Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

[Rich]

The allegro rad looks very similar to the Metro unit, do the measurements stack up?

[MrBounce]

From what I have seen on eBay, Metro ones appear to be 750mm long which is too wide. Any suggestions?

[Rich]

Just had a measure of my two, from the widest points of the tanks (not including the stubs) the Mk1 is 57cm long and the Mk2 is 59cm long.

[MrBounce]

So, having found a radiator with the water retaining capabilities of a colander, it was time to take a visit down to the local Radiator specialist. I explained my predicament and he said it would be possible to recore the Allegro rad, but it wouldn't fit my budget as it would be £150. He was right. However, as I had taken down both of my old rads to show 1) what should be in the gap and b) what was ACTUALLY there when I bought the car, he was able to immediately identify the other one as that from an A-series Metro.

He disappeard upstairs and found a new/old stock one which he said had been "up there a while". He also knocked it down from £65 to £50 provided I paid cash. I have a new rad, I have supported an idependent local business and he gets to go down the pub. Everyone's happy! I will need to re-drill at least one hole as the mounting pins are in slightly different places, and I need to figure out how to mount the electric fan as that's different too, but I am nothing if not resourceful.

I had to go shopping for a Metro expansion tank & pipes though as I only had an enormous expansion tank from some sort of Ford in the bits box that came with the car. Ebay came up trumps so now I am currently making it a bit cleaner as it's a bit gungy.

New rad. Fills the hole although mounting points & fan will need fettling.



Expansion tank with pipes. Cleaning currently underway.

[MrBounce]

High time I got back into the garage. There aren't many pics today as all I have been doing is sanding, sanding and more sanding. P40 is very hard stuff and my fingers are now bleeding. That said, I really feel I have now turned a corner. I am working on the front left hand corner of the car (as it's on its side that makes it WAY more comfortable!) and it is almost time to not sand anymore. Thank ****.

I have finally got it as smooth as I am likely to at this stage, but of course there are various pockmarks and depressions. I have finally given it its first skim of filler. Now all I need is a couple of mates and it'll be time to flip it onto the other side and do that.

[Hans Efde]

I had to go shopping for a Metro expansion tank & pipes though as I only had an enormous expansion tank from some sort of Ford in the bits box that came with the car. Ebay came up trumps so now I am currently making it a bit cleaner as it's a bit gungy.

Make sure the cap works or buy a new one to be sure. I once blew my mk2 Metro expansion tank and bought a new one. But the dealer didn't have the cap in stock so I said okay that's alright and put the old one on again. After installation I blew up the new tank as well because it turned out the cap was clogged and could not vent off excessive pressure.
That's why I used to have the mk1 tank that has the metal cap with spring. But my tank had become old and brittle, so now I've installed VW reliability. It's almost a straight swap:

[MrBounce]

I spent this afternoon sanding down the first skim of filler and I have to say I am quite pleased with what I have done. Because of all the ground-out and re-filled cracks the aesthetics aren't that great at the moment, but it feels smooth with no obvious raised lumps. I feel I am getting somewhere. It will of course need a bit more sorting out of a few dips and gouges but that will have to wait until I have some more filler. I also took the opportunity to finish off the underside of the nose as there were still a few lumpy parts and/or chunks missing.

Whilst I was waiting for all the filler to dry off last week, I painted the brake calipers in a rather fetching shade of blue, which should offset the orange colour I want to paint the car rather nicely. I then decided to get started on reconditioning them as well, which means new seals and pistons, which I already have. I say that; it appears I only have them for one side of the car. I guess I will have to get some more... I managed to get the pistons out quite easily and have removed the seals. They looked slightly past their best. Brake cleaner is useful stuff and has made things look a lot prettier. Once I have got some new bits I will finish them.

First skim sanded; are my bodywork woes soon to be over??



Blue calipers! They look SO much nicer now!



Old seals. Not pretty.

[b1zbaz]

The bodywork looks awesome mate well done you should be over the moon with them results where do you live I will drop mine off

[MrBounce]

Baz - no chance mate! By the time I have finished this one I will never want to see a piece of sandpaper again!!!

As I haven't been able to get the Midas turned over (too much social time being taken up!!) and I didn't have any more filler anyway, I thought it was time I actually finished off the calipers. As I only had one side of the car to do it was unlikely to take a huge amount of time, but I was being ultra careful because I had never done this job before. Turns I am quite good at this! Now all I have to do is wait for the second set of pistons and seals to arrive before I can do the other one.

I have also been adding to my useful parts list. I wanted a Minispares inlet manifold - they're well made, I've had one before and I wasn't sure about the one I had in the parts box. There was nothing wrong with it; it just looked like it could be a little smoother on the inside. Getting a Minispares one meant less work with the Dremel to smooth it out. Thanks to the Mini Forum, one was bought (new but not used) and one was sold. I also helped my good friend to go through his garage finding bits for his father-in-law's Moke project, and he has chucked me a couple of bits - a switch for turning on the fan automatically and a battery disconnect switch. Very helpful!

Completed caliper. Can I do the other one please?



New inlet manifold



Couple of useful bits. Cheers Mr T!

[MrBounce]

As I had the bits for doing the second caliper, I went back into the garage and messed it all up. For those that don't know, the top seal is held in place by a metal collar, and it is very easy to get this wrong when pressing it in. And of course I managed to do it when I had had no problems with the other 3 I'd already done. So having contributed vast amounts to the swearbox, I put some more seals on order, shut the garage door and left it for a week. New seals arrived, and I promptly did the same thing again. More swearing. I was then ultra careful with the final one and had no more issues. Calipers done! (Although they will need a further coat of paint...)

I have decided that as the temperatures have dropped and there is no heater in the garage, even with a "hot" mix it's not really worth doing any filler work, so I have turned my attention to some more mechanical things. I have got my hands on a KAD Quickshift (rescued from a friends garage for a decent price - he happened to have two! - but I couldn't get the lever's collar to engage on the extension. As I have a spare full selector anyway, I tried that one. No issues at all. Now what it needs is cleaning as it is not pretty. Parts washer is on standby...

Caliper finished! (Apart from more paint)



KAD Quickshift acquired (Really must pay for this...!)



It's a bit gungy in there...