Thread: Operation Ralph!

Originally Posted by outback jeff

Hi Ian, I'll have a look tomorrow I have some SII seats in the shed I'll see if there is a center one there.

Cheers Jeff

Ps Ralph is lookin good

Thanks Mate. Your a legend. I was supposed to go fishing to Pebbly Beach on Friday morning, but my son's car starter motor crapped out on Thursday night, so I spent Friday morning pulling the starter motor out to find the contact points burnt out. As he needed the car for work Friday night, I had to fashion a set of points from a 1-1/8" copper coupling I had, bend, drill, form, fit. Clean up the contact face on the plunger and put it all back together. Didn't get it finished until lunchtime which didn't give me enough time to get to Coffs and across the tidal crossing at low tide by 2 pm, so I spent the next couple of days doing something different, working on Ralph!!. Got most of the painting completed except for a bit of tidying up, where I scratch the bolt heads adjusting the doors etc. Finished wiring up the lights etc, and a few other bits and bobs (always something else to do every time I look). Hopefully it will all come together shortly. I have all the door rubbers etc coming this week so I can get into that, including the bailey channel for the windows as well. I have attached a few more photo's.

Cheers Ian

looks fantastic !

Thanks Tony. I got all the gasket stuff yesterday, fitted the vent gaskets and the bonnet strip last night, the clips to hold the bonnet strip down were complete and utter expensive crap at $2.20 each. Nowhere near long enough, made of plastic which I think will perish from the heat of the engine after a while. I'll have to keep an eye on them. I had to glue it down as well otherwise it wouldn't stay there. Will start on the tailgate tonite and maybe the sealing strip under the windscreen, which I think could be a bit wider as well, the bit it sits on is about 40mm across but the gasket is only 30mm wide. I have a place up the road which sells the same stuff, I might see if he has something a bit wider. Got all the bailey channel hopefully turning up today as well so I can attack the door tops next.
Cheers Ian

Put the door gaskets, bottom door gasket and tailgate gaskets on last night. I was also able to pull in the air vents another notch now they have been on for 2-3 days. I don't want to open them for a week or 2 to allow them to seat properly and give a good (as good as it can be ) seal. Will have to touch up the paint on the hinge bolts now the doors are adjusted up and I realised last night I didn't put the bonnet buffer rubbers on before I fitted the bonnet so that will have to come off again. Will make a start on the windscreen this weekend and hopefully get that and the wheels done before bleeding the clutch and brakes if I get the time. The little bits never seem to end and seem to be taking the longest time.
Cheers Ian

Got the bailey channel etc for the windows the other day and have started to re do those. Bled the clutch but the brakes are a different matter, with the CB style master cylinder in it, it looks like I will have to pressure bleed them cause I cannot get the vac pump to suck it through. I 'll have to make up a fitting with the old canister lid and hook it up to the air compressor (14 psi apparently). That will have to wait as I am away for the next week as of tonight but back next Thursday, so I'll have a go then. Got those buffer rubbers in behind the bonnet and managed to touch up all the paint blemishes as well, but that's as far as I have managed to get this week.
Cheers All
Ian

P.S. Thanks for the centre seat Jeff.

Got a picture of the bonnet buffer rubbers Ian? I'm having a hard time figuring out where they should be. They sound a bit 'looxerius' like

Hi Ian, was the center seat the type you were chasing?

Cheers Jeff

Hi Ozdunc, I will take a piccy tonight and post it. They sit just below the air vents, 2 of them.
Hi Jeff, yeah mate, it's perfect. Just need to get it redone with the other seats. Pressure bled the brakes and it was a no go. Could not get any pedal pressure whatsoever. Just had a new master cylinder delivered to work from FWD Motors in Brissie, so I will fit it tomorrow and have another go. I had a car trailer reserved with a friend of a friend to take Ralph to the British Car Day at Rathdowney next weekend but he called me yesterday and pulled out as his son needs it to go drifting, but one of the guys at the GCLRO meeting last night, was nice enough to lend me his for the weekend, Turns out we both grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same school, 1000km away from where we both live now!. I will have to remove the front guard to do the master cylinder and I seem to keep finding more and more holes to put nuts and bolts in and so many little fiddly things to do. The photo of the inside shows an intricate bit of ducting to channel hot air to the screen and the foot well area's. Dont yet know if I will keep it or what. I hot wired the blower fan the other day and it smoked about 30-40 seconds later, so I'll have to find another one of those as well. Luck we are coming into summer. I will take a heap of photo's and post some of next weekend if anyone is interested as we have about 13-15 British car clubs coming. If anyone is interested it is at Flanagan's Reserve, which is at the end of Lower Logan Road, 7 km among the Rathdowney/Boonah Rd, from 10am Saturday 12/10/13. There is camping at $8.00 per person per night with showers and toilets. No need to book. Should be an interesting weekend.
Cheers Ian