Part two of lengthy response.........
Electricals were a marathon and took about a year to design and produce. It
is a complete home-brew based on the Dan Masters publications for an MGB.
Dan's power centre principal was adopted, however all the wire, relays,
connectors etc. were sourced here in the uk. The wiring is routed through
the cockpit and through the heater air plenum that runs across the scuttle
to keep things discretely hidden. 6 relays and 15 fuses on the power centre
are housed in the LH footwell box on a hinged and latched plate. This is a
major topic in its own right and will warrant a section on the website when
I get round to it.
The Gas struts fitted to the bonnet are not for bragging rights but to avoid
the one handed stretching exercise necessary when stowing the bonnet prop.
What a pain that is and trying to squeeze the prop into that rubber claw
one-handed can be a bear! I could have just shaved the rubber but where is
the engineering in that? The struts are gas filled and adjustable for
pressure by bleeding off the gas. The design was worked out on the drawing
board and bolt-on brackets fabricated to carry the bottom end.
I also fitted a gas strut to the boot lid but for another reason. What
bugged me about the boot was the fact that the prop didn't hold the lid very
wide open. Having banged my head on the latching hook once too often I
fitted a similar strut that now holds the lid vertically when open and picks
up at the lower end on a strengthened bracket in the same position as the
prop rod plate. I didn't even have to drill additional holes in the shroud
gutter.
Finally the colour. All our cars are blue. I don't know why but it is a
preference that we consolidated about 20 years ago. It has now become a bit
of a family joke and therefore I continue to reinforce it. Since buying the
project car in 2002 I was looking for a suitable blue shade. It had to be a
solid colour, no metallics for me, and it had to be unsullied by other
colours in the mix. This may sound a bit feminine, but I can see shades of
red in some blues, the Triumph Midnight Blue has a hint of white in it that
makes it a bit misty to my eye. Shades of Black can give depth to the
colour but it also kills the brightness. I knew what I wanted but couldn't
find it. At some point I found Larry Varley's website and his blue AH100
restoration. It inspired me! That site defined how I wanted the dash and
scuttle top to look, but the colour was what really hit me. In most of the
pictures the car looks very dark, almost black, but on Page 21 the wings are
hung up in the workshop (http://www.acmefluid.com.au/larry/p21-5.jpg) and
that is the colour I just had to have. The challenge was finding it. In
the end a BMW colour from the late 90's was identified by Kevin Law at
Orchard Restorations (who did the chassis and body work). It is Atlantis
Blau 207. There, the secret is out. The paint is PPG two pack and the last
coat is blocked with clear. Shiny but not too bling.
Thank you all for your responses and to the list in general for all the
support you have given during my build activities and for providing the last
9 years of Austin Healey correspondence course personal development. I'm not
signing off though as the next project is a BN2 possibly in the style of
Mike Salter's Targa car.
Keep pedalling.
http://www.bluehealey.com/insurance/
_________________________________________
(______________ Alan Bromfield_______________)
(_______\____1957-BN4____/________)
(__tinyurl.com/healeyforum _)
_______________________________________________
Healeys@autox.team.net
Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
Suggested annual donation $12.75
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
|
