S1 Rebuild(s)

[Dave Adams]

some pics of the rebuild process,

the top trailing arm bracket is broke......

the diff is sloping back a little (looking up) so that will need sorting.......

As you can see there isn't a lot of bracing in an S1 chassis, that will be sorted.

[Dave Adams]

A little bit more, i have put a coat of stone chipping on the underneath......a bit thin, but it will help stop it rusting in the near future, and keep the water from the road from the ply floor. and the transmission tunnel has now got a ally covering on the inside.

Why? well if the gearbox and diff leak oil it will hopefully run off rather than soak into the ply. its only the heat shielding that you can buy from B+Q for the back of cookers etc. it has a very sticky self adhesive coating and will i hope stay put.

[Adrian Southgate]

That sticky heat shield sounds like the right sort of stuff for the underside of my bonnet.

[Dave Adams]

I put it under my bonnet last year to stop the exhaust heat bubbling my new paint job.....it stuck very well and is showing no signs of peeling off yet. In fact it seems almost bullet proof. You get a sheet 0f 0.03mm thick ally foil 1m X 600mm in size for about £7.....

[Adrian Southgate]

I'll drop into the one in Bolton tomorrow on the way home, see what I can find.

Cheers Dave.

[Dave Adams]

I have got a late start and a very early finish to day (14:00 finish today, and not starting until 10:00 tomorrow) so i thought i would look at how the seats fit, and the pedal box spacing......and that is where the problems start......

the pedal box is positioned in the same place as before, the pedals are wider and better angled, the seat base is slightly further back......BUT the seat back is more vertical than before and the top of the seat back is further forward by about 1-2 inches, it used to be just behind the roll bar it is now level with it! (well.... slightly forward of it )

So.....angle grinder out and some mods before the car is fully built. i will have to cut the support bar between the roll bar and move it, and that's where the fun will begin. i think i will have to weld a new one over the tops of the shocker top mounts them selves and the seat back tubes will have to be cut and remade and re-welded. that 1-2 inches of seat back slope is vital for the comfort of the car......

And i thought i was done with the body mods.....Bummer.

[Dave Adams]

Well i have looked at the rear seat tub and its getting modified .......it will be sloped back from above the axles highest point. that mea.s the seat back and brace between the shocker tops need cutting out ( done already ) the seat back will be angled back as far as the boot section and axle will allow.
on the plus side i thought one of my new kittens were in my garage as i heard rustleing turns out a hedgehog was hiding in a bag of rags!

[Dave Adams]

well i have been busy, the seat back and the bracing bar between the roll bar uprights has been cut out.

this is what was removed,

the bracing bar needed to be sited backwards by just about 1" but that meant it couldn't go between the uprights so i had to fabricate some brackets th get it to work. A result as now when the boot section is refitted it now marries up to the seat back as it did on the original seating tub.

and....

some paint and some fibreglass and i am where i should have been at the end of last week.....

[Dave Adams]

The rebuild progresses, i now have the rear axle fully fitted and the hand brake almost fully sorted. also i have replaced the brake pipes

and....

I have decided to keep the original brake pipe routing..but i have moved the brake light switch.

anyway back out to the garage and keep chipping away.

[Paul Sheridan]

Getting there mate!  I was thinking of routing the brake and fuel pipes inside the trans tunnel.

[28ullkq4hau58]

many hours of work ====== looking good

[Dave Adams]

thought about that myself, but my transmission tunnel is very narrow and if i have to replace the pipe it may be a hassle to do....it will likely be a hassle where ever i put it to be honnest.

[Pete Clayton]

Looking good Dave. Can you do me a favour and get a pic of the handbrake mechanism on the axle, need to try and work something out on mine when I put it back together.....