Operation Orange - 1980 Sprint restoration

[oily66]

The original has what looks like an asbestos pad between the cover and plate and its riveted with some spacers to give a bit of air flow??
You can see the three rivet holes in the cover.
Looks like you have done your research on the updated materials to use, I really need to get rid of the asbestos stuff, definitely wont be reusing that, thanks for the tip.
If you need the dims for this I can measure it tonight.

[SprintMWU773V]

Some dims would be great if you don't mind.

[Carledo]

I have one you can have for a pattern if you'd like it. Postage only.

Steve

[Carledo]

There are also a 3rd heatshield for the starter motor that clips to the solenoid and an (automatic only) 4th shield to cover the inhibitor switch. Lack of the latter is probably responsible for the high casualty rate in inhibitor switches, but that's not your problem, with your manual car!

Steve

[SprintMWU773V]

Yes I do have one for the starter. I actually have a new old stock one but I also have a used one. I shall probably make a pattern one for this to get rid of the asbestos.

[new to this]

Yes I do have one for the starter. I actually have a new old stock one but I also have a used one. I shall probably make a pattern one for this to get rid of the asbestos.

I didnt know there were that meany heat shields,got any pictures of what they look like,i was going to try and make a heat shield for the exhaust boxes

Dave

[Flyfisherman]

Some dims would be great if you don't mind.

Mark

Have one to hand in the shed - will take some dims tomorrow for you.

Paul

[oily66]

Bit crude, but everything there to remake.

[SprintMWU773V]

Heat shield fitted, never enjoy drilling hole in things but it was pretty straightforward. I opted to use some self tappers rather than rivets. I had some good offcut pieces of the heat shield material too so I fashioned some shielding for the brake pipe to replace the sorry one I removed from the original car.



Also finished off my wiring for the fan. I've been able to route it all very neatly following existing cable runs. I'll be using a relay and I've mounted this at the bottom of the suspension turret as there was a convenient hole already there. I do need to connect the earths up and those will go on where the brake master cylinder support bracket goes, again there's already a nice hole there and it's all hidden and discreet.





The radiator will need to come out to fit the engine so I'll tidy up the wiring at the front when it's all installed. When I had the wiring loom made I had fused relays added for the headlights. My current plan is to mount those to a bracket which will be attached to the battery clamp. I need to make up a mock battery to then make up the bracket. Seems the easiest place to fit them, though in hindsight I should have had them positioned elsewhere perhaps.

[new to this]

Whats the stainless/chrome bracket just under the radiator

Dave

[SprintMWU773V]

There isn't one! Are you getting confused with the mountings for the spoiler? These are stainless washers, bolts etc.

[SprintMWU773V]

In my quest to look at a few jobs before my head comes back I dug out my wheels last night. I bought this set of 4 wheels some years ago as new old stock complete with original Leyland boxes. As you'd expect these are a high quality product by Leyland as you can see in the pics.

None of the 4 are good enough to use as they are due to what looks like lacquer clouding (didn't think they were lacquered), some other surface marks and...





My personal fave black 'over splodge' marks. Wouldn't have taken long to have removed the excess of black paint.





All will be stripped back, painted and then diamond cut to a higher standard.

[Carledo]

AFAIK all Sprint wheels were lacquered. Clouding and lacquer discoloration are to blame for the urban legend about early cars coming with yellow or gold wheels!

In truth, MOST factory alloys come lacquered, in a feeble attempt to negate neglect!

Steve

[SprintMWU773V]

In addition to fitting much of the exterior side and boot strips I've been doing some trimming work recently, not done any before.

I decided that I didn't like the standard millboard boot boards. They look nice when they're new but they get shabby quite quickly. Using my warped original boards as a pattern I cut out new panels from a new sheet of millboard. I did briefly think about buying some ready cut out but they are too expensive. I made the full set of boards including the one that mounts on the rear seat panel.

With the patterns made I then glued some van lining carpet to the board, finishing the edges by folding the material over the boards. Then it was simple a case of scoring and folding them and where necessary drilling some holes. On the reverse of the 2 side panels I stuck some additional soundproofing material as I had some spare.







Really pleased with the end result as it's transformed the boot area and they fit really nicely. I chose anthracite carpet rather than black to make it slightly less dark, plus it doesn't show up specks as badly as black. I've currently used the hardura mat for the floor but I'm tempted to make up another panel and carpet it the same as the sides. At some point I must replace my boot hinges as something went wrong with them when the shell was at SPL and now they won't hold up on their own. I have spares but for now my trusty piece of wood will have to do!

I've also made up a new rear parcel shelf. My original had a rip in the vinyl and being hardboard was a bit thin. I also wanted to discretely mount some decent speakers so chose to use some 6mm MDF. Firstly I cut out the shape of the shelf and checked for fit. It was spot on first time. Then I drew round the apertures in the parcel shelf panel to work out where I could mount my speakers. The shape of the aperture most suitable (second one in) is very awkward and does limit the type and size speaker you can fit. I did think about mounting them underneath and be totally hidden but this does compromise the size you can fit and also the sound quality. After much deliberation I ordered a pair of black Pioneer 13cm speakers and cut some suitable sized mounting holes in the board. Again checking for fit I found the speakers were spot on.



I then covered the board in a nice black vinyl and then mounted the speakers and temporarily fitted the parcel shelf. I'm pleased with the look. No it's not original but the standard 1 speaker in the Dolomite is woeful and as someone who enjoys some tunes I've had to opt for the rear speakers. Actually it was quite hard to find some plain looking decent speakers so the pair of Pioneers for under £25 seemed like a good deal.





For the front footwell kick boards I used my damaged old one to make up 2 new ones from hardboard and covered those in the same vinyl. I was thinking of putting some front speakers in these panels but there's not much depth so these will remain standard. I'm then going to make some discreet speaker boxes and put these on the parcel shelf, no cutting holes in door panels for me.

I've also just purchased a spindle mount radio that looks period but has FM, DAB, USB etc. Looks to be just the job and will be a considerable improvement on the Radiomobile unit.

[RSi]

Wow, one impressive build.....