Welcome to the Austin Seven Friends web site and forum
As announced earlier, this forum with it's respective web address will go offline within the next days!
Please follow the link to our new forum
http://www.austinsevenfriends.co.uk/forum
and make sure, you readjust your link button to the new address!
I've started bashing metal to make a couple of structural members for my car so that I have somewhere to hang the steering column off of. I routered out this shape in a block of hardwood, got some 1.5mm 1050 grade ali, cut it about 1cm larger in all directions, annealed it, bashed the edges over, shrank the corners to 90 degrees and then bashed the little reinforcing 'domes' to help keep it from warping under load. One down , three to go, unless I decide to modify the shape. Next I'll need to extend the bottom legs to suit the dashboard height and then make sections to go between these bits shown above.
Probably not the simplest way to do it and no doubt it won't be a patch on a 'proper' one (Roach/Jansen/Yates etc) but it will give me an introduction to methods of design.
Bloody good fun!
Location: Just west of Cardiff
Rob a brilliant bit of metal bashing. Will you be ally welding into position? 
Location: Piddle valley, Dorchester.
I've started again, with some assistance (hindrance?) from the kids. The new rear springs, acquired via John Williams in Porthcawl, have worked well and the car now sits about 6 inches lower at the rear than it did on the old set. Ideally I'd like to lose 2 inches from the front to get it level without needing to worry about a 'dropped' front axle beam.
I'm making it a semi-monocoque structure on top of a plywood floor so as to allow a bit of flexing without cracking the ali.
There are a couple of questions that I'd like to ask. Firstly, how much does the rear axle shift sideways, if at all? I've allowed 1.5 inches between the inside face of the rear tyre and the outside of the skin of the inner wheelarch (not shown in the photo). Secondly, do the Ruby fuel tank and chassis extensions need to be left floating or should they be tied in to the body? Is it necessary to keep the ends of the fuel tank from any flexing or is that a natural effect of the floppy chassis? Has anyone heard of a tank being damaged by being left to do its' own thing?
Many thanks
Rob, near Cardiff.
Thanks gain, Ian.
I\'ll give it a try. If it doesn\'t work then I know where to come for the necessary bits.
Meanwhile, the bulkhead sides are finished and the firewall skinned. I still need to work out a profile for the in-fill between the side pieces and that will affect the shape of the dashboard since it will need to be the same shape as the first bulkhead at the top. I'm tempted to ditch the idea of solid sides (Ulsteroid style)and to fit doors to it now that I'm likely to have to go into hospital soon for some spinal surgery. If I make the dashboard bulkhead soild enough I should be able to hang doors from it rather than hinging them at the back.
Does anyone have some 'inspirational' photos of door hinge mechanisms that I could look at? I'm assuming that the hinge is best if it protrudes out from the bodywork and the pillar is reinforced with wood?
PS. Thanks for the footwell measurements, John. That template worked out very well!
So, I've made some side pieces and intend to put a couple of 1.5 inch square posts on the outside of the rear edge to act as hinge pillars and to give something for the ends of the dashboard to sit upon. Should it be Ash or would Oak do the job?
The hardest job will be skinning the outside of this lot, especially at the rear where 1/2 of the tyre will be inside the body, necessitating some crafty fabrication like the back of an MG PA body. I have managed to make the footwell just big enough so that I can get the throttle pedal alongside the brake without my size 11 shoes touching both at the same time. Might also be worth putting a small bulge in the side of that footwell, just in case.
John. Thanks for the offer but I think I'm sorted. I've salvaged a flat front spring that only had 3 leaves and added the extra ones from the existing set. It now sits nicely with 3 inches of 'drop' available and it looks right (which is what it needed) after I lathed up some new bushes in the spring eyes. The hardest part was getting the centre bolt right through the stack of leaves!
Thankyou Derek. I'm at hfh200@Hotmail.co.uk. I assume that the original sits on the front of the bulkhead and pivots from the top?
I found a Morris 100 throttle pedal and decided to see if I could use it. The lever on the carb ran the wrong way but with a bit of lathe work I made it work correctly. It runs on 12 volts at the moment but I've found boxes containing 12 and 6 volt regulators etc and will need to decide which way to go. Probably best to start with 6, so long as I can work out the wiring. Which regulator usually goes on an ARQ? I have CF1s all the way through to RF95s. I Googled for photos of the wiring into the back of the switch and regulator. This bit will need some more thinking so that I don't screw it up!
It took a bit of effort to form the top of the engine bay bulkhead and it has given me more back ache but I think it is almost finished apart from skinning the outside of the front half of the car, a job to save for last. When I shortened the exhaust manifold I took the chance to run the exhaust pipework inside the floor area and through a small formed hole below the door hinge area. Next week I should be in a position to ali weld the top piece of the bulkhead to the sides and then get out the Scotchbrite and the polish.
So, hopefully it works.
The body was made up from 4 sheets of aluminium 2x1m. (1,2mm) The sides are sandwiched two sheets with square ali-profiles, very rigid! The floor and bulkhead were a 3mm thick aluminium sheet. The split between rear and front is deliberate, to prevent it from cracking.
It's actually glued down with a "space glue" into quite hack sawed pieces of thick hardbord-plywood profiles. No visible wood profiles nor rivets except in the engine bay.
Entire body weighs less than 20kg.
Dashboard is a 1/2 inch solid walnut board.
The paint is cellulose 12 layer with wet sanding between.
Your body is so very much more tidy than mine in details, when I see it I regret not being "smarter". If you have any thoughts about details, please let me know and I can email better detailed pics.
Here you can see the spindle and rod for the carb.
Thanks Henrik.
The throttle pedal looks easier to work out for the left hand drive cars but the clutch pedal looks weird!
Yesterday I bought some Ash wood to make the sides and the pillar for hanging the door from. It is bolted to the metal rails along the side and will also hold the dashboard in place. I might try to make a aluminium dash and then make those nice swirl patterns (Machine turned???).
Thanks, Henrik. I've got a supply of Ash now, so I should be alright.
Top of the dashboard cut, folded, wired and drilled. Lots of opportunities to screw it up but it seems to have worked. Only major problem is that somehow it has grown by 1/4 inch on one side. How???? Oh well. It will have to do. Not sure if I should use solid 1/8 inch rivets or pops but those Cleco clips are working well enough for now.
I was thinking about the doors and fortunately some handy photos have just been posted on another thread. They don't look tooooo complicated (in theory only!) although mine will need to taper from front to back. Some more Ash will be needed. Hinges are also a problem so I might need to buy some brass sheet to form some.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received. I only have 3 weeks left to go before it needs to be finished.
Ta
Rob
Thanks Geoff.
Yes, sadly, it is going to be necessary since the 3 broken vertebrae are slowly drifting apart like some sort of 'Continental Drift'. I've also lost the feeling in my right foot which is a no-go as an airline pilot. No Op...no job. The MRI scan shows everything nicely and you can see the rear half of one vertebra clearly separated and the associated discs bulging and impinging on the nerves to my leg.
I've got a Singer sewing machine as well! I haven't used it for maybe a year (Sewing a new bag for my Lee Enfield) but it will be out soon to make a tidy liner for my glovebox. I fitted a dashboard blank with a cubby hole that has been covered with Royal Blue vinyl just to give me something to inspire. I 'wired' the edge of the dash yesterday which was something I could do whilst sitting down to rest my back. The previous day had given me awful aches. Knackered at age 44! 
First run along the garden and up the driveway. First wheelspin, too!
The side covers are riveted at the front and welded where they fold through maybe 10 degrees to follow the shape of the car. I haven't worked out how to make the rear arches yet. Any suggestions?
Rather than having a boring end to the exhaust pipe I hammered a recess, cut a hole and ran the pipework back outside the body tub. Looks better.
Love the exhaust exit. How long has the whole build taken so far?
Here's my special, it's not a nice as yours Rob but It's not bad for my first attempt.
Location: Suffolk, just
If I were to sit on the passenger side then the rear edge of the bonnet at the lower end will move away from the scuttle by about 8mm and obviously will scratch the rad cowl by the same amount. The same will no doubt happen if the car went over a bump so I'm stuffed at the moment
What is the situation with the normal car or with Ulster replicas? Any photos or personal experiences???
Thanks
'Desperate' of South Glamorgan.
Thanks for the timely replies, Colin and Dave. I'm not great at internet etiquette so wasn't sure if I was posting too much or if these pictures end up getting in the way of something. Having them on Photobucket is alright, isn't it?
As for the body, I was advised to keep the tub from taking big loads by having it suspended from the chassis in a manner that would allow it to remain rigid whilst the chassis flexed. Was that wrong? (Gulp!) I can't imagine a standard early car is much more rigid so it might just be down to cutting the bonnet gaps that bit more wide and maybe employing that good idea about keeping the side panels 'loose', Dave.
What do these rubber bits look like? I've never owned a 7 before and have only every had a single ride in one so my entire knowledge of them is from books and Google.
Rob, I am having trouble with both Photobucket and Captcha,hence half a photo!If you click on the image,you can see the bonnet side panel has a chromed screw with a 20mm dia steel washer brazed onto it. Behind the washer is a rubber washer 20mm dia which is trapped between steel washer and bonnet side panel through a slotted hole in the side panel.The screw/steel washer/rubber washer is screwed to the bulkhead using a steel nut welded to another steel washer which is then riveted to the bulkhead.It would be easier to understand if you looked through my Photobucket library where you can see a side elevation of the car and somewhere in the library is a view with the bonnet side removed and the steel nut/washer riveted to the bulkhead.
Dave.
Location: Sheffield, the home of Hendersons Relish.
Hmmmm. Last night I re-read the little green book, especially the bit about building 'Simplicity. Tying up with the notes above I wonder if I might be well served by slackening the rad shell from the chassis nose-piece and instead tying it to the scuttle area. The whole body tub is very, very rigid but is slightly separated from the chassis rails by having all the body/floor and floor/chassis bolts spaced apart to allow the ply a small amount of flex. The rad shell, by comparison, is bolted to a 12-inch steel angle that is also bolted to the nose piece. 'Simplicity' is said to have the rad shell loosely fitted to the nose piece by a simple rubber 'washer' and then tied to the top of the scuttle area, thus allowing the rad shell to move in harmony with the body instead of with the chassis (as also mentioned above). There is much logic in there!
On the standard pre-Ruby, how is the rad shell fixed to the chassis? Is it tied solidly to the nose piece casting or does it hang from the body somehow?
Below is a pic that shows the angle iron that ties the rad shell SOLIDLY to the nose piece. Bin it in favour of something more squidgy???
