Berlingo Forum

Almost 10.30 on Easter Sunday, and I am not expecting to be in the garage before 11.00 

Slow start, Bunny shaped crumpets and coffee, and Sally just left to go work in her garden, cook Uncle Bobs dinners for the next three days.

So I will do a quick write up of yesterday’s work with .

I went shopping early on to see if I could find a fuel filler cap, or radiator cap to fit the neck of the fuel tank.

No luck.

BUT…….. petrolcaps.co.uk is the address Nick had supplied, and is a bona fide supplier of you will never guess……. Yup, petrol cpas.

already dropped off a filler cap earlier this morning that is not a fit, but a good place to start making a new neck for, before wafting off in his W202 Mercedes Benz, sunroof and windows open, Meatloaf’s Bat Outta Hell drifting down the road. 

What a way to use a real 20-something year old car. 


Back to yesterday.

Nick proceeded to plan where to attach the high pressure fuel filter, changing his mind three times.

The tank was also fitted and removed three times, including removing the fuel pump unit to establish the feed  and return, as I could not remember which way they went. 

Making a clamshell bracket took longer than a few minutes, as did attaching it, and some other brackets for the various fuel lines and pipes. 



There you see well over 10 minutes of work.



Result 



And second fitment of three.

Yes, of course I helped. (Someone had to jack it up, fit axle stands and make coffee) 



In the mean time, I carried on with other jobs, including the dash testing, some more dash reshaping in order to fit the steering column shroud once covered in vinyl.

In and out about 6 times for fine tuning.

Also now fits with all the studs glued in place and holes drilled.



Another job that took an easy hour was again, fitting and fine tuning the switches that have been retained or added from the MX5 donor.

Fog lights, cluster lighting, hazard light switch, heater/blower switch and of course the twin USB charger points.

This little cover for the Hazard switch took forever to work till it was round enough, with flattened fixing tabs at the back, made from one bit of flat Dexian shelving. 



Trust me, once covered in scrim foam and vinyl it should look a bit better.



While the body was up in the air, we also started to cut and trim the rear box donated, and the straight length ordered this week.

I had to be shut and showering by 6.00pm for a chest CT scan hospital appointment at 7.30 

Yes, they work on a weekend too.

Amazing team I was dealt by.

A bit of fiddling, a bit of luck should see the pipe miss all the obstructions, both fixed and moving.




I tried one more little job just as we closed shop.

I hope has stopped laughing, because he was still laughing when he drove off toward the sunset and home.

Suffice it to say, one of my plans had completely backfired, and the joy he got from it was amazing.

I am sure he will be along to,explain…….



Mate Fil did a quick Photoshop of a pic I had sent him when we were chatting about how far we had made it.




Well, it is 10.51 now, 30 minutes later.

Need to get out and spend some time moving more small jobs along.

Later gang.

So in between domestic duties, and a variety of things, I also spent so e time down at the garage.

Not a lot of time, but still a little bit of progress.

dropped off a fuel filler cap with a key.

Thos was not a fit, but got me thinking.

So I went back to my pile of 3 vintage fuel caps, all with at least one key.

Found one I liked, that has two keys.

And started with a bit of offcut 2” mild steel exhaust pipe.

Cut and shaped to counter the weird angle of the tank filler exit.

Followed by some measuring and then using my large step drill, and a half-round file. 



Filed till the hole was the right size, measured, marked and filed to allow the tabs entry.



Test fitted.

Liking that.



Glued it together.





Hammerite tomorrow.



Following this, I made a major cock up.

I used a flap disc to smooth down the mounting plates, then a bit of satin black to seal the open steel.

So the next job was cutting the scrim foam to size, spraying the contact adhesive on both surfaces and joining them.

Major mistake………

Once on top of each other, I walked over the back of the dash panel to ensure maximum adhesion.

Mistake, mistake, mistake, and Nick will give me a bollocking, maybe.

Amazingly, the pattern of the brick paving has gone through and is visible on the scrim foam.

Tomorrow morning I will cut the excess off with a scalpel blade.

Then apply a second coat to absorb the irregularities.





I also closed shop early and spent some time with Sally, she continues to put up with me playing in the garahe. 

So we went for a 3 mile walk over the marshes and took Bonnie along, she loves these walks.

So many smells and things to see. 

Different from her previous life, caged up 24/7 in a block of apartments.



I keep repeating this, but it is true.

Little jobs that keep stealing,time.

But life is good.

And this was how I solved this one for myself.

Could have made it at an angle, had it at an angle, but then minimal OCD kicked in and fitted it straight.

Also tempted to change the colour to blue to make it contrast and look like a Record brand tool, which it is.

The toolbox of course stays as part of the illusion.





Waiting for the first horn beep and wild gesticulating.

Went to fill my car today and saw this van.

You certainly cannot ignore it.

As an ex serviceman myself, and possibly being true to my own beliefs, this really does appeal.





Owner was proud of his immaculate car.

Easter Monday.

Some parts of the world has had a 4 day weekend, and thus a short 4 day week ahead. 

Various tasks, including food shopping, also wanted to get a digital photo done for a new passport application.

But photo shop was shut for the long weekend.  

Job for another day then.

Got back by 11.00 and in the garage by 11.15, coffees in hand as Nick had already started and opened the shop.

Time consumers continue to consume more time than anticipated. 

So I carried on tidying phase one of the “upholstery” 

Clearing holes, padding the kick panels and inner side panels with the ever patient Nick guiding and explaining the finer intricacies of scrim foam, which it turns out, is super sensitive to pressure, irregularity and even the contact adhesive before it fully dries.



Using a strip of the vinyl I used to to create the right tolerances for switchgear and panel fit.

Thanks Nick for the warning and advice on that, disaster avoided, again. 



The dash will get a second coat of scrim foam this week, in order to make it plush once covered.

Interestingly, the seller is out of stock of black vinyl.

When I tried to buy another meter of black it showed no stock.

Grrrrrrr.

Monday came around and we carried on with the exhaust pipe 

Starting at the down pipe flange, measuring, cutting and welding the straight pipe together.

Short video clip. CLICK LINK. 

https://youtu.be/P17LbbgotUs

Resulting in this. 





A load of jiggery pokerey and push and pulling later, Nick extended the over axle exhaust section as it became apparent that the anticipated route of the pipe was not ideal when I realised it could go over the rear shock and axle, not between them.

Having cut the straight pipe to accommodate the bend in the initial position it now needed about 50mm added onto it to reach the straight sleeve.



In the mean time I found some 12mm rod to add to the chassis and exhaust to fit the rubber hangers to.

Some serious bending and banging later these went on.



Both done, a few more to make up.

Time thieves, but they all need making up.
 


Some tight spot grinding, and welding.

All good fun ehhh?





Getting us to this point.



Now the next hour or so was spent along with other bits of time, trying to make the rear box had donated, fit in the space available as a side exit was also out the question.

In the end I decided to order a shorter, 315mm long, 2 inch exit/entry rear box from Jetex on Ebay, in black so it blends.

Another £50.00 scattered to the hobby gods.

Delivery expected Thursday.

Hopefully cutting and shaping the over axle pipe to get it shorter and mounted higher won’t take half a day, and then the box and a tip attached to the rear as well as the hanging brackets that need to be individually made and shaped before welding them on.

Once we had the car off the axle stands where it had lived the last week, I measured the lowest point on the exhaust with two passengers loaded and like the front crossmember it came to 90mm or 3 inches.



Seemed pretty low……….

BUT

Looking at the year 2000 Mazda MX5 dimensions it seems it was a low car to start with.




4 day week this week.

Day job squarely in the way of fun, but have bought 4 more exhaust hanger rubbers and a couple of other small jobs to fit in after hours.

More about them later.

Thanks for checking in and posting your replies, opinions, and advice.

Much appreciated.

Badges.

Remember them.

Covered in floor polish, crazy? Seems not.







Last night I also added the second layer of scrim foam.



Tonight I cut it back and then trimmed the edges.

Next stop will be the black vinyl.

Fingers crossed.



Also yesterday, I went to JWE engineering to see about having a Custom propshaft made up.

Mazda one side, Ford on the other.

Around £200.00 and I supply the MX5 propshaft to have a Ford back end added on.



So I measured it and delivered ‘them today.



Turn around time could be 2-3 days 

.the differential flange uses bolts, screwed into it.

Weird size that I cannot readily buy off the shelf is a collared, M10 x 1 and 18mm long bolt.

So need to get four of these high tensile bolts.



I continue to be amazed by some vendors on Ebay.

On Monday evening I ordered this silencer. 

Delivered before midday today.

Service.

Compared to the unit gave me, this is a bit shorter and smaller.

Just hope it all fits neatly.





Last bit of delivery pleasure today was the stick on number plate to go on the rear.



This will fit in above the fuel filler toolbox and next to the rear lights.

.

.

24 Hours…….


Who is looking in on this thread?


Almost 1400 views in 24 hours. Well, 1385 in the last 24 hrs.






I am amazed and guess there are a certain amount of lurkers out there clicking in and out and never commenting.

Thank you all who take the time to post comments and advice.

Plus pop in for a cuppa and cookies. 



.

I look forward to the daily updates on here

(21-04-2022, 09:58 PM)Matt Haigh Wrote: [ -> ]I look forward to the daily updates on here

Thank you Matt






Small parcel in the mail yesterday.

Thanks again for making the effort for a total stranger. 

I suspect many of you can guess where the name badge is headed.

The RocketPigs are actually left handers, or mirror images of the ones I painted before. 

My mild OCD asked for them to all be pointing forward and Pete was kind enough to print off a new set. 

Also included was the cars name.




I managed to snap one on trying to straighten it out gently, so added automotive double sided tape to fix it to the toolbox on tje rear.

Than followed up with black paint all over.



Then 4 very light coatings of silver chrome paint.



Once fitted to the rear of the Rezin Rockit they will be fixed to it.

But before that I need to paint the background out in black to allow the letters to “pop”



While I was down there, I decided to give vinyl covering the first kick panel a go.

Contact adhesive, light pressure, new Stanley knife blade and away we go.

Curve done first, many cuts to allow the best stretching and shaping on the curve.





Job completed, well, first panel done. 



And fitted.

Yes, I know…...

Loads more to get done.



If the rest of the vinyl comes out this well, I will be very pleased.

Weekend tomorrow.

Lots to do.