900 Club Forum

So, for those of us not on Facebooks, or haven't seen/joined the WestlakesAWD page, here's a bit of a look in to what's been going on since the first prototype bulkhead appeared briefly at the Series 2 Club national rally in September.

For those who haven't seen it in previous posts, here you go.



For a start, the top corner panels have worked out pretty well, and a few have sold to forum members who will hopefully share their experiences fitting them.
Again, here's a picture for those who haven't seen them.



Anyways, having learned a few lessons and found parts that required redesigning in the first prototype, I've been working away doing the redesigning, and up to building the next prototypes.
Making a start here with a flat pack bulkhead, unfortunately no Ikea style assembly manual.



The reworked press tooling has also worked out well, with the extra lip to seat the seal on the outer panel now making an appearance.



Dashboard ends made up on the new forming tool.



Filler piece for the inner of the top corners.


Stiffener between footwell and door pillar.



And the lip which the transmission tunnel plate attaches to.



More to come during the week as panel work gets folded up, some more forming and we'll see it start to come together further.

I also had a visit in the workshop today from a chap -who may well choose to identify himself- dropping these off.

A 1959.



And a '63.



Both are pretty rough, but are suitable for taking patterns from for some of the details -such as the letterbox below the dash- that make the earlier ones different to the '66 pattern I've been working from, so giving me some further room for development as things move forward.

Not the most rapid progress, but as I'm currently doing this alongside a full time job and working concurrently on a rebuild I don't think things are going badly.

Very interesting, and a good start. It does frustrate me how the footwells the suppliers provide now are usually ribbed, but lack the pedal openings on the passenger side which seem to have been common, our 66 certainly had them.

I assume these are prototype bits, as that windscreen hinge looks quite thick.

Will be watching with interest.

The way things are looking I'll be making my own footwells from likely the third or fourth build onwards.
I'm not overly impressed by the pressed ribs in these ones compared to the factory ones amongst other things.
It's not something I noticed on the first set I bought in as they came without ribs for a Forward Control application.

Windscreen hinges are -believe it or not- the same thickness as the originals, these ones having been cut from 6mm.

I'd never thought I could find myself getting excited about bulkheads and detail differences but now I'm getting into it and have more reference material to work with I'm actually finding it quite exciting/fulfilling work.

For it to be successful as a business venture I think you will need to cater to two markets, one that wants a budget bulkhead and so will compromise on details, and another, bigger market who will want an accurate replica. It will help if you can do that side yourself to some degree, or at least be set up to follow original specs or photos etc without it having to come back for work as happened with my chassis for example!

So, I've been busy, and made some progress.
After some pressing, folding, and tapping with a fine selection of hammers, panels are starting to take shape. 



I'm also pleased to have found that the footwells and centre panel seem to fit together as intended.



Making the most of a loan of a genuine parts truck cab filler plate I drew it up and had it cut and folded along with the last set of bulkhead panels.





This one will be given a coat of Buzzweld RCP -other primers are available- and will be making its way to Tony and Liz Wood for their daughters SWB project.

More to come as we go along.

So, with all that Christmas lark out of the way (I've been climbing the walls!!!) I got back into the workshop today and started fettling the various components to get them all to fit together properly.

First off we have part of the dashboard assembly formed up on the new tool I made for the job.





Newly designed filler piece needs to be made a little longer, whilst there's a little more thinking required to get everything lined up properly.



From the other side, with the internal stiffener (bought in from Tony Wood) clearly visible. This structure provides most of the strength in the top corners.



And from the front. The outer panel has been altered some, whilst the pillar has been trimmed to allow it to interface with the front panel as the originals would do.



Back to it tomorrow, with a few full days to spend on it before the day job has to be put first again.
Stay tuned.

So, I've skipped a few updates elsewhere, but as the build is 96% there now, here's the latest update I've been posting on the forums.

We're nearly there with it, so here's a quick update with a few photos I've yet to post here. 



At the end of the last post I was ready to attach the footwells, here we see the Drivers side welded in to the door pillar, foot and stiffeners further up.







Spot the important extra.







Very few photos taken whilst I was glueing the passenger footwell in, but here we see it welded in, along with the centre section, and the rear panel for the dashboard also welded in.







Then I added the transmission tunnel flange...







Looking at the other side of the structure we have the stiffener which goes between the footwells. Starting with a flat piece of steel cut to shape I formed it up using a 2lb hammer, the bench vice and the edge of the steel bench. 

My metal forming skills are improving. 







Seen installed between the footwells.







And starting to assemble the dashboard.







By this stage my phone had run out of battery, so there's no photos of the nearly finished product. 

As it sits the wiper spindle/washer jets holes need drilling out to the correct size, along with adding bonnet and vent flaps hinges, the drip rail and the tabs for the heater vents. 

More holes will need to be added for some of the fittings and fixtures when it's dressed up for use on a vehicle, but we're very nearly there. 



As it's coming with me to the 'Brass Monkeys at the Station' event at the Northern part of the NRM the last job of the day was to give it a blast over with a coat of Buzzweld primer to prettify it some before it goes on display.



Expect some photos of it tomorrow.

So, after a trip out in the wild -where it attracted a lot of positive attention- it's 95% finished with a few little additions to make before final paint and dressing.

I managed to forget to take any pictures of it at the 'Locomotion' museum, but I did get this one of it on the trailer in daylight.



Whilst I've also tried it on the chassis it's intended for, and it fits beautifully.





Sucess with the bulkhead has however been tempered some by the sudden expirey of the gearbox in my 110 this morning.
It's timing could have been better, but such is life.

All looks good, but where is the steering box going to go?

The steering box hole will be appearing shortly, along with the drip rail and vent flap hinges.