to my place just shout, i,ll blag a passenger ride if you do :o :D :D

can,t wait to drive my own, yeah when i,m on the road we,ll meet up for a sedate drive ( 1.8cvh engine ) :o

cheers
andy

Sedately my ar5e !!!!!!!