steven king wrote:
> How is your MK1 resto' coming along?
> Are you having any problems getting parts or advice over there?
Well since you asked...
*Everything* is in a few million pieces.
Just about every major system of the car is in some stage of
being rebuilt. Its a good thing I've got a lot of benches in the
garage.
>>>> NOTE: now is a very good time to ask for a picture of
>>>> your favorite part disassembled, details of wiring harness
>>>> routing, etc.
The last update included a tale of successful rear hub disassembly.
Since then:
. more rust than expected was discovered in the RF wing.
This lead to ordering a new wing, inner arch, and while I
was shipping stuff anyway, a new front lower valence to
replace a somewhat marginal original.
Tuesday I had to go to the customs broker, then the air
freight warehouse, then the customs agents, then back to
the warehouse, then... You get the idea. Having to clear
things through customs yourself sure can be a pain.
(at least here in the U.S.) Everyone was quite efficient, it
just took a lot of stops to get everything done.
. next week (I'm told) the body shell goes off to be plastic
bead blasted inside and out. When it gets back the real
body work starts. I'm not holding my breath waiting for this
to happen. The body work is definately progressing at its
own (slow) rate. Its not fault of the shop though!
. A big box from ESP in Australia showed up and I've been busily
contemplating the restoration of the MK2 PI spec suspension
it contained. This should make a nice improvement.
. The engine is off at my favorite machinist where it will live
until about July. (the place has an amazing backlog since they're
mostly a race engine builder and its race season)
. I'm contemplating taking the trailing arms to be cleaned and
clear anodized. Anyone have any experience with this?
I've not had any experience with this process before.
. I found an old MK1 oil pump in a condition as good as the new
MK2 units in terms of clearances. I had a fun time "blueprinting"
this. I lapped the end plate, set the end float to 0.001", etc.
Now I don't need to chop up the oil pan to fit a later style pump.
. I discovered that you should always prebake parts that are going
to be powder coated. :-( With this restoration I've started doing
a lot of powder coating. When you bake a part (even one thats
been bead blasted clean) it can exude oils and this screws up the
finish! Don't bother repeating this experiment at home.
For a break, this weekend I reassembly the majority of a MK1 GT6
drivetrain. Its time for a change of pace. ;-)
As for getting parts/advice/etc. Luckily this isn't my first restoration.
If it was I'd have given up by now. Its a good thing I've got a well developed
network of suppliers and I'm not afraid of dial international phone numbers.
So far suppliers of bits for the 2000 include (in no particular order):
ESP (Australia)
Chris Witor (UK)
EarlPart (UK)
Rimmer Brothers (UK)
Mick Dolphin (UK)
Newton Commercial (UK)
Spitbits (CA, USA)
Victoria British (KS?, USA)
The Roadster Factory (PA, USA)
Moss Motors (CA, USA)
Motorhead Ltd (VA, USA)
Kipp Motors (TX, USA)
Ray Marty (OR, USA)
Larry May (WA, USA)
various individuals auctioning on e-bay
...and just for the sake of listing them too:
Crankshaft work: CCR, Redwood City, CA
Engine machining: Techcraft, Redwood City, CA
Camshaft: D. Elgin Racing Cams, Redwood City, CA
Bodywork: D Rods Street Rods, San Jose, CA
Terry O'Beirne, Chris Witor, and a host of others have been really
great (so far!) about putting up with my esoteric 2000 questions.
As for local advice, it _almost_ doesn't exist. You really need to
know what you're looking for and what other cars the parts were
used on. Most of the US based suppliers don't even know what a 2000 is.
At this point I'd start betting on my driving either a spitfire
or GT6 to VTR '00. Maybe I'll get lucky and everything will fall
together, but there is still a long way to go and schedules for
the two major components (body shell and engine) aren't really
under my control.
--Mike
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