Lots of bits done today. Chopped out and re-made the steering column support as I didn't have enough room for the clutch foot. Modified the accelerator pedal, made the rear bulkhead so I have something to rest my back on and filled and primed the front mudguards. These are now just about ready for paint. Rear mudguard brackets all finished and now being powder coated with the rear mudguards being shaped and filled. Not going to go too over the top with preparation as they need to show a few battle scars to look as if they are originals.....

Not too much progress over the last couple of weeks, but found a spare hour today to make up the brackets and mudguard stays. A bracket has been welded to the brake hub which the stays will bolt to. certainly not over-engineered, using 8mm tube for the stays but so little weight so should be fine.

Two pieces of thin plywood cut to the right radius with polystyrene bonded between them forms the mould. The polystyrene was then scraped out to form the 'hollow' and then covered with filler to allow it to be sanded smooth. Packing tape has been used rather than paint to save time. All that is needed is to wax the tape

 First one, three more to go! Will need trimming down in width and length, plus a little sanding but glad to say it released from the mould with out destroying it.

......And the cardboard templates. Drivers side done, now the passenger side.......

About time I had a floor to sit on so have brazed up a lightweight frame from thin angle to add support. The floor will be made from fibreglass sheet and over-clad with thin aluminium. Cardboard templates will be the next job.

I have had no luck finding suitable mudguards with the correct radius for the 15" wheels, so have made up a mould. With the narrow tyres I think close fitting ones will look more the part, with the front ones mounted to the hubs to turn with the wheels.

Another milestone reached!
Air in the tyres, petrol in the tank, a piece of chipboard resting across the chassis to sit on and we are away! The first drive up and down the driveway to the amusement of the neighbours, and to my amazement I could lock the wheels (well the front ones at least) with modest pressure on the brake pedal. A bit of a shock to find reverse where first has been for the last 30 years of driving, but all three forward gears could be selected.















OK OK So it has been a while since I have posted, but over the last few months a few more jobs have been done. A prop-shaft was sourced from a later Ruby with 'proper' UJ's. This was cut down and rebuilt with new joints at a cost of £7.00 each. Not bad, my sort of price. The handbrake (lever from a mini) has been cabled up with a 'closed loop' arrangement which runs around a couple of pulleys mounted on the axle casing, seems to work fine. There was no way that the battery was going to fit in the rear as intended, so is now placed in the passenger side. Perhaps a few months behind target but any progress is good progress I keep telling myself............

After much messing about with hoses and water, I couldn't get a reliable water circulation. There was a 'high' point in one of the hoses to the pump (intake) which would air lock and then stop the flow. Knowing the seals in the pump were iffy to say the least I decided to pull it to bits. Oh dear, not a pretty sight! Faced with the option of buying a reconditioned pump at well over £100 I decided to see if there was an alternative. An electric one was a possibility, but again, about £150.00. Trawling the Internet for Hillman Imp parts I came across http://www.corley-conversions.co.uk/  A phone call on Saturday morning resulted in the answers I wanted to hear, 'Yes we have a rebuild kit and you are welcome to collect it anytime today'. Armed with the bits of my pump I took a drive and met Ben Boult who gave them the once over and all the tips on rebuilding it. Thanks Ben!
By late Saturday afternoon the pump was refitted in a different position to avoid air locks. Now circulating fine, and seems to keep it's cool, although I think there is a need for a larger capacity header tank which I will plumb into the top hose.

I reconnected the Alternator (which didn't seem to work when I tried it a couple of months back) and after a few seconds of the warning lamp flickering it went off and gave an output. Perhaps worth the tenner after all!
Thought I would include a video of the engine running. A shame the camera started to slip...........

Engine runs

No picture I’m afraid, but an update on engine progress. First runs a few weeks back proved the Aquaplane head did a good job of filling the bores up with water, so that has been set aside for a skim and re-fit at a later date. As it also seemed to be running hot, I thought it better to get it running right with the cast head. With no expansion tank in the cooling system, it was also too keen on blowing water out of the vent. For some reason it seemed to be running lean, so the jets were adjusted down, but no great improvement

An electric cooling fan and a Landover expansion tank grafted on, it was time to have another play with the carbs. Everything was checked, jets centred, the air slide dropping correctly but it was still not running too well. It seemed to have a nice high speed tick-over with the choke on even though the butterflies were fully closed. Just pondering where it could be drawing its breath from I put a spanner on the manifold to block bolts..............and yes, fancy not checking them when I fitted the carbs! Now running much better.  Will have a go at setting up the mixture with a colour-tune widget at the weekend. I don’t think the neighbours are so keen on hearing the exhaust note late evening as I am!