[James3990]

Small update, made a start on the electrics.... engine harness in place and also tidying up behind the dashboard.

The wiring isn’t great in this car, it’s a mixture of 218 and 220 and I’ve always said this part will be my weakness. It did run before the strip down so just needs tidying up and putting back together.







Also got the wheels back from refurbishment looking very nice

[henryiett]

Work looks fantastic as always

[James3990]

Thanks for the comments and views over the last few months.

Theres been a lot going on the last few weeks which has resulted in a lack of updates on the forum. The main reason is that I've just moved house into a property that's much better for my family and the Rovers!

I wanted the refurbished wheels back on the car so I've had some temporary tyres fitted and also a new windscreen fitted before towing the car to its new home.



The new house features two garages, so it was finally time for the road car to meet the race car






First job in the new garage was to get the GRP boot lid fitted,













The badge is only on temporarily, car needs painting before this is fitted securely.





And then finally reattaching the boot latch:







Not quite happy with the alignment of the boot, but it wasn’t great beforehand so I need to do some fettling with the brackets.

Thanks for looking.

[henryiett]

Lovely to see a win win situation improving the family home life and the rovers life too

[GTiJohn]

Getting a fibreglass bootlid to fit into hole in a shell that's 'been around the track' was always going to be a case of 'the best you can achieve' rather than 'perfection'

Great progress and fascinating to see

[James3990]

Small update:

Made a start on the remote oil cooler system, I wasn’t happy with the heat exchanger that came on the car but I wanted to keep the pipes/connectors.



So first off, I had this brand new oil cooler to use (235mm x 15 row) which was very similar to what came on the car, but after a test fit it was just a little too tight and interfering with the PAS pipes.




So I started shopping around again for a revised oil cooler and the variety of sizes and shapes was endless! With this in mind, I made myself a cardboard template using an old cereal box and scribbled down a few options

I was pretty much at the limit using a 235mm width unit, so I started looking at smaller width coolers with more rows.





In the end, I decided to go with a 115mm x 19 row unit which overall fits better in the location with plenty of clearance from the PAS system. Here is a picture of it along side the original replacement and old unit.



With the correct adaptors ordered, I was able to reuse the AN fittings and start a mock up on the car.

First job was to allow the oil cooler to be positioned upside down (connections at the bottom) and as far forward as possible against the slam panel. This involved a little trimming of the washer bottle hole to allow enough space for connecting the line up to the 150 degree AN fitting.




Next job was to trim away at the slam panel to allow the other pipe access to the 45 degree AN fitting and also widening the headlight surround for better airflow access just like the Roversport requirements.









And that’s about it really, happy with this proposal so next job is to repaint where I’ve cut the holes, make some mounting brackets for the cooler and tidy everything up before ordering some oil 8)

Thanks for looking.

[James3990]

Small update:

Couple of 'small jobs' done on the car since the last update whilst I wait for parts to arrive.

Started to make my own 'Dunlop' plinth for the front bumper:





It needs some mesh behind and also the Dunlop logo painting on, but I wanted to get this template done now as this feature does actually serve a purpose and provide better airflow/cooling to the radiator so I wanted to get the bumper done too.


I aligned up the plinth and made the first cut.





Crash bar also needed cutting so it was time to get the angle grinder out.



Crash bar done (keeping it a single piece bar as you can see), sanded down and then painted.




With the last few days left before kids break up from school, I decided to take full advantage of the garden and get a couple of items painted






Also painted the Intercooler & removable slam panel which I'll show in the next post as I forgot to get pictures.

And then finally Ive turned the car around 180 degrees in the garage so I can focus my time in the engine bay.




I managed to get myself some brand new genuine AP callipers.








Oil cooler is now finally fixed into position and hoses connected for good. Don’t want to admit how many hours I’ve spent getting this oil cooler fitted safely, but I’m pretty much happy with it now, just waiting for some brackets to arrive which holds the pipes.






Refitted the strut brace and intercooler after a quick refresh with paint and then made a start on getting the GRP headlights fitted and aligned. These still need cutting open to allow airflow into the engine bay. Not sure what colour I’m painting these yet, maybe black along with the indicators?









Thanks for looking.

P.s - wiring is a mess, before anyone points out. Saving this job till last!!

[GTiJohn]

Coming on nicely

[henryiett]

Looks fantastic and good work

[James3990]

Thanks for the comments guys, another update to report.

Brought some rubber trim just to keep my braided oil lines safe from chaffing.



Did the same where the oil cooler line goes round the front of the slam panel.

Then sourced a used rover grille.




Like I did with the bumper and crash bar, I wanted to maximise the amount of airflow through the heat exchangers so I drilled out the rivets and removed the backing plate:






Did my best to align the grille against the bonnet and then drilled the holes. I've lost two of the mounting studs by removing the backing plate however with the bonnet being GRP (very lightweight), the 3 mounting studs are still strong enough.

Didn't realise how much the bonnet underlaps the grille, so again I got the Dremel out to maximise airflow into the intercooler.










Brought some anodized black separator brackets for the oil cooler lines 8)






Felt like I was 17 again buying a role of mesh! It was probably the last time I’ve played with the stuff.






I've not finished the grille yet, but you get the idea...




and finally, with all this cutting and trimming, I just wanted to test fit the front end and make sure it all goes together 'fairly well'.





As motivating as this looks, it all needs removing again so I can focus on finishing the electrics now and getting the car running.

Thanks for looking!