Used to be Blue's Valiant

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Wed Jan 08, 14 9:22 pm

great work

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Jan 08, 14 11:16 pm

Very good thread Blue...great photos as well....helps newbies like me understand whats going on

Cheers Steve

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Jan 09, 14 10:38 am

Beautiful job, I can't believe how good that body is.

Are you dropping a strip into the stock tubs for the stock look like this or going for drag style tubs?

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Jan 09, 14 12:28 pm

Full tub Ivor, I'd have to tuck the tyres too far inboard with that style of mini tub. Can't be doing with that pro street look anymore. So far the only rust I have found is in the lower rear quarter, which I already new about and a small area in the passenger foot well. I thought that had had a bit of an untidy repair, but it turned out to be a plate stuck down over the rust with lashings of mastic

I'll dig it out and repair it properly once the tubs are finished. I don't think there are any nasty bits lurking elsewhere, it really is a clean shell.

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Jan 09, 14 1:59 pm

Room for some period M&H Racemasters...that'll do nicely.

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Jan 09, 14 6:44 pm

Much scraping of sound deadener/undercoating today, it was 1/4" thick in places

Managed to get the area where the tubs will fit cleared, I'll do the whole inside of the rear 1/4's while I'm at it otherwise it will look a bit crap. And it's heavy of course...

db · Post by db » Thu Jan 09, 14 10:10 pm

Lovely work

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Fri Jan 10, 14 4:14 pm

So that's it then, need to tubs before I can do a final trim. Original tub was about 32" diameter, I've cut an extra inch forward because I know I'll need to alter the front edge of the wheel arch for tyre Clearance, so I've left myself enough room. New tubs will be 34" diameter in a 33" wide opening so that they will sit a little lower in the car (original tubs are flat at the top). I'll get on with something else in the meantime....

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Fri Jan 10, 14 4:18 pm

Crikey, Blue you are steaming along...I'll be spending all day Sunday in the shed welding in even more new steel into Rosie's Alpine...I'll be glad when I can throw the bloody thing together and get on with something sensible...

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Jan 16, 14 6:45 pm

While waiting for the tubs to be made I decided to fit the used fibreglass boot lid I bought a while back.
Unfortunatly it turned out to be warped quite badly length wise. I figured if it can warp, it can be straightened again, so I chocked it into position and added heavy weights where it was high at the sides.
Halogen light under it and a careful heat up of the stiffeners underneath with a hot air gun till it smelt "fibreglassy". It has defiantly moved down a fair bit so I'll leave the weights on it for a few days and see if it moves any more. I'm pretty confident this will work.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Thu Jan 16, 14 6:51 pm

Great stuff.

Are you going Steel or Aluminium Mini-tubs??

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Jan 16, 14 8:16 pm

Steel this time Pete, I want to weld them in to retain the unibody rigidity, this being a 4 speed. Should be picking them up Tomorrow.

Jon Connolly · Post by **Jon Connolly** » Fri Jan 17, 14 4:54 pm

Valiant looks good Blue ... I`d try and do a warrenty claim on that bootlid ??

Sorry I couldn`t chat today ... I was running late

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Sun Jan 19, 14 6:47 pm

Bit of tub assembly yesterday. They come in 2 pieces which you have to hand assemble. The main part has an S shaped fold around the edge called a Pittsburg seam, the back has a 90 degree fold around the edge. you have to carefully tap the lip into the seam all the way round till it's seated. You then hammer over the lip to lock it into place. A bit of time spent with a Hammer and dolly and you've got a really neat joint. They can now be trimmed to size and fitted.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sun Jan 19, 14 7:04 pm

Good stuff, I like building the Tubs up, quite satisfying and enjoyable.

What Gauge is the steel? 18 SWG?

The hard part is trimming the "outer" wheelhouse to the Quarter, quite nerve racking by comparison.

Did you see the Carbon Fibre Tubs on RV3??? Total work of art......