Flares.....

[Darren65]

I've been incredibly lucky with this build regarding the acquiring of original parts......fat grip steering wheel, 110L fuel tank, prototype Whale Tail etc.....and I've not really been looking!

No sooner had I started to think about seats when these beauties passed my way....



.....genuine 1974 Lollipops first fitted to a RS lightweight back in 74, removed in circa 2005 when the car was sold and returned to original specification at which point they were purchased by a friend who used them for competition in his ST for a few years and then put in storage waiting for me! ......

....I've not decided if I'll fit both or just the driver with an RS passenger.....regarding seat rails I'd appreciate some feedback on original fitment.....

....what would have been original fixings and are these rails original?






Cheers,

[JBQuick]

Love these Lollies wrinkles and all !

[OliveR]

Nice ones, I hope they're not too tight

[Darren65]

Nice ones, I hope they're not too tight

Cheers guys .......I'm a small guy Oliver and these German seats fit just right......I think I'd flop around in the American supersize versions!

[Darren65]

Back to metal......

....with the rear turrets and torque tube mods completed it was time to put back in the seat pan (note the bulges......







....just the removal of the various trim brackets to complete in this area...

[Darren65]

....and with the pan back in the roll bar could be fitted......previously I'd obtained one of these through Barrie Martin although I don't think he's producing these anymore, fortunately my good friend Marek Lappock also makes a perfect recreation in the correct 40mm tubing.....

....I think this one may have been intended for a narrow body car .....





....brackets welded in place....



....and with a little tweaking it was a perfect fit....





....

[Darren65]

...front brace supplied by Ben Coles....





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[Darren65]

....then Barry worked his way around the car finishing off various items before the car goes on the rotisserie.....

.....a glaringly obvious post 1974 hole under the hood was corrected....





....whilst on the other side we did something different to the holes used for the fuel tank....most 3.0RS's would have started life with a regular fuel tank and wing flap filling although we're going with a 110L plastic tank and underhood filling making these holes redundant, on the Mongrel we simply cut a couple of plates and used a threaded bar through the middle to secure them although this time around we decided to tack a couple of plates in place which I think looks pretty cool....





.....

[Darren65]

....and then finally onto something I've wanted to see gone for ages......the sunroof!

Filling in a sunroof is not as straightforward as you might think......





......I'll let Barry explain....

....The reason for bonding the board across the roof is that as soon as the internal structure is removed and the skin trimmed back, the roof loses all of its rigidity. It then moves all over the place and as you weld the new panel you end up chasing gaps round and round as the unstable roof and the unstable blank panel fight each other. You’re dealing with a hand-wheeled panel, hot welds and floppy metal. They don’t like it very much so the trick is to get the whole thing locked off and stable wherever you can and be very careful during the whole operation.

The net result is although you spend a long time on the early stages, you’re not chasing your tail trying to correct huge errors that would be a nightmare to sort (and fill) later. Slow and controlled with tiny steps is the key.....





....I'd provided Barry with a hardboard template I'd taken from my original non-sunroof 73E.....



[

.....although dare say his own steel profiles are a tad more accurate!....





....and a beautifully finished job by Barry as ever .....






Cheers,

[Jens]

Very, very nice work, Darren. Thanks for the ride-along with your process. Good to see things done right.