Other bits and pieces

Work has kind of stalled for Christmas now, the next job is to do the final fit of the front suspension, order what I need from the steering rack and fit that, and attack the back end. Once I have the chassis rolling I can bolt the tub on to work out the final placement of the engine then get the mountin sorted out. I'm expecting all this to happen between now and the end of January. I've sent my throttle bodies off to a company called Bogg Brothers who are going to make me a custome intake manifold to match them to the engine. This and the parts from Dunnell (modified water rail, sump, and oil pickup) will be arriving within the first two week sof January so I can then really start to get the engine back together. I was going to replace the oil pump purely because I had the cam belt off and it was accessable but at £140 or more I've decided to put the old one back on because as the bloke in the shop said - "if it aint broke don't fix it!". I've got a new water pump 0 one that is for an 1800 engine - this has the fins on the pump going in the opposite direction - without the pump for the power steering I will be running the pulley belt around the outside of the water pump so using the original one would mean the pump was rotating in the wrong direction and would probably just make a cappucino in the engine! I've also received my MegaSquirt ECU which looks cool - a silver box with a big connector and loads of cables - all of which are nicely labelled but still makes me think "where the hell does that lot go!". I'm sure it will all become clear as I get to that part (I hope!).

And so it begins!

Okay so I've started bolting stuff to the chassis! The keen eyed amongst you will notice that the turrets have been swapped over - this is because I thought I might want the engine mounts further back but having bolted them up I now think it may be a little to far back so I may well swap them back to their proper sides. I'm also missing a spring on the near side - this is because I was sent a 380lb and a 33olb spring so I had to send one back. I've now received the correct one and will be fitting it soon. I've also just received some stainless steel disc shields to go behind the discs (obviously!) which will also be going on soon. I also haven;t painted up everything yet - partly because I'm impatient and wanted to get something bolted together! Before the car goes on the road I will spray or paint the exposed parts, none of what you see has been fully tightened or torqued up so it can all come apart easily - I just wanted to do a kind of test fit to see how it looks... And it looks great!!!

Engine placement.

All these posts have the same date on them because I am only just getting round to updating this blog - but what I write about here is basically what I've been up to in the last week or two so doesn;t necessarily match up with the stated date! Anyway... I bolted the gearbox to the back of the engine and lowered it onto the chassis to have a look at how far back I can get it. With the 1800 sump on it which has the cutout towards the gearbox, the front of the engine can't be lowered very far because of the crossmember on the chassis. I replaced the sump with the original 2.0L one which has the cutout the other way round and the engine now sits about 2 inches lower. Since then I have decided to buy a modified sump and oil pickup from Dunnell which flattens off the bottom to allow for lower engine placement and has modified baffles and oil pickup to cope with the engin ebeing the other way round from its original placement and being vertical (in the original car the engine is tipped sideways slightly). With the engine as far back as this the thermostat housing will be fouling the bulkhead so another extravagant purchase from Dunnell is a modified water rail which allows the thermostat to be moved aroun dthe side of the engine with a much thinner housing on the back of the engine. Anyway, here is the engine sitting more or less in its final position.

Good as new!

I have finally got all of my front end suspension bits back from the shot blaster - all powder coated and looking fantastic. The reason they took so long was down to the fact that he was fitting my stuff in his spare time between his commercial work. I've now said that I am willing to pay whatever it takes to get the work turned around much quicker. I'd rather pay a few more quid and get my stuff back in three days than wait two weeks just to save a tenner! Anyway, the stuff looks great - you can even make out the Stanpart logo on the wishbones... Can't wait to start bolting it all on!

More new toys!

Here is my latest delivery: AVO shocks, 380lb springs, vented discs, GT6 brake calipers and caliper mounts, track rod ends. As soon as I get the wishbones and turrets back from the shot blaster (should have contected me last week!) I think I have enough to build a rolling front end... I really must start bolting some of this together!!!

First arts Delivery!

I have been ordering parts like a mad man and I have started to receive them! Shiny bits!!

All laid out on the dining room table.

New chassis mounts for the rotoflex suspension.

Loads of nuts and bolts.

My favourite bit so far - Susuki GSXR 750 K4 motorbike throttle bodies!

New rear drive shafts to replace the rubber doughnut rotoflex ones.

GT6 front uprights.

Alloy front hubs.

The Amber Nectar

Waiting...

I've got hold of a flywheel and sump from an 1800 Zetec now having spent a couple of cold hours in a scrap yard on Saturday. I've also burnt up my credit card on a whole list of bits from eBay, Canley Classics, and Jigsaw Racing - now all I have to do its wait for it all to arrive before I can go any further.

Here's what I've bought:

• Type 9 Gearbox
• GSXR 750 Throttle Bodies
• Race Inlet Manifold specifically for Zetec with GSXR TB's
• Front Shocks and Springs
• GT6 front uprights - all new bits including Trunnions etc.
• Vented Discs and new Brake Callipers
• Various bushes and brackets for my Rotoflex rear end
• Canley's Rotoflex CV conversion kit

All in all a fun afternoon on Friday spent shopping!

I've also dismantled the front end wishbones and turrets ready for shot blasting and powder coating - here are the "before" pictures:

More Engine Work

I have taken the gearbox and the old throttle bodies off now and put the engine up on the stand.

Donor Car

Here's the donor Mondeo 2.0 16v Zetec:

Day One!

I went up to Dad's house today to have a look at the car. Here's a few pictures of how I found it and us clearing it out:

The car being used as a storage container...

Dad uncovering the car for the first time in a few years!

First job we did is remove the body.

The bodywork is in fantastic condition.

And here's the chassis waiting to be rebuilt!

So as you can see the body and chassis are in excellent condition with hardly any work needed other than preparation for painting.

I've just bought a 2.0L Mondeo for not very much money as a donor car. It has a Zetec Silver Top engine in it and should mate nicely with a Type 9 or MT75 gearbox.

The chassis is now in my garage sitting on axle stands waiting for the next job.

The current plan is to build the car with the body as it is so I know what modifications I will need to make prior to sending it all off for spraying.

More to come soon!

Where do I start?

I've completed the V5 registration document to transfer the car from Dad to me, the next job is to get the chassis to my house and into its new home (the garage) for the foreseeable future. This will probably happen within the next couple of weeks but before then I have some decisions to make.

Firstly where do I start once I get the car here? It's mainly in pieces at the moment so I'm going to take the body off and leave it in Dad's garage for now and just bring the chassis - the engine has already been removed as it's being rebuilt for my Dad's Spit which brings me to my next question - what engine shall I eventually fit into Lonny Lonsdale's Junk (LLJ)?

I want to do this car with a modern twist - I want it to be quick and to handle as well as it can. I'm not after 148mph and 0-60 in 4.1 seconds (I want a Lotus Exige for that) but I would like it to surprise the odd chav in his Mum's Saxo as he sits revving up at the traffic lights next to me!

My initial thought was to put a 2.0/2.5L Vitesse or GT6 engine in it but after a bit of research that wont really give me any increase in power as it is a much heavier lump. I've seen a word or two about using a K Series engine the likes of which can be found in Rovers, MG Metros etc. But to be honest - at the moment I'm just reading bits and pieces, asking questions on forums, and generally soaking up information in the hope that the way forward will become clear...

Welcome

Welcome to Lonny Lonsdale's Junk!

I've just been given a Triumph Spitfire 1500 by my Dad (Dave Lonsdale) who bought it 10 years ago from a bloke who had started to restore it. It's been sitting in Dad's garage for the past 10 years occasionally being raided for spares for his other 1500 Spitfire which is (nearly always) on the road.

I'm going to attempt to finally get this car up and running, over 15 years since the original restoration was started.

The number plate "LLJ 888P" lead to the car being called "Lonny Lonsdale's Junk - Worth 888 Pence!" by my Mum and so that is why I've decided to use it as the title of this Blog.

I'm hopefully going to use this Blog to record some of my activities during this restoration over the following weeks, months, and maybe even years!

Have fun reading... Paul.