Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

If you're taking on the task of rebuilding the whole Midas, please put the project in here.

Moderator: The Midas Forum Staff

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby dusz » Sun Apr 11, 2021 5:23 pm

Hope you operation goes OK. At least during your convalescence you will be able to comfort Moneypenny.
Take care.
dusz
 
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:17 pm
Location: Mid Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:30 pm

Well I am "almost" back to normal - just waiting for all the dissolvable stitches to disappear.

However, I had a delivery today. Mr Parcel Force turned up with a large box. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Big box. I wonder what's in it?

Image

Pipes. And an exhaust box. Twin box exhausts are for wussies :lol:

Image

Penny was able to give it the once-over. She is much improved, although still unsteady and stiff-legged.

Image

I will hopefully be able to give it a preliminary fit over the long weekend.
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun May 02, 2021 5:52 pm

I probably shouldn't have given that I still have stitches in, but I wanted to get under the car and have a look at the exhaust and see where it would hang. To cut a long story short I popped on the Y-piece and attached it to the downpipes of the LCB. It fits fine, and there's more than enough clearance around the gear selector - enough to get my sausage fingers through the gap anyway. I propped the pipe up with a handy piece of wood and pushed the second section on. This is a curved pipe (30 degrees I believe) and it's the straight bit before the curve that the exhaust will hang from.

That said, the hangers I had (RC40 fitting kit hangers hammered flat) were too long. Last thing I wanted to do would be to rip it off once I go for a drive (one day...) so using an idea from a very helpful chap on the Midas Facebook page (cheers Simon!), I have cut a piece of flat steel to size, drilled it and welded it to the clamp part of the U-clamp. This will then hang from a standard exhaust bobbin on the rear beam.

Sadly, just as I was gearing up to have a look at fitting the rear box and establishing where the rear hanger should be, the battery ran out on my workshop LED lamp. This displeased me, but I did not want to split stitches etc (done that once already, VERY messy), so I have left it for the time being and will come back to it at a later time. I did notice that the front to rear brake pipe does get fairly close to the Y-piece - I shall construct a small aluminium shield just to make sure nothing gets too hot. I also need to line the tunnel further down. I am much happier.

Fitted to LCB (fairly loosely)

Image

Plenty of clearance around the selector. Excellent.

Image

And 1st part of the rear pipe. Modified bracketry has been created - ignore what's there in the photo.

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun May 09, 2021 9:25 pm

Just a very brief update today. I didn't get much time to get in the garage but I made use of what time I did have. I was able to put the back box and rear pipe in place and measure up for a modified hanger. There is precious little clearance between the fuel tank and the back box so the rear hanger has to be significantly longer and the exhaust hangs a bit lower than expected as a result. I made the hanger by grabbing a piece of steel and cutting the end of a normal RC40 hanger off then welding the two bits together. This has been painted to stop it rusting, so I am waiting for that to dry before setting about tweaking the exhaust hangers to make it fit a bit better.

I also need to get some more heatproof barrier material so I can cover the tunnel and the part of the fuel tank the exhaust runs under, just in case. I'd rather not chance scorching my fibreglass when the car eventually starts running again!

Bracket created, now in paint.

Image

Initial positioning looks very low, but the pipe cannot go higher due to the tank's position. Still, there is tweaking to be done - this is by no means a finished article.

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun May 16, 2021 4:48 pm

Today I have mostly been lying on my back in a confined space and swearing. That said, I have finally got a couple of awkward jobs DONE on the car I've been meaning to do for AGES.

Item 1: The front to rear brake pipe had a flare on the rear section that I was distinctly unhappy with. It was one I had done myself with a budget flaring tool, and it just didn't look "right". Having followed some advice on one of the many forums I am on, I bought a better tool. This involved the brake pipe going into a block and a specific die being tightened into said block. It's a much better built bit of kit than the cheap one I have so that one's going off to pastures new. Due to the car only being up in the air on one side it was a very tight squeeze to get under there and work "comfortably", but eventually I got the tool in the right spot, tightened it all up and the pipe now has flares good enough to get into the 70s Disco.

Item 2: The tunnel and other parts of the car where the exhaust was close to would need protection from the heat. I got hold of some self-adhesive high-temperature resistant fabric from Demon Tweeks and once I'd cut patches to size I had a whole barrel of laughs making sure it was straight enough to be stuck on and rolled into place. I had enough left over to also do the tank and the "hump" in the boot area. If any of the fibreglass on this car is getting scorched, it won't be because of the exhaust.

Hated jobs done: 2. Happy me. I will chuck the exhaust on properly next time... maybe.

This little so and so caused a significant amount of displeasure this afternoon. But it's now done. Whoop!

Image

Tunnel is now covered in silver heat-resistant stuff. (Don't look too closely - some of it might not be 100% straight...)

Image

And there's some on the hump and tank too.

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:58 pm

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. My Dad has been ill in hospital (I don't like this year much - but thankfully it's not Covid related) so I have been dealing with that whilst the discharge team are busy not doing their jobs properly and making everyone wait whilst they don't let him go home (he's medically fine now thankfully). I can't say that it's been good for my mental health.

I had a little time this afternoon so I figured that I would sort something that's been bugging me since I got the exhaust. Where the front to rear brake pipe heads towards the middle of the car at the front, it passes very close to the manifold's Y-piece connecting pipe. I don't fancy the idea of boiling my brake fluid, so I decided to construct a small heat shield. Out came one of the most valuable items to have in a garage: the Jaffa Cake box for CAD (cardboard-aided design). I made a rough template of what I needed which I then cut out of a spare bit of aluminium I had - actually part of the old glove box...

Then followed some of my exercise for the day - I lost count of the number of times I crawled underneath to check, fit, remove, amend, try again and repeat until it fitted properly. Once I was happy with what I had I covered it in heat resistant tape, then fitted it using a couple of nuts on to the bolts that secure the P clips for the brake line.

It's only a little thing but it was one of those ones that seemingly takes forever to sort. I somehow doubt that I will take it off now!! Hopefully be able to give you a better update soon.

CAD in its raw form.

Image

All taped up - sorry for the awful photo - the flash went off and because the tape's highly reflective, it bounced back!

Image

And fitted to the car. Although it looks like it's touching, there's actually a bit of clearance. It's camera trickery. At least that's my story...

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun Jun 27, 2021 9:06 pm

I'll be honest. I find exhausts hateful things - mainly because I am working on my own and don't have access to a lift or similar. That said, the exhaust is ON. It is clamped together, the LCB is anchored to the gearbox, and the only thing that wasn't quite right was the centre hanger I had made. It was putting unnecessary load on the centre bobbin - because of the way the exhaust bends the clamp which was welded to the hanger couldn't sit straight. Using it like that would make it go through bobbins every 5 miles or so, even the reinforced ones. I had a re-think.

As I do not want to weld my nicely-coated exhaust (you wouldn't either if it had cost THAT much), I have though laterally. A while back my initial thought on hanging the centre pipe to the beam was to use a bit of metal bar welded to the exhaust and a late-model Mini rear rubber mount (see picture below).

Image

Instead of welding it to the expensive exhaust, I figured welding it to the clamp instead would be a better idea. At least it would if the welder wasn't playing up. So although the exhaust is "on", there is a bit of wood holding up the centre section whilst I figure out what's wrong with the welder. In the meantime, here's a pic of what it will look like once fully done!

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:52 pm

Well, as I was due a bit of long-awaited luck, I managed to make the magic metal sparkly stick work. I'll be honest, my welding is pretty poor (as is the machine I have - however it is mainly the user) but it was enough to solidly make the mounting I needed. I will do a tidier job if I ever have to replace it. For now, thought it's done. I fitted it, tightened everything and it is not going anywhere. My neck now aches from being in unusual contorted positions for too long. But I don't really care. Because my exhaust is now on, and I don't have to do it again (famous last words). A weight has been lifted from my shoulders!

I made two bits of metal stick together. Don't look too closely - lots of penetration and it's strong but man it's ugly!

Image

But it's on. And it isn't falling off.

Image
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby Scary's Pal » Mon Jun 28, 2021 6:25 pm

Well done young sir, glad you are making progress with whatever time you have available in the garage. As I remember, the stainless exhaust from Harold had the silencer down the length of the tunnel starting just behind the gear linkage. There was a hanger with a couple of bobbins hanging from the beam, then a straight through kinked pipe to the back of the car. There wasn't any issue with the exhaust coming close to the hump or the tank due to the diameter of the pipe - 2" I think.
Glad to see your inventiveness is still to the fore. Keep on keeping on!

John
Paddle faster, I hear banjo's
Scary's Pal
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:42 pm

Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:45 pm

Hi everyone

I have not updated this thread in over a month due to family matters. Sadly I lost my Dad last weekend.

I will come back to it and update you all when the time is right.

Dave

2021 has not been a good year...
MrBounce
 
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Suffolk

PreviousNext

Return to Complete Midas rebuild

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron