Two steps forward one step sideways

 At least I'm heading in the right direction.

Fitted today ( after 3 days of absolutely pissing with rain ) the three fuse holders that wizzo auto elect Tony condemned. Took  2 weeks to get hold of them and used yet another supplier. MGOC had none in stock, Bhive didn't stock them and ANG/Mechspec neither. Only option was Moss ( they have the most info  on-line but are the most expensive) not to mention their tech set up for order processing , see last post !.  Trouble is I forgot to take a snap of them fitted, doh.

So on to fitting the interior sound deadening ( 6mm closed cell rubberised foam with adhesive side)

Gave the areas a good clean with white spirit and a light blow with heat gun whilst I cut out the shapes. See below for me trying to make the most of the 1 mtr x 3 mtr length. After all I am a Yorkshireman so I like getting my value for money.

One side had a newspaper template made comprising of floor, outer footwell, inner footwell, sill vertical, toeboard and transmission tunnel. The templates are simply turned over for the other side with only minor amendments for the drivers side inner due to the pedals. It took ages to maximise the 3 mts square mass with the templates but as it was getting late I was glad to finish, so in the shed it all went until a good day weatherwise.

Saturday dawned bright , sunny if a little bit breezy. I also felt a little better myself as since my Covid booster I felt rather tired and foggy. Onwards and upwards.

I really dreaded fitting the sticky sided closed cell rubber stuff. I was convinced It wouldn't stick or just unfurl half way through. No fears though, the stuff was a dream to fit. Test fitted before removing the backing, trimmed as necessary even with crap scissors.

According to the template planning I was toeboards and footwell outer shapes short ( both sides) so I did a very Fufferfour thing and ignored them all completely. Did the trans tunnel first, then floors, then  inner sides finally the sill verticals both sides. I used a couple of large offcuts to make the inner footwells in 2 pieces each and job done. Even had a couple of sizeable rectangles to do the door skin inner both sides. Well chuffed with the result.

Before

After

Next job is to refurb the handbrake mechanism as it looked a little manky ( rusty) as did the underside mechanism, spring and adjuster as well as the fuel lines looking flaky. Also to be done is the rear seat cover fitting and I've still not bled the brakes yet. Son No 1  ( I only have the one son, same as No 1 daughter, yes they are non identical twins) is 3 nil down in the favours stakes. Parenting means you are forever at the service of their needs. As he was ready to set a date for helping he had an urgent repair on his house that need my assistance. Hey ho.

Deffo next job is to protect the sound deadening as the rubber is rather delicate. I have tons of carpet in the shed left over from hallway refurb a couple of years ago. This will be used on the outer of the car under the new cover to give some air circulation. Also employed in the car over the polythene .

I had to add this photo from the dog sitting day for said son on what must have been the rainiest day of the year so far. It still makes me and wifey laugh at the sheer misery of us both out and about in that crap weather. Little boots enjoyed in not one bit, for hours.

I also purchased from Amazon a 6 layer winter cover which arrived nearr the end of todays efforts. Its massive, thick and silver. So gone is the Swedish thick timber polythene which has served its purpose well for about 8 years. It will be re purposed to protect the deadening whilst bleeding the brakes etc. 

More room in the shed too as an added bonus now the carpets gone. Sadly a load of  stacking crates being given away by out local bistro/ coffee shop has replaced them. But at least its organised storage yet to be utilised. I also took the opportunity whilst in the shed to review whats stored in there. F**k me , lots of MG bits. I did find things I knew I had, had lost and now found again. Like the seat runners. All taped up some 10 years ago. The writing on the masking tape had long since dissapeared and unfortunately so had the  8 spacers and nuts. They were found in a random ice cream tub in another  box. I think the writing on the crispy masking tape said " look in the ice cream tub" !.

More very soon..............depending on the weather of course.