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The engine was fitted with an auto gearbox originally,but it will have a manual Getrag 265 fitted to it. We have a conversion kit from Simply Performance,but I had to do some modification on the bell housing . This one wil give us the option to be able to remove the starter motor(hopefully in the future we do not have to!) without taking the gearbox off. Trough that hole ,we will be able to remove the top bolt of the starter with allen key. And now here are a few pictures of a fully restored "drive chain", waiting for the body shell to be arrived: Will be continued....
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Removed the "old" floor.The bottom of the bulkhead panel required some repair,it has to be repaired like that,cause the original metal was very thin... And the rest of it in pictures: When I started the restoration on the chassis and suspension, the plan was when its all complete to bring the body shell in the workshop and start to re assemble the vehicle,cause the shell already has been repaired and re sprayed by others.... Well....the plan has changed..... When the shell arrived....OMG!!!.... Ive started looking at it...and it was awful.... The previously repaired shell by "others" was : not fitted to the chassis -or not properly,as the new floor panel did not match the fixing points on the chassis,and it didn't laid on it ....it was twisted ,so one side I was able to put my finger between the shell a the chassis,another side my fist nearly gone between them.....bad repairs,and patches everywhere,loads of filler,bad paintwork....... We agreed with my customer,the metalwork need re doing,and the paintwork too.... Sent it for blasting,to get it clean,and the work began.... I think the pictures will speak for themshelves.... First of all please take a look at the painted shell,this is how it,s arrived to us: After the blasting: The original chassis is fully restored now,so we can not do any body repairs with a shell bolted to it,cause the risk of damage.... No other option,but to copy the original chassis,and do the restoration bolted to that... Brand new floor panel from Germany,had to be customized a bit. It's a very good quality one. The restore -rebuild of the engine continue....part of the wiring loom fitted on the engine,needed some attention. First of all remove the old insulation tape,give it a good clean and wipe,and use a fabric tape to re-banding it. The engine was bolted to a rotating engine stand,but the time is here now to remove it from there. The auto gearbox wont go back on the engine,a manual gearbox will be fitted. Getrag 265 manual box ,clutch kit and a conversion ring have to be bolted on before the engine goes back to the car. I want to make sure everything is fine. To mate up the engine and the gbox I had to fabricate a suitable stand . Before the gearbox goes on, all ancillaries have to be fitted,like water pump,PS pump,alternator,pulleys...etc Continue soon...
The restoration-rebuild of the engine in progress.The pictures should speak for themselves.... Inlet manifolds are vapour blasted,parts cleaned and zinc coated,large throttle body kit fitted-supplied by Roger Bywater at AJ6 Engineering,vacuum hoses replaced. Continue soon...
Stripped the engine to bits,cleaned and checked the parts...pistons and liners are fine,decided to have a set of new piston rings and had to replace 3 gudgeon pins,cause of surface rust. New gasket kits awaiting to be fitted,along the full set of head studs... Heads were skimmed,ports cleaned, 12 new exhaust valves fitted,all valve seats done,valve clearances adjusted... The starter motor has been restored too continue soon....
The chassis nearly completed,but we haven't got wheels yet....Its time to get the rims painted. First of all they need some repairs,some kerb marks here and there, and they wer quite rusty...they've been blasted and primed, buy their surface is pitted or scored,so to get a nice finish : will not be easy. Loads of fillings and sanding needed to be done to get a smooth surface.   Here they are with the finishing coat on:  And the tyres fitted with white walls:    The chassis and other parts all re-sprayed,lots of replacement parts arrived by post. The nuts ,bolts etc zinc coated,and the aluminium parts all vapour blasted. We can start to rebuild the suspension.  New bearings, new seals, oilite bushes fitted,new shockers,new rubber bushes.... New bearings, new sprockets, new chain.... Gearbox checked, new bearings fitted, new seals, gaskets, new clutch push rod....everything else was fine... New cables for accelerator, clutch and handbrake. New brake master cylinder (Girling),and freshly made brake pipe line fitted.Nearly ready to receive the body shell. New master cylinder bracket fabricated. New vehicle in the workshop...a "BubbleCar" BMW Isetta 300 from 1959, actually its the chassis with a suspension,gear box+chain drive. The body shell is already done by someone else,and also the paintwork. We do not need it yet so its waiting in the owner's garage. First we have to restore what we have here. The chassis looks fairly good for its age,hopefully do not need so much work. We stripped it and cleaned the parts as much as we can. Chassis needed some welding,and some grinding on sharp edges,but its solid anyway.  After degreasing all the parts we sent most of them to shotblasting. They came back like that:   Checked everything and started to prepare them to have a nice finishing coat. The leaf springs were stripped,cleaned from rust and dirt, greased between the layers and re-built. The chassis has been masked out,cause the bottom and the outer line of the structure received a rubberized stone chip shield protection before the finishing coat. Re-sprayed,ready to build the suspension back on. Some other parts re-sprayed: Continue soon....
All the hard work done,its time to take a lot of pictures:          It was a very successful International Fireman Meeting in May 2009. It was a joy to drive this Little Fire Engine around the town , the Multicar M22 put a smile on everybody's face,and didn't have any problem!
After the meeting finished,we were driving home with a smile on our face as well,(and maybe a teardrop in our eyes too... :) ) |
The Classic Mechanic
I am Laszlo Izso and I am The Classic Mechanic. We undertake part and full restoration and repairs of modern classics, classic and vintage cars. It is more than a business, it is a vocation as restoring these cars is my passion. Categories
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