Mary's Back!!

[Steves2580]

Ha Ha!

Well I got the wiring loom home, it was in a lovely plastic box (as you can see below) ;D

Got it all out on the drive, sorted the front from the back, the drivers door from the passenger door, the boot lid from the bonnet (not as I need them) ;D

There's bloody miles of the stuff

So I thought "sod this, I'll go and have a cider" so it got put back in the lovely plastic box (obviously in a specific order) ready to get out again when I have more time ;D

Better luck next time ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Just a very small up-date

I had a delivery today!!!

One brand new rad, another ebay bargain!!

Couldn't hang around, it was opened in seconds ;D

What a great piece of ally and plastic!!

Can't wait to get into the garage this weekend, need to get it fitted and move on, been a bit stuck without it!!

Just got to work out how to hang it ;D

Wish me luck!

Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

I have finally managed to do a little more to the conversion ;D

This is yesterdays achievements!!

First thing was to bolt on the MGF rad fan, straight forward really!!

Find the brackets I'd drilled ready for the old rad rubber mounts

Position the new rad, have a look and a measure

Then a re-think, fan noise, view from rear view mirror, moved to behind drivers seat as ducting can be made to poke out and grab some wind

New rad brackets to be re-designed ro lower mounts

Plate bender

Brackets in, measured and ready for clamping up

Clamped up, ready for bending

Quick measure check

45 Degrees

90 Degree bend, lovely!

Quick angle check, just hope the rest of the car is square ;D ;D

Marked out for drilling the bolt holes

6.5mm drill bit fitted into the chuck, for the 6mm fixing bolts

Both lower brackets drilled

De-burring with a sharp 9/16 Moores taper drill

Cut to correct length

After a quick ride on the bench grinder, the brackets are ready for the rubber mounts to be re-fitted

Then today I was meant to get the buggers fitted, but the missus had other ideas for me
Food shop, mend the Dyson, but a HDMI lead through a wall, mend the cover for the garden seats!!

There's always next Saturday, but I'm happy with this Saturdays work, rad should just drop into place, fingers crossed ;D ;D

Comments welcome guys!!

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Small update!!

Well the rad did drop in, quite easily!!

First mount bracket fitted, just one bolt till I got it level

Second mount bolted into place

Rad offered up, looks allright, so had to get the top mounts sorted

Top rad mounting rail tacked into place and the top rad mount brackets placed just to see how the design is going to work

Top mount bracket half fabricated, just tacked up

Top mount bracket taken off for welding up

Welded up and what a sexy chuffing weld it is too! ;D

Rad mounted and looking just perfect

Header tank to be positioned next, then just got to measure up for the silicon pipework and get an order in!!!

Ha ha, loving it!!

Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

Well, the header tank has been positioned

Measured up for the silicone hoses

Then thought wiring loom!! Remember last time I looked at the loom "sod it have a cider" well not today!!!
Joined the wiring loom at the engine moved backward, looked at lights etc, then moved forward!! All the way to the battery!!
Connected battery, put the MGF steering wheel on the floor and connected up the ignition, first turn of the key/engine and away she went!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, she started and ran like a bloody good one ;D ;D ;D ;D

Pictures to follow, just had to tell you that shes running again!!!!!!!!

 

[Steves2580]

Pictures!!

Header tank rear bracket, one straight piece of 25x3 flat steel, cut at 22.5degrees each end, the end bits turned over and welded back on the same end I cut them off, making two nice 45degree angles, then drilled for the 6mm bolts

50x3 flt steel, welded to the front of the top rad rail, marked for cutting down, using the 1mm thick steel cutting disc in my little grinder

Header tank rear bracket tacked to the front of the 50x3, positioned to suit body panels (to be fitted later)

Front hanger for header tank welded in place, I'll just have to mind my head hehe ;D

Down on my hands and knees, looking back to see if its in the right place, don't look at the untidy garage

Tank removed for rear bracket to be welded up, one of these days I'll master this welding shite

Moved onto the rear wiring loom, connected it up to the engine ecu

Chucked the wiring loom into the feeestyle, no seriously chucked it in ;D

Connected up the MGF clocks, ignition even the power steering

Connected the battery, pressed the key fob, turned the key, injection system buzzed like it should, turned the key that next step and after half a turn the engine was running ;D ;D ;D

Turned it off straight away as there is no cooling systyem in place, sounded like Danny's, but then I haven't fabricated an exhaust yet!!!!

For some strange reason I ran round the close, jumping and shouting, like a bit of a dick!! What a buzz!!!

Keep your comments coming in, wish me luck with the loom tidying ;D

Very happy, Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

Small update ;D

Well, seeing as I've been having so much fun at the rear of Mary ha ha, I thought I'd carry on with the rear and work forward ;D
So I decided to crack on with the rear bumper, after scrubbing about the garage I found a couple of off cuts of the tube used for the main rear chassis, so I had to weld them together!

After welding them together a quick run round with a grinder and ;D

Quick measure and then a cut to length

Cut a couple of blank for the ends of the bumper

Placed on the end ready for welding up

Ends welded and sanded up with a flap disc in a 4.5inch grinder

Two bumper mounts cut to length and shaped to fit the chassis to bumper application

Quick check fitting just to make sure they will fit together

Bumper hangers tacked into place

Rear bumper tacked into place, just struggling to see if it's level!!

Yep, had to roll it out into the cold weather to check the levels, so I thought I'd take a few pictures of Mary while she was playing out ;D ;D

Even got a video ;D


Hope that works!!

After that noise, it must be exhaust time (Danny!!)

Exhaust parts piled up for butchering and sticking together

After a little messing I have an exhaust bolted on, but it doesn't seem to have made a great deal of difference

And that has been my weekends work and I'm quite happy with what has been done!!

Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

Hi chaps,
Thought I'd try again with my update, tried last night, wrote for an hour and photobucket locked up and I lost everything

So here goes again!

First thing on Saturday was unwrapping a parcel, my LED rear lights had arrived

Had to get them out and have a good look at them

Then I had to decide how to fix the rear lights to the buggy, a light pan is required, this will also hold the numberplate in the right place too! Scrap piece of material used to get the bottom fold to the right angle 

Quick check

After checking the angle of the fold, I had to find some material for the light pan, well look what was on the guilotine ;D

After a quick grin to myself I set my light mounts and numberplate out on the sheet steel

That sheet was perfect, so a quick measure and a cut and I have a piece 250mm x 1000mm

Marked it out, positioned it, clamped it up and checked it

Halfway bend check, see if its right with the scrap material

Bit more pressure required, to get it perfect and there it is

Had to put the light mounts and n/plate back on just to see how it looks

I was a little disappointed to find that the lights didn't contain any fitting/drilling measurements, so I used another piece of scrap material to do a mock fitting

Copied measurements over to the light pan, drilled and de-burred the holes, looking cool

Radius the outer corners for looks and safety, rough cropping first, then a sand up, using a flap disc in a small grinder

Next job was the exhaust mount bracket, first bend

Second bend, used the oxy propane set to heat the material and get a nice sharp bend radius

Measure its length and mark it for cutting

Well this was my weekends fabrication

Spent the rest of the weekend putting up the Christmas decc's, inside and out

I'd rather have been working on the buggy!

Comments welcome as always ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Ok, I was ready to take on the name of SLACKER!!

But this weekend I actually did something on Mary ;D ;D

After spending most of Saturday taking down the outside Christmas deccs and running through to pick up the misses's auntie, I got a little bit done!!

I was soo happy to be back in the garage, it seems like ages since I did anything constructive (Yep Slacker )

Well firstly I have to show you what came through the post box over the festive period ;D

These little babies are LED Number Plate lights and they look wicked, I'm well chuffed with how they look in the packet, just hope they look as good when fitted to the buggy

The last thing I did before my Slacker break was construct a rear lighting plate and exhaust hanger bracket.
The first job was to get the exhaust finished, so the bracket was held in place. It was then that I realised that I didn't want a welded exhaust mount, as this would have been a weak but also the lowest part of the rear chassis (when Mary is stripped for painting, this would be proping up the full rear chassis).
The exhaust bracket had to be modified to suit its new position and fitment ;D

Just welded a new 90 degree bracket to the top of the existing bracket, this rotated it 90 degree and lowered it by 25mm

Then it was a case of fitting the rear light pan this was a bit of a challenge to fit, I had to make brackets to weld to the rear chassis, I fabricated two lower brackets, one for each end of the rear light panel (welded to rear bumper), after welding these in place I realised it was still a little on the floppy side, so another three brackets were made and welded into place! (two top and one in the middle, again onto the bumper)

After bolting the light pan into place, I fitted the number plate and new LED number plate lights, sorry about the picture below, number plate reflected back at the camera and made the picture very dark

Close up picture of one of the two number plate lights

And that my friends is another weekend gone and not enough done on the buggy!!

Working now for the next four weekends in a row so very little time to play on the buggy, might have to take some time off in the week while the kids are at school and the misses is at work ;D

As always, your comments are very welcome

Steve  ;D

 

[Steves2580]

One of the Slackers is back!!

Just a little progress made ;D

Before I could do much I needed to get the original alloys back on, this was an issue
Hub adapters required!! Priced them up £150.00 for a pair, NOT a chance!

Fabrication time ;D

A good mate of mine found me a lovely lump of steel, 300x300x25mm. Ideal for my hub adapters!

Marked out and pilot drilled

Drilled to suit M12 clearance (size of studs on MGF hubs) & tapping size for the 3/8UNF new studs

Gas axed into managable lumps

And that was last weekend!

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Heres this weekends work ;D

Good job I'd kept the front subframe from the MGF at work, quick test

Counter drilled to suit M12x1.25 nuts and locking washers

Flipped over to counter sink the other side

Centre hole tapped to bolt adapter to large diameter bar

Large bar, faced up, drilled and tapped ready for bolting the adapters to it

Adapter bolted to round bar

Turning in process ;D

Turned and faced, looking sweet

One half done

And then there was two ;D

Turned round for back drilling, then they can be reamed out to size 56.6mm internal diameter

Another test fit on the front subframe hubs

New hub bolts fitted, couldn't wait to get them home and try them out ;D

Old MGF alloy removed and ready for adapter

Adapter fitted, I'm well chuffed with how they look ;D

Alloy fitted, I had to get one on while I was messing

I was going to roll her out of the garage to get some full pictures, just got the N/S fitted and it started to rain

I feel like progress has been made, its brought the smile back ;D
Roll on next weekend!!

As always, your comments are welcome!

Steve

 

[Steves2580]

Parcel arrived while I was at work today ;D

Only ordered the Hydrogas pump on Sunday evening!

Here it is

So this weekend, it's rear arches on and then a big pumping session (keep it clean boys, I ment the suspension)

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

This morning went well, have a look at these piccy's

First I got out the arches and recut the inside face to suit the MGF Hydrogas suspension units, one cut, one to be cut

Brackets made to bolt through the reflector and rear of the rear arch

Front mount fabbed and clamped in place

Rear bracket tacked up and arch fitted

Front bracket bolted up and arch fitted

The car was then moved over to the other side of the garage for the N/S rear arch to be fitted, when this was done it was roll out time!
I was dying to get her out into the sun and fresh air ;D

Looking a little on the low side, that will soon change ;D

I did a little hose work the other day and forgot to take any photos, but heres one

The next job was to pump up the suspension, so out came the new pump, cable tied it to a makeshift holder.
Mixed 400ml of Antifreeze with 400ml of De-ironised water and filled the pump

After about twenty mins of pumping, I'd gone from no pressure at all to 400psi, very simple process!

Quick picture of the rear before getting stuck into the other side

I got the other side pumped up to 400psi, jumped up and down on the rear bumper and checked them for pressure!
Great, both still at 400psi ;D

Missed getting a finished picture as I had the kids bikes to sort out!

Bring on tomorrow, more sunshine and more work on the buggy ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Well, I didn't get anything done on Sunday

I managed to get a couple of hours at it today
I had to get the ECU guarded before building up more of the rear bodywork!

Found some off cuts of 0.8mm cold rolled steel sheet, ideal for a light guard

Cut and formed the pieces of the guard

Tacked up, welded and sanded up, only took twenty mins

ECU guard drilled, brackets made and fitted, that will keep the ECU safe

Rear ECU guard also made and fitted

I had a look at LED centre brake lights on the old ebay, found a local supplier.
Decided to have a ride out to have a look, the old shop was shut and the fella selling was now selling stuff from home.
I didn't know where he lives, so I thought I'd have a look at the local Car Care shop

Told them what I was looking for, one of them ran off upstairs, came back I gave me this FOC ;D

Wicked ;D

I'll try to get more done tomorrow ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Managed to get a little bit more done on Mary today

I got fed up with the old fuel filler neck swinging around all over the place, so I decided that needed sorting.
I set to and made a plate that the MGF filler neck could bolt to, I was going to weld this in place, then thought that at some point I may need to get it off again, so a bolted on version was created out of the weld on plate

Rolled over to see the plate that will be welded to the buggy frame

Before fitting the plate the old filler neck was cut down in length, this is how it looked after cutting down

Plate on but not welded up

Welded on with the filler cap replaced

After the fuel filler cap job was done, I had to get on with fitting that nice new spoiler (that was free  ;D)
I got a little carried away with what I was doing and before I'd taken any pictures I had two spoiler mounts fabricated and tacked on.
I must admit, it looks wicked  ;D

At this point I really wanted to roll her out and get some proper photos, but the misses came home, blocked the drive and it started to rain.
My buggy isn't ready for the rain just yet

As always, your comments are very welcome ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Done a litle bit more today!

I thought it was about time I switched the ignition barrel, steering lock and indicator stork.
Bigger job than I first thought, I managed to get a couple of photos

First picture is of the old steering column, I started stripping it down before I got the camera out

As you are probably aware, the bolts that hold the steering lock/ignition barrel in place, are not removable.
Well they are with a bent piece of round bar, I just tack welded the round bolt head to the end of the round bar, quick twist and out they come.

This is just a picture of the bits removed from the MGF column, some needed, some to be sold on

Started to remove the old mini parts that are no longer required

Rebuild

Thought I'd better test the new system, one turn of the key, fuel pump buzzed, next turn she fired up ;D

Another half day gone, good job I'm not taking account of the hours spent on this conversion

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Hi gang,

Just a little update, well thinking about it, it probably won't be a little update!

After fitting the ingition barrel and the indicator stork, I thought I'd better get on with fitting the steering column cover, slotted the ignition hole and tried it

Removed for a little dremmel work ;D

Refitted the cover I then had to turn May round, single garage and all that

While she was out, I had to take a few pictures

Now she's front in, the front is nearer the welder, I've been wanting to do this next little job for ages, I bent a couple of strap loops a few weeks ago, now I could get them welded on

One tacked on

Both welded on

Even got it painted up, so I can get the battery back on

Next job was to start fitting the MGF clocks, the brackets took some thinking about and some fabricating

O/S clock bracket fitted

Clocks offered up, so fabrication of the N/S bracket can take place

N/S bracket fabbed and welded

Both brackets bolted up and clocks fitted

I then set about fitting/adjusting a fuse box, but missed getting any more photos (thanks god, I hear you say).

I'm having another day on her tomorrow, keep your eye on what I'm doing, am I going to get her ready for Stoneleigh??

As always your comments are very welcome ;D

Steve.

 

[Steves2580]

Another little bit done

First I rolled her out on to the drive, a little bit of a look at what needs to be done (still loads then)

Position the fuse box, brackets made drilled and fitted

After looking at the battery leads I thought I should really do something with them too, cut off some of the ends and re-soldered new terminals to the ends, bit of insulting tape (it was very rude ha ha)

STRAP ON!
For the first time while I've owned Mary, she has a battery that is secured to the vehicle, I was a little shocked when I noticed

I then wanted to fit the ECU, so a bracket was fabbed and bolted to it

I must have lost the camera for a while, as I fitted the ECU, got some of the old MGF clocks and switches out, trimmed them up and fitted them, then cut down the gearstick and welded an 8mm bolt to the end for the pool ball and pushed her back into the garage!

Close up of the clocks, power sockets and the extra switches, you can just see the alarm box under the dash too

Not really looking forward to tomorrow afternoon, the loom is getting adapted ???

Richard, the ultra light buggy builder cam to see Mary today, he got some pictures and another video clip, hopefully he'll post me the link for it!

As usual guys, your comments are welcome!

Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

Hi guys,
I've done a little bit more on Mary today, not a lot, only a bit

It took me ages to open up all the loom, this is the rear loom

Over the fuel tank

And splat, there's the main loom

I set to, and reduced it by quite a bit, lost the power steering, lost the electric windows, lost the central locking and the interior lights ;D
Hopefully she'll be a little lighter ha ha!

Started to rebuild the front of the loom, starting to take shape

Moved back slightly and spent a little time sorting out the wires under the nose/dash area

Got a little carried away and put the ally nose back on, I knew it would have to come off again, but what the hell

Last picture of the day!

So I'll start next with the rear lights, then work forward and splice out what is not needed in the rest of the loom ;D

Not really a fan of wires, but it seem to be going ok

Check out the video clip on the thread (Thanks again, Richard)

Steve ;D

 

[Steves2580]

Just had an hour or two on her today
I had a late start today, I was in the garage at 7.30am ;D

Not really made much headway though.

First thing I did was tidy the rear section of the wiring loom, once that was sorted fitted the rear LED lights, they are looking sweet!

From the rear loom forwards, right through to under the dash, got it tidy (just, what a pain in the arse).

Once that was all sorted I pushed her out, turned her round and put her back in the garage, chucked in the drivers seat to get a measurement for the shoulder straps of the harness, fabricated two harness lugs and tacked them into place

Sorry for the lack of photos, I'm now rushing a little bit, Stoneleigh is getting very close!!

Feel free to comment on the lack of pictures or whats been done

Steve.