Finally finished installing the window frames. The original window from wasn’t long enough to reach the new stainless steel channel. This was fixed by bolting a small piece of aluminium bar to the frame to extend it, This was then bolted to the stainless steel channel (photo’s below).
Have been working away at fixing and reassembling the door window frames. Yesterday I got the frame bolted together and fitted into the door.
Today was spent cutting new aluminum panels and a piece of marine ply to replace the original damaged/corroded parts to the rear of the frame.
I continued with the engine mount modifications today. Modified brackets were installed and engine bolted in place. The next modification was to the front suspension sub-frame. A section of the square tube needed to be removed as it was in the way of the carburetors. The photo below shows this however it will require welding up at a later date when the sub frame has been removed from the car (welding while its bolted to the wood is likely to cause burning of the plywood as its so close).
With the final modification it was possible to reassemble the inlet manifold and carburetors and the bonnet now closes.
Its still all a really close fit but i can’t see how i can easily gain any more space. Will just have to hope the engine doesn’t flex too much on its mounts, other wise it could end up damaging the bonnet.
After some careful measurements I think I need to lower the engine mounts by 15mm to make the engine and carburetors fit.
To accomplish this a number of modifications were made to brackets. First step was to weld up the mounting holes in the brackets (holes that mount them to wooden chassis). Grind welds flat and re-drill holes 15mm higher.
The second stage was to carefully mark the bracket and use a 1mm cutting disk in a grinder to remove 15mm section of the bracket. The two sections were than welded back together. photos below show me removing a section with the grinder and a bracket I’ve tack welded together.
Have sort of finalized on the engine setup I want in the car. Have decided I want to keep the car looking relatively original but want the larger capacity of the later crossflow engine. The solution is to build a bit of a hybrid engine that uses the latter 711M block but fit the early crossflow head onto it. This is almost dimensional the same apart from the block is about 10mm taller.
Having made the decision I acquired a 711M block along with a new inlet manifold as I wasn’t happy with the quality of the one I had to assemble the parts to see if it would all fit.
Not really surprised at outcome it all fits together but the bonnet no longer closes! Looks like some modifications will be required as I always knew fitting twin Weber’s would be a challenge.
