SR2’s 1947 Vauxhall “Rigamortice” Build Thread

[sr2]

Time to pull the front seat out of storage and see how much clearance I have for the gear leaver.

Assembled a very rusty collection of old mounts and fixing bolts.

 

 

 

I didn’t have the energy to do my usual electrolysis with so many fiddly bits so being a CRC fan I thought I’d try their CRC Evapo-Rust

 

 

 

The result was impressive after a quick wire buff.

 

 

 

Threw some paint on.

 

 

 

Picked up the seat from storage and bolted it down, quite a dangerous exercise compressing one hell of a big spring without losing any digits - I must be getting soft!

 

Ended up using an old screw jack to force the mounts apart to stretch the spring and cut out a piece of wood to keep all in place.

 

 

 

 

 

How could you not fall in love with the 76 year old leather?

 

 

 

 

Looks like the gearshift position is a little too far back……..

 

 

 

 

….and the steering wheel needs to be closer to the dash. (luckily I'm good at fixing shit).

 

 

 

 

A young non-binary hairy arm-pitted horse riding relative (aren’t they all?) suggested Neatsfoot oil for the leather so I ordered a big bottle.

 

 

 

 

I warmed it up a little and started painting it on.

 

 

 

 

Made a huge difference to how soft and supple it felt….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like I have to add some seat repairs to the to do list…

 

 

 

 

……some burst seams…..

 

 

 

 

….a few tears….

 

 

 

 

….and a worn edge on the driver’s side….

 

 

 

I obviously want to keep the old, shabby patina but need to stop it getting any worse.
Any suggestions, unsolicited advice, sarcasm, highly suggestive innuendos, etc., gratefully received.

 

https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49843-sr2%E2%80%99s-1947-vauxhall-%E2%80%9Crigamortice%E2%80%9D-discussion-thread/

 

 

[sr2]

Time to sort out the gear lever position, it’s too close to the seat and needs to move forward.

 

 

 

The W50 Toyota box was used in a number of different Toyotas with gearlevers in 3 different positions - with the front-mount position closest to the front of the car as rare as rocking horse do do’s.

I lucked out completely and found the right shifter housing on Trademe. (Sometimes you just get lucky).

 

 

 

Out of the car it’s easy to spot the difference….time for a celebratory brew.

 

 

 

Lined it up in the car…..and it’s going to work.

 

 

The elephant in the room became sourcing a suitable selector slider to suit the new gearlever position.

 

 

 

After ringing what felt like every bloody so called “specialist” gearbox shop in Googles NZ playlist all I got was a pile of contradictory information and/or the “not interested” brush off.

Not mentioning any names but I even got told by a company that claims to be the NZ expert on Toyota 5 speed conversions that they probably had the part I wanted but it would “take too long to find it”

 (Face-palm!)

 

 

 

Finally swallowed my Kiwi pride and contacted Dellow Conversions across the ditch in NSW. (Yes I bloody know………).

The part arrived in 4 days complete with 2 optional rubber boots. Great bunch of guys to deal with, great value for money, and their level of customer service put the NZ opposition to shame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, finally, got the parts I need.

 

 

 

Wild Turkey time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

Soooo……….

 The theory is that if you unbolt the rear housing and slide it back you will have enough room to slide the old selector slider off the selector shaft and slide the new one on.

After a little bit of measuring I decided this all could be done with the gearbox still in the car.

What could possibly go wrong?

First step, unbolt the cover.

 

 

 

Remove the spring loaded plungers and the roll pin that holds the slider in place.

 

 

Unbolt the rear housing. (Luv my new  Milwaukee 3/8 ratchet).

 

 

 

Remove the driveshaft & rear mount and support the gearbox with the trolley jack.

(You’ll note Rigamortice as usual pissing oil on the man-cave floor).

 

 

 

The rear housing separated with the application of the minimum brute force and ignorance.

 

 

 

The old slider slipped out easily…

 

 

 

And the new one slid in with no drama….

 

 

 

Bugger.

At this stage I realised that the paper gasket between the two housings was toast and the engine and gearbox had to come out of the car to replace it.

 

 

 

What can I say?

 

Nasty horrible, obscene words were spoken.

Tools were hurled around the esteemed sr2 man-cave while Rigamortice was lambasted with abusive & misogynistic insults!

 

 

[sr2]

The following day I awoke filled with remorse and contriteness for my display of non-woke, non-PC vitriol the previous evening. (I.e. spitting the dummy).

So for the umpteenth time it was radiator & front shell, off…

 

 

 

Inlet and exhaust off…

 

 

And engine & box out……..

(I enlisted the help of our professional racing driver - he lives next door to his “Gramps”).

 

 

(He also helped out with some creative steering wheel mods…………).

 

 

 

With the rear gearbox housing off it was a good chance to check 5^th gear - all looked ok.

 

 

 

 

 

Cut out a new gasket….

 

 

Re-assembled with the new parts…..

 

 

 

Poked it all back in the hole it came out of and it looks like the gear lever is finally in the right place.

 

 

 

Decided I didn’t want to use the Toyota gear lever so I cut the bottom off it…..

 

 

 

I then cut the bottom off the 70 year old original lever……

 

 

 

And did a bit of welding, bending and painting.

 

Although it took far too much of my spare time the gear lever is finally where I want it - I love the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

Time to get my butt into gear and finish the gearbox cover.

I settled on using the MGB gear lever boot, it looks cool, English, and old-school.

 

 

 

Made the call that the safest way to modify the "trans", (sorry, “non binary”) cover is to not remove any of the original metal until the new steel is welded in.

I cut out a piece of plywood to act as a temporary spacer to give me clearance for the boot.

 

 

 

I cut out a piece of 18 gauge Zintex  with a hole in it to fit the boot.

 

 

 

Bent it around an old piece of galv. water pipe…..

 

 

 

….and tacked it in place, lining it up with the plywood spacer.

 

 

 

Clamped it all to a thick piece of ply and marked the outline to act at a reference point to keep things straight.

 

 

 

With no sheet metal roller I decided to fabricate the curved corners I needed by slicing up some EWS tube.

 

 

 

Tacked the corners on……..

 

 

And added some sheet metal.

 

 

I did the same to the other side, followed by a quick check for clearance in the car………

 

 

 

With everything still straight and fitting well I clamped it back onto the ply in the pre-marked position.

 

 

 

Time for “a cleansing ale”.

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

I managed to cut some fancy angles on the band saw without losing any fingers…

 

 

 

Tacked the ‘fancy angle’ bits in place….

 

 

 

And plated the top.

 I often use damp rags to keep the heat under control, harking back to my days of welding sheet metal with gas.

 

 

 

Have to say making all these little tack welds and grinding afterwards doesn’t sit well with me (I like big, grunty welds) but it does keep the distortion under control, it’s just not very elegant.  Maybe I need a Tig?

 

 

 

 

Tacked more metal on the sides…

 

 

 

 

Gave it a tickle with the gas…..

 

 

 

 

And started stitching it all up.

 

 

 

With everything welded up and still nice and straight it’s time to cut the unused steel out.

Before…

 

 

 

After……

I left the ribs in there for extra strength, looks a bit clunky but only you guys will see it.

 

 

 

 

Lots of grinding on the floor, on my knees.

(No comments about Mecca being in the other bloody direction please!).

 

 

 

Out with the old standby - CRC rust converter…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A quick test fit before paint…

 

 

 

 

Regrettably, and much to Rigamortice’s disgust I stooped to using poo for the first time in this build.

Just a little bit of Newtech to smooth things out (I didn’t want to grind the welds down too far).

 

 

 

 

Some primer and two coats of ‘insipid green’……..

 

 

 

And it still fits….(phew)……!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

As I mentioned earlier the steering wheel needed to come closer to the dash.

Originally the J14 Vauxhall had a solid steel steering shaft that went from the steering wheel to the steering box; essentially you were driving around with a steel lance that went from right up the front of the car to 6 inches away from your chest. The mind boggles at the thought of having an accident in such a setup with no collapsible column, no seatbelts and no crush zones!

 

 

 

 

With the narrowed Austin steering rack mounted behind the HR Holden cross member Rigamortice’s steering column needs two universal joints to get past the engine. This addition of an intermediate shaft at an angle to the main steering column gives some collapsibility in an accident. Combined with seatbelts it’s a big improvement on 1947 safety standards.

I’m never going to make Rigamortice as safe as a modern car but I’m still keen on staying alive for as long as possible and am looking forward to living long enough to become an obnoxious, cantankerous & grumpy, dirty old man!

Luckily most of the old English mass produced cars used the same splines in their steering systems so it’s easy to mix and match. I managed to source a shorter Triumph steering shaft and I shortened an original tube to fit to give me the desired length.

Original and shortened Triumph 2000 steering columns……..

 

 

 

 

Only problem was this ugly gap between column and steering wheel…

 

 

 

 

Being a tight bastard (short arms & deep pockets) I started with a scrap piece of galv. water pipe.

 

 

 

 

 

Stuck it in the lathe and poked a boring bar down it……..

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaned up the outside….

 

 

 

 

 

And ended up with this….

 

 

 

 

Checked that it was still a good interference fit…..

 

 

 

 

Three coats of black epoxy enamel and it’s a good result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

Thought it was about time I did something to Rigamortice’s outside for a change so I pulled the front guards out of the shed and started cleaning…….and cleaning………

 

 

 

 

After a lot of elbow grease I managed to remove god knows how many years of accumulated road muck and they didn’t come up too bad.

 

 

 

 

 

I had to do a little cutting and welding on the inner fenders to clear the front end………

 

 

 

Managed to source some Septone underseal (from Supercheap - believe it or not) and slapped on a couple of coats

 

 

 

Painted the inner guards……..

 

 

 

And spent an evening aligning all the panels and bolting the front guards on.

 

 

 

Have to say I still love the 70’s Cheviot mags, glad I made the call not to refurbish and to keep them ‘oh naturale”.

 

 

 

One more full-frontal auto porn pic!

 

 

[sr2]

Time to pull the front bumper out of the shed…

 

 

 

I’m not that keen on where the number plate was mounted, I think it’ll end up in the middle under the bumper.

 

 

Stripped it all down….

 

 

 

It’s mounted on bumper irons made out of spring steel, looks like the port side was in the wars at some stage…..

 

 

 

Spent an evening cleaning parts up on the wire buff…

 

 

 

Love the old bolts and countersunk star washers…..

 

 

 

 

Once again everywhere you look in the world acclaimed (in Milford) Sr2 Man cave there painted car parts hung out to dry…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to score some new bumper rubbers from Basis, what a great source of old style rubber trims and fittings they’ve recently moved from Christchurch to Auckland.

 

 

 

Our professional racing driver sneaked out after bedtime in his racing car jarmys and new gumboots to give “Gramps” a hand - you’ve got start them off young.

 

 

 

Looks like’s he parked up his tools, Police helicopter, crash helmet, life jacket and a couple of trucks where the back seat needs to go!

 

 

 

Made up some brackets using the cut, bend and weld method my Dad taught me when I was a kid.

 

 

 

 

 

Front number plate now mounted nice and low in the middle.

 

 

[sr2]

Rigamortice and I are recovering in isolation after a recent bout of retail therapy.

Decided the ‘world famous’ sr2 man-cave sound system needed a retro upgrade.

 

 

 

Found a cool old 12 channel desk.

 

 

 

 

And a vintage NZ made Jensen 300T power amp.

 

 

 

We ditched the Wharfdale PA cabs in favor of column speakers but kept the powered sub....

 

 

 

Bought a set of gauges on line, I’ll just have to find a place to keep them hidden from view but still be available when I need them.

 

 

 

Found some cool new old stock push/pull switches……

 

 

 

…and another pair with a big “F” on them…..(don’t tempt me!).

 

 

 

This should do for a horn button….

 

 

 

Rather than running a fuseable link on the main power supply I settled on a big, grunty marine circuit breaker.

 

 

 

I found a 12 circuit ‘hotrod wiring kit’ for a too good to be true price on line, (yes I bloody know…..). Have to say I was a little disappointed when I discovered that it was wired incorrectly and the instructions were written in a form of “Engrish” that neither Rigamortice nor I could comprehend!

The wire and hardware will be handy however.

 

 

 

I’m a little wary of running modern amperage through 70 year old switches so I found a box full of relays and fuses that should make things a little safer.

 

 

 

 

 

Best score of all was this collection of leftovers from a big wiring job. More than enough to wire the old girl up.

 

 

 

Time to make a start on the wiring, I don’t think the original diagram will be much help but it sure is cool.

 

 

 

I’ve been working on drawing up a circuit diagram (pronounced ‘circulating diaphragm’ after a few Wild Turkeys) for a while. Plan is to have a box of relays to minimise the current through the 70 year old switches while having both control and supply circuits individually fused, possibly a bit overkill but as I always say “it’s always harder to put the smoke back into the wires”!

After a number of late nights and a considerable over consumption of Wild Turkey this is hopefully the final version. If anyone from the Oldschool Brains Trust can spot any mistakes or suggest any improvements please let me know.

https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49843-sr2%E2%80%99s-1947-vauxhall-%E2%80%9Crigamortice%E2%80%9D-discussion-thread/

 

 

 

[sr2]

I decided to mount the fuse/relay boxes inside the car against the firewall on the passenger’s side. Made up the usual CAD template……

 

 

….and cut out a piece of zintex.

 

I drew up a schematic diagram, (I’m trying to document everything before the “al-simon’s disease” kicks in).

 

 

Bent up and tacked on some brackets to mount the hardware….

 

 

 

….love those riv-nuts.

 

 

Cut the middle out…….

 

 

 

 

…….and checked everything for fit.

 

 

 

Primer applied and hung out to dry.

 

 

 

Next step was to make a plywood jig to hold everything and give me access to pre-wire. Plan is to make up the loom and most importantly test all wiring and switch gear before fitting to the car.

 

 

 

Time to fire up the soldering iron…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

One thing I learnt about wiring years ago is that it always takes a lot longer than you’d think and most importantly liquid self-medication ensures a steady hand on the soldering iron.

 

 

 

Started working my way through the circuit diagram making sure I was using the correct length and gauge wire while labelling everything.

 

 

 

Making great use of my $15 EBay wire holder when soldering, it’s rubbish quality but works surprisingly well.

 

 

 

I’m not a fan of crimping so everything is soldered and covered with glue lined heat shrink.

 

 

 

 

 

Next step was to power it all up and test with my trusty old Universal Avometer Model 7 Mk2 multi-meter…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy as it sounds the Avometer still works as well as the day it was made (it’s even older than me!) but to be honest my go to tool for car electronics has to be my new Multi-Function Auto Tester, they do everything including powering relays - I can’t recommend them highly enough.

 

 

 

Removed a mess of wires, fuses & relays from the wooden jig………

 

 

 

 

 

…and mounted it on the freshly painted fuse/relay chassis.

 

[sr2]

I managed to source some old style fabric tape and began wrapping the loom.

 

 

 

The main earth supply will be bolted to the earth strap bolt as it protrudes through the fire wall under the dash. (I’m running separate earths to the big current draining components.

 

 

One more testing session and it’s all ready to fit to the car….

 

 

 

 

 

Looks messy at this stage……

 

 

 

….but it fits where it’s intended.

 

 

 

Hard to get a good photo of it sitting on the firewall on the passengers side. (I’ve got covers for the main components).

 

 

 

[sr2]

I’m at the stage where I need to make a call on the windscreen wiper setup as there is limited room under the dash and the wiring loom needs to clear the moving parts..

The original pre-war system was driven by a Bowden cable that believe it or not was in turn driven from the camshaft. If you think the old vacuum wipers were crazy, matching engine rpm to wiper speed added a whole new dimension to driving in the rain!

 

 

 

It had a cool little AC Delco gearbox with a clutch.

 

 

 

 

 

I toyed briefly with the idea of powering up the Bowden cable with a small electric motor but due to the overall condition of the system I made the call to start from scratch.

 

 

 

I’d done an electric conversion in the early 80’s but it was pretty rough (to say the least) and the “Lucas prince of darkness” wiper motor was locked up solid.

 

 

 

I found a Nissan rear window wiper motor that was small and compact…….

 

Old vs new…….

 

 

I modified the output arm to take an 8mm rose joint.

 

\

 

 

 

 

And once again fired up the CAD…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some bending and welding…..

 

 

 

….and it tucks under the dash well out of the way of the instrument cluster.

 

 

 

The alloy wiper pivots were badly corroded…….

 

 

So I made up some new ones

 

 

 

 

 

Some more “insipid green” paint……….

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of mucking around to get the ratio’s right………

 

 

 

One last assembly on the bench…….

 

 

 

And it all tucks away, out of sight behind the dash.

Not only does it work it even has two speeds! (I’ll just have to hide the switch somewhere).

 

 

 

[sr2]

I was bench testing Rigamortice’s flash new wiring loom while admiring the cool ignition/headlight switch…..

 

 

 

….everything was looking good when the entire switch assembly blew into pieces in front of me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The locking tabs on the Bakelite body had disintegrated allowing the spring to do one very quick disassembly job!

 

 

 

 

I had a big hunt through my spares and found I had another one.

The front was a mess but the main body looked in much better shape. (Sometimes you get lucky).

 

 

 

I had to sacrifice an old screwdriver to make an assembly tool.

 

 

 

Everything cleaned up well…..

 

 

And I managed to fit the original ignition barrel.

 

 

 

The assembly procedure obviously required six hands …….when I got it wrong the spring blew pieces all over the esteemed sr2 man-cave!

Three attempts later I finally managed the job with only two hands, gaff tape, copious shots of Wild Turkey, some nasty horrible expletives, and old-school perseverance.

 

 

And it even tested OK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

Time to have a go at the dash cluster. I’ve got a spare one and with some luck should be able to make a good one out of the pair.

 

 

 

The speedo came apart easily

 

 

 

 

All I did was to carefully clean the mechanism and add some light oil….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assembled it all carefully……

 

 

 

 

 

…. tested it with a drill….. and the bloody thing worked!

 

 

 

I knew there was still life in the fuel gauge so I just stripped, cleaned and reassembled.

 

 

 

I’m not sure what you do with a 20 amp meter when you’re running a 60 amp alternator…….I’m open to suggestions?

 

 

 

Amazingly the clock works; problem is its positive earth.

 

 

 

So I made the call that for the time being I’m happy with it being accurate only twice a day and just gave it a good clean.

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to source the right bulbs for the backlighting but the sockets needed rewiring.

 

 

 

Managed to de-solder the tiny contact washers…..

 

 

 

Soldered them on to some new wire and assembled them with the old springs underneath.

 

 

 

Wired it all up for plug ‘n play.

 

 

Finally back in the dash, looking good above the ignition/light switch.

 

 

 

[sr2]

As I mentioned previously I’d bought a set of modern gauges but didn’t want them in full view.

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out a piece of zintex that would fit in the port side glove box and drilled some holes in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did a dummy fit with the gauges, an override switch and LED for the cooling fan and a high/low switch for the wipers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welded some mounting tabs on and applied some paint.

 

 

 

 

Fitted the hardware…….

 

 

 

 

And wired it all up.

 

 

 

 

 

Did a little more wiring in the Port glovebox………..

 

 

 

 

Glovebox closed…….

 

 

 

 

Glovebox open………

 

 

 

[sr2]

Working my way through the electrics…..

This is all that was left of the original tail light, (i.e. the bloody thing fell off!).

 

 

 

 

I started stripping down the tail light I’d got from the Vauxhall Car Club.

 

 

 

Paint stripper, rust kill and paint………

 

 

 

I replaced the clear number plate lens with plastic cut from a welding helmet lens cover.

 

 

 

The bulb holders were badly corroded and shorting out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made the call to upgrade it and made one of these out of a piece of scrap alloy.

 

 

 

It fits a modern bulb holder………

 

 

 

And just fits inside the housing.

 

 

 

 

The number plate was a little bashed and battered so I reinforced it a bit.

 

 

 

Still looking suitably bashed & battered but it all works!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

After countless, sleepless nights of painstakingly thorough soul searching and self-analysis, (fuelled by the considerable imbibement of 101 Wild Turkey) I came to the conclusion that for Rigamortice and myself to have any chance of surviving typical Auckland traffic we would need indicators! In 1947 indicators were yet to be invented and trafficators were considered to be state of the art high-tech.

Maybe the side lights on the front guards could be converted to indicators with an orange lens or bulb…….?

 

 

 

 

This became my fiendishly cunning justification for Rigamortice and me spending far too much money on a beautiful pair of P700 replica headlamps that had the parking lights built in.

 

 

 

 

I struggled to get anything that resembled either light or life out of the existing sidelights.

 

 

 

Same old problems as with the tail light, corroded terminals, dodgy insulation, and almost impossible to strip down while keeping it intact. Yes; sadly 70 years ago when they were new they were junk - Lucas, “the prince of darkness” strikes again!

 

 

 

 

So I found these bulb holders on line……

 

 

 

 

…and fitted them with orange bulbs.

 

 

 

Old vs new…..

 

 

 

 

Luckily the original lenses gave it that elderly, faded,  glow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a spare pair to use in the rear.

 

 

 

I attacked an old Whitworth offset ring spanner with an angle grinder…..

 

 

 

 

…welded the bits onto the bumper irons…..

 

 

 

 

 

….. with some fabric wrapped wiring they look the part - and they work!

 

 

 

 

[sr2]

Now for the fun part, I’ve been looking forward to this……..

I’ve been collecting old (and mostly broken) Lucas Trafficators for a few years now.

 

 

 

 

 

I gave them all a quick test, the results weren’t promising.

 

 

 

I cannibalised a number to get enough parts to build a working pair.

 

 

 

 

Started rewiring and assembling the good bits, learning as I go. Have to say they were a lot fiddlier than I first thought.

I just love diving into this old shit; it feels like you’re bridging the knowledge gap - if we guys don’t keep it alive who the hell will?

 

 

 

 

It was also very thirsty work!

 

 

 

 

After more failures than I’ll admit to I eventually ended up being a self-appointed Trafficator expert and more importantly - I ended up with a working pair.

 

 

 

 

So much fun to play with………yes it’s a blokes thing.

 

 

 

 

I left one set up on the home made test bench for a few days in the ‘universally esteemed & revered sr2 man-cave’ for visitors to play with…..and to think the “ever lovely” Mrs sr2 had the audacity to describe Rigamortice, me and my mates as being shallow?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ67aWH4v4U

Fitted up and wired up - if that’s not old school I don’t know what is!