GT40 Australia #32 - Time for Rebuild

[dave harris]

Hi Peter,

Re: your lug nut covers - you might look on the web under Team III wheels - they make a knock off lookalike with covers for the lug nuts that really look nice. unless you get close up - you can't tell their covers. I have these wheels on my car (but the home computer up-chucked and died) and can't get the photos off of the digital camera!

Web site shows the wheels nicely though.

cheers

 

[Craig White]

Thanks Peter D for info. Yeah, already ordered MKIII windows. Really good to hear that you don't get much turbulence. I need that cabin as open as possible, especially for my partner. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Never even thought about making that window insert removable. More decisions, thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm going for more modern look - modern colours, modern mirrors etc. So at the moment like the idea of polished centres. Black centres do look good though, look great on yours and really make spinners stand out. Black centres would save me AU$400 odd dollars on wheels as well. Hmm. Hope my partner doesn't read this.

A few of the Cobra guys I know run caps over wheel nut holes. On a black wheel, black wheel nut caps would blend in really well. I'll give one of them a call today and see where he gets them from. I wonder if the holes are standard size/sizes. Is the face of hole flat? One guy does lose the odd cap on the track though.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Dave, those Team III's do look nice. However the Simmons wheels have a uniform dished area around the lug nuts, so I don't think the Team III covers would work on these.

Craig, same claustrophobic partner problem here !! Another reason that I kept the frames separate was that the join line & s/s mounting bolts tend to define the window size & follow the size of the front screen. I have seen a few cars with the frames bonded in, & with some colours & at certain angles, the windows look "one size too small". This effect seems to be amplified with light body colours & the very wide sill inside of the bottom of the window. A few guys have done the sill in matt/satin black & this seems to alleviate the problem. Just my opinion - there is no such thing as "right" with these cars, just personal preferences !

I will get around to making the lug nut covers eventually - just a circle of 3mm aly, chamfered on the inside of the outer edge, & simply held in place by the fake spinner. In the meantime, I'll go with some sort of simple black caps on the nuts. Unfortunately, the surface around the holes is not flat, but dished in towards the centre so I think that caps on the nuts, rather than "plugs" for the holes is the way to go.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Craig White]

About time I did an update.

<ul type="square"> [*]Been busy researching parts used in build of this GT40. Will post parts list soon.
[*]Replaced clutch master cylinder. Clutch pedal was disappearing once car got warm. Fluid was bypassing seal and leaking into reservoir. Problem now fixed, pedal is better than ever. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Except is was a right pain to bleed all air out. [*]Replacing self tapping screws that were used for mounting various items during the original build. This car was not built by factory and you can tell. Think I have replaced 20 odd screws now. Lots more to go.
[*]Changed engine oil and filter. Don't know when last it was last changed, so better off changing it sooner than later.
[*]Attempting to fix oil leaks/drips - used silicone on sump plug washer. Tightened sump bolts. Tightened rocker cover bolts
[*]Engine was running warm and also taking ages to warm up. Flushed cooling system, new coolant, new 180F thermostat, new cap. Also had to tighten inlet manifold as little coolant leak out front. Now got fun of getting all air out of system.
[*]Also had to replace faulty external 4 wire regulator. Had to re-wire it as I could only get 2 wire regulators and chose Bosch RE055 was it is the most common.
[*]Why I had it off, did some work on engine firewall inpsection cover thingy. Needed some more mounting bolts and ran a foam seal around it. Much quieter in cabin now.
[*]Busy shopping for painter, wheels, bushes, exhaust etc.
[*]Also purchased safety pin for rear clip, new rear external window, clip alignment spigots and air filters from GT40 factory. [/list]
That's all for now.

 

[Craig White]

Just thought I would include a photo under the front clip. Wow, what a mess. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Needs a tidy up and decent detail. Should look the part then. Another job to add to the list.

 

[Peter Delaney]

Craig, not sure if its any help (or too late), but I settled on using "4mm helicoils (ReCoil brand here in Oz)" where-ever there was a bolt to go into the f/glass. I just used the standard kit (comes with inserts, correct thread tap, insertion tool, etc) &amp; lightly coated the threaded hole with some clear epoxy paint before screwing in the recoil spring. It works a treat - I have had the windows &amp; light covers in &amp; out a few times so far with no problems.

The big plus (according to my f/glass experts) is the fact that the raw glass is sealed against moisture.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Craig White]

Thanks Peter, interesting. I've only replaced a few screws into fibreglass so far for number plates etc. I borrowed a Nutcert Tool, sounds similiar. Also good for where items were bolted up to thin sheet metal. For everything else that mounts into chassis, I've used a tap.

For all other stuff like light covers etc I was going to stick with stainless screws straight into glass. Was just going to dip them into silicone etc before screwing them in to stop them coming lose. That's how they are currently fastened. Will think more about it now, thanks.

 

[Ian K]

[ QUOTE ]
Craig, not sure if its any help (or too late), but I settled on using "4mm helicoils (ReCoil brand here in Oz)" where-ever there was a bolt to go into the f/glass. I just used the standard kit (comes with inserts, correct thread tap, insertion tool, etc) &amp; lightly coated the threaded hole with some clear epoxy paint before screwing in the recoil spring. It works a treat - I have had the windows &amp; light covers in &amp; out a few times so far with no problems.

The big plus (according to my f/glass experts) is the fact that the raw glass is sealed against moisture.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

[/ QUOTE ]

Peter - that's the way I'm going to go. With the dab of
epoxy, it's pretty watertight and won't come loose for
some time.

Glad to see the idea works in reality!

Ian

 

[Peter Delaney]

Craig &amp; Ian, I got a NutSert set (RivNuts in the US) a while back &amp; was so impressed with the results in the steel frame &amp; aly brackets that I went back &amp; re-did every tapped hole - it took a while, but I reckon it was worth it. You get some 8mm of good clean thread in the 4mm NutSerts (as opposed to about 3mm of dodgy thread when you tap into the frame directly), so you can really tighten things down a lot. The more you tighten these, the more they clamp down, there is virtually no risk of stripping the thread, &amp; you can R&amp;R the bolt repeatedly. Each one took maybe 30sec to do - just whip the drill through &amp; clamp the NutSert in.

It took me a few days to finally figure 2 big differences between direct tapping &amp; the NutSerts

- The little flange that the NutSerts leave sitting proud of the surface. When you attached a bracket/plate/etc with a NutSert, it sits a little above the surface of the frame. Sometimes when one direct tap would have been ok, I ended up putting 2 or 3 NutSerts in, just to ensure stability of the bracket.

- Earthing : Direct taps into the frame normally provide quite good earth contacts for wiring as the bolt threads bite right into the frame. My first few NutSert earth points were a bit suspect as I had just drilled a nice neat hole through the painted surface of the frame - paint seemed to be quite a good insulator ! Once I twigged to this, I just ran the Dremell around the hole so that the NutSert flange had some bare steel to mate with &amp; all was well. A quick touch-up with engine paint then disguised my shaky handi-work with the Dremmel !!

I tried them on the f/glass, but without much success - one problem is that they need quite a high clamping force to deform &amp; grip, &amp; that usually resulted in some crushing of the f/glass &amp;/or cracking of the gel-coat. I even tried a slight countersink in the gel-coat, but found it hard to get the clamping tool to seat right (&amp; still got some cracking).

I gave up when I discovered the HeliCoils (ReCoils) - they do the trick in the glass. They take a bit more time than self tappers, but again, I think its worth the effort. The kit has the correct size drill &amp; tap, &amp; it probably takes a minute to do each one (not much in the scheme of things) !

The little inserts come in depths that relate to their diameter - a "1D x 4mm" insert provides a 4mm deep 4mm thread, etc. Most of the ones I used were "0.5D" or "1D", depending on the glass thickness. The real trick (learned the hard way) is to be very sparing in the application of any epoxy into the raw threaded hole before screwing in the ReCoil - too much &amp; it oozes through the threads &amp; you either can't run the bolt in if its already cured, or you can never get it out later if it hasn't cured !! I ended up using a pin dipped in epoxy to only just wet the surface of the raw tapped hole in the glass &amp; this seemed to work 99% of the time. Sealing the raw glass is the really big issue - if water gets into it, you will get rot over time &amp; then you will be screwed (or should that be "unscrewed") !!

I am still only half way through restoring my old '71 Vette &amp; the long-term damage done by the factory in not sealing raw glass when they screwed &amp; rivetted things is a huge PITA - where the water has got in, I have had to grind out about an inch in diameter around the hole, re-glass it, sand back &amp; re-drill the hole - not happy !

Hope this helps guys - I know it takes more time, but doing it once is better than doing it 2 or 3 times !!

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Trevor Booth]

Peter,
They make aluminium nutserts/rivnuts specifically for GRP use. Not Easy to get but worthwhile hunting down. For those in the US harbour freight tools had them in a kit with the setting tool. You can also get a glue in (with epoxy) nutsert from aircraft hardware suppliers.
Trevor

 

[Brett James-McCall]

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/rivnuts.htm I you want some I'll send some over with my sister-in-law when she goes back to Sydney after New Year. Let me know.

Brett

 

[Craig White]

Thanks Peter, a lot of great info there. Yeah, will stick with tapping threads for electrical earth connections, reckon this is the best method. Know what to do for the rest now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks Brett for offer of rivnuts. Luckily I can get them all here locally. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Peter Delaney]

Trevor - Aaahh, now I find out ! I know what to use in the next project car (in my dreams, or my wife's nightmares) !!!

The main reason I went with the ReCoils was that there was no "lip or flange" protruding above the base surface of the glass. This could have been a problem in mounting the light perspex covers / rear &amp; side windows.

Craig - no problem - I reckon that you are probably quite safe with tapped threads in the chassis for earths, &amp; I think that the installation of "real threads" in the glass will pay off in the long run.

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[dave harris]

Peter, Just FYI, they make counter sunk Rivnuts also - so if your'e worried about a flush mount application - these would cover that area also.

cheers

 

[Tim Kay]

Got my aluminum rivenut inserts today. Will give it a go in a few days and post my experience /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Mark Worthington]

The trick I used on my Rivnut installations was to buy a roll of 1/16" cork gasket material from McMaster Carr, along with a set of hole punches and a gasket circle cutter. Then, say for a chassis rail to which a screw-in panel was fastened with Rivnuts, I installed the Rivnuts, cut a strip of the cork gasket material the width of the chassis rail to the length I needed, laid it on the chassis rail to mark the center of each Rivnut, used a punch to punch holes in the strip of gasket material slightly larger than the diameter of the Rivnut head, then used some silicone RTV to attach the gasket to the chassis rail. The gasket material is slightly thicker than the flange of the Rivnuts, and when I tighten things down I have a nice, vibration-resistant and watertight seal between the chassis rail and the panel.

Craig, your car looks good (I'm a sucker for Essex Wire livery) and it sounds like you have some well-thought-out mods planned.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Peter understand what you are going through with the "vette"glass being unsealed. My main experience is with glass boats, where the gelcoat gets a chip or crack or is damaged in anyway. If not sealed ASAP moisture will travel along the glass fibers (Osmosis) and rot the hull. I have seen boats that had to be scrapped because of this problem. At the best of times it is a pain to repair.
Any hole in glass should be sealed or osmosis can result. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Keith]

Osmosis, when applied to boats is something of a misleading misnomer. Correctly, when you put an animal or plant cell into a liquid containing water one of three things will happen.

If the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water concentration than the cell (a very dilute solution) the cell will gain water by Osmosis. Water molecules are free to pass across the cell membrane in both directions, but more water will come into the cell than will leave. The net (overall) result is that water enters the cell. The cell is likely to swell up. If the medium is exactly the same water concentration as the cell there will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane.

Water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but the amount going in is the same as the amount going out, so there is no overall movement of water. The cell will stay the same size.

If the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell (a very concentrated solution) the cell will lose water by osmosis.

Again, water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but this time more water leaves the cell than enters it. Therefore the cell will shrink.

I would suggest therefore, that water ingress into the fibreglass via a hole or damage is not the process of Osmosis but "wicking" along the fibres, and it would take considerable and constant exposure to moisture for this to happen. A process similar to osmosis does take place in boats but it requires immersion for lengthy periods in order for the water to travel through the semi-permeable membrane (gel-coat). Your GT40 therefore, not being a boat, is perfectly safe apart from the usual caveats. This has been my Christmas message, and now I'm going to lie down.

Hic /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Keith

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Quite correct Keith, it is wicking that causes the damage and it generally only happens with boats left in the water. I.E.Boats to big for a trailer or to be put on a hardstand.
However in the ignorant Aussie boating fraternity the process is generally known as osmosis. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
I still think it is best to seal any hole made in fibre glass.

 

[Keith]

What, you mean like this???? Roger that!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif