Week 5 & 6

For those of you following along, sorry for missing a post last week, I got distracted.  Besides, I had some distraction so its really a 1.5 week posting.

First thing I worked on was trying to finish the cowl supports so I can get the body off to sand blasting.  I finished getting them in and secured but did have a few setbacks along the way.

Cowl supports are in, attached to the frame rails (luckily with screws) and something told me to make sure the vent boxes fit.  DOPE!!!!  Guess this is what happens when you make your own cowl supports and don't buy them.  I took measurements of the old ones but installed the center support backwards.  Had to take the whole support out to fix it.  This is why you only do tack welds or screws until you are POSITIVE you're done.

So, after a few hours of rework, here is the updated cowl supports with the vent box gap correct.

Another comment to make here though I don't have photos.  I recommend keeping ALL metal removed and replaced.  Even though the pieces I removed were in BAD shape, the witness marks of the old metal provided priceless information.  My first test fit of the doors showed promise but they were a little off.  After tack welding the cowl frame in, the door still didn't align the way I would have liked but thought part of it could have been the door itself.  Well, after examining the parts I removed, I noticed the alignment on the center support and the dash weren't the same so more rework.  After ensuring the cowl supports mounted the same as the factory ones, door alignment was much better.  At least on the driver's side.

After spending some time on the cowl support, the driver's door looks pretty good.  Need to work on spacing but door swings well, hinges are tight and both doors clear the sills.

Passenger door aligns well except for the very top.  I tried making some adjustments on the cowl support to see if I could make it any better but nothing helped.  Since the rest of the door aligns really well, I think its a door issue.  I have some ideas on how to test for that but I'll save that for another day.

Just to provide a little motivation for myself, I installed the fender piece, door and bonnet to just see how everything looks.  I'm excited, it all fits pretty well.  The fender piece I cut out lines up well, bonnet fits well.

Here is another view.  It at least looks like the front of a car.

Its now been 6 weeks since I brought the car home and it still hasn't been blasted.  Mostly, this was due to the fact that there wasn't enough support in the body for me to be comfortable sending it out expecting to get it back in the same shape.  The front half was predominately the cowl support so that was my focus.  For the back half, there was structural rust everywhere.  While not completely gone, I've made major head way on getting rid of it.  I've cut out both fender wells and welded them back in.  I replaced most of the rusted metal around the battery boxes.  Enough to give to the blaster to do his damage.

Here is the finished interface between the fender well and fender.  Still have some welding to clean up bot overall, I'm pleased.

Here is a view of the other side with just tack welds on the fender well.

Here is the finished view prior to cleaning up the welds.  When finished, it should look very close to factory.

Outside well welding finished and ground down.

So what can you do with 8 hrs of free time and a heat gun?  Well, if you have a 70 year old XK120 prepping for sand blasting, you can remove all the undercoating.  The following are several pictures of different parts of the car sans undercoating

Front edge of the rear half.  You can see the metal replaced on the front side where the shut panel mounts.

This was the toughest area to get all the undercoating off of.  One thing I can say about undercoating is it protects the metal underneath from corrosion.

Rear fender, flange not fixed yet.

As Monty Python says, "Now for something completely different!".

In addition to the XK project, I've been working on an upgrade for my E-type for some time now.  A couple of years ago, I replaced the distributor with a Megasquirt EDIS system.  The Megasquirt controller can not only drive the EDIS system, it can also drive EFI.  Originally, I thought I was going to be SOOOO smart.  I was going to take a late model XJ FI system and install it my E.  In case you're curious, an XJ FI system will NOT fit in an E.  Obviously, I'm not SOOO smart.

This didn't end my obsession with installing FI though.  Over the last few months I designed a system using 3D CAD and everything looks like it will fit.  I committed and ordered most of the parts but thought I could make a few of them myself.  Turns out I can but it took 2 days.

I'm not extremely creative so I am modeling my system off the Jag design.  The XK motor has the water exit through the intake manifold.  To duplicate that, I have to create some connectors.  Here is my starting point, a block of aluminum.

!st step, remove all the unneeded material.

Next, to get everything to fit, I have to offset the water manifold so the injectors will clear and it will clear the valve covers.

Tada, everything fits.  The blue parts are 3d printed and waiting on the machined pieces.  Far right is the XJ thermostat housing interface.  Its not exactly in the same location as factory but close enough to use factory hoses to connect it up.

Here is a close up of one set of cylinders.  Since this is my prototype, I need to experiment with intake runner lengths.  I'm using collars so I can test different lengths.  Using the bolt on FI mounts, I can design a system that uses a lot of factory XJ parts or brand new.

To wrap up the weekend, I'm also installing a Classic Auto A/C system in my E Type.  While they have instructions on how to install their system, they don't really provide much assistance in finishing of the installation.  The factory console topper won't work after installing the A/C so I decided to make my own.  Not finished but I have the design worked out.

Well, when you're driving at 70 with the windows down, speakers are pointless.  Now with A/C, I should be able to drive with the windows up.  The A/C vents are in the way so I have to make a new place for the speaker.

Just enough room for the radio on the front.

Final thing of the weekend, body on the trailer ready to go to the sand blaster.