1929 RK saloon.
1).Looking at Mills "Original" book it looks as if the late 20/early 30's cars had bonnet seals that were rubber, not canvas. My car has (very good repro) rubber seals that had once been glued in place - no more! Mr M's illustrations show both the original seals held in by wire laced through the holes!
The bulkhead makes sense to lace up (hole dia. about 0.070") but the radiator shell's holes are a very neat 0.125", which would be good for a 1/8" bifurcated rivet! Any ideas? What wire should be used? Or are they wire spring clips? Sadly the parts list is not enlightening.

2).All my wiring is taped up , mostly in pairs and all black! I think much of the wiring would have been in an "armoured" outer sleeve. Any help with what o/d and i/d this should be? and how much is needed? And indeed where it goes
3). Final question (for now!)
My radiator shell bottom supports(curved)have a couple of solid rivets at their upper end, a nut & bolt at where they meet the flitch (?) plate (vertical plate that the bonnet side fits against), and then 2 or 3 holes, that have no nuts & bolts, where the support curves under the radiator and meets the rest of the structure. I imagine these holes should have fasteners in them to add rigidity, they are not for cooling! These were possibly not fitted by previous owner(s) as they don't line up too well and could be a pig to fit!

Apologies if these are wheel reinventing questions, but the forum history does depend on using the original user's terminology.
David

Location: Stratford upon Avon

David - Admittedly most of the Sevens I've worked on had Australian bodies, but the scuttles were ex Longbridge. I'm not at home right now and will check for you, but I think there will be holes about 2" apart around the periphery. Wire, which I would call piano wire (very strong, like spring-wire) was threaded through the stepped rubber and bent in a hairpin either end underneath the firewall lip (and radiator shell lip).
My memory's not the best these days, but I think the armoured cable had been discontinued by the days of the RK? Will check that also.
I also have the measurements of shell-supporting brackets I've made over the years (the steel rusts easily, but the brass shell doesn't!). Hopefully I can quickly dig these details out for you. Cheers, Bill

Location: Euroa, Victoria, Australia

David - me again.I hope the following is easier for you to understand than it is for me to explain! The steel channels are handed and one end of each is flattened out, not curved to fit the contours of the shell . To make matters worse, the two original brackets I dug out are slightly different, but here goes: Because we have a right and a left hand bracket, I'll just detail one and you can reverse for the other side, plus refer to your own brackets. Starting from the flattened end,
there's a 1/8"rivet hole, centre line 1/4"from end & 3/8"from RH lip
then a 1/8"rivet hole, " " 1" " "" " 1/4" " "
" " 1/4"round " " " 3 3/16" " " " 1/2"from LH lip
(other brkt 1/8"rivet hole, " " 3 3/8" " " central
then 1/4"w slotted hole,starting 4 7/8" from end, (one 5/8"long
other 1"long, , both central, 5/8"from both lips)
then a 1/4"round hole, c/line 8"from end, 3/8"from RH lip
then a 1/4"round hole " 10" " " , central
finally a 1/8"rivet hole " 10 3/4" " ", 3/8"from RH lip
the "different"one also had an extra 1/8"rivet hole offset below
this, but I doubt original).
Re the firewall/shell-lip holes: Yes 2"apart, although on a Speedy shell there was one odd gap of 3"on one side of top only. Hope you understand the wire goes through the stepped rubber and secures underneath the firewall/shell lips.
Re the cable, will have to spend time looking up literature, so hopefully someone comes forward with the correct info before then for you.
Good Luck, Cheers, Bill

Location: Euroa, Australia

Bill
Many thanks for your research & measuring efforts! It is colder in my garage than yours, so I will have to make an expedition to check! Do you think the holes were for rivets or bolts?
The piano wire type "clips" are I imagine fitted into a pair of holes, not a continuous thread . No wonder PO glued them in place, a bit of a pia to make them up! I will think about it!
The armoured flexible covering is as shown in the "original" book photos of an apparently unmolested car, so I will look for that once I know the diameter....as it appears to go into the headlamps on the photos, that will give me an idea of o/d size, but as you say, someone will know!
Thanks again
David

Location: Stratford upon Avon

When I did the Ulster, I got some stiff wire from the garden centre. I cut off a length that was 1" longer than the distance between the holes and bent the last 1/2" of each end at right angles, so effectively I made a big staple. Once the rubber was in place I used the wire staple to push though it and then bent the ends over to fix it in place. Simpler to do than describe!
The lower ends of the rubber seal need to be finished either with a steel clip similar to that used for the wiring, or a small BA screw with a washer under the head.

Thanks for the tip! Sounds easier than trying to make piano or S/S clips from wire!
Simple is usually best.
My car has the ends well located, so that is something!
David

Location: Stratford upon Avon

Location: North Yorkshire

I use welding rods/wire to do this job - they also make great choke rods for early cars :)

Hi all - I should add that I also used welding wire (and for the choke)every time - I was just telling David what was original.
DAVID - I should have added that the slotted hole was vertical, not horiz'l. The 1/8" holes were definitely for rivets, the larger holes for bolts which should line up with both your shell and the cow horns, assuming you only have new flitch plates. Good Luck, Cheers, Bill

Location: Euroa, Australia

Got that Bill, we are talking about the same bracket. The vertical slot doesn't really match up well with any other holes, so a little "adjustment" will be in order! I will bolt up the other ,currently unused holes, in due course...should tighten up the front a bit!
My rivets are all good!!
David

Location: Stratford upon Avon