Yeah I know. Only made of ally. Its an hours labour in the end and purely bespoke. Its not like I sent him a cad file and that was that. I need to get access to a workshop or lathe

Kerrly, I havn't quite sorted this out yet. I have made the adaptors etc. like in the faq that modify the mk2 handbrakes to fit the rear discs. However, I have an early 'loon with the gammy hand brake cable (all one piece along the back). Therefore I'm going to have to make a hybrid of the late, two piece rear cables and the early front cable. I think i have it sorted, but need to jimmy it all up. Its these little niggles that are holding me back.

I'm heading towards the same issue. I don't want to do what narrowlane did and swap handbrake tunnel's.

Be sure to update when you sort it to give me a chance :-)

Swap the mounting plate on the tunnel, it's not that hard if you're handy with a welder and a grinder.

An evening should see it done

Just done the same on my '83 saloon so I could fit the larger injection fuel tank.

I'm not any good with a welder. I dont mind faffing trying to make it fit. I'll update when done

so whats the predicted on the road date for this badboy simon?

dude i love this, honestly, bay looks awesome so clean and tidy, engine with all new bolts etc is awesome too, i didnt bother haha

Yeah I know. Only made of ally. Its an hours labour in the end and purely bespoke. Its not like I sent him a cad file and that was that. I need to get access to a workshop or lathe

do you not have access to one at school or any schools in your area (i'd use the old "6th form project" excuse)?

we had 2 in our workshop that the pupils weren't allowed to use anymore. plus i scored a huge milling machine that was going to get weighed in otherwise. gave it to my mate as it was both 3 phase and i had no room :(

Macksimus, I may do. I'll have to sweet talk the other NQT Tech Teacher into letting me have a looky-go. I'll keep an ear out for equipment going for scrap. Did you still want that tow bar btw? How was the road trip?

Eric, dare I say march? I really want to get the most out of her over the show season. I'm working on her sunday and hope to have brakes finished including handbrake. Then final work on the exhaust hanger. That then leaves the engine to get running (still need to get a 12v fuel pump). Its looking closer each day now though, and I'm confident about finishing her soon. Although I know I'll faff about/something will go wrong.

Harris, thanks. Nice to hear the good comments. I'm looking at changing the rocker though for a more 'period' piece though

awesome! sounds good buddy! shame about the pump! can you get a refund?

I bought it a couple of years ago off a fella on here. Came 'free' with the carbs so no biggy, just inconvenient

Macksimus, I may do. I'll have to sweet talk the other NQT Tech Teacher into letting me have a looky-go. I'll keep an ear out for equipment going for scrap. Did you still want that tow bar btw? How was the road trip?

the road trip has taken a bit of a detour. did a couple thousand miles round new england (massacheussets, maine, vermont, new hampshire), a jaunt to NYC then drove another couple thousand from boston to miami in one of those RVs that's a big as a house (no shit). decided to dip our toes into yachting for a bit and have ended up today being offered jobs in the caribbean. so my projects will have to wait a bit longer till i get back to them. a shame as i've got my freshly reupholstered tombstones and modded rear seat to go into the bready.

yeah - i'm still up for the towbar. could you post it or was it pick up only? (i've sent a golf towbar thru interparcel.com and it was inexpensive)

if i could either paypal or bank transfer the money to you and then get the address of my mate who's looking after my garage, then he can tuck it up safely till i get back. does that work for you?

still getting my polo fix on the other side of the pond!

Wow, sounds like your having a great time. To let you know though we're having unseasonally good weather here, 30oC at least Seats look lovely mate

I dont mind posting it, but I'm in no rush, just wait until your back and drop me a PM if you want

Bit of work on the motor today. Faffed about with the hand brake, only one side is engaging. Apparently need to take up the slack. More work on that next week. Bolted the rear engine mount back on properly. What a pig! Still trying to get the bumpers looking right. The chrome paint i used seems to react with everything which is gay. Have laquered the chrome strip, but even thats reacted. Doesn't look too bad, but may change it yet. Cleaned and painted a few rsuty parts, nothing major.

Also did some work on the rear exhaust hanger. It was hanging really low and being a loon, there's the cut out on the rear valance. Really wanted it tucked up inside that. However the Ashley exhaust isnt designed for the 'loon and so doesn't have an upward kink. Solution: custom hanger with rubbers removed

Sits perfectly now, right up in the arch. The hanger is made from stainless steel cobered with exhaust heat wrap to stop the stainless wearing through the back box

No other major updates unfortunatley. Waiting on a fuel pump so I can fit that next week as well as some brake fluid hose to connect the reservoirs to the MC

Adios

Looking great simon!

Pitty we could'nt see it at the RR

Yeah, well. Its little things like these that take ages to sort. If it was all standard gear, I'm sure this wouldnt take so long and I'd be there at the RR day

It has been a good read from the beginning to now.

With projects like this though i always think, surely it would be easier to get the engine in running first with standard parts then modify it while it is on the road so thast you can enjoy the car at the same time.

I love the attention to detail on this though and even though you have sprayed the bay 4 times, it shows the level of attention you want from it.

I've subscribed to this

Yes, it would have been easier your right. But i have never been in any massive rush to get it on the road. Plus as you can appreciate, with all the work done, it would be off the road so much, its not worth taxing etc. The original engine was seized anyhow, so it needed the new lump regardless.

And yes, I'm striving for detail here, and thats half the problem. I'm finding myself cutting a few corners now though as if its not done by march, I'm going to miss the majority of use for it over the summer as it will only be taxed etc during the summer months. I have another project lined up too, but this one has to be done before I start anything new.

Anyhow, fuel pump ordered (and waiting at collection office I think) as well as a few other goodies to get the brakes finished. Really hoping to have her running or brakes finished this weekend. Fingers crossed something else doesnt go wrong. How many times have i said this

Collected these beauties from the Post Box yday.

Its a 12V one this time! Whoop!

And these to accompany the new handles

More updates over the weekend

Sweet man. You running a reg or return?

T-piece return to begin with. Hopefully it'll be ok, most people have no issues. Just off to fit it now. With any luck, my exhaust parts will be there too

Yeah man screw regs lol. More people should use bike pumps :) good luck

The pump is wired in and running fine, ticking set much louder than the 24v one, which makes sense!

sweeeet! get it running boy!

Pump won't seem to draw fuel from the tank. The nose is nose is up in the air, and there's only a gallon innyhe tank. I'll drop the front and see what happens. However, the engine won't turn over more than once on the starter before the battery dies Ideas anyone?

The pumps ain't meant to draw more than 30cm height and should be mounted as close to pump as poss, it will run a LOT quieter once it has some fuel in it mate, I connected one up and it was well loud until it had fuel in lol :)

Does the battery die. Or does the starter stop or what?

Quite a successful day today. Spenf the first hour wiring and plumbing in the new fuel pump. Glad I had to do this as I've tidied up the previous attempt. Anyhow, ticks over (its quite loud, is that normal) and is now drawing fuel from the tank after dropping the front and putting another 15 litres of fuel in. Initially it was leaking out of the carbs, until i did the bowl screws up however, its still leaking a little, but it was dark when I left.

Anyhow, spent the majority of the morning wrestling the drive shafts in place. Grrrr! Though its all finished now. Got covered in graphite grease for my troubles however. Bastard stuff! Whilst the wheels were off, I plumbed in the brakes on the front. Well, I tried. The thread stripped on the inlet nipple thing on the drivers side. Which means I need to buy a replacement. Another problem. Still, these look nice

So the pump is pumping fuel around the circuit and the starter is turning the motor over. Nothing firing yet, although the dizzy is getting a spark, I need to see if the plugs are too. I'm not sure I have the timing anywhere near whats needed yet though. First job next week. One problem; the earth strap from engine to chassis (and chassis to negative terminal on battery) are both getting quite hot as I turn the starter over. I'm guessing this isn't right. I still have that black wire from the picture a few pages ago disconnected, could this be the reason? And I don't have the gearbox mount strap connected either.

Still, happy with what got done today, here's hoping for a successful day next week. Seeing all those lovley polo's at the RR day ought to give me some inspiration to get it finished asap!