MDA Mk1 with Gulf Arches - Martin P

[Nick]

Martin,

Looking really good, will not be long before she is on the road.

 

[Martin]

More progress. I installed all the remaining brake lines today positioning the tee for the rear and attaching the lines. I've run the clutch as far as the rear bulkhead but as I'm still deciding on the final slave cylnder position and gear change set up, it will stay there on a bulkhead connector until that part is done.
I've also put in the carpets. I had them made up from my own templates and they only cover the floor itself as I wanted the race car look on the sills and tunnel so they are still bare powder coated aluminium.
You can see from the photo of the interior where I decided to mount my additional oil temperature guage too.

I have an alternator on order as well as a wiper motor, fuel senders and air con compressor. I'm also waiting for my exhaust to come back and for my gearbox bracket.
By the end of March I should have most of what I need to complete the build.

Martin

 

[Martin]

A little more progress. Not much happened lately as i've been travelling a lot, so no time on the car.
I positioned my Air Con bulkhead connectors to one of the rear bulkhead panels. There is a removable panel on the MDA on each side which makes the job much easier. It was awkward positioning the lines correctly as its a very tight squeeze. I also put some final colour around the windscreen and taped the rubber down to try and form it a little. The windscreens need to be bonded in for IVA so I wanted the correct colour in the surround as it won't be coming off again once it's on. I'll do the same for the rear window as that will be glass also.
My final colour choice was Ford Rangoon Red as it's period correct.

Martin

 

[Malcolm]

Hi Martin

Not spoken for a while, hope all well in Fleet. also hope you didn't paint where you plan to bond the screen in. That should be a no no. If you have you should grind it off before you paint the bonding area.Just had my eyes lasered so can't really see the pics you osted tso this may be not an issue. That will also explain my rubbish typing too!

 

[Martin]

Hi Malcolm,

Yes, I painted the area that will be bonded. That was the point. What's the problem with bonding onto a painted area ? The paint will be totally dry (months worth of drying time) before the windscreen is bonded in. All production cars are painted before the windscreens are bonded in. I was following the recommendations of Mick at Southern GT.
Martin

 

[Malcolm]

I was told the exact opposite! The screen will only stay in as well as the paint holds onto the car. I will have to mention this to Mick and see what he says to my position. Seeing him tomorrow anyway.

 

[Martin]

Thanks Malcolm,
Not a problem, I can scratch off the paint where I need to.
Saw your MX-5 there today. You're really doing a job on that..:thumbsup:

I picked up my B-spoke header tank today from Mick Sollis. Sorry Mick, I know it must have been a real pain to do it but I've mocked it up in the car and I'm delighted with it. Worth the time and effort to get it right. Even the mock up took ages to get right.
I wanted to replicate as much as possible, given the limitations of the MDA bulkhead arrangement, the early Mk1 header tank. It had to be B-spoke as I needed cut outs all over the place to accomodate an oil hose fitting from my oil cooler and the bonnet pin turret (Yet to make that). I'm smiling now though. Just needs a polish, final fixing and hoses attached.

 

[MICK.(southerngt)]

Hi Martin glad it fits ok .
regards Mick.

 

[Martin]

Here are my rear clip pin turrets. I've tried to make them look as authentic as possible.

Martin

 

[Simon]

Makes you realise how low a '40 is when you see it next to a normal car. and the B's not exactly a giant!

Simon

 

[Phil]

Martin:
Nice looking tank, kudos to you and Mick on the fab and installation. I take it you had to turn the neck to the side for clearance issues. Build is really looking nice.
Cheers
Phil

 

[Martin]

Spot on Phil, I had to turn it to get adequate clearance.
Waiting as usual on parts. Really want to push to get IVA this year though. All these little projects take so much time.
Martin

 

[Martin]

Had a good day on the car today. Took the gearbox off and put the mechanical release bearing, fork and actuator back in as there is no space for a hydraulic release bearing inside my bellhousing. This was a bit of a job as I have to remove the rear cage to do so, but I've got it off to a fine art now so it's all off, work done and back on in an afternoon. I also received my fuel gauge senders and some bits for the gearchange set up today so I can carry on with that next week.
I'm totally cream crackered now, so off for something to eat and drink.
Martin

 

[Martin]

During one of my discussions with Mr Sollis at Southern GT, he highlighted a potential IVA problem with my Gearchange set up. As the new regulations state you need to isolate the fuel tanks from the driver compartment, the most obvious thing to do is to bulkhead off the filler pipes. That I have already done, but Mick pointed out that my gearchange sits above the fuel tank on the drivers side. The hole made for the selector in the top of the sill is not isolated from the tank. You can look into the hole and see the tank. Although I don't believe this has been picked up on anyones car as yet, It's certainly worth thinking about if you have a set up like mine.
Just to be on the safe side, I boxed in my gearchange lever and associated rose joints. Not an easy job, but it's done now. The rods slide freely through the grommets and the box is fixed from underneath via tapped holes.

 

[Andy Green]

Hi Martin,
You raise an interesting point, fortunately on a Tornado the gearshift mechanism sits on the inside of the inner panelling, so is not affected by this requirement.
However there is a requirement of the fuel system, that any spilt fuel must not enter the cabin or boot/storage area. Currently on most GT40’s if fuel is spilt around the neck it may drain into the front storage area and is considered unacceptable.

This has not been raised before because there is currently a waiver on this requirement, but I’m not sure how long it is for. The Lotus 2-Eleven fails this as the filler cap is on the deck behind the passenger compartment. However it will affect people slower on their builds (me!). I was given this advice from one of the testers at the Norwich IVA test centre.

Fortunately this is very easy to resolve by ensuring that any split fuel is channelled into the wheel arch area, with a collector around the filler or even a simple vertical plate splitting off the fuel area and the front storage area. You could also argue that the front section is not for storage, but why put the testers back up!

Hope this all makes sense

Andy

 

[Martin]

Andy,
Thanks for the info. Doesn't seem too much trouble to get a solution for that one.
I've just installed my fuel senders and fuel return plates into the tank. Getting there slowly. Awaiting some parts as always.

Martin

 

[Gus Richmond]

Martin,
Looking good! A very interesting read, some great ideas.
You must be chafing at the bit by now, bet you cant wait to go for a blast?
Kind regards, Gus.

 

[Martin]

Gus,
It does seem to be close now.

I finally had my exhasut delivered last week after many months wait. I've spent the weekend fitting it and I'm pleased with the fit. There are two places where it touches the rocker cover on one side but I'm sure I can pull it out a little to clear. It's all clamped up and clearances elsewhere are perfect. I had to have a gearbox bracket made up to hold the back of the 930 and now everything is secure.

 

[Graham]

Martin,

Yes, it looks like you're neeeeearly there. The car looks great, well done!

:thumbsup:

Graham.

 

[Martin]

I've been puzzling over my Motec Loom for some time as I got the loom back from the engine builder with parts missing. Very annoying. Knowing I'll never get them back, I've been trying to find out what I need and where to get them. Identifying the parts and finding a supplier has been a nightmare but now I am on my way. I finally got good Tech support from Motec Europe and now have all the part numbers I need and a willing supplier.
I've managed to figure out the wiring and connected up the computer interface cable and connector. The D9 connector sits just behind the passenger seat. I still need to buy the PC adaptor cable which is quite expensive but at least I've figured it out.

Martin