Restoration of 3940R

[berni29]

Berni,  I made some seats for my home made Can Am car which I modelled after the S2 Europa seats.  It was allot of fun sculpting the foam.  I had to change the width, back angle and thigh support angle which is why I did not end up using the Europa pans.  I used three different durometers to dial in the comfort level.  I used a band saw with widely spaced teeth for the main cuts.  An ellectric meat knife to rough in some parts.  Pneumatic die grinder with coarse discs.  Hand block sander with 36 grit paper to finese.  Took me about a week of vacation time to do the foam.

Hi

Wow that looks like fantastic work. Hopefully the saying "if he can do it I can do it also" is true.

All the best

Berni

[berni29]

Anyways, thats done now so hopefully will get my new age correct reg number in a couple of weeks, and can start taking things apart again now.

Good luck with that. My 8 months getting 3089R registered due to a 75/3089R instead of 74/3089R does sound insignificant v "Champion" and not "Europa".

WTF were they looking at, the spark plugs?

Hello

I read your post and then immediately called the DVLA, as you are right they are total fkwits, but the person I spoke to looked up the reference and said that it was all ok and was going off for "keying" and I should have the registration documents in a couple of weeks.

We will see.........

All the best

Berni

[berni29]

Hello and Hurrah

3040R now has a UK V5 and registration number and has been christened FWW 818M.

At least I can start to take a few things apart now that the DVLA are finished with the car. Has a quick go at starting to remove the petrol tanks, but rain stopped play.......

All the best

Berni

[jonclancy]

Great news! Hopefully I will be next with a UK reg.

[berni29]

Hi

Just a quickie to say that I removed both fuel tanks today. The bolts all came out reasonably easily (against expectations) and the tanks are at the metal finishers. There was about 5 litres of very old fuel in each tank. One tank also had a fair bit of rust in it. The outsides looked ok. I will soon know if they are any good once they are blasted.

The rear of the car actually has to be raised quite high to get them out.

All the best

Berni

[4129R]

Check those tank tops carefully for pin holes, and make sure there is plenty of paint on them to prevent future corrosion.

I have worked on 14 tanks, and several had lots of pin holes in them which lets water in very easily.

Also push electrical wire through the outlet pipe to make sure it is clear and not full of sludge. Put about 2 pints of water in the tanks and make sure it comes out of those pipes easily.

Also check the fuel gauge sender is not all rusted up, as they rust easily.

Finally, run a 1/4" UNF tap through the nuts on the brackets so the bolts go in easily when the time comes to put the tanks back in.

When you put the tanks in, put the bolt in nearest you (bottom rear) first, and it makes the other bolts easier to line up. Be prepared for lots of spanner rash as your arms take a pasting when you or working in that confined area. The fibreglass rubs on your arms which is only noticeable when it is time to wash up. A 7/16" ratchet spanner is the best way of tightening those bolts. 

[berni29]

Hello

Thank you for the advice! I habitually wear long sleeve T shirts so have not had the pleasure of a fibreglass rash yet. I used a little 1/4 ratchet to get them out and will be using that tool again when the time comes to get them back in. The outlet pipes are definitely blocked and the tops (and bottoms actually) did seem a bit thin. I wonder how much aluminium ones are? I'm starting to think I might need them.

I started to paint the seats today in 2K epoxy primer straight onto the (lasered) metal. Will see how that turns out.

All the best

Berni