Pedal assembly complete (the Marina rides again)

After finishing the body panels the next stage is the pedal assemblies. This is mostly straightforward, but as ever there are some gotchas. Firstly the manual gives the wrong size for the set screws needed to secure the clutch and master brake cylinder to the bulkhead. I couldn't find any the right size in the kit, and had to ask Westfiled to send me some. For the record the manual says 25mm but you need 35mm really. In a similar vein the manual gives the wrong size for the double ended bolt needed to secure the clutch pedal. However there is only one in the kit, and it's the right size.

Another point of interest is that the clevis fork for the brake pedal is a billeted item, not a pressed steel one as used for the clutch pedal. Apparently this is because the pressed steel one could fold up when big enough brakes and master cylinder are fitted, as the pressure needed to apply the brakes is so great. I don't think this would be an issue with my Mazda brakes, as they are only single piston floating caliper jobs, but better safe than sorry.

Embarrassingly I couldn't find the clevis forks in the kit, so asked Westfield to send me some with the set screws mentioned earlier. They duly did, only for me to later find they were in the kit all along. Oops, sent the new ones back to Westfield, as the billeted one particularly is obviously quite expensive.

Below are some pictures of the pedal assembly, and fitted master cylinders. Onto the next job of fitting/bending the brake pipes.

The first picture is looking forward at the pedal assembly.

 

The second picture is looking from above at the pedals. Note the billeted clevis fork for the brake pedal.

 

 

and finally as you can see from the packet the pedal rubbers came in, they are the self same items used for many British Leyland cars, all the way back to the Marina!

Bodywork now nearly complete

It's been a long time since the last entry, but in the background I've been beavering away. The two panels which were the wrong shape were replaced by Westfield. I found that even these new panels needed a bit of trimming if they were to not be proud of the chassis in a number of places. After a bit of experimentation, including buying Drapers clone of the Dremel, and using a grinding wheel I found the best way to get the panels to fit was to use a file I had lying around. As I've heard aluminium dust is not good for you I wore a face mask whilst doing all this.

I ordered the optional side panels, which each have approximately 75 holes to be drilled, and the same number of rivets. I found that with my rechargeable drill I could drill about 25 - 30 holes before the battery went flat, and I didn't have a spare battery. This was one of the reasons for the length of time things have taken. The other usual suspects, holidays, family commitments etc. also played their part. Annoyingly right at the end I discovered that using a high speed on the drill actually took longer to drill a hole than using a slow drill speed. A slow speed ensured that the drill bit slipped less too, making smaller tidier holes.

Even more annoyingly I ran out of rivets, and I've had to order some more. I'm not quite certain how that happened as the box claims there are 500, but my sums suggest there were far fewer holes than that. I know I waste a few, dropping them on the floor etc. but I didn't think it was that many.

Below is an image of things as they look now. The next step is the pedal assemblies. I'm hoping this will go smoothly, and there will soon be some more progress to report.