1149 Mono Replica

[Jim Rosenthal]

Glenn says it is a Sikkens product, called Poly Surfacer. If there is a local Sikkens rep, they should know what you're asking for, according to him. (Poly Surfacer may be one word, I haven't seen the label. If I see the container and it has a number on it, I'll write it down and post it here, but meanwhile see if you can find it under that name)

 

[Jack]

Thanks Jim, wilco!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I have reached the progress point where parts of my car are distributed among various places- sort of a GT40 diaspora, if you will. Most of the bits are in Annapolis, some at the body shop, some at the main shop, some at the metalworking shop. Fortunately all these places are within a few blocks of one another, which makes it a bit easier.

Some photos: the rear body section after surfacing and priming. It's going to get another coat of primer and some small pinholes filled, and then it will be ready to paint.

The photos of the front body section show the Marchal lights mounted, and also the rear partition in place to be glassed in. We have also made up an aluminum cover which will need to be dished to accommodate the back of the headlamp bulb assembly.

Another milestone reached; the GT40 is now covered by insurance. Shop only, but a start.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I also posted some of the wrong photos; I'm going to try again on this.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Trying again to get the right photos...this is a little better; shows the rear body section in the paint shop.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

More photos from today...you can see the rear lamp partition, and also on the left side, the lamps themselves in place. We are going to light them up temporarily to make sure they can be aimed more or less in the right direction.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Minor progress at major expense; after the lights were mounted, we figured out that using self-tapping screws to hold them in would not work out in the long run- they would work loose and the lights wouldn't stay aimed. So they bored holes where the self-tapping screws were, and glassed captive nuts in; this way, the lamp mounts are actually bolted in. A lot of effort, but they will stay where they are supposed to. That work will be complete Monday, then the partitions go in, then the front clip goes to the painters (seems I've said THAT a few times)
The fit of the doors may not be as bad as we thought. We are going to rivet the eyebrows to the roof and then see what we have. It may be that the door fit is fine, in which case we only have to fair and flatten the tops of the doors, which are wavy. That would be welcome as we have had to correct and modify every single other panel made of FRP.
Got my fuel pumps, courtesy of Andy Booth in UK, who will be a plank owner in 1149 along with a lot of other helpful folks, and ordered some more metal bits from Jay. Also found a company that does custom leather, and ordered embossed and plain hides to match the materials used in 1043. Colin Comer was kind enough to provide me with photos of 1043 that allowed us to match the materials. Which, amusingly enough, are not leather at all, but vinyl. If I had really wanted to be original, the materials would have cost about twenty percent of what I actually spent.
In boating we have a saying that BOAT actually stands for "break out another thousand". 1149 is starting to look more nautical every week. Maybe I should fit some bilge pumps and a compass.
When the dust settles (literally, when all the fiberglass parts are out of the shop and at the painters), we're going to install the dashboard and begin wiring everything in there. That's the point at which we'll figure out whether we have enough space on the engine room forward bulkhead for all the things that go there. And that's the point at which I may have something worth taking photos of again, photos that don't make my car look like a barn find.

 

[Phil]

Jim:
I see you are going for the round spotlamps in the lower part of the bodywork. Nice choice, I happen to think this looks much better than a small signal lamp and rectangular spotlamp. I have also gone this route, and was wondering what lamp bucket you used and if you plan on using side repeaters similar to the Gulf setup?
Looks good by the way
Cheers
Phil

 

[Phil]

Jim:
I re-read some of your previous posts, The side repeater is a Lucas # L-471 (Amber) and I think they are readily available.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

The round lamps are Marchals that I got from Rafi Selian in Beirut (honest!). He advertises from time to time on eBay. They come with a bucket and adjusters all complete. They are old 60s or 70s units which come in Marchal packaging with a bunch of instructions- in French. Which I can (sort of) read.

I think, yes, we are going with the side repeaters. I think Finish Line has them, or something very like them.

 

[Olivier S]

Jimbo,

May you need some help for the translation , I'd be more than happy to do so!

Olivier.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

No, I really CAN read it! Kind of. Between me and the shop owner, who reads French, Italian, and some German, we can muddle through. But thanks!

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Some photos showing recent work; the partitions closing off the backs of the headlamp areas are in, and the metal plates as well. Also we are starting to look at the eyebrows and what to do about them, as well as the door shut lines and the wavy tops of the doors. The front clip will go to the paint shop this week.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

FINALLY, the front clip is going to the paint shop Friday. AND, tomorrow the windshield wiper machinery arrives!!! After several unsuccessful attempts to order these bits from SVC in England, I gave up and phoned Kirkham Motor Sports in Utah. Their wiper system looks a lot like everyone else's Lucas system and I hope it will work. Rather than try to measure and order, I asked them to send me a good long piece of stainless tubing for the transmission pipe, a cable, one wheelbox, and another short tube for the other side of the wheelbox. Plus the wiring diagram etc etc. My idea is that we can fit all this stuff together after measuring it to suit actually on the car. Y'all wish me luck, now.

I will get some photos of the cleaned up front clip on its way to the paint shop. It's supposed to rain here Friday, so it's going to get a bath on the way over whether it needs it or not I have to say the recent work on getting everything to fit together is really outstanding. I recall reading that even production GT40s required a great deal of hand work to get the panels to fit with decent gaps; I can't imagine how they turned out dozens of these cars, even over a matter of years. The task would have been easier, of course, with everything in the same place, which I didn't have, but still it has been daunting to say the least. AND we're not done yet; there's still the little matter of the doors and roof to fit together with acceptable gaps and sealing, which is likely to be the most difficult part of all. However, there's light at the end of the tunnel!! or maybe a locomotive coming towards me

 

[Dalton Veitch]

OK now, looking good. Where are those air ducts from the front intakes going to? Do you have fresh air outlets at the dasboard ends (as per original) or using an air conditioner hidden in there?

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

No AC. There are eyeball vents (from Andy Booth in UK) at the ends of the dashboard, mounted on the chassis so that they stick through the fiberglass molding, much like the original cars. I expect fresh air will not be a problem. Keeping water out WILL be a problems as I understand the original cars leaked like sieves and of course we want this one to be as original as possible, hence it will leak like a sieve. AKA, we predict problems with weather sealing of the various vents in the front wall of the chassis, forward of the dash itself. We'll see how all that works out.

A possible home run: I got the wiper motor, cable, wheelbox, tubing etc, from KMS (Kirkham Motor Sports) today. These guys aren't even in the GT40 business at all, and I had everything I needed, plus wiring diagrams, in three days! The motor fits, and we made an aluminum spacer up for the wheelbox which looks like it's going to work nicely. The only question will be whether the sweep is enough to clear an adequate area of the windscreen; we'll see on that one. Some of that is down to the wiper arm and blade, where we have some latitude. If I can find a proper Lucas batwing switch which will allow the wiper to park, my day will be complete.

(Any of our members who want to buy a Cobra should look at KMS first and foremost. This is an unsolicited testimonial. These guys are great.)

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

More bits today; the proper switch for the windscreen wipers, from Finish Line Accessories, and the clamp that holds the wiper motor, which may even work, and some electrical bits for same.

I don't have any new photos worth posting, but I did stop by the shop and they have rebuilt the top of one door, which is vastly improved. The original outer door skin was thin and fragile; it is now much thicker and stronger, not to mention smooth and the right shape. One more door top to go. A realistic estimate is to have all the glass work done by the end of March, and then the doors come off and go to the paint shop. We are also starting to look at the wiring runs and where they'll go.

It's about sixty degrees here in Annapolis today, and sunny and bright. The kind of weather that makes you want to do some Happy Motoring, preferably the noisy fast kind. Yes, indeed. Can't be soon enough for me.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

A quick update: we have one door (the drivers' side) fitted and leveled so that it is even with the roof structure. This turned out to require taking the door partially apart and making more room for the rubber seal which runs around the inside of the door opening; the seal was pushing the top of the door up. Same modification still has to be done to the other door, plus fitting the eyebrows. After that is all done, the bodywork will be complete. At that point, some new photos, as I try to take them when I have something worth showing. Hopefully the pace of all this will pick up once she's in the paint shop; they turn things over very briskly and I suspect that she will be in and out of the paint shop in three or four weeks.

Well, one can always dream, right?

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Some recent photos of the bodywork...the front clip is upside down, waiting for surfacer and prep work. You can see the final fit of the driver's side door, which is now flush with the roof. This required days of reworking the door to get it to fit around the seal properly and close snugly, but not too snugly.

Currently we are working on the passenger's side door. When that is completed, the bodywork will be done. Yesterday I ordered a kit of Clecos and a lot of aluminum rivets, so that we can begin patterning and installing the aluminum sheet metal sections in the front and back of the bodywork. I am still trying to figure out what they are supposed to look like; I have some photos from Jay Cushman that are helping a lot. We have the rear aluminum pan from him as well.

Maybe next week we'll get to blow all the dust out of her. That shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Jim,

Good progress. I like your van in the background as well.