#114 CCC

[Peter]

The holes in the tunnel will get buttoned back up before the final interior assembly! I still have plenty to do before that happens.

Really, it doesn't show, I thought a couple of week ends and all done.*hmmm*

Only joking *na-na-na* , I know there is a lot to do still but it is coming on great, *thumbs up* I only wish I had the time, skill and cash to do as well as that. Oh, and get on with GRP, which I do NOT!*humpf*

 

[ratrog64]

Still working on the interior.

Really, it doesn't show, I thought a couple of week ends and all done.*hmmm*

Only joking *na-na-na* , I know there is a lot to do still but it is coming on great, *thumbs up* I only wish I had the time, skill and cash to do as well as that. Oh, and get on with GRP, which I do NOT!*humpf*

Thanks for the kind words Peter. I've seen your work, you have the skills.

Just working on the interior. Spending way to much time on things. I have however changed things around a little and picked up about 2+ inches of head room. I got my seat back much more upright then before. The seat base is now all the way down on the original floor pan and my plywood false floor is now just the front half. This has work out very well and made my seat position awesome. I still have to finish the bottom of the seat back pad as you can see the flap in the photo.

I got some more of the carpet glued down and my seat belts installed. Once I install my gas tank I can glue the rear carpet in. I still have to make the front foot well carpets, maybe tomorrow. If the weather is nice tomorrow I might throw the wheels on it so I can free up my paint booth and get the last of the satin black pieces painted.

 

[frodoz737]

Very nice!

 

[ratrog64]

It's actually a worked 1300 with a 1500 kit from the 'go-faster' days in the early '70's. Owner said that it has stainless valves, hardened valves seats and other items I can't recall. The carbs, if they are still DCNF's, were rebuilt by me when I got it since it had been sitting for almost 20 years previous. The original owner was an engineer and had his own in-house metal lathes, etc, so I was very confident the engine was done correctly. The engine never failed me in the time I owned the car.

As for the paint... damn, son! For a garage job that looks better than some of the stuff I see locally here by 'pros' with proper paint booths. Looks great!

I found your framed poster the other day. In the write up about the car you wrote it was a 1600 *thumbs up*. That make me feel a little better! No matter what it is it did run very well.

 

[letterman7]

*laugh* That's funny that poster survived with the car! I think I still have that original file around somewhere.

Now that you have the seats almost done, I'm kinda digging how you did those.

 

[ratrog64]

*laugh* That's funny that poster survived with the car! I think I still have that original file around somewhere.

Now that you have the seats almost done, I'm kinda digging how you did those.

Thanks! They are going to do the job just fine. I'm really happy about being able to sit upright like in a normal car *laugh*. The extra couple of inches make a huge difference! I'm glad I dropped the seat bottom down to the original pan now.

 

[islandman]

I must admit I was somewhat skeptical on your whole approach to the seats but chose to stay silent, I'm glad I did now

Basically you have the lateral support on the side wings of the back, you have the lateral supports that come naturally from the dropped floor pans for the legs (sort of), and you have the maximum headroom from a fixed base. The only thing you are missing in terms of my ideal requirements would be adjustable (forward and back) and being able to adjust the rack/incline to put stuff behind them.

Looking very nice I have to say

 

[sector]

Looks great, but wouldn't this arrangement feel like you are sitting on a flat floor with your legs straight in front of you? Or is there backwards tilt in the bottom cushion that I am not seeing in the photos? Very unique approach. Could you post a photo showing driver's seating posotion.

 

[ratrog64]

I must admit I was somewhat skeptical on your whole approach to the seats but chose to stay silent, I'm glad I did now

Basically you have the lateral support on the side wings of the back, you have the lateral supports that come naturally from the dropped floor pans for the legs (sort of), and you have the maximum headroom from a fixed base. The only thing you are missing in terms of my ideal requirements would be adjustable (forward and back) and being able to adjust the rack/incline to put stuff behind them.

Looking very nice I have to say

Thanks David!

No room behind the seat really, the rear shelf is where my amp and speakers are. I wouldn't want to put stuff on top of them and damage the speaker grills.

And on a side note, I'm sorry to hear about your wife's unfortunate accident. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

 

[ratrog64]

Looks great, but wouldn't this arrangement feel like you are sitting on a flat floor with your legs straight in front of you? Or is there backwards tilt in the bottom cushion that I am not seeing in the photos? Very unique approach. Could you post a photo showing driver's seating posotion.

The seat bottom is about 2" higher in the front then the rear. Gives it a bolstered effect pushing you back into the seat. In the photo it is only about 1" higher in the front. I hadn't added my riser to the front yet. I am surprised how comfortable it is really.

You are sitting pretty much on the floor. Your legs are bent but still pretty much horizontal. No way to change that in these cars unless you significantly lower the pedal assembly or raise the seat up so much that you wouldn't have any head room. I guess the straight leg is similar to a formula type car.

I'll get a few photos when I have someone here at the house with me that can take a few.

 

[islandman]

Thanks for the words of support on the wife, appreciated.


One of the other aspects of your seats I like is the "6 pack" look (well 24 really for the backs) of the padding. Is this something you stitched yourself? I have always thought that a more sculptured look to seats looks better in supercar / sports cars to make them more visually appealing. It's sort of reminiscent of some of the 70's Ferrari upholstery style where they use to put the brass hole rings between each of the "6 packs". Very nice.

My interior hit a standstill many years ago as I just didn't see stuff I liked and didn't want to push forward when I knew I wouldn't be happy with it. Thankfully I think I have a way forward on the dash that I will be happy with. Now all I need to do is find a seat solution that I am happy with and I will be ready to take the plunge on the trimming to finish the car off.

 

[ratrog64]

I did stitch some of the seats, that is until my buddy who does upholstery got frustrated watching me *laugh* then took over. My next set I will get a little more creative / fancy with the pattern. These started out for the other seat I made, then got moved over to these, so I am making them work. I do love the seat with the big round grommets, I've seen them in GT 40's also!

I like how the seats turned out. One thing I really like is that they look proportional in the car. One complaint I have with some of the racing seats is that they are so big. They take up most of the inside of the car and look way out of proportion IMO. Since I won't be racing, I don't need all of that protection / support.

If an off the shelf seat was available, I could have saved myself a whole lot of time and work. But as you know, we are kind of stuck with not much for choices with these cars. So you do what you have to.

I just picked at a bunch of little things today. Got my stainless battery tray mounted. Next time I will buy a smaller one (edit: none available, this is the only size I see). I will be buying a different battery that will fit in the tray better. The Optima battery came with this car and is pretty old.

Got my front hood latch set up and installed. The catch will still have to come off to be painted. But for now its just for fit so I can figure out a hood hinge.

Got the eyebrows mounted and all holes drilled. Still need paint however.

Played with the speaker mounts. I'm pretty upset with these. You would think that they would be tall enough for the speaker they were designed for (6x9). Nope, had to make a small cut out in the hatch lid for the magnet to counter sink in to. I would never made the mold had I known this was the case. NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING! I could have easily made it just a bit taller to accommodate the speaker without having to cut an opening in the shelf, before I made the mold! *very frustrated*

 

[ratrog64]

Seat Angle

Just wanted to post a photo that shows the seat back angle. Pretty upright and comfortable compared to what I had before.

 

[ratrog64]

Hood Installation

Got the hood installed and fitting pretty nice today. No hinges!

I used the same method as original however with my own twist. The hood and pivots are solid as a rock and it works beautifully.

I also mounted two hood levelers / cushions. This is the original hood and it had a bit of a twist to it. Even if it were perfect, this turned out so good I'd do it no matter what. Since this hood only had a center latch, it would have wobbled around without them.

Everything was off the shelf at HomeDepot. I don't have a wrecking yard close by and I wanted something I can very easily duplicate.







The pivot is a 1/4" steel rod about 45" long. It goes from center of drivers fender all the way through to the passenger fender. Having a continuous steel rod as opposed to a bolt on each side completely takes the wobble out of the pivot joint. I use a bushing in the corners of the hood but did not on the body of the car. I might go back and add one on the body but hardly think its necessary. The rod being only 1/4" steel allowed it to fit the contour of the inside of the hood. I wish it was stainless or even aluminum but I had to work with what was available.
The bushing is a bifold closet door piviot drilled out to fit the 1/4" rod. The adjuster was 1/4 20 thread so it didn't take much drilling. I used a 17/64" bit and it was perfect.

 

[ratrog64]

Hood adjusters.

These are the props at each front corner of the hood. Fully adjustable and they have a nice padded surface which is important since they rest on the underside of the hood. These took the twist out of the hood and made it sit so nice. A little push at the center and I can latch it and it is very snug. *thumbs up*

Off the shelf stuff from the HD and once painted I think will look good. Regardless of how they look, since the hood will be down, they work great and that's whats important.







Simple adjustable furniture feet which had a 1/4" 20 thread, 2 - 1/4" x 1" bolts, 2 - 1/4" 20 couplers, 4 - 1/4" washers and 2 - 1/4" 20 nuts. Add a self leveling pad to cushion the hood and hopefully keep it from getting a spider crack.

 

[frodoz737]

Excellent work Roger. *thumbs up* Would you consider revisiting the fender rod pivots/feeds with secured bushings or bearings later?

 

[ratrog64]

Excellent work Roger. *thumbs up* Would you consider revisiting the fender rod pivots/feeds with secured bushings or bearings later?

Thanks *thumbs up* I might still install a bushing however its not really necessary. The fenders in this area are well over a 1/4" thick and I don't see any issues. I even had to elongate the holes a little because I didn't quite get them in the right place and its still solid as a rock. The only reason I'd do it is if it got sloppy or just because it would be nicer. A bearing would be way overkill, super cool but out of my league. Main point is how often does the hood get opened? 10 times a year? 20? And opening it anyway will not create wear or do damage. Its just a steel rod pivoting about 45 degrees in a fiberglass hole. I do have an idea and might do it next time I have help at my garage again (my bro).

 

[islandman]

Got the hood installed and fitting pretty nice today. No hinges!

I used the same method are original however with my own twist. The hood and pivots are solid as a rock and it works beautifully.

There is a lot to be said for Keeping It Simple. I also came to the conclusion that the original hinge position was just fine also with a twist. In my case I used fibreglass kitty hair filler to thicken up the bonnet corner where the bolt goes through so it was about 1.5" thick. This stops the wobble and keeps the bolt perpendicular to the body even with gas rams pressing on it. I used drilled out stainless rivnuts for the bushes, both bonnet and body side (these were uncompressed and bonded in). Simple black rubber grommet between the hood and body hides the bolt when shut. My long cap bolts are a tight fit in the bonnet kitty hair, so I only need to tap one through from inside the fender back into the bonnet and the whole bonnet removes in less than a minute as the other stays in situ, just lift the bonnet one side and take the whole thing out.

 

[ratrog64]

There is a lot to be said for Keeping It Simple. I also came to the conclusion that the original hinge position was just fine also with a twist. In my case I used fibreglass kitty hair filler to thicken up the bonnet corner where the bolt goes through so it was about 1.5" thick. This stops the wobble and keeps the bolt perpendicular to the body even with gas rams pressing on it. I used drilled out stainless rivnuts for the bushes, both bonnet and body side (these were uncompressed and bonded in). Simple black rubber grommet between the hood and body hides the bolt when shut. My long cap bolts are a tight fit in the bonnet kitty hair, so I only need to tap one through from inside the fender back into the bonnet and the whole bonnet removes in less than a minute as the other stays in situ, just lift the bonnet one side and take the whole thing out.

*very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated*

Damn, so now you share this! Where were you this morning when i was in the planning stages?

The riv nuts is a great idea!

 

[islandman]

*very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated**very frustrated*

Damn, so now you share this! Where were you this morning when i was in the planning stages?

The riv nuts is a great idea!

LOL...Technically I did share this, 2 1/2 years ago *thumbs up*

http://www.sterlingkitcars.com/members_n_forums/11663-post17.html