Another Build Begins - Tommy's AK427

After waiting for what seemed like for ever, Saturday saw the delivery of Tommy's AK427 Kit. It was delivered by George who had driven up from Peterborough that morning. First off was the body:
Once the body was safely stored next otthe veg patch it was time to carry the chassis round to the garage - George wouldn't have been able to get the trailer round the back lane:

And here's the chassis ready for work to start:

And finally........ a bit of daydreaming:

So that's the last we'll be seeing of Tommy for the next 18 months!!

Check out the full story on Tommy's Build Diary

Lowerig the Handbrake in a Sumo

Ian C gets his build underway with a task that isn't even in the build manual!

One of the few niggles that I had after driving and visiting a number of Sumos was the position of the handbrake – it seemed to me to be awkwardly high when off and even worse when applied:

It was something that I intended to alter during my build and the plans varied from cutting the whole top from the transmission tunnel and lowering it, raising the rear of the tunnel to effectively lower the handbrake to putting spacers on the mounting bolts to alter the angle of the lever. As I am planning to paint the chassis I realised that I would have to make any alterations first.

After much thought and abortive plans I decided to fit a recessed housing in the top of the transmission tunnel which would lower the lever and, probably more importantly, reduce the angle to nearer horizontal when off. I measured up the tunnel and handbrake lever and did some scaled plans in Visio which I printed off and made up a full size model in cardboard. This was mounted on a piece of chipboard and the handbrake trial fitted. It seemed to have the desired effect so with heart in mouth I took the angle grinder to the chassis and with a cutting disc cut out a rectangular hole to match the planned housing. In review it would have been much easier, though not half as spectacular or warming, to use a jig saw! As a final check I taped the cardboard housing in the chassis and fitted the handbrake- seemed to have the intended effect.

I then cut out the parts for the housing, using the Visio printouts for templates, from 1.2 mm steel (display rack shelves salvaged years ago with the knowledge that one day they would prove useful!). The shelves had been coated or enamelled which proved difficult to remove where I was welding up the box but did provide good protection elsewhere. The folds were made in the vice and a bit of “adjustment was required to get the correct fit. The parts were then welded up to form the housing after much practice with scrap bits of metal to get the settings right. The welds seem OK but would not win any prizes. I test fitted the box into the chassis and decided to reinforce the housing with additional cross braces at the front and back across the full width of the tunnel. These were cut, formed and welded and test fitted to ensure they provided the planned support.All the brackets were then cleaned up with the angle grinder, my new favourite tool, and given a coat of anti rust primer before fitting. Owing to the fact that I did not want to rely overmuch on my welding I decided on a belt, braces and elasticated waistband approach and pop-riveted, welded and bolted the housing into the chassis. The whole assembly was then given a coat of anti rust primer paying special attention to the underneath. When dry I bolted in the handbrake and the result was pleasing to my eye.First job done only another ???? to go.

How To Make Your Own Door Cards

Below is a short article by Andrew Lee showing how he made his own door cards. Nice end result Andrew..... watch out though you might be getting a few orders!

Click on the Photo to Download the Article.

Stainless Steel Column Stalks

Ian H has upgraded the column stalks on his AK to Stainless Steel from the orginal Rover SD1 items, here's how he did it:

This upgrade is based on the details and drawings produced by Craig Theobold (Craggle on the UK Cobra Club Forum)  for upgrading the Ford sierra Column Stlaks on a Dax, which can be found here.

For the AK conversion from rover SD1 column stalks you will need the following:

Part number 001, 2 required. I got these machined up bu a local machinist who only charged mr £10 each as a favour.

Part number 002, 2 required. I got the tube off e-bay (10mm OD X 8mm ID 316 Stainless Steel Tube X 500mm) from this seller.

Two off M3x8 stainless steel grub screws.

Two off push button switches, RS Part number 103-5726 - £2.50 from RS Components

Two springs cut down to suit, RS part number 751-590 - These are £14 for a pack of 10 from RS components but I found an appropriate spring from work.

For the Inicator and Horn Stalk:
 
Remove the cover:.....
 

..... and remove the stalk:

Next, cut the stalk down to leave a stub approximately 40mm long like this (The part circled in red):

Then chop open the original push switch, on the end inside you will see a small tube:

This will need to be ground down and pushed into the end of the 10mm tube - drill and tap a hole about 15mm from the end m3 thread this then pushes over the existing stalk:

The wires are then pushed down the tube till they come out of the end (see pictures below), you then have to solder the wires to where the existing wires connected on the back of the plastic housing.

The stalk is held in place by the 3mm grub screw which goes through the 10mm stalk and the insert and then tightens on the existing stalk:

For the push end of the stalk the switch is inserted in the end of the stainless tube first then a spring is cut to push the aluminium ends back away from the switches. The ends are held in place with an M3 grub screw and some thread lock.

Note that you may have to trim the plastic around the switch to get it to fit inside the 10mm stainless steel tube.

 

For the Washer stalk:

This is the same except the unit is sealed:

After cutting the existing stalk and preparing like above the wires are pushed down the hole and you will need to pull them out of the back of the switch:

Then push over the existing stalk and fasten like above with the stalk held in place by the 3mm grub screw which goes through the 10mm stalk and the insert and then tightens on the existing stalk

And here's the finsihed stalks:

If you have a query or need a bit of extra help  then use the "Contact Us" e-mail icon toward the top of the page on the right.

Another Build Begins - Ian C's Pilgrim Sumo

Ian C updates us having just been down to the Pilgrim Factory to collect his kit:

"It should come as no surprise that I am now the proud possessor of a Pilgrim Sumo kit but it still comes as a shock to me when I realise it – I have scarcely stopped smiling since I collected the kit on Wednesday just outside Brighton.

Overall the journey was enjoyable, the only surprise being the poor economy of the Luton van (but given the aerodynamics of a breeze block it should not have been).

I can’t wait to get started but need to sort out a few basics such as where / how to store the body now that I (under advice and duress) have decided not to store it outside on the garage roof."

The donor car:

Lifting the body and chassis the easy way:

Gently does it:

Loaded:

Loading the rest:

Safely home:

Starting to unload:

Chassis unloaded:

Not so easy getting the body out:

Body unloaded:

Garage starting to fill up:

With a little imagination...........

Santa's Grotto:

So thats the last we'll be seeing of Ian for a while.......... plenty to be getting on with!!