Time lapse of “Brittas Cooper” Restoration

[Dr.Mabo]

HI Philipp,

I bought this bottle of concentrated vinegar (80% acid) at METRO for around 8 € and I mixed it with about 4 pieces water to 1 piece vinegar. Eventually I got the same results with white wine vinegar 6% acid which I bought at a local super market. My next trail will be with cheap "Brandwein Essig" with 4% acid which just costs 0,80 € per liter. The difference of acidity doesn't seems to be the key factor.

so long
the Doc

[smithyrc30]

Hi Doc, how long do you leave it i the solution and does it help if you heat it up to begine with please?

Cheers

[Dr.Mabo]

Hi Doc, how long do you leave it i the solution and does it help if you heat it up to begine with please?

Cheers

The heavily corroded parts stayed in the mixture between 3 and 5 days or until one week. At least every second day I took them out and roughly cleaned off the rust with an old towl and a scraper.

Parts with only surface rust just needed 1 or 2 days.

The temperature conditiones where very poor. As I don't have any heating in my garage it was just about 1 to 4°C. Im sure higher temps would support the process.

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

Then it was time to refurbish the used Moto Lita leather steering wheel from the 70th.

I just did several wooden steering wheels before. So this was my first leather steering wheel.

1st I degreased the leather thoroughly. All the damages and imperfections came up.

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2nd I tried to flatten damages in the leather surface with 800 sand paper, but immediately it was blocked. I changed to 400 sand paper with the same result. Then I cleaned the sand paper with water and continued to wet sandpaper the leather. This worked fine. I also did the aluminum spokes with the same sand paper.

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3rd I applied special leather paint with a sponge. After it has dried I applied another special coat for final protection.
4th I painted the spokes in satin black.

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I’m really surprised how easy it is to refurbish a leather steering wheel, as long there are no cuts and the stitching is okay.

There is only one BUT… if you want to keep some patina, it’s all gone

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

For a MK2 Britax Cooper of course I want the matching horn push. Unfortunately the internal diameter of the tulip boss was too big to take the MK2 horn push. To solve this problem an adapter ring is the way to go.
A friend of mine and very dedicative MK1 enthusiast, who is known in this forum as m1cH1 memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=4165, machined this adapter ring for me. But just making a plain ring was too humble, so he designed the appropriate box including part number

Wow, that was something very personal and delighted me enormously.

It’s really hard to wait until I can install that steering wheel into the Britax Cooper.

so long
the Doc

[phil82]

@ dr: thanks for sharing the details. I will give it a try with "essig-essenz" from the super market.

btw: that's a serious projec - looking good. I like the steering wheel. Did he print the box himself?

[Dr.Mabo]

Here are some impressions of the paint job.

so long
the Doc

[rich@minispares.com]

your 'roof rack on wheels' is a simple and cheap way of making a safe 'upside down shell mover'

im stealing that idea for sure!!!

[ksione]

Very nice job!! Congratulations

[Dr.Mabo]

Eventually, the body got its Britax yellow. That pushes my motivation enormously.

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The Britax design was the next critical task. It needs to be perfect in shape, size and position. It took me plenty of research to figure out all the correct details. That’s why I did the masking myself. It took me 3 hours … twice. The first time the painter gave me the wrong masking tape. The black paint went under the masking tape.

[mk1]

Doc, Your car just gets better & better!

I can't wait to see it back on the road.

[Dr.Mabo]

But after the second attempt I was satisfied

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

Doc, Your car just gets better & better!

I can't wait to see it back on the road.

Thanks Mark, yes its the same for me But still plenty of work to do.

so long
the Doc

[Dr.Mabo]

For the black roof and the final layers of clear lacquer I had to wait another two month. Unfortunately the Britax Cooper didn’t had the highest priority in the paint shop

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At the end the whole paint job took exactly 7 month, as you may notice by my son’s outfit.
But now its back in my garage and all the remaining progress is in my hands.

so long
the Doc

[rich@minispares.com]

that looks great basking in the sunshine

now comes the easy bit!!!!

[Dr.Mabo]

First parts assembled. Although it’s the easy bit now it needs quite some time. But most important point is progress, even when the steps are little.

Several brackets, wiring loom, the first brake parts and the front subframe are installed.

so long
the Doc

[alexdenevers]

Brilliant job ! But, why did you put a sunroof ?

[rich@minispares.com]

Brilliant job ! But, why did you put a sunroof ?

Britax car with Britax accessories - simples!

[alexdenevers]

Oh. I thought it was intended for racing, or sport use.

[almondgreen]

It will be his wifes car....