Pooh Bear - The great works continue

More work. After having no luck getting a blower fan I have resorted to giving the whole problem a good stiff ignoring and moved onto something else.
Namely the gearbox and the shifter extension. Knocked up out of some 2x65x35 box section strategically hacked about and randomly welded. Photos show how far back I had to move everything. New shifter rods made from 10mm steel rod and through the application of heat and a BFH in my vice I bent them into a useful shape. FF49885A-6AC3-4380-8BE2-0CCB10C16E37.jpeg5D1B2DA8-2303-4202-B1BF-6C820C23DB58.jpegDD0A8DC9-2C4A-43BC-9CFE-5A0234A16681.jpeg31D3A75A-1946-4789-AA4C-D99233CB6B6D.jpeg
I am probably going to weld a 3mm doubler onto the bottom of the gearbox end as I feel it may be a bit weak. The gearbox weighs a million tons anyway so a few more grams of steel should not make a difference.
Hopefully I will be able to get my hands on a blower of some description and sort out the ventilation in the cabin.
Cheers
Guy
 
Gearbox is done. The shift mechanism will not let it go into reverse but I think I know what the problem is, the selector pin is a bit thick (relatable I’m sure) and fouls the body. I will sort it at a later date.
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The weekend was spent welding up the body where the factory had obviously decided that fresh air and booger welds were good enough. I have ground back the spot welded flange in the engine bay that was taking up a stupid amount of space. Looks like I can get a decent set of headers in there now! It is all seam welded so hopefully it won’t come apart any time soon. I also seam welded the driver side. I will be doing the passenger side as well, but I need some more gas and another spool of mig wire.1283F4DA-BE6C-4641-A1E9-848347E5ACFD.jpegB644E9DF-2F85-46C1-9CD3-3EB4D6A0FA2E.jpeg
Turns out the driver side engine mount was held on with two small spot welds. Once the paint and other gunk was removed I welded it properly, or as proper as my welding gets!!
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There is still a long way to go, but the end is sort of in sight, for the engine bay at least. The new floor is designed, the cunning plan to lower the car (much engineering needed, good thing that I am heading back to university to study Mechanical Engineering then!) is under way, and a potential for the new rear end (possibly an M3, maybe a Jag) is being investigated. I feel that my posts are not going to end anytime soon (sorry).
Once I have finished the main work I will get the front of the car blasted. This will allow me to tidy up and finish everything neatly before I get stuck into the floor (still to be bent up by the local sheet metal specialist).
Cheers
Guy
 
Easter holidays have allowed more work.
I have modified the heater water pipe on the water pump to take a -8AN fitting. This will allow some rather tasty looking fittings that have in my bits box to bypass the heater that is not there any more. Once I have the rear adaptor sorted I will post some pictures. F813FADC-3A78-4D6C-A252-AD444B692FEA.jpeg
Pooh bear now has a literal floorless finish on the drivers side. I was tired of trying to work out how to stuff a 560mm wide seat into a hole that was only 558mm wide and still have room to do it up. I took the brute force and ignorance approach and cut the whole lot out with a combination of angle grinders, saws and a BFH. Very therapeutic, but did end up making another blood offering to the Rover gods............... stupid razor sharp edges. 55AA70B9-7EF7-4A3F-9C25-EE6532FAFA8A.jpeg
All that is left to do, as always, is everything. I have the basic floor mocked up and will hopefully have it framed out by the time I need to go back to work on Tuesday.
All this effort is to get these to fit.EAD15ABD-CF82-464D-A4B6-DA3A7D8BF8C7.jpeg
My previous design had one massive flaw, I could bolt the seat to the mounts, but not reach the body mounts or vice versa! This way I will be able to take the whole seat off and bolt it on via 4 10mm bolts into captive nuts on the cross rail.
Hopefully it won’t weigh any more than stock, but unless I make it out of lead and depleted uranium I can’t see how I could manage that!!!
More to come, happy Easter
Guy
 
More progress has been made. The frame for the floor is back in as is the engine, gearbox and prop shaft. I have finalised the design for the floor (again, after all if a job is work doing it’s worth doing over at least 3 or 4 times right?) and the seat mounts will be forming part of the gearbox mount, or at least they are until I come up with another way of complicating my life...........
028A88B4-3A6B-4974-8806-A4FFE76CD5F2.jpeg55A72B30-80AE-47EB-8251-60B40F52F50E.jpeg
B0F48957-B122-4C00-BBFF-416C12EAAAB8.jpegNow that the gearbox is back in I realise what I had so many issues with it before. With the engine and gearbox level and squared up to the car I found that it was sitting 50mm low at the back , causing the constant leakage and odd prop shaft angles. All sorted now and the engine is even square in the car, whereas before it was a bit cockeyed.
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I just have to clean up the areas that need welding (ie the whole ruddy car!) and get the floor finally welded in. Once that is done I can see about turning the car around and sorting out the passenger side. This should be a lot easier as it will be adding a big area for the new 3” exhaust to run down. As for the front there is actually no place for the driver side exhaust to run to the back of the car , so a pipe running between the front of the sump will need to be added. This has the advantage that all the exhaust will be on the passenger side (where I am not intending to put a seat anyway) and away from brake lines and fuel lines..
More to come as I have a few days off from work to get stuff done.

Cheers
Guy
 
After a long, very busy period of work I have finally had some time to work on Pooh Bear.
A new floor has been bent up, and once the engine and gearbox are chucked back in for a final check of clearance, I will see about fitting it for real, then start on the transmission tunnel. The new seat bases/ floor stiffeners are also bent up, and will be welded in once the captive nuts are on the underside. E4B10847-CD06-4E82-82A0-9ED3CC9E837A.jpeg
64B5EAF2-72E0-4A23-8CFD-0478F24AF527.jpeg3B32A56B-70C1-4029-89B8-EFB30193B402.jpegI have modified (again) the gearbox linkages as they sat a bit far out, so I have tucked them in a bit more to avoid clouting the side of the transmission tunnel any more than I have to. The gearbox also has a new cover, to avoid crud getting into the clutch. It is a bit neater than the old one which looked rubbish and I was too embarrassed to show!5CD843D6-1943-4404-8F9C-1580DDC1FD34.jpeg8751FF95-3CC1-4FE8-8442-F9005F622E13.jpeg
Not much more but I have a whole week off work and hope to get lots more done.
Cheers
 
Managed a bit more work.
The observant will notice that the floor has been brutally hacked apart and re-welded. Turns out I has managed to make the floor exactly the right width to foul the prop shaft. After cutting the floor down by 15mm, it now fits and clears, with the added advantage that the seat now fits properly.3ADAE869-1232-4C12-B3A1-94594021125B.jpeg
90F2FF91-0AD0-4ACE-A935-66B1776224F6.jpegF01E99B6-B0E5-480A-BB69-BE3B3087F511.jpegStill have the front seat base to adjust and fit, but the rear is ready to weld in, with adjustable captive nut plates.
It takes a long time to re-do work, but if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing at least three times………
Cheers
 
It has been very cold here in Canberra, with the weekend (only time I get to work on the car) soaring to nearly double figures in the heat of the day. As a result I have not been in the garage as I don't want frostbite on any thing important! I have been playing with Fusion 360 and have knocked up a quick vision of the new suspension for Pooh Bear. I will get onto this once the floor is back in and the shell is getting a bit closer to finished.
Rover P6B Race Front suspension v12 - 1 (2).jpgRover P6B Race Front suspension v12 - 2 (2).jpgRover P6B Race Front suspension v12 - 3 (2).jpgRover P6B Race Front suspension v12 (2).jpg
There are a lot of placeholders (I don't have time to model the Rover ball-joints for example), but the overall geometry is sort-of-correct. I was just messing around, and if there are any Fusion 360 experts out there please let me know where I went wrong, and how I could do it better as I am always keen to learn!!!!!!
Cheers
Guy
 
Ok. After 7 weeks of being locked in the house and ”working” from home I have rebuilt the front radiator support and oil cooler mount. I feel that my fab skills (while still a bit rubbish ) have improved and I was not happy with the old setup as it looked a bit crap. The new one also weighs 3kg less than the old one while being easier to fit!
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I am looking to change the floor as well (again :rolleyes:). If anyone has seen Retropower on YouTube, I am contemplating a setup similar to the Morris Minor with a tubular structure, and skinned in sheet. This will allow me to get some strength into the gearbox mounts, and generally stiffen everything up.
More to come as I continue to turn steel into sparks and noise as I start the build of my new rotisserie. As soon as we open up (next few weeks perhaps :hmm:) I can go and pick up the steel.
Cheers
Guy
 
Finally got some time in the shed. Now that Christmas etc is over I have taken a few days to get stuck back into Pooh Bear.
I have finished (mostly) the drivers side floor frame and now have enough space to get the seat in and not be crushing anything. Whilst it is held together with blue painters tape, it all fits and is even level! I need to get the passenger side done before I weld everything together for good. This will then be skinned in 1mm CRS with bead rolls to cut down on drumming, and generally stiffen everything up. Gearbox mount to be completed once the passenger side frame is in place
Rover Floor frame DS.JPG
The transmission tunnel will have a relocated handbrake, offset to the passenger side as I am not intending to have many passengers (no-one is mad enough to get in the car with me!). The eagle eyed will notice a pringles chip packet/ tube thingy on the floor of the shed surrounded by other rubbish. It turns out that this is 3 inches across and just happens to be the same size as the final exhaust size (thanks BOM). This will be attached to a 5 inch resonator/ muffler and requires to passenger floor to be gone away. The frame for the footwell is cut but cannot be welded into place as I will be unable to get the frame out! The end result is a totally flat floor, and the seat almost flat on the floor, I will show my solution to mounting the seat once I have all the bits cut out and drilled. I will also remake the shifter rods as they bind and are too far to the drivers side and I can do better.
Still trying to work out a solution to the pedal conundrum, with a Tilton 600 series reverse floor mount looking to be the best option, only $1000 without the master cylinders however! If anyone has a better suggestion please let me know.
Rover Floor DS Front.JPGRover Floor DS Rear.JPGMuch more metal work is still required along with a rotisserie (steel is very expensive right now), and I will post more pictures once I have something to show.

Have a great new year

Guy
 
Nice, I much prefer this design route you're taking now. Well worth incorporating a driveshaft safety loop into the tubular structure while it's at this stage. I started on a tubular one for mine a year or so ago, but got distracted with the rest of the shell ever since lol
Jim
 
After three designs and much faffing about I have finally got the seat mounted! The mounts are made of 75x25x 4mm box hacked into interesting shapes, then welded into place. Pleasingly they are even level and fit properly!!!!!Rover seat mounting.JPGRover seat mounts.JPGRover seat mounted.JPG
The top of the transmission tunnels is finished but cannot be weld in as I still need access to the passenger side and it will get in the way. The handbrake is also mounted and seems to be in about the regular stock position, just 10 mm over to the passenger side. I originally used the old mount but ended up remaking it in 3mm HRS for a little bit of strength. The tunnel will include a removable prop shaft safety loop, this is already designed and once the passenger side is done I will make it up.Rover Handbrake 1.JPG
I have commenced brutalising the passenger side floor and have managed to break my reciprocating saw blade and will need another. I could continue to attack it with an angle grinder, but it makes an awful mess. Once I have the space cleared out I will be able to start building the framework for the passenger floor, which should be easier as it is a fairly straight shot from the rear to the front. I just have to allow space for the exhaust.
More to come, there is now even less of the original Pooh Bear than ever, and my scrap pile is getting bigger.
Cheers
Guy
 
My leave is nearly over and I have completed a lot of work in the last 5 weeks. Tube frame Rover anyone?
The floor is mostly in with the passenger side fully welded in place. The driver side has been revised and now fits a lot better. The tube across where the transmission will sit is temporary, and the ends will be cut flush and plated over. I am using it to ensure the floors are level across the car. The transmission mount is only resting in place as I need to engine and gearbox to be in the car to confirm the positioning. I will of course post pictures once it is completed and have worked out the details such as how to get it in and out easily. Rover floor frame.JPGRover floor frame 1.JPGRover floor frame 2.JPG
I am waiting on a lot of parts, such as the new pedal box, and the new exhaust bits. This has put a slow down on the progress, bit I will keep hacking away during weekends, public holidays etc.
I have (again) revised the shift rods for the M21 4 speed, and they are much neater and smoother in operation. I tucked them in a little more and they just look better, see the earlier posts to get an idea of the change! Once the gearbox is in the car I will have to make a new gear lever as the original is lost and was about 3 feet long to start with! I have some 16mm steel rod that I will beat into shape so that it falls nicely to hand, standby for pictures once complete!.Rover revised shift links 1.JPGRover revised shift links.JPG
I have to say that a good welding table to allow fabrication of parts that can be clamped in place makes getting things straight much easier and prevents things warping when welding.
I don't have one of these (yet, a man can but dream of a workshop filled with cool tools........................) but having used one at a friends shop it would be awesome. As a result I have a few "tweeks" that cause parts to be around 0.5 degrees out but it is close enough for me and I am just as likely to break it first time out anyway!
I now need to build my rotisserie which will allow me to weld on the underside, as I don't like welding upside down. This will allow me to finalise the last bits of frame, and then I can start on the task of skinning the whole floor. This will include bead rolling in strategic places to keep the drumming to a minimum as I will be using quite thin steel.
I was forced to attend my local steel merchant today as I cut a number of parts that turned out to be too short, luckily I am not using Chro-moly steel as the stuff is nearly $35 a metre for the sizes I am using! It also needs to be Tig welded and I am not that good with a Tig (to be honest I am only just scratching at competent with a Mig!). The new suspension components will all be Chro-moly and welded by a proper welder (not me) and will be done once I have some time to finalise the CAD files and have the steel cut as required. It will look a little like this (not my work but a good indication but I will have the sway bar under the shocks, possibly in the same location as stock, but this is a long way off, I am a bit of a tease really....................). Yes, I am contemplating changing to a wishbone front end as it will stop me tucking a wheel under heavy cornering and getting strange camber reactions. Plus it looks cool and is unnecessarily complicated to make and set up, why wouldn't you want to? Pushrod front suspension.jpeg
Not much else but there is likely to be a bit of a gap in my waffling for a few weeks as I have to get back to work (booooooo) and my new stuff has to show up (why is it that things I order from Sydney - 4hrs up the highway - take 3 weeks to arrive but the stuff from the US arrived in 3 day?).
Take care all
Cheers
Guy
 
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