Back in the swing of things

Opened up the garage and found the car tucked up in the corner.

Got down to making the battery support brackets with some steel from B&Q of all places.  It is amazingly similar dimensions to the original.  I spent a lot of time hunting for the other two brackets and became very aware that from here on in I am going to have to look for stuff which is difficult to find as it had been stored years ago.  Much patience needed I think.  Anyway,  some time for them in an acid dip to de-rust them and now they are ready for installation.

I decided I would prime the inside of the battery mounts so that they have some rust protection and decided to unpack the wire wheels recently acquired.  Frustratingly, of the 5 I have 2 are a little too tired to use.  You can see they have spokes that have pulled through the rims and left large holes in the process.  Two of the others are a little jaded but should recover with a few new spokes and some TLC.

The wheel below is one of the better ones but clearly has bent spokes.

That was a disappointing way to end the day, oh well, back to eBay I go.

Birthday boy and the route forward

So this teacher is back from his summer excursions and ready for the next steps.  Whilst away I got to think about the 100 and what I needed to do next which is good as I feel energised for the challenges that await.  I also had a birthday, not a major milestone you understand but a regular getting older but still young enough to live life one.  So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that my Mother in law kindly bought me a new dashboard and wiring loom.  There a few issues with the delivery of the working loom (#itslostonroute) but I'm confident that A-Head 4 Healey's will remedy that.  However this is what it means and how my plan looks:

Before school starts in anger a week on Monday I will  fabricate and fit the battery tray mount, brake cable bracket and the panhard rod bracket before painting them.  Then I can begin the big mechanical install.  I have all the major parts to go from bare chassis to rolling chassis and I am very excited.

I will start with the rear suspension / axel which is already restored and has been previously installed.  Then I will fit the front suspension and steering for which I have all the major components but they need a overhaul.  Then I will fit the engine / gearbox.  The engine has been rebuilt by the previous owner (this was one of the major attractions of the project when I bought it) and the gearbox looks sound.  Then the wiring loom.  Then the dash and the gauges.

Then I turn the key, it starts and I post a little video of me driving the car up and down the lane at the back of my house.  OK, I may be getting ahead of myself here.  However, I have got most of the components I need to get to that stage.  Or rather, I have got all of the expensive components I need to get there.  I will need to buy stuff for the steering, the odd bracket, petrol pipes, electrical switches, a few parts for the brakes and so on but I will be able to do that as I go.  The next really expensive thing I need is a set of tyres and they are not cheap but I have a long while to save for them.

In other words I have no financial barriers for the foreseeable future and I like it that way.

Happy times