4 litre Jag/Beta Coupe PROJECT :) Muahahahahaaaaaaa

[Badnews]

The wheels look surprisingly good. Apart from the blue & white bit in the middle - that's got to go!

Hahahaha Yeah will be getting rid of that....they're bbs to me not bmw parts....just so happen to have been fitted standard to bmw....some center caps will be sorted when they're refurbished.

Dan

[Badnews]

Bead Roller turned up today, going to be essential to make all of the new panels required...very happy chappy when this turned up!


Also started waxing (Carnuba) the roof and the bootlid which are now (I'm VERY relieved to say) straight enough to take a mould from!!!! 

So that's what's next on the list....some more wax, pva spray and then its fibreglass time 

Oh yeah and move house 

Dan

[Badnews]

Time to introduce the engine I think, been scratching my head over this for some time....it appears to have all of the hallmarks of a superbly designed engine, some drawbacks but none that I can't overcome with a bit of effort.

Anyhow I'll do a detailed engine build post once it's all together and been dyno'd...still some way to go yet before then but making progress none the less....


These cams are off to piper Monday morning for a re-grind to race spec.


Here's the block in all its glory, 6 cylinder monster, all alloy with cast steel liners....pretty long hence the engine crane supporting the engine stand   
Oh yeah, steel crank for revs and more revs....


Some happy snappy head bolts, common thing on this engine as these two bolts run through a coolant channel making them brittle.... wish I'd have known that beforehand, I would have ground off the heads of the bolts and removed the cylinder head, giving wd40 access and tinkering time....Oh well you learn by your mistakes....drill out and screw extractor it is now on these pair  :'(


Cylinder head, bit weird compared to most, head bolts pass through cam caps so taking hte head off is pretty easy, solid lifters and the next picture shows better the inlet ports which are of excellent geometry...I've seen opinions over the net that the head is one of the best of its era....inspiring the widely acclaimed duratec modern engine which is similar in port design...but that's all internet opinion, the proof will be on the dyno!!!! 


Nice port design, just going to fettle the flash lines off and smooth it out a bit and it's job done porting wise...wish all builds were that simple!!
Weber 45dcoes to be mated up to inlet on a custom manifold, custom stainless headers going to be made once it's mounted in car....cannot wait to hear the bark it's going to make!!!!!

Well there's the engine...it's a hybrid of an Aj6 and an AJ16 taking the best bits from both...more details in build write up at a later date!

The main head scratching I'm doing is over the choice of rods and pistons.....do I go the whole hog and get H section rods and Forged pistons or test the durability of the standard items bearing in mind As long as the cams don't snap....an engine failure would cost me £200 and some time to fix....regardless of damage caused  it's a hard one I have to admit....

Dan

[peteracs]

Hi Dan

Yes, makes perfect sense now, thanks.

I will ask my bodywork guy where he bought them from as he put them onto my Spider and they fit pretty well.

Peter

Hi Dan

Back in the UK now, will sort out where the wings came from and the pic of the wing mirror.

Peter

[MattNoVAT]

Is that the Project Manager in the top picture?

[Badnews]

Cheers Peter 

Matt, No he's the quality inspector!!! Sticking his nose in and sniffing everything I do!!!

Only had an hour tonight so had a tidy around  Man the workshop was a tip.

Dan

[Badnews]

Finally managed to squeeze in some time on the roof and bootlid mouldings....they're coming on nicely




Pictures are of the gelcoat (clear), this was brush applied over a pva film that I sprayed over the part surface after muchos waxing!  So.... WAX>PVA>GEL>RESIN

As it stands the bootlid has had the first layer of glass sheeting over the gelcoat and will be ready for another tomorrow when I get chance to hit the roofskin mould with some glass/resin too....


More pics to come, wish me luck!  Hell of a task for a beginner in fibreglass    Only problem so far is not realizing you have to be super quick with the resin mixes, around 10 mins and its like jelly...one batch binned and lesson learnt!

Cheers
Dan

[droptop]

Been following your build and I must say I'm amazed at the dedication and skill, not to mention the imagination shown throughout.
One thing that may be of interest to you if there is room, is that Webcon, I think, offers a triple Weber/manifold complete kit for the 6 cyl. Jag engine.
Maybe not to your spec, but it's available and might save you some work.
Anyway, keep up the good work and don't let moving house distract you from the important things in life.
Oh yeah, the wheels are beautiful!

[peteracs]

Hi Dan

Yes, makes perfect sense now, thanks.

I will ask my bodywork guy where he bought them from as he put them onto my Spider and they fit pretty well.

Peter

Hi Dan

Finally got around to asking the bodywork guy about the fibreglass wings and he bought them from Smith & Deakin (http://www.smithanddeakin.co.uk/L-S.htm). They are £90 each. These fit the Coupe, but have to be modified for the Spider.

All the best

Peter

[Badnews]

Been following your build and I must say I'm amazed at the dedication and skill, not to mention the imagination shown throughout.
One thing that may be of interest to you if there is room, is that Webcon, I think, offers a triple Weber/manifold complete kit for the 6 cyl. Jag engine.
Maybe not to your spec, but it's available and might save you some work.
Anyway, keep up the good work and don't let moving house distract you from the important things in life.
Oh yeah, the wheels are beautiful!

Thanks for the compliments droptop

Regarding the Webcon tripple webber setup....This (unfortunately) is for the earlier style of Jag 6 cylinder engines used in the E-Type and similar.  They're not interchangeable manifold wise   Also the inlet and exhaust sides are opposite between the two engine types.
Nobody seems to do a manifold for the aj16 engine, I have a cnc machine I made a few years ago that'll cut the manifold patterns out no problem so it's no big deal 

[Badnews]

Hi Dan

Yes, makes perfect sense now, thanks.

I will ask my bodywork guy where he bought them from as he put them onto my Spider and they fit pretty well.

Peter

Hi Dan

Finally got around to asking the bodywork guy about the fibreglass wings and he bought them from Smith & Deakin (http://www.smithanddeakin.co.uk/L-S.htm). They are £90 each. These fit the Coupe, but have to be modified for the Spider.

All the best

Peter

Ohhh very good, thanks for the info, will probably go for a set of these as it'll save me some time

Cheers
Dan

[droptop]

Been following your build and I must say I'm amazed at the dedication and skill, not to mention the imagination shown throughout.
One thing that may be of interest to you if there is room, is that Webcon, I think, offers a triple Weber/manifold complete kit for the 6 cyl. Jag engine.
Maybe not to your spec, but it's available and might save you some work.
Anyway, keep up the good work and don't let moving house distract you from the important things in life.
Oh yeah, the wheels are beautiful!

Thanks for the compliments droptop

Regarding the Webcon tripple webber setup....This (unfortunately) is for the earlier style of Jag 6 cylinder engines used in the E-Type and similar.  They're not interchangeable manifold wise   Also the inlet and exhaust sides are opposite between the two engine types.
Nobody seems to do a manifold for the aj16 engine, I have a cnc machine I made a few years ago that'll cut the manifold patterns out no problem so it's no big deal 

Not a big deal....
I'm putting off changing the heater core in my S1 spyder cos I think THAT'S a big deal.Kinda puts things in perspective now doesn't it?

[Badnews]

Heater matrix IS a big job!!!
I hate everything dash related, too cramped and hidden fixings everywhere! No thanks!

[droptop]

Heater matrix IS a big job!!!
I hate everything dash related, too cramped and hidden fixings everywhere! No thanks!

Glad someone agrees with me on that! Would be more serious if the car were a hard top as there is plenty of "ventillation" available to keep the front screen from fogging up in the spyder. Gets cold as a witche's unmentionables on early morning/late evening drives though.
Maybe THIS winter? Mind you, I said that last summer as well.

[HFStuart]

To be fair there are cars where it's much harder than in the spider.

Steering wheel off
Instrument panel out
Centre swicth panel off
Prise out rthe outer vents
5 bolts - dash out

2 Hours max (including photos and labelling wires) to get tho this point then the matrix is simple enough to change. I'd do the heater valve at the same time and the hoses.

If you want a real challenge try the clutch master cylinder on an Integrale - it lives under the dash above the pedal !

[Badnews]

Got cracking with finishing the bootskin mould with a helping hand from the missus tonight.... used some old cardboard tubes cut up to give it some stability and something to sit on when turned over producing parts.



Next job....tackle the roofskin mould...the one I'm apprehensive over, the bootlid was practice   

Droptop, whats the problem with your heater matrix?  Have you tried the products to unclog it? jet washer wedged in the hose end sometimes works on blocked ones, if you alternate the flow from the jetwash in the heater matrix pipes sometimes it dislodges the crud they block up with.

Cheers
Dan

[droptop]

Thanks for the advice on the heater replacement. It makes sense to change everything in there while I'm at it. Still dread it for some reason.
I changed the sump gasket with the engine in place and didn't mind that at all. It's just one of those things that has grown out of proportion due to its on-going nature.
Dan, the matrix isn't clogged-it's leaking so the heater hoses under the bonnet were cut and joined witn the barrell of an old mini Maglight and two hose clips so changing it is my only option but thanks for the advice on flushing it.
Sorry for sort of hijacking your thread by the way.
I won't get off topic hee again I hopr!

[Badnews]

Bit more done on the roof, mould now complete, just needs trimming and peeling off :/

Used a fair bit more resin than I anticipated so will have to wait for some more to arrive before I can start to make up some parts from the moulds.



Been side-tracked by another project I need to get finished asap (CNC machine enclosure), made the decision to sell the G-wagon to release the funds I want to spend on this build, so progress may slow a little whilst I finish off the G-wagon Paintjob and repair the grot/mot it and such....

Stay tuned.

Dan

[Badnews]

Few more pics of progress, forgive me the constant updates it's just nice to have a place to document a build and this one has found a home here 

Ok, so pics of roofskin mould, trimmed the edges along the seams and across the A/C pillars...took some prying off but it came good in the end and to say im pleased with the results would be an understantement.




Took the skin off of the bootlid also last night, the framework underneath is very light as it is, so a few holes drilled around the excess metal and that's the main boot bits are sorted.  Bit opf corrosion to bottom LH corner that'd been bodged before to fix but overall pretty good condition which I wasnt expecting.


Peace,
Dan

[MattNoVAT]

Admiring the progress Dan!!  You definately are a busy bee