RTT gets a facelift

The car, that is, not the person. It looked quite presentable after the last rebuild (about 20 years ago), but since then has been getting scruffier year by year. So I reckon it's time for another makeover, after which hopefully it will again be able to hold its head up in respectable company.

Unfortunately this means I won't be at Newark this year.

A small change to the front panel is planned - I made a load of cardboard patterns, each slightly different.

Measure a thousand times, cut once.

When you don't have access to a proper engineering workshop, a certain amount of ingenuity is called for.

I'm looking forward to seeing the pics

Are you sure it does not have a preservation order on it Bob?

I look forward to seeing it at Stourport.

Rum Tum Tugger wrote:The car, that is, not the person.

The person certainly does not need a facelift and I'm not sure the vehicle does but I'm sure you will do the job well. Love the meccano jig, mine is mainly silver,so I guess it's a little newer than yours.

Me thinks that you are a little more precise in your work than we were!
Look forward to seeing the finished project.

One or two special tools from the box of useful miscellania we all keep, don't we?  Cutting a 1-inch section from an old front wheel bearing made a good substitute for special tool 18G1127, for removing the 3rd motion shaft, while the cardboard tube just happened to be the right size to keep the synchro balls and springs in their place.


Good progress is being made with stripping the old paint:



But where has the time gone?

Coming on!  But not, unfortunately, in time for Gaydon which was the first target date.

Looking good! 

Well, we're back on the road at last.





I'm afraid it's fair-weather Scamping only for the time being though, a bit of surgery is needed before the doors can be fitted.  Otherwise I would have joined the Cotswold tour today.

Well done Bob. What an improvement! - although I miss the Rum Tum Tugger picture. Will it be replaced?

Probably. But not just yet - it's an indoor job, and outdoor jobs have priority at this time of year.

It's looking good Bob. Looking forward to seeing it at the picnic in a few weeks :-)

At last, the rebuilt engine is in! It's been so long since I last did this job, I'd pretty well forgotten how it goes (as the bishop...). Should have taken four and a half hours, instead it was more like a week and a half, due also to weather, disorganisation, and forgetting where I'd put things.

The good news was that the insurance people didn't increase the premium, although the new engine is a bit bigger (1100) and a bit improved (Piper 255 cam). The bad news is that I don't fancy a 100-mile shakedown run with an un-run-in engine and no breakdown cover, so sadly, no Picnic this year.

Rum Tum will be missed!

Unfortunately, until I can get the driver's door to fit (which will damage the nice new paint job) I'm dependent on decent weather.
Let's hope it stays fine for Stanford.

It will be nice to see you there Bob :-)