Deadline missed, disappointment rampant...

Despite a valiant effort, the 109 did not attend the All British Field Meet in Bellevue, WA on Saturday, July 24, 2010. Perhaps if the final reassembly work had started a little earlier, we would have driven her there Saturday morning...

T minus 1 day

Here are some shots from Friday, July 23rd. Remember, that the goal is to drive the 109 to the All British Field Meet tomorrow and, if we are REALLY lucky, drive it to the cocktail party this evening at Park Place Motors.

Lower Dash installed and wiring for the gauges/ignition begins


After 9 months, the roof is back on!

Inside (ignore the Range Rover County seats, our rear tub serves as storage from time to time):

Our yellow top Optima disappeared somewhere in the shop over the last 9 months, so we settled for a replacement

Exhaust installed. We reused what we could of the original but had to replace the muffler and the tail pipe.

Installed new Defender style door seals on both middle doors and began installing seals on the front doors

Installed a valve to shut off hot water to the heater matrix--a luxury we did not have before this project.

Getting soooo close!

T minus 2 days

The linkage for the parking brake had to be reworked as a result of moving the transmission and transfer case.



Foam applied to the kick panel that forms the back of the seatbox.



Seatbox installed permanently! You can also see that both middle doors have been installed as well.


Low range lever installed through custom built tunnel cover

Upper dash and wiper motor/drive assembly installed:

Windsheild and vents installed. Can also see that the heater matrix and blower are in place.


Work continued until midnight Thursday...

T minus 3 days

Here are some shots from the work that was done yesterday.

MORE FOAM! It looks terrible, but if it the result is a less noisy ride, I say its worth it! This is the middle floor.

And even more sound deadening material. This is Dexdamp (from Hamilton Jet) applied to the bulkhead. Right hand side still to be done, and probably some of the interior as well.

Since the drivetrain was moved a few inches back to accomodate the R380, the transmission tunnel is now very short. So, the transfer case had to be modified a bit.

Like them or not, we've got some big ol' side steps and to make sure the chassis was not crushed when they are bolted on, Gord'n welded in galvanized tubing and then dressed all the weld points with "Galv Ez" (?) to prevent rust.

Packing up for reassembly!

Mini full of Exmoor seats



Roof rack remounted after languishing 9 months by the side of our house:

And the Toyota gets all the rest...

Roof

As long as the roof is off, why not compound out 33 years of crud?

Reassembly Has Begun!

New custom tunnel for the 5 speed.


Test fitting the side steps


Repaired, galvanized bulkhead with new galvanized T posts


Custom radiator in modified, galvanized core support

RHD galvanized front crossmember

Finally, the time has come! The goal is to drive the 109 to the reception on Friday evening for the All British Field Meet the next day. That means, it has to be done no later than 4pm Friday!

More posts to come this week--stay tuned!