• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Need a few cheap/free projects

Share this page

drooartz

drooartz

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Offline
Until the bodywork and paint is done I need to curtail any and all spending -- I've got a decent budget for the body and paint but as y'all know that work ain't cheap and I'm trying to keep a bit extra aside for the inevitable surprises that crop up.

So as much as I'd love to dive into the other big projects (engine, suspension, etc) I have zero budget for them. So I need to map out some other projects that just take time and no to nearly no money.

I know I need to restore the horn and ignition switch. (I also need to build a work bench, but that's a side project that comes out of a different budget.) What other things should I be thinking of?

As a reminder, notes on the restoration are online here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g8LCC9yT9zcvWLJxuzMfhCY1Yr0qCRRd93UlJkYYfpw/edit?usp=sharing
 
How about a detailed project plan. Excel works. Include tasks needed to reassemble including things like purchase of an interior kit plus lead time to acquire needs to come before install interior kit. Once you organize that you can also add in $ for things that need to be purchased.

Then add in estimated durations to get things done. Be realistic about durations and realize you can't always control schedule. Figure out what parts need to be ordered based on re installation schedule. Now that durations are complete you can start to add dates to the plan. Adding in dates for sourcing along with parts $ to the plan will aid in budget planning.

Now ow when you are done send me a copy of your plan. Getting organized is more than just putting things In labelled bins.
 
He's got a roller at the paint IIRC so some of that will need to wait.
 
Suspension is still on the car to keep it a roller at the body shop, so that has to wait. Putting a good list/plan together is probably the right things to do. I made decent notes when I was dismantling everything, so now it's time to do good cleaning and recon I suppose to see what I'll need to rebuild or replace as I go forward.
 
Seats.

Strip the covers/foam off and you'll find the frames need striping/de-rusting/painting. Easy & cheap using a wire wheel chucked in a drill.

Start a de-greasing (Purple Power) bath for nuts/bolts and then a de-rusting bath (Evaporust) for the newly degreased fasteners.
No fumes from either product so you can do it in the heated house.

Those are the first two things that come to my mind.
 
Did the ignition switch do everything it was supposed to do??? Looks as if someone has let the smoke out of some wires leading to it. Was going to suggest getting the wiring up to snuff unless you are going to change it. From what I see it appears to be not to bad. Little cost in fixing that. Also like to mention that unless the hard line's on the brakes are badly corroded on the outside I would save them. What's commonly being sold for replacement doesn't impress me. Save some coin there.

Kurt
 
How about ... I ship you some of my parts that need cleaning and refinishing. I'll send money for supplies and return shipping. ;)
 
X2 if he needs more to do.

Hey who sells Purple Power? Never heard of the stuff.
 
Good idea on the seats and the cockpit surrounds -- labor jobs I can plod away at. Same thing with cleaning and de-rusting where necessary.

nomad said:
Did the ignition switch do everything it was supposed to do?
Click to expand...

Switch does all its tasks (no evidence of smoke leaks) but the knob is sticky and turns the key as well. I'd like to rebuild it if possible as it's the original unit with the original numbered key. Brake/clutch lines were a bit sketchy so I'm planning on replacing them all.

Trevor Jessie said:
How about ... I ship you some of my parts that need cleaning and refinishing. I'll send money for supplies and return shipping. ;)
Click to expand...

That's quite a kind offer, but I'll have to pass. :grin:

I've barely got time to do the work on my own stuff (full time job + gigs doesn't leave many hours free). Realistically I need to get the workbench built and then get to cleaning, organizing, and planning out all the projects to be done. Everything needs a cleaning and evaluation at a bare minimum. Just thinking about it makes me tired...
 
Thanks Ray!
 
Drew, I had the same problem with my ignition switch.....key turned when the knob was rotated....
Turned out the inside diameter of the knob shrunk and was rubbing on the key cylinder. I took the knob off and opened up the hole in the knob....and no more problems.
Scott in CA
 
smaceng said:
Drew, I had the same problem with my ignition switch.....key turned when the knob was rotated....
Turned out the inside diameter of the knob shrunk and was rubbing on the key cylinder. I took the knob off and opened up the hole in the knob....and no more problems.
Scott in CA
Click to expand...

Good to know. This will probably be one of my first projects, small enough to tackle.
 
Back
Top