South African Mk3

Made up some brackets for the dash housings to hold them in place. Managed to finish the passenger side, will do the driver's side tomorrow.

I managed to finish off the brackets for the dash boxes. The driver's side is now attached. It pulled the box in a little, which bothers me, but it just means I have to adjust the cutout for the check strap to move past :



I also finished cleaning up a few bits and pieces ready for some primer. I was going to do it today but I wasn't in the mood.

I've managed to get two coats of primer on some parts. Need a little rub down and then the first coat of black, hopefully tomorrow.

The onset of winter weather has thwarted my plans for any kind of spraying in the last few days. Hopefully I can get some done tomorrow or Saturday.

Not that you want to hear this but .......

Its warm dry and sunny here in South Wales at the moment !!!!!

Never thought I'd say this, but I'm jealous of some of the current UK weather

we're not used to it either!

Do send some of it this way! Gone from 30 degrees last week, to 2 degrees this morning. Celsius that is. So I can only imagine where winter is heading this year.

We had our first frost of the winter this morning. So happy to be rid of the heat of summer!

I managed to get a fair amount of spraying done today. All the primered parts are now black. The weather shields will be given a couple more coats when I do the petrol tanks and straps. The flat support plates for the boot board also need a rub down and another coat, but not worried about that just yet.



The bonnet is also complete, apart from a sound deadening pad. I'll fit it up tomorrow and see if I have everything set up right.

Managed to get the bonnet fitted up, but I really do need another one. This one is twisted and sits high on the driver's side at the rear, but low on the passenger side and vice versa on the front section. Consequently, the bonnet looks to be badly fitted, when it really isn't. This picture shows the gap in the front :



The catch just needs to be set, but I'll leave that for now as the bonnet will come off again for the motor.

I also got around to fitting the brake and clutch pipes. I still need to get around to the wiring on this thing.

Looking good with you there Jared.

Can you take out any of that bonnet twist by adjusting the bonnet hinges or have you done that already ?
I envy you having a Mini front end in some ways as I've lost count already how many time I've bumped my head on the Elf front grille !!!

Cheers mate

I've adjusted the bonnet as best as I can for now. If I were to adjust any better I'd need to slot the bonnet mount holes, which at the this stage is a hassle. I'll be looking at replacing the bonnet at some stage anyway. I must say, I do agree about not having the grille in the way

Recent purchase :



Cooper S fuel cap for the second tank.

Washed the car this morning and made attempt number 3 on the wheel arch trim. F@*# it! No matter what I try, boiling water, hair dryer, the sun - nothing seems to work. Screw it, the car can sit for a while now.

When that happens to me I've learnt that its always best to down tools, walk away and have a coffee !

........ and if its really annoying me, down tools, walk away and go to the Pub !!!

I think I need the latter

So, rather than battle with the wheel arch trim, I turned my attention to the passenger side dashboard. It now looks like this inside (apologies for the dark pictures) :

Looking good Jared.  That "Kill Switch" is very handy there too, mines in the boot !

Just in case anyone was interested, I have two two pin plug sockets for a lead light that I'll be keeping in the car, one on either side of the dashes. The socket looks like this :



And the plug looks like this :



Also, here's a daytime picture of the dash :

Wheels off, car on stands and covered up. I'm just going to leave it until I know what I want to do exactly. It will need a respray, that's for sure. I keep finding more and more things wrong with the paint. I'm also getting a little irritated by the lack of real progress and lack of funds for the car. So, until next time.

If theres no mad rush Jared then take your time. It will be well worth the wait in the end.

I'm lucky that mine is a 'running' project and not my only 'Classic' Car so if I break it, I have plenty of time to fix it !

I do want to finish the car, but I need a good break from her. It's been near daily progress for the last 4 months. She will be finished, that's for sure

I haven't touched her in a month. I'm hoping to get the reps from Glasurit to have a look at my car when they make a turn here this week.

In other news, this came from Aus :



And some Minispares items that have taken forever to get to me :



I'm still waiting for my pressure release valve from months ago . . .

Sometimes taking a good break away from the project while waiting for some much needed new parts to arrive can majke the job much more enjoyable when you do eventually get back to it.

Love that 'OK BMC' sticker !  Are you going to keep it on there ?

boris

I'll probably get going again in another week or two. I'm hoping to have the paint guys come up on Thursday to have a look at the car

I'm leaving the rocker cover just as it is. I've got about 4 different ones (one of which is alloy and was repainted before I got it) that still have original stickers and plates on. I need to get a picture of them once they've been cleaned. Sounds different, but I want to collect them.