792 replies to this topic

[MrBounce]

As with many things on this car, certain items have to be sorted in order, otherwise you have to tear what seems like half the car apart to go back three steps (see assembly of the doors). I want to fit the headlining. However, there are a couple of things that need doing first. One is to wire up the interior light. Tink is going to help me with this as there's more than one wire and I get easily confused. However, the other thing that needs to go in before the headlining goes up is, of all things, the radio aerial.

 

I have one. However, given where it is (back of the roof) it needed to be a stubby one so the hatch glass doesn't hit it constantly. When I took the car apart, there was an aerial stub. I say "aerial stub". What I actually mean is something that looked like it came from the Titanic. It was a mass of rust and barnacles that vaguely looked like it was once an aerial stub. What it also was, was significantly longer than my new aerial base. This, of course, caused a problem. The Midas' roof is two skins of fibreglass - there was no way on this fine Earth that I was getting a nut on the threaded part of the stub as this was only about 16mm long. I needed to make a little clearance. Holesaws are wonderfully accurate and quite destructive pieces of kit. The "modification" took about 8 seconds. I am always impressed by the ridiculous amount of fibreglass dust it creates. My "Bane" mask kept this out of my fragile little lungs. Some other minor adjustment using the Powerfile saw me able to firstly get a metal plate in for it to earth against on the advice of my friend. Then it was a case of threading the aerial lead through the holes and into the car, then the nut back the other way so I could tighten it up. Except I couldn't. The nut had a serrated edge to one side, which was about 5mm deep. This meant that I couldn't get the thread on to the stub. A minute's further violence with a flap disc made it into a normal nut. Finally, I was able to properly tighten it using a 22mm ring spanner that I liberated from Shaun's garage when he moved house. Cheers! It actually looks pretty good. I will carefully tape up the lead to the roof and down the windscreen pillar another time. 

 

Job of the day: Fit this to the car.

 

 

Violence was needed to make clearance for the 22mm nut.

 

 

Ring spanner was the only thing I had to fit. It did the job perfectly.

 

 

Fitted: Looks good with the colour scheme.

 

 

And from the back. Nice!

 

[Ken555]

Have a think about fitting some sort of metal "Ground plane" under the aerial to improve reception.
On GRP cars they are needed.

[MrBounce]

Have a think about fitting some sort of metal "Ground plane" under the aerial to improve reception.
On GRP cars they are needed.

I have fitted one. I thought I had mentioned it, buy clearly not! I can assure you it is there!

[MrBounce]

Time for more progress! Pushed the car out to give it a hoover inside after creating all the dust in the world with the holesaw. Then started on things in earnest. First thing was the connections on the earth bus bar. They were mostly crimped connectors, initially put on for speed. Out came the proper connectors and the heatshrink; the old connectors were unceremoniously cut off and thrown in the bin, with new, soldered and neat replacements added. Next job was to make sure that the aerial lead would stay put, and also to make sure it'd be in the right place for where a stereo will eventually go. Black gaffer tape did the job perfectly over the roof and the top of the door aperture, before dropping down the windscreen pillar and behind the dash. I cable-tied the excess into a more tidy bundle. I also made a small "adjustment" to the edge of the dash so the wire could easily pass through. 

 

The passenger door needed to go on, as this was also kicking around the garage. Door seal first, followed by the same process I did before: 2 Cosmic wheels with a couple of bits of wood to support the door, before lining the bolts up and doing them up with a cordless ratchet - I do not know how I ever got on without one of these! It wasn't in any way lined up, but it WAS on the car, which meant it was no longer in the garage.

 

Yesterday evening, I had a the delight of having not only Shaun over, but Tink too - this was for him to do the final bits of wiring around the dash area, and to also give me an idea of the final bits I need to sort to get any outstanding bits of wiring sorted, and there aren't many. So he set to with his tester, soldering iron, multimeter and know-how, whilst Shaun and I looked on in wonder at someone who actually knows what they're doing. I can do nut and bolts, but electrics is mostly beyond me. Tink makes it look easy, but then he has been doing it 35 years! So, this is what we had:

 

Indicators: working

Brake Lights: tested and working, but a switch needs to be rigged up as it was the earlier pressure based one (which I don't like) before I changed the braking system.

Horn: F loud!

Fuel Pump: brrrrrr!

Fan: working, but slightly squeaky, so that needs looking at, plus I need a switch for it, and to sort the earth wire properly.

Dash cluster lights: working, once we sorted 2 new bulbs.

Additional gauges: Oil pressure gauge needed an earth sorting, otherwise both are fine.

Switches: working.

Rev Counter: wired in and working perfectly. Plus it does that cool thing on start-up where it flicks to maximum, then back to zero. Like it.

Starter button: Oh yes!

Reverse lights: working, but need connecting up to the switch on the selector - need to wire this in.

Interior Light: needed a new loom made up - by me! - and I also need to get some door pins (and one for the rear hatch).

Sidelights: working.

Headlights: didn't work initially, but this was a loose pin on the switch. Once properly connected, boom! Bright light!

Wipers: Nothing. Initial check showed no problems, but then we realised that one of the connections on the fuse box had "missed". Once connected, 100% working.

Washer Motor: bzzzzz!

 

This is thankfully an uncomplicated car, at least electrically anyway, so there isn't much else that needs connecting. There are a few other things that I need to sort, such as the speedo cable, and the feed for the oil pressure gauge - both will need holes drilling through the bulkhead, but that won't be too much of a hassle to sort. Also the heater isn't quite mounted right - it needs to come forward about an inch, so that needs sorting too. Shouldn't be too awkward to sort. 

 

Whilst Tink was beavering away with the electrics, Shaun assisted me with aligning the rear hatch - this was sitting too far back and the latch would not go through the hole. Some releasing of bolts, moving the seal through 180 degrees, some pushing and shoving of the hatch glass, and a bit of hammer work of the latch bracket was all we needed. Tink also assisted in aligning the passenger door before we ran out of light and time. We did establish that the seal for the doors don't allow them to sit right at all though, so we may look at some alternatives.

 

A fantastic evening - thank you chaps.

 

Crimps?! This will not do at all!

 

 

There - that's better!

 

 

Aerial in right place behind the dash

 

 

And also taped to the roof and pillar

 

 

Door seal to go on

 

 

Fitted

 

 

Lining up the door

 

 

And roughly bolted in place

 

 

Hatch fully aligned and working

 

 

New loom for interior light

 

 

Look! Working lights!

 

 

Behind the dash, pretty much everything is working!

 

[MrBounce]

Had a bit more time to kill this afternoon so went back into the garage and sorted the earths for both the Voltmeter (it wasn't the oil pressure gauge - it was the one next to it!) and for the fan override switch. I didn't take any pictures of this, because, well, it's just some wires with a bit of heatshrink on them. 

 

What I decided to do for the rest of the time I had was to get the drill out and make some holes, specifically in the bulkhead. These would be for the speedo cable and the oil pressure line. The speedo cable was just enough to the left of the angled "buttress" in the engine bay to be able to use the corner of the flat part behind the carb. Having measured the plastic clip on the cable, it was almost exactly 1 inch. I used a holesaw which happily cut through the bulkhead like it was barely there. I have yet to properly connect it as I need to move stuff around to get to the back of the speedo; ideally I need to sit in to do it, and I can't easily open the door at present - it's taped shut!

 

I then dug out the oil pressure gauge line, along with the super important fibre washers for each end. If these aren't fitted, you will effectively spray the engine bay or the back of the dashboard with most of the contents of your sump. So these REALLY need to be fitted! Unfortunately I don't have a half-inch holesaw, and nor do I have a 13mm drill bit. I do have a step drill, but the bulkhead is pretty thick (about 6-8mm depending on what additional glassing has gone on), so I wanted to make sure it was the same size all the way through. This is where the benefits of fibreglass shines through - you can use a flat bit for wood. I definitely had a 13mm one of those! I was easily able to access the back of the gauge, so one I had seated the fibre washer with a tiny smear of grease to stop it falling off, on when the pipe. I then hoovered everything - SO much fibreglass dust! I am tempted to shorten the pipe as it is a bit too long by about a foot; it looks to be a push fit, but presumably with the pipe warmed up to aid it. I will see... 

 

Holesaw doing its thing

 

 

Fits through, and I have a grommet!

 

 

Nylon pipe and the all-important fibre washers...

 

 

...which I most certainly did NOT forget to add!

 

 

And pipe fitted to the back of the gauge.

 

[MrBounce]

It's been one of those weeks, where I have spent what seems like ages the last few days doing "little bits", and seemingly achieving very little; however in reality I have been doing a few little jobs, which have been frustratingly time-consuming.

 

The under-hatch panel needed to be covered - I had JUST enough material to do this - the big question was did I have enough glue? I thought I might. So I first got the main body of the panel sprayed up and stuck. However, when it came to sorting out the edges, I only had enough for one side. This was unbelievably annoying. More glue is on order.

 

Point two was time to tidy up the wiring under the horns, which I have (mostly) done, and then put the horns back on the car - I was so fed up with seeing them lying around on their bracket in the engine bay. There were a couple of crimped connectors on the solenoid, so these have been cut off and replaced with proper connectors and heatshrink. I also found the time to screw down the bus bar for the earth leads behind the dashboard.

 

Next up was the small panel I had made up to go around the gear selector hole. I'd knocked this up out of an old aluminum sign, and I didn't like it. Why? 1) it was very flimsy, 2) it was fitted using screws, and 3) I knew I could do better. I took off the old plate, flattened it out and drew round it on my piece of scrap steel that appeared from Shaun's garage when we cleared it. I cut it to size and removed the paint with a flap disc. When I initially started cutting the centre section out, I used the angle grinder. Bad idea - I cut a little bit too far. I then used the nibbler attachment to complete everything more neatly. The little nick (about 5mm long) was still bugging me, so out came the welder and I put a lovely little blob of weld to cover it. I was impressed with myself! I have drilled it, fitted Rivnuts to the floor to mount it properly, and Rivnuts to the plate itself to fit the retaining ring for the gear selector gaiter. I will need to make the holes in the gaiter bigger for the M5 bolts, but that won't be an issue. I checked that it all fitted into place before giving it a coat of paint. 

 

Finally Tink had asked me to sort a new switch for the fan. I have got hold of one, but I have also got a replacement switch for the fuel pump - the "stand-in" switch was one for a heated rear window. The new one is a plain one. I might need a decal for it, but it's not essential right now. The other issue was the fan switch. The dashboard only had 4 slots for switches. Luckily, on the rear section of the dash is a stainless surround for 5 switches - I figured that it might be useful if I needed to add a 5th. I feel a bit smug about that. Using the surround as a template, I chain-drilled around the edge and then followed this up with the multi-tool. Unfortunately this has caused some of the paint and a touch of filler to come off - this is in the process of being rectified.

 

First part of hatch panel material stuck on...

 

 

...but only enough spray glue to complete one side. Infuriating!

 

 

Horns reinstated, with wiring (mostly) tidied

 

 

Bus Bar for earths screwed into place behind dash.

 

 

Gear selector plate had all sorts of issues - being flimsy, and torn in one corner.

 

 

Scrap metal put to good use!

 

 

Slit from over-zealous angle grinder usage welded up

 

 

Tidied up and everything ground down

 

 

Bending to shape and fitting Rivnuts

 

 

And in primer before paint. Threads will be cleaned before use.

 

 

New switches

 

 

But where can I put the fan switch?

 

 

Aah - that's where!

 

 

Chain-drilling - a bit brutal, but the Dremel doesn't easily fit in here.

 

 

Switch fits...

 

 

...but remedial work is required - the damage has been filled and awaits sanding and paint.

 

[MrBounce]

Well there's been a little bit more remedial work and general tidying up. I finally got hold of my spray glue and have finished off trimming the under-hatch panel. Not very exciting, but a lot of these little jobs aren't! The dashboard has been filled, sanded and painted, but I didn't bother getting a picture of that. I was also fed up with the front pipe for the radiator hanging around on the bench, so I went to put that back on the car.

 

Except I couldn't, at least not easily anyway. Whilst it was off, I had put some P clips in place to hold the front loom for the lights. What I did NOT do was to check the clearance for everything. The pipe now would not fit. Not even with a bit of judicious moving around and bending of stuff. Nope, a different solution was required, as the pipe wanted to sit exactly where the P clips did. This time, I have checked for clearance. If I mounted the clips on the underside of the nose, rather than on the edge, there's plenty of room, and it also tidies up the front of the engine bay. At least it will once I fill in the holes I drilled originally. Lastly I used a P clip to secure the passenger side headlamp wiring; I've utilised an existing bolt (which holds the headlamp surround in place) to secure it. 

 

With a bit of luck, next time I will have been able to attach the headlining and the under-hatch panel to the car, and wire in the door pins that I don't yet have. Other jobs I want to do is to fit the correct bore rear brake cylinders and also the Kunifer brake pipes for these - I actually DO have these. I also want to change the front lower arms for adjustable versions, and I need to properly set the clutch arm clearance. I want to re-do the centre exhaust mount, and the front half of the handbrake assembly. Then we're on to filling and bleeding the clutch and brake systems. Exciting times...

 

Under-hatch panel now fully covered.

 

 

"We need clearance, Clarence!" New holes drilled for P clips' new home.

 

 

Plenty of room now. Just needs some holes filled in.

 

 

And headlight wiring clipped into place by headlight. No danger of this hitting the alternator now.

 

[MrBounce]

I needed to redo the wiring for the interior light as I had misconstrued what Tink had told me when he was last over - I was getting my earth wires a bit confused. It only needed a pair of additional wires and some different connectors, so it wasn't too much of a horrible job. Plus my soldering is getting much better after Tink gave me a few more pointers. I was determined that today was the day I got the headlining back up. It was going to be a bit difficult as I was on my own, but I had had enough of seeing it on top of the car or on the Workmate whenever I went into the garage.

 

I taped the wiring to the back of the fibreglass, so it didn't flap about or get trapped in an awkward position. I also made sure that the interior lamp was the correct way round for the wiring to run on the right hand side of the car; I had a 50% chance of getting it right last time out - of course it was wrong! I pushed the car outside to get the headlining in, as ideally there would be more clearance with the doors open. I couldn't do this in the garage. So out it went into the open and I promptly got rained on, so back in it went. Once the rain eased off, I pushed it back out again. I should also note that I had hoped to receive my door courtesy light pins in the post today, but they haven't yet arrived.

 

The easiest way to fit the headlining is to push it through to the rear mounts (which double as the front mounts for the hatch rams), fit those, and then screw the front to the roof crossmember. These holes were already pre-drilled. As it was just me, it was easier said than done. It took a couple of attempts to line up the rear of the panel to the holes, but once in place, they screwed in relatively easy. I should point out that with this being a kit car, albeit one of the better made ones, not everything lines up like a production car. It's not the easiest thing to work with! 

 

Then it was on to the screws on the front crossmember. These proved less than fun to line up as well, as you're going in blind. Luckily, I'd brought out my straight pick from the back of the garage - this was perfect for pushing through, finding the hole in the crossmember and lining everything up, and a quick tighten of the 4 screws at the front was all it took to keep it in place. This of course took significantly longer than it took to type this out... 

 

The rear mounts were wound back out again and a penny washer added to each side before refitting - much smarter. After standing back to admire my handiwork, it was time to stop worrying about how to support the hatch - this made it time to strut! (sorry) My ones actually come from the rear glass hatch on a Renault Megane Scenic and are one the few replacement items on the car that were not new. Think I paid about £8 for them on Ebay a few years ago. Took me ages to find the second one in the garage this afternoon. I found one on the workbench but just couldn't figure out where the second one was. The garage was turned practically upside-down; nope, not there. Exasperated and wanting to beat myself with a stick, I checked th boot. Where of course it was lying. Happily looking up at me with a "you put me in here 3 weeks ago" kind of expression. I picked it up and put both it, and its twin, in the place they needed to be. I now have a working hatch! They might be a little stiff for the car - I am not 100% sure. However, they work, and hold the hatch up, which is far more than the originals did when I bought the car! The hatch needed to be held up with a stick...

 

The final thing I did today before desperately needing food and sustenance (chicken tenders with a balsamic/garlic/chilli/honey glaze, tomatoes and asparagus if you're interested), was to make sure that the high level brake light was wired in - this was easy - I just needed to plug in the the piggy-back spade connectors to the earth and brake light terminals on the back of the light unit. Job done - the under hatch panel will be next.

 

Panel ready to be installed with revised interior light and high-level brake light wiring in place.

 

 

Wiring taped in place so it doesn't snag -with actual Gaffer tape!

 

 

Rear mounts loosely added to keep it in place and (mostly) lined up

 

 

Screwed in place. Happy with the way this looks - really liking those Mercedes sun visors.

 

 

Hatch struts in place and doing their thing.

 

 

And high-level brake light wiring piggy-backed on to the light unit. I shall tidy up the blue tape!

 

[MrBounce]

Today brought my progress to a shuddering halt. It wasn't a bad, bad situation, but one that was annoying, intensely irritating and also avoidable.

 

I was in the process of fitting the under hatch cover, and decided that one screw each side needed to be two. So I drilled through from the back. Unfortunately the drill went through way quicker than I expected, and before I realised what had happened, the drill bit caught on the fabric, and despite the low speed (which probably made it worse), it twisted a large part of the fabric off. I do not have any more of this material other than a couple of small patches, an although my friend was able to find out the Ebay seller's details, this colour is out of stock. I shall have a think, and possibly try something else. This fabric is not particularly friendly to work with...

 

This of course meant that I could not properly do the next stage of what I wanted to do - the door/hatch courtesy light pins. Why? Because one would be mounted to said under hatch cover. I may need to contribute to the swear box.

 

I have locked the garage and walked away. I don't feel like doing anything more on the car right now.

 

Well this is unhelpful...

 

[MrBounce]

I haven't done too much on the car recently, as I have started a new job, so I have had less time to spend doing stuff. However, there is something that other people have done. Remember my Cosmic Five-0 wheels? They've been on a little holiday to Refurbishmentland. The excellent chaps at Wheelhouse in Ipswich have given them a good going over, and provided me with excellent advice. I queried whether they could be done like a Triumph Stag wheel, i.e. diamond cut with black infill on the spokes and centres. However, they immediately suggested that this was not a good idea given the age of the wheels - they could not be certain that it would "take". They did not want to take any additional money to do this if the process wouldn't work. I explained the project and showed them pictures of the Midas. We both agreed that if we painted these wheels black, they would look totally lost. However, their sparkle silver really would make the wheels "pop", and having seen the colour on offer, I had to agree with them.

 

They let me come in and see the first process which was to make sure that the wheels ran straight and true - despite their age, 3 of them were absolutely perfect and the fourth was only just out. Even the Revolution RFX which will be used as the spare was bang on, and this had horrible kerb rash on it. 

 

I picked the wheels up today. I really like them, and I can't believe how smart they look. Yes it cost a fair bit, but I am super happy with the results. You can't beat professionals doing a decent job. 

 

Spinning up the wheels to check that they ran true.

 

 

The Cosmic Five-0s in Sparkle Silver. Yeah. 

 

 

And the RFX spare, now with a distinct lack of kerb rash. Nice work!

 

[Artstu]

Much better in silver than black as pointed out.

[Artstu]

I thought there was something different about your wheels compared to the ones I've aquired since letting my original fitment Midas ones go on a Mini I sold with them fitted. Perhaps the ones I've aquired are the ones that had the machined face and the ones you have are the ones that were just painted all silver.

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Edited by Artstu, 06 June 2025 - 06:24 PM.

[MrBounce]

Quite possibly - who knows? Doubt I will find another set at the right price given it took 12 years to find them! Not many around!

 

As for the black wheels, I have definitely made the right decision.