With the engine out of the donor GT and the roadster stripped I really wanted to see if it did really slip straight in and it did more or less. The top of the trans tunnel was cut open to allow for the height LT77 to go up to give the correct mounting angle of the engine. Also I turned the rubber engine mounts upside down to see if I could lower the engine, almost worked but the exhaust manifolds just hit the engine bay and I didn’t want to start cutting them about so I fitted the mounting rubbers the correct way up. I also cut the mounting stud to the engine mounting down to 15mm, as the effort to fit the last V8 resto engine was a real pain as the studs seemed just too long. And what do you know the engine slipped straight in with plenty of stud showing to get a nut on.
Engine out and rubber trial
Difficult to see but the engine mounting stud on the body, plenty of thread for a nut, even with a packing piece on the O/S
One reason for getting the engine as low as possible is I’m fitting a Holley Terminator throttle body EFI system. This is a full kit with a self-learning ecu, oxygen sensor etc. Bit nervous as I have always been a carb man, so only time will tell.
Initially I wanted dual exhaust, but to do it properly it needs the tank moving over to allow for the O/S pipe, cables and pipes moving, and as I want to drive this hopefully next year I have decided to go for a twin pipe system in stainless steel. The centre box is actually an X pipe inside with baffles, main system is 2 ¼” pipe. Initially there won’t be a rear box, but time may tell if too loud. Also Im not sure if I will go up and over the axle or as the norm, underneath. But again this will be decided when I get the uprated and lowered rear springs.
I have cut the outrigger to allow for the tube to be as high as possible and will box this up when the body is on the rotisserie, I also modded the gearbox mount to allow the pipes to run as high as possible but to still give a lot of strength, and while at it the new gearbox mounting position was welded up to it.
I have also used a rear RB exhaust mounting system for the middle box, this way it is maintenance proof, any bits required in the future are easily available.
I also wanted the car to sit better, so I cut out the rear chassis legs and fitted new CB legs, this allows the car to drop 1” here and gives me the fixings for the chrome bumper mounts. The other 1” drop will be by a pair of uprated and 1” lower springs, rather than the lowering blocks. Just the O/S shown with new closing D panel.
The other thing I wanted was an old school, toggle switch dash. I thought a lot of faffing but it was actually very simple. Once the old dash and column support was removed the old school dash bolted straight up. R/B column in the phots wouldn’t go all the way up in the recess ( first 2 pics ) so an old steering column was purchased, The bottom support had to be made a little bit longer as the steering column pressing on the R/B body meant I had to move the lower clamp a bit back up the column, but the difference visually is minimal.
I’m going to use a single stalk, indicator, main/dip and horn press, this way I don’t have to faff about with the horn contact ring under the steering wheel. I also have another dash which is complete with glove box and lid/trim, heater controls etc, but considering the additional 2″ gauge hole to the right of the fuel gauge ( see trial dash in pics ). I quite like the look of it, also it means I can have a separate temp gauge and oil pressure gauge and fuel gauge, all matching and all a lot cheaper than the std dual water/oil gauge.
With the rear bumper off the rear end was tided up, hidden behind the rear bumper mounting reinforcing pates was rust, time to cut it out now and the rear valance to wing corrosion. Much was the same on the N/S.
Also while at the back it was time to add the CB fillets under the rear lights. I’m using the Mk1 rear lights for the resto as I just like the more rounded shape, so a easily available set of CB front and rear pieces were purchased to convert the rear and front indicator areas, pictures tell the story.
They fit where they touch, after a few hours trimming and shaping with the shrinker and stretcher a reasonable result was obtained. I’m waiting now to weld these to the car so I can get them vertical or as near as possible to it.
Next the radiator closing panel and chassis legs had to be modified a bit. I’m fitting the recessed grill, or fish mouth as some know it, at the moment I have 3 and still trying to find one that won’t take months to repair, and because of the thin material, can be repaired. I wanted the chassis legs at the front to look something like they were meant to be there and not just chopped off, so added a bit of a return flange to them, do nothing so rigidity but looks like it should be there. Also no sharp corners or points to stab your fingers on when prepping for paint. The slam panel was removed as it just made it easier here to work, and also I’m making my own twin fan mounting for the new alloy radiator, the the extra room with it removed will be helpful. V8 oil filter mounting panel added at this stage as well.
While the chassis leg was open a fixing plate with a pair of 7/16” nuts was fabricated for the bumper irons to bolt thru. At this moment I’m not using the front bolt to go right thru the chassis leg, I just don’t think it’s worth it, hardly adds any strength to the front bumper mounting, and if anyone hits the car that hard it shears the bolt then there will be more than that to worry about. The plate was rose welded into the chassis section, it’s not going anywhere. Also ones the welding was completed then the inside of the box was treated to a liberal spraying of rich zinc primer as far as it would go.
The mod to the N/S chassis leg revealed rot, this was cut out and new piece of box section was let in with supporting tabs welded internally over the joints from the old to new chassis leg sections for extra rigidity.
And on to the N/S. Initial inspection of the car I couldn’t find any real rust, however as we all know this can be hidden, and by others some times. I’m not saying this was bad or going to fail but it just didn’t look right, wanted tidying and sorting permanently. The inner wing reinforce had a top plate welded on, yep fine but not nice, so a new BMH turret was fitted after a bit of removal. Couple of new panels cut in wing top mount rail and a set of correct splash panel fixings finished the cob properly and should last the lift time of the car now there isn’t any rust left.
Bit more front end, the closing strip welded to the front bumper indicator area and converted to CB was added, again a bit of work with the shrinker and stretcher was needed to get the curvatures right to avoid lots of filler to make good. Other issue was the dreadful shape of the curve on the front wing where the grill fits. It must be because the wings were designed for the rubber bumper model and grill then there was no care or checking this shape. There was no way it would ever fit any of the grills, so I had to slice the front into the correct curve and then weld up with the correct return flanges on the wing. It now lets the grill sit correctly.
Classics and Restorations 