Attending:
- Alan (St. Albans)
- John (Sale, Manchester)
- Peter (Towcester)
- Jerry (Derbyshire)
- Andrew (Farnham, Surrey)
This first call was just an introductory call, with everyone giving a description of where they're up to with their respective builds, rebuilds or maintenance projects.
John: Is kick-starting his project again having last done work on the FIA about 6 months ago. Current problems that need to be overcome are how to connect handbrake and flexible hoses to his Jag IRS now that it has been converted to outboard disk brakes.
This post from cottonmouth was recommended as showing a solution. There are also good photos from Roger's Jag setup.
Peter: Has bought a car and is doing a rebuild. It was a 1998 Hawk, whose powdercoating is cracking where there are changes in surface, e.g. over the welds. He is selctively applying
Brantho Korrux, a product used in the North Sea, to these places. The product adheres very well to the powdercoat, but isn't something you'd want to paint the chassis in completely - not a smooth finish but appropriate for hidden areas that need protecting.
Main tubes have been drilled and given Waxoyl treatment. Will be upgrading the current 302 to a 289.
Under wheel arches, he has used fibreglass surface tissue with aluminium to make the inside of the arches appear smooth as an aluminium car would be. (Interesting - photos please!)
Jerry: Received the kit in September, and a Jag axle just before Christmas. Will install a 1968 302 engine. Has MG dampers at the front with the Hawk calipers. Would like to do engine bay cladding while the body is off. John and Andrew also expressed an interest in this, but John said the people who laser-cut Jon Towers' cladding do not seem interested any more. Jerry will try to get in touch with Jon to see if the plans can be obtained so three of us can get a set cut.
John will be sharing the dimensions of the Hawk radiator with Jerry.
Jerry wanted to know if anyone has experience with the 'special' boss that goes on the MG steering column and Moto-Lita wheel, but nobody could answer that one. Can it be purchased from Moto-Lita as well as Hawk, or is there something special about the Hawk one?
Would like advice on where best to get the seats.
Alan: Has an F-reg Hawk that he shared pictures of during the call. He's been doing all sorts of modifications to the side repeaters, the main headlights, the tail lights etc. Some of Alan's work can be seen in
this posting and
this posting. He's after advice on getting the MG splined hubs off the front and rear. Andrew advised that after removal of brake shoes and drum (and obviously the split-pin and centre nut in the hub), the rears can be pried off with a pry-bar against the bolt heads that hold the back plates on. Three-legged puller legs are too short, and the two-legged ones flop from side to side.
The call finished at 21:15 and it was agreed that it had been a useful exercise. A recommendation for next time would be to have headphones with a microphone if possible, and maybe video capability, but this isn't critical - it just improves the audio quality for everyone.
Next call - Monday 7th March, 8pm.
