Here is the next exciting instalment from Guy on the total restoration of his car.
Recent photo fitted with its new body without its previous glass sunroof
Seems a long time ago, that the chassis and body were so well received on the Unipower GT Owners Club & Register stand in last November’s Classic Car Show at Birmingham’s NEC, sitting there on its authentic factory stands. Now, after a break by me, it’s ready for the dry fit to start !!!. Here, in episode 6 of the Blog from Cornwall, we look at the pedal box and installation and also the rear of the car!!!
The pedal box assembly had to be stripped, blasted, etch primed and then painted. Some parts needing to be refurbed or replaced. Clevis pins are to be fitted with ‘R’ clips. No impossible to undo split pins here !. Then, onto the three master cylinders…then assembly.
Fitting the pedal box using chassis holes as templates was not as straightforward as hoped given, we were working with brand new body on a refurbed chassis. Just a little bit of fettling sorted that though. Nothing that wouldn’t have happened at the factory either!. Parallel to all this was the fitting and aligning of the steering rack, steering column etc. It was a relief that it all worked smoothly and the new rack turned easily in both directions.
Almost, the last remaining engine parts received some TLC too. Correct green paint job….
Excitingly, a large coil of brake pipe arrived together with new T pieces, male and female ends !. My brake pipe tools were dusted off, ready for some serious bending and swaging !. Thanks so much to fellow owner George Williams, for providing pics from his car of the original pipe layout….
Meanwhile at the back of the car….
The rear suspension being Mini based, has radius rods, both standard length and lengthened, locating fore and aft movement, together with standard uprights. Yup, you guessed it!. The rear upright swivel joints were solid like the fronts from the previous owners rebuild. Strip, renew, properly rebuild and refit carried out. The radius rods, despite having newish powder coating, were really in quite bad condition. I had new long rods specially made using high grade steel tubing utilising new standard-length rods, as well as using new standard-length rods.
Wishbones, being modified bottom Mini arms, were all checked, blasted, etch primed and painted…. properly, along with the radius rods. New, high tensile fixings will be used for final assembly. Word of warning: be very careful sourcing Mini parts, as the quality of those supplied can vary hugely. Have your micrometer or digital vernier at the ready!.
Drivetrain items like driveshafts, CV’s and brakes (don’t forget that the road Unipower’s had drums at the rear to facilitate a working handbrake) all will be checked and new parts fitted, where necessary….
More to follow in part 7 !!.
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