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.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy - And We're Back

Postby Stuart » Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:13 pm

DavidL wrote:Mine too. I can't remember how my Bronze's fuel tank was fixed, although I thought it was nuts, bolts, and penny washers. Just rivnuts through fibreglass doesn't sound secure enough to me, although it sometimes seemed like Harold was happy to use self tappers into fibreglass wherever he liked!


Yes nuts and bolts on the forward edge of the tank and large self tappers on the rear edge of the tank.
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy - And We're Back

Postby fozzza » Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:21 pm

I must admit when I first built my MK2 I was a bit skeptical about using self tappers wondering whether they would take the weight, but I must admit they were fine. On my rebuild I just used stainless ones instead and still no problems, touch wood ;)
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy - And We're Back

Postby l_jonez » Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:38 pm

When I stripped mine it was self tappers along the rear of the tank, seemed solid enough. I did think of going down the rivnut route but the f/g is too thick
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Getting Horny.

Postby MrBounce » Mon May 14, 2018 8:01 pm

Trouble is, my holes had worn to the point where I would need a screw about 1/4" thick. I thought that rivnuts would be a better idea. I am not expecting the epoxy resin to give way anytime soon.

Let's talk about horns. Initially I wanted to use a set of air horns on Zippy, but from what I remember you cannot use just an air horn on a car of his age, so I would either have to use a standard horn or a combination of both that and an air horn. This lead me to another problem (normal with this car) - space. There is not a lot. Having decided that a decent loud "normal" horn would be the best way forward, my brother bought me a pair of high/low tone horns from CBS. I have tested them. All I need to say is that "Holy **** they're rather noisy". I will not be needing air horns.

Now, where to put them?? My initial thought was somewhere close to the radiator, but with the fan and the oil cooler in place, space is at a premium. So I concentrated on higher up in the engine bay. The offside inner wing fairly close to the bulkhead provided an adequate empty area, so a bit of measuring saw a CAD template made. This was turned into steel, drilled and bent to shape, before being painted. A couple of rivnuts and all was ready to go on. I'm happy. Wiring will follow.

A suitably empty space for the loud pair.

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Jaffa Cake Box + Steel

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Paint!

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Rivnuts

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And finally, HORNS!

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy - Sit Down

Postby MrBounce » Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:33 am

I've been fed up with the lack of progress this year, so I felt that if I sorted out the seat mounts, I could then sort out carpets and actually start feeling like I've actually got somewhere and have something to show for it. The trouble with an old kit car built by someone else means that any changes usually need a complete re-think or rework, which is why things have taken a while - it's not simply a matter of bolting stuff back together. Anyway, I digress. The buckets I have acquired are flat-bottomed and although I can bolt runners to the bottom of them, there's then no clearance for them to clear the carpet. And so began the simple but rather fiddly job of creating something.

The solution was easy - a long bit of 2"x 2" box section steel. Once I'd measured the runners, out came the hacksaw and 2 blades later I had 4 bits ready to be drilled. How I coped before I got myself a pillar drill I'll never know - it's potentially the most useful power tool I have in the garage. My initial plan was to weld captive nuts inside so I could simply bolt the runners in but there's no clearance to get a spanner in to tighten up the bolts. In fact you can't actually move the bolt head through 360 degrees once it's home, so I went back to more conventional methods.

I then realised that the runners themselves needed clearance on the seat base due to the adjusters, which meant I needed spacers and longer bolts. I popped to the local bolt shop (yes we have one!!) and grabbed 8 bolts and 8 spacers for the grand total of £1.30. I like to support my local business, even if it does mean taking a 5-mile detour to avoid the traffic from the local Agricultural Show (and there was a lot!).

I've now drilled the other side of the 2x2 to accept bolts to go through the floor. Next job, measuring, drilling, fitting, and sitting. Maybe then I can take advantage of this good weather and make some carpets...

Flat bottomed seat - no good for clearance

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Runners - also flat (ish)

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Length of 2x2 to give appropriate clearance

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Longer bolts and spacers from the helpful local bolt shop

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And happily bolted to the seat

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Sit Down...

Postby MrBounce » Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:48 pm

Right now, I am in the process of filling the imaginary swearbox in the garage (there's no point in me actually having one as it would always be full and I'd never have any spare cash). I have discovered a slight issue with the seat mods that I have done. I trial fitted them in the car - they looked great. I then sat in them. I don't fit. It turns out, that at 5ft 8 1/2" of superbly proportioned (ahem) height, I am too tall for the current configuration. A Midas is indeed a VERY small place to be.

I will therefore try to fit them using the just runners and without the additional box section steel I spent half an afternoon fitting. To quote Bill Murray in Ghostbusters: "Motherpusbucket".
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Stand Up Again (and Swear)

Postby Geoff Butcher » Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:09 pm

I'm 6' and fitted into my Mk2 easily. The seats were Huntmasters, but I don't remember what the mountings/runners were like
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Stand Up Again (and Swear)

Postby fozzza » Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:24 pm

A lot depends on the length of your torso. I had to mount the seat as close to the carpet as possible to give me maximum head room. Im sure Im shrinking in my older years as i do now seem to have more head clearance. :)
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Stand Up Again (and Swear)

Postby goldeneye » Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:37 am

I have mounted the seat on the car without the runners, this saves some very useful space around my head.
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Stand Up Again (and Swear)

Postby Jon » Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:20 pm

I may be wrong, but I believe the driver's seat has to be adjustable backwards and forwards to pass the MoT. Worth checking.
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