RYL775E 998 Austin Cooper project

[Old English White]

That looks fabulous! What a great job. Quite nostalgic for me as the first one I owned was the also Almond Green with a white roof - although it was an earlier (997cc) car. The registration number of my next car was RYL 558E and was supplied by the Mill Garage in London - E11 I think?

Keep up the good work!

[colonel mustard]

Over the last week I have run the hydro, brake and fuel lines and installed and secured the steering rack in location.
One of the rear subframe mounts needs re tapping as not accepting the bolt but should not be an issue.
Next weeks jobs are the start running the brake lines within the subframes with a view to fit and hopefully have it sitting on its wheels within a couple of weeks.
I have based my routes and formation of the pipes by reading through many threads and YouTube videos! If ther is anything I have got wrong or missed please let me know!
Thanks for looking

[mk1]

Looking good.

[SMOKE GREY]

Nice to see it staying on hydro Very nice.

[colonel mustard]

Thanks all,
Yes staying on hydro, all the units have been cleaned out, tested with mains water, repainted and semi filled with hydro fluid ready to be installed.

[colonel mustard]

Just finished building up the front subframe with the reconditioned hydro units now in situ!.
Also received the refurbished carbs this morning, looking good as new
Hopefully start putting subframes on by the weekend.

[kevs 1961 mk1]

nice work there shes coming along ,hopefully you can get on a bit with this lockdown going on

[colonel mustard]

A bit more work over the last few days.
Front subframe fully plumbed up this evening, will post up some pictures tomorrow with day light.
Completed all brake plumbing on the rear subframe, just awaiting a new fuel pump and hoses to be delivered mid this week. Hopefully get the pump plumbed in then look to take the car off the rotisserie.
Could not resist placing the rear seats in, just for a moral boost!
Hopefully over the next week install fuel pump, install front subframe with a view to getting the hydro system completed and filled for testing.
Started pulling out the interior trim and will start cleaned, all look pretty good with the exception of the rear arch covers, will probably need some new one there.
Had a go at the existing grill tonight, cleaned up pretty well.
Thanks for looking and will keep updating over the coming weeks.
Stay safe all.

[colonel mustard]

Further update photographs

[colonel mustard]

And before and after of the grill

[kevs 1961 mk1]

some brilliant work going on there top resto keep the pics coming

[colonel mustard]

Whilst waiting for some parts to arrive, started cleaning some of the original upholstery parts such as rear quarter door cards and sun visors.
Will be starting the rear seat whilst the weather is good. Does / can anyone recommend any good vinyl cleaner? The attached is a result of a weak warm water and fairy and also a small amount of CIF. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Also pulled out the original carpet and looks in very good condition although I seem to be missing a passenger wheel arch and front bulkhead section!
Will post some before and after s once I start on the carpet.

[colonel mustard]

Sun visor

[colonel mustard]

It’s been a good weekend on progress. Managed to start and complete the sound deadening pads in critical areas, which does make a massive difference just by tapping the body work pre and post pads.
Installed the underlay for the carpet (first cut) final trimming nearer the time.
Managed to 8nstall the door hi ges whilst on the rotisserie and easier to do when the car is upside down!
Installed rear lights gained from raceretro and bingley earlier this year.
Install front headlights although the finishing ring looks very tarnished, may have to get these rechromed as I believe the retro ones do not have the rivet detail?

Hopefully this week I will have a go at the upper and lower dash vinyls, any suggestions welcome and the trimming out of the rear quarter panels.
Will keep you posted and thanks for looking!

[colonel mustard]

And fuel pump installed

[colonel mustard]

Been a busy couple of days in isolation!
Managed to Dynax s50 all the areas that needed doing, used circa 1.5ltrs of the stuff, hopefully got everything covered!
Managed to get the car off the rotisserie and now back on the dollie, which makes things a bit easier and gives me more room 8n the garage!
Had a go at getting the front subframe in, which went pretty well for a novice although there is a slight issue. As the car was on the rotisserie, I measured where the hydro lines would terminate within the engine bay, the driver side, perfect, the passenger side not so, almost 1-2” to long!. Options?
1/ take the front sub frame out along with the steering rack and create more bends to loose the length
Or
2/ cut the pipe and re flare (note I do not have a flare for this size pipe!)
Also (and before a realised re: hydro pipe) I managed the get the clutch master cylinder on and pedal box.
Really happy with the way it is going and learning a lot as I go through this build.
A few photos of the build so far...

[Blacktulip]

Great work here. I love the colour. Can't wait to see the finished article!

[colonel mustard]

Hi all,
Hope you are all staying safe and well?
Just a quick update from the last couple of weeks of work carried out.
Managed to get the front and rear subframes on and off the rotisserie.
Made a start with upholstering the rear wheel arches, I used a spray upholstery glue high temp contact adhesive, which I found really good in both sticking and adjusting ability. I did install both arch covers then redid them as I felt adding further foam base layer to the side face of the arch would also look better and show less off the undulating metalwork!

After a further clean and repairs the splits in the rear quarter panel cards, managed to get these install, I found putting a small run of electrical tape on the top edge with a little bit of wd40 rubbed on made getting the cards in a better job and also protected the existing edges of the vinyl card.
Ring I
Managed to get the rear seats cleaned up, will need another session at a later date, but will be fine. Also I found the C pillar trims, not in the best shape but decided to clean and they came up well, although the lower edge if quite brittle and a bit thread bare. I have a plan to utilise the old headlining to carry out patch repairs here and form a new section below the rear window. I have managed to source a complete original crackled headline for which I will use rather than recovering with the newton stuff. ( the Newton stuff looks far to beige / cream). Hopefully by doing this it will carry on the original patina of the car.

Then onto upholstering upper and lower dash rails. As updated on Andypen’s thread, managed to complete this and happy with the way of turned out, not a job I would want to do again in a hurry!! It also took 3 evenings to get the chrome trim sitting right on the lower dash rail, after some dremelling of the supplied rail it finally fitted and clipped up into position. The central switchgear panel was supplied new, came to fit the switch gear etc.. none of the holes were large enough! Found the original in a box that came with the car and have started to rebels and strip to reuse. Does anyone have a modern day alternative to the cumulus grey that I could readily get from Halfords or another?

On with pulling out the windscreen motor and associated goods to find the wiper spindles totally chewed up, so replaced these and have started to install.

Then onto fitting the chrome trim to the side seams, the passenger side went really well but the drivers was a complete t£#t of a job! In the end I had this stretched and pegged out over the lawn in the sun, which helped to straighten. Then over a couple of evenings, managed to installed sections with G clamps and wood on the two major bends. Then the dremel was out again for a final trim around the front seam and the compete the ends, again pretty happy although had the guess where they stopped on the front valance.

Went on the fit the master cylinders only to find the clutch unit had been labelled up incorrectly in the box (many thanks for everyone’s help on this one) so when a sizeable order can be generated I will have to wait.

Also found in the box were the seat brackets and door handles, all pretty rusted and needed a bit of TLC, took advantage of the hot weather and hits these ready for install at a later date.

Even had time to initially install the tacho, starting to fell more like a car every week.

Unfortunately I will now be waiting for the new wiring loom the arrive, when this will be no one knows till the lockdown has been adjusted, otherwise onto other bits I find that need refurbish, possibly the twin tanks.

Ps, these are not the wheels I will be using, just came with the car, still looking for inspiration.

Thanks again for looking.

[colonel mustard]

A few more

[colonel mustard]

And last couple