Reunited after 30-years

[AndyPen]

Just catching up on progress - so pleased to see it is all being done so well

[CaliforniaMk1]

Decided to have a go at the rear shelf. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Started like this as you may remember ...



So I made a pattern and fabricated a flat panel with the lip tacked on. It sounded easy in my head but of course wasn't. Then I marked off on the shelf what I had made and set about cutting it out, which was fun inside the window opening and up against the post.



Pulled out the remains of the foam so I didn't start a fire when welding. Finally got the piece welded in and close enough for something that will be covered up all the time. I was quite pleased with myself actually.



I need to do some research on what covers the shelf for a 1960. All I have is a piece of hardboard with some red vinyl stuck on it. Certainly looks old enough, but would leave the lip showing around the shelf. And there was some vinyl glued to the section directly under the window. Any direction or photos appreciated!

Cheers,
Mike.

[Tds76]

There's usually a strip of headliner type material along the lower backlight flange - this covers the gap between the glass seal and goes under the parcel tray trim.
The rear qtr inner trim cards have excess material at the bottom that covers the outer flanges of the shelf.

Both can be seen in the picture linked at Newton.

https://newtoncomm.co.uk/collections/sa ... -saloons-1

Cheers, Paul.

[1071bob]

Should look like this, the C post trim sits inboard of the parcel shelf vertical flange.

[CaliforniaMk1]

Gotcha... Thanks both for the guidance. It may be a while before I get to that point, I need to finish the front end next. Just ordered the single skin A-panels with the included post/step section from M-Machine this morning. Reading other projects I'm expecting some fun lining everything up.

[CaliforniaMk1]

So, it's been a year since my last update. I didn't give up and sell it I've been making slow steady progress, most things take me a while as I still do all of it myself and need to resesarch here on the forum and other places. But I've been really enjoying it, jumping around the projects a bit so as not to get bored, but no deadlines, so no pressure.

Here are a few pics of where I'm at right now.

Cleaned up the inside and painted the floor, etc. I'm using an enamel on the inside, all in black so I can pick an external color later and it'll be OK.





Underneath I'm using bed-liner, I know that's nothing special, but it's easy to apply and easy to patch in as I go around.



The new rear subframe went it easy enough. Luckily that same week I had a visit from my old pal in England who worked on the car with me back in the day. We drank a few beers and somehow the bolts all lined up magically. Then later I fixed up a mount for the fuel pump nice and tidy underneath.



Managed to get the new a-panels in after much thinking, procrastinating, and measuring. It was surely a test of my amateur welding skills, but I think it worked out OK and I did multiple test fits of the wings and doors along the way.



Most recently I've been fitting the suspension. I have the rear wheels on, with brakes done, etc. That was easy enough. But I have to say that fitting the front cones was a little hairy, I have the proper compressor and everything is new, but cranking that thing up to compress the new cones without any pre-load required an extra beer for courage. I went all in and bought new cv joints and discs, painted everything up and it looks like this tonight.





Next I need to torque up the drive shafts and get the calipers on, then down on the wheels. I want to get all that done before I weld up the front panel and wings so I have good access.

I'm thinking to clamp up the front and weld it off the car so I can get to the welds at the front on the inside. I know that's a bit controversial, but some folks online seem to prefer it. But anyway more thinking and procrastination before that happens ...

[CaliforniaMk1]

It's a new year ... After getting bogged down with body work I decided to dig into the engine, which has been sitting quietly in the corner. It's from a 1971 1275 GT and I'd never really touched it back in the day, it just worked, and then when it started after 30-years in the barn I was wondering what I'd find inside.

Sure enough it's the dual spring Cooper S 11-stud version that was standard in that year of 1275 GT.


Stripped the clutch, the flywheel surprisingly came off easily with a couple of sharp taps. Can definitely see the mess from where the clutch was stuck after storage. Needs some work.


It's had a 020 over bore at some point. All of the bearings are 020 also so it was a complete job. Bores and crank look good, so I'll get a local shop to look and hopefully a hone and new shells will do it. If not I suppose it's all up to 040 this time.


Meanwhile the body is now complete and I'm slowly going round the panels tidying up. The welder is pushed aside and instead of sparks there is dust everywhere.

Happy 2025.
Mike.

[Exminiman]

Keep the posts coming, interesting build and story.

Couple of questions…….are you keeping the underside black and how are you running the battery cable ?

[Rubber Sprung]

That looks more like a 1300GT motor ,not a 1275GT .

[68Deluxe]

Love this build, it looks so good in black too.

[CaliforniaMk1]

Keep the posts coming, interesting build and story.

Couple of questions…….are you keeping the underside black and how are you running the battery cable ?

Thanks for reading! Yes, I plan to leave it with the black bed liner. Apparently it's quite common over here underneath classic (US) rebuilds according to the online folks.
My floor pre dates the cable channel and only has the tabs. I ran cable from the button to the subframe and up through the gap between the body like it was before. Seems I didn't take any pictures though, sorry. I was prepared for a fight getting it over but it was easy enough with no clamp on it. I know it means the cable is unprotected along the exhaust, but I managed to do quite a few miles like that before, and I did get high temp cable, so I'll play with that when the time comes.

[Exminiman]

Keep the posts coming, interesting build and story.

Couple of questions…….are you keeping the underside black and how are you running the battery cable ?

Thanks for reading! Yes, I plan to leave it with the black bed liner. Apparently it's quite common over here underneath classic (US) rebuilds according to the online folks.
My floor pre dates the cable channel and only has the tabs. I ran cable from the button to the subframe and up through the gap between the body like it was before. Seems I didn't take any pictures though, sorry. I was prepared for a fight getting it over but it was easy enough with no clamp on it. I know it means the cable is unprotected along the exhaust, but I managed to do quite a few miles like that before, and I did get high temp cable, so I'll play with that when the time comes.

That’s a relief, was concerned you might have an issue feeding the cable through