49. The gear stick

I still had some issues with changing the gears. The lever will not stay in the 3 / 4 gear channel. The springs do not work as they should. No way to adjust them.
OK.
With the pic search on Google I found some pictures of the LT77 which show how it shall look. The shortened gear lever is mostly a part from a Jaguar XJ6, a Sherpa lever or a TVR TR8 part.
They all look different to mine:

At my car they cut down the original one and welded it again - welding is hidden by that spring holder tube. The springs are press on the lever in a wrong angle so it can not work.

The German company Morganpark in Hamburg - I got the tip on Facebook - found a original spare spring from an old LT77 gearbox and sold it to me for a few Euros.

Thank you for your help Mr. Frank Schauer !

I figured a little bit around and was able to mount the spring nearly in the same position as it is original.

And the lever is perfectly positioned in 3 / 4 gear now. Every gear can be easy choosen.

But the reverse lights don´t work when the reverse gear is in. Unmount the switch and press it will light up the lights.
Bad.
With a mirror I saw, that the lower part of the lever does not touch the switch.
Has it ever worked ?

I soldered a small copper plate on top of the switch so the lever can hit it - and it worked.

This sentence was written very fast, but it took me nearly 3 hours until that copper plate was mounted. Don´t ask, what I was trying before I had the idea to use the soldeing iron...

48. The leather interior

The light brown leather is in a condition, which is much too good to replace it.
Some spots look awful - but with the right things they will look good again...
I found the Lederzentrum in the web. They are experts in taking care of any leather.
I send a sample of my leather - one, which is bleached in the sun - to them, so they are able to mix the perfect fitting color for my leather. I ordered a Leather Protector, a tube of liquid leather repair, a sander pad and a cup of leather grease.

The most worn spot was on the backrest of the drivers seat:

First task is to clean the leather and degrease it compleytly. Then I started with the sander pad to level the surface. The triangle ( nealy in the middle ) is a cut. It can be repaired with liquid leather. Apply it, smooth it and then dry it with the heat gun.

I didn´t know it now, but the heat gun will be my best friend for the next three hours...
After that apply the Leather Colorlock on a sponge and wipe it in circles on the worn spot.
That is what the instruction says...
Dry it with a heat gun an repeat it to intensify the color look... is the next sentence...
OK.
After 3 times you see a little bit of color on the worn spot.
And after about 20 times apply color and dry it with your heat gun it will look like this:

Wow - they deliver what they promise on their website. It looks fantastic. A minimal differences in color - but it depends to which part of the leather you compare it...

So I started to search for other smaller worn spots and after around 20 times apply in circles and dry it, the whole leather interior looks much better.
The 70€ were a good invest.




I let it dry over night before I use the Elefant Leather Grease on all the parts. It shall be the best to give back the leather all it needs to stay soft and robust.
Well, it is only two or three times to apply it - not 20 times per spot.

The parts are still so greasy that I will not place them in the car. I will wait some days until the grease is drawn-in.

47. The roof liner and the carpet

Lets go on at the inside of the car. The A-pillar and the roof liner will be the next part of the interior after all the noise isolation.

The A-pillar and the roof around the door are not filled , so I decided to fill them with 2K foam to make it easier get a smooth, flat surface on the inner side.
It was a mess - like always when working with foam - but it is not a exact to do task.

Its like making a sculpture - you how to do that ?

To make a lion sculpture, take a block of granite and cut off everything which does not look like a lion. Easy...

So, I startet to cut off...

As you see on the color, I need to add that beloved 2K foam for a second time.

But then it was ready to glue the foam lining and the fabric - I used Alcantara, as rest from the dash - on.

Now the foam liner for the roof.

 Here a friend helped me:
- he lend me his old spray gun with a 2.5mm jet at 6bar to spray the Patex
- he has done this some times before and he told me what where to push - pull - hit - ....

The result was OK

and after spraying 1 and a half can of Patex we both had a big smile in our face... ;-)

Going on with the carpet.
I used a very flexible on. It is a thick, thight velour which you can stretch in every direction.

I bought about 6 m2 not to run out of carpet at the last piece.

It was much easier that the roof.

Spray both sides with glue, let it dry, then press it in the correct position and cut off the rest.

On the rear deck I had to think a little how to do it in the way, that I can remove the roll over bar afterwards.
The idea, how to cover the boot hinges needed three beers...

...and yes, the roll over bar has still to be painted - but I can easily remove it.

Next job will be to refresh the leather...

46: The roll over bar

Here a round up about my roll over bar.
I decided to ad one to protect my head and to have a good mounting point for the automatic roll harness belts.
And yes - it simply looks good !

I placed the roll bar so behind the head rest, that in case of an accident, the head can not hit the bar.
A friend of me died in his car cause his head - without helmet - crashes against the roll bar. And don´t think that a little bit foam around the bar will protect your head...

The roll over bar is made from CrMo40 x 2mm seamless tube, the braces to the back are CrMo30 x 1.5mm. The flat part is made of 30x3mm steel.
The  two inner holes on the flat part are for the safty belt rolls, the holes next to the tube is for fix on the frame rail.

I have made the plan in MS Visio, but if anyone is interested I can convert it in what ever you  will need...
Here in the South of Germany we have our "standard" company for safty bars and cages.
It is http://www.herrmann-motorsport.org/ (German website only)
He explained me, that he is able to bend the CrMo40 in a radius of 120mm - nothing else. This fits perfect with the Marcos. Shipping of the parts all over Europe is not issue. As a price advice: This bar cost 200€ +pp. The bends fitted perfect ! But I propose you have to print out or draw the plan on a cardboard to see if it will fit to your car if you want to copy it.

To weld the two braces exactly to the main bar you can use a software tool called "Tube mitter" ( google it ) to give the  braces to perfect cut for welding.




The brackets left and right are welded to the bar.

To be able to adjust the bar to the roof - I have seen, that left and right side is not equel - I use some aluminium footings. The footings allow me to remove the bar even if the rear window is mounted. I have to use a long screw from below and secure the bar at the top with a stop nut.
Remove the nut, then the screw and after them the footing - so you have enough space to take out the roll over bar at any time.
I took care, that the footings have contact with the whole surface to the frame rail.
See what I mean:

 The rear mounting point:

They shall not touch the GRP.


 The stands are in level to the top seat belt mounting points of the Mantula - but the bar is leaning back. 

45. Finishing the electric wiring

I have made it. I was able to finsh the complete electric wiring of the car.
Everything is testet and is OK.
As I am working daily with harness and cables, I was afraid, that I misjudged the amount of work to do a complete new wiring harness for this car. Even as the Mantula is not a electrically complex car.
OK, some geeks were not really neccessary, but this is my own stamp on this electrical job ;-)

Thats the result:

Behind the dashboard it looks like this:

A little bit caotic, but much less than before...including the 60mm tube for the fresh air.
Behind the dash I used spiral hose to cover the wires. It is much faster to apply than the monofilament tube used in the engine bay. When the harness goes through the plywood I fixed them with a cable tie so they can´t move and scratch.
The green cables are for the heated screen. The rolled up ones in the middle are for reserve.




Inside the glove box:

Looks even more caotic, but it will be covered with a glove box carpet. The Bluetooth line adapter connected on the first time with my mobile and I enjoyed brutal sound from the rear - hope that was only the beginning of good sound...
You notice the light in the glove box ? Cool eh...? Switched on from the panel on the left.
The other switch is for the ambient driving light in the foot area.
The third switch is to activate the foot area light in full power when a door will be open. Gimmickery.
The two potis are for the gauges ilumination and for the ambient foot area light.

The drivers side can be removed by unplugging the dash:

I used a 17W2 Dsub connector, means 15 pins for signals and 2 pins for high power up to 30 ampere. This is for the coil power after it has passed the RVI speedo meter.
I have added one signal lamp to the original setup. I want to have a warning lamp for low oil pressure.

And here another cool thing I have seen on a English car:

A engine starter button inside the engine bay.
As I have no stereo the ignition switch position on the left turn is useless.
Now it has a new function. If the ignition switch is turned left, the I/O switch in the engine bay will get power and the ignition can be switched on. Then the green ON button will start the engine.
No climbing inside every time to start or stop the motor.
You noticed the black color ? The polished stainless steel did not meet the style in the engine bay.
Much better now.

Here the front lamps:

If someone is interested on the wiring shematics - drop me a note and I will send them... They look a lot different than the ones I posted before.

44. The Dashboard

To finish electrical job, the new dash has to be installed.
A lot of wiring can only be done after the dash is in place. So, the next task is some woodworking...

Bought some squaremeters of birch multiplex board - why birch ? It was the only one in 12mm  ;-)
and cut out the dash form, so that not gap can be seen.

I try to mount the center console as low as possible to get more space inside the car - or better to get the impression, that there is more space inside...

At the design of the dash I follow the original design - why? - I don´t know. It looks quite good and original is always best. One of my best statements !!!

Using the jigsaw from my neighbour - it is much better than my own - and a speciale blade for circles, the result is well done. The square between the gauges is a steel sheet to be able to fit some notes or a cell phone with a magnet. Remember my "original" statement ?
I don´t know if this will work, but not tried is already lost...

I decided to cover my dashbaord with dark grey Alcantara fabric. It is a wonderful surface and together with chrome bezels it will look fantastic. Glueing the fabric onto the wood was easier than I expected. It looks so good, that even my wife complemented me - first time !!!

Here together with the old one.
The holes most left and right are for the fresh air vents. The key hole is next to the driver - on the left side now and the number of signal lights has raised to four - an additional light for low oil pressure was added.

The panel for the center console is the next job.
And when I will sucsessful with the chrome plating job for the gauge bezels I am able to finish the dash board.
It is a mess with this Stewart Warner instruments. The bezels of them are not the "standart" dimension like the classic Smiths or VDO - they are bigger, so nothing else will fit.
I bought some bezels at MJC Products in the UK. They said, I can try them and if they do not fit, send them back.
Thanks and sorry - they do not fit.
My last chance is to send the original ones to chrome plating them... takes only some weeks or months...