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Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build (Latest update 3-03-24 Pg 28)
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Author:  Archangel007 [ Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Hey Al,

Dont ya just hate it when life gets in the way!!

But as Simon says, just persist, and when routine suits you will free up some time and slowly break back into it on a regular basis. Glad you wont be selling it too!

The shed looks great too - a Mini building palace!

Oh, and just to add, I started mine a few years before you, and its still not finished either!!!

Cheers,
Tricky

Author:  Mearcat [ Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

While I slowly work on our extensive house renovation & construction project, the Mini hasn't been at the forefront of my mind. However I recently came across a set of Subaru WRX seats (GD Model from mid 2000s) from a guy who was moving house and selling much of the car parts he had stockpiled. It was too good to pass up as good condition WRX seats at a good price don't come up for sale very often here in Perth!

Compared to the Suzuki Swift seats I already purchased (and made custom mounts for), the WRX seats are superior for both style and support. The seats overall are in very good condition, however the drivers seat has the bottom right bolster foam worn down. This will be easy to replace thanks to modern seats such as these having removable covers. When I get going again with the Mini, I'll have to remake the mounts for these seats but it will be worth it.
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Author:  Mearcat [ Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:06 am ]
Post subject:  New Lathe

With our house renovation and other construction on our property moving along nicely, my garage/workshop is slowly being freed up with space (after being used mainly for storage) and my thoughts turning to how the workshop area will be arranged and set up. I have been looking to purchase a metal lathe for the increasing number of items on my Mini To-Do list that require machining. Well, that and for years and I've just wanted one but never had the room for one :D

I had a budget of $2000-2500 which would give me a reasonable quality lathe if I purchased new but because I wasn't in a rush I regularly scoured online classifieds such as Gumtree. I have a family friend who has been a fitter/machinist for over 30 years and he recommended a few brands to consider and to get a lathe with a fully geared headstock (so you don't have to change/adjust belts to change speeds), a powered cross-feed and the biggest spindle bore you can get.

I finally found a Hafco (Hare & Forbes) lathe in very good condition advertised for $1500. It is a Hafco AL-320G (320mm swing over bed; 600mm between centres) which has the above features and a 38mm spindle bore - perfect for work on the driveshafts - and has Metric & Imperial thread cutting capabilities. The owner was an 89 year old guy who lives by himself in a small farm house 1.5 hours drive out of Perth. His health was failing and made the decision to sell up and move to the city. 89 years old!

For now the lathe has been oiled up to prevent any corrosion and stored under a sheet until I get time and space to starting setting up the workshop. I'll give it a good clean, oil/grease points and headstock oil change once it's ready to use. I even did a little happy dance when I got it home and craned it onto the floor :D

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Author:  Archangel007 [ Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Hi Al,

Good to see you are still ticking along over there.

Nice lathe too, good buy.

Cheers,
Tricky

Author:  cruiza [ Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Hey Mercat good buy there with the lathe, if I might suggest WD40 is better for preventing rust then oil the WD stands for water displacement

Author:  Archangel007 [ Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Tip from my old Swiss fitter and turner mate - lanolin!!

Author:  Mearcat [ Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Archangel007 wrote:
Tip from my old Swiss fitter and turner mate - lanolin!!

I'll just grab a sheep and give it a rub over the lathe shall I? :lol:

Seriously though, what parts of the lathe is the lanolin for? Is it for rust prevention in the downtime it's not being used or lubricating things like the ways? I know Lanox (Inox) and Lanotec are available.

Author:  Archangel007 [ Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Al,

Its for all the exposed areas that may be prone to surface rust, even the ways.

Constant use should keeps the ways oxidation-free, but for extended periods of little or no use, lanolin everything!!

Author:  cruiza [ Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

I would agree with lanolin but then I am a kiwi lol

Author:  FNQ [ Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

Great pickup on the lathe... and the seats

just on the lathe - i was informed that although some lathes claim to be able to cut threads both metric and imperial, that if they are predominantly metric then their imperial thread size capability is quite limited and in some instances approximated ( only the threads that basically match the metric).. now i have no clue but would love to know as a similar lathe is on my wishlist one day... good fun playing with it

Author:  Mearcat [ Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

FNQ wrote:
...just on the lathe - i was informed that although some lathes claim to be able to cut threads both metric and imperial, that if they are predominantly metric then their imperial thread size capability is quite limited and in some instances approximated ( only the threads that basically match the metric)...

Fortunately, I recently found a guy on a machining forum (I forget which one) who produced a spreadsheet wth charts detaling all the metric & imperial thread cutting combinations (with longitudinal & cross feed rates) for the Hafco lathes with metric leadscrew. As long as you have the 14 different gears that come with the lathe, then it's easy to figure out what gears you need (that's of course for the lathes where you need to manually change the gear set for adjusting thread pitches to be cut). The spreadsheet chart is more accurate than the chart that's on the actual lathe, which given the "Engrish" in much of the lathe manual, is not surprising - the cover page in the manual proudly states it's an "Instruction Mannual" :D . If there is an issue with threads, there's not too much of an issue with getting a tap or die and manually cutting a thread while the piece is on the lathe.

Author:  FNQ [ Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

that is good to hear.. thanks for that.... do the head geared drives have the same potential for different turn rates , but without all the gear/cog changing?

Author:  Mearcat [ Wed Oct 15, 2014 5:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

FNQ wrote:
that is good to hear.. thanks for that.... do the head geared drives have the same potential for different turn rates , but without all the gear/cog changing?

By "turn-rates" you mean the spindle/chuck speeds, then it's just an adjustment of levers to change the spindle speed.
If you mean the longitudinal/cross-feed auto-feed rates, then the gears need to be changed to adjust those feed rates. That's on the AL-320G but no doubt it's all just flipping levers in the more expensive models.
PM me if you any more qu's

Author:  Mearcat [ Sun Dec 13, 2015 12:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

So it's been a long time since I posted an update and my extensive renovation/construction/landscaping project at my property is largely completed and my workshop has recently been (mostly) cleared of various house items so I've finally been able to direct my attention to setting up my garage/workshop area.

At the current rate of juggling house/family/kids responsibilities, I reckon that getting back to working on the Mini is still at least many many months away but at least I've now got room to move around my garage so I'll provide some quick updates on that progress before getting back to the build.

First thing I've done is insulate the northern wall of the garage, because that wall gets the majority of direct sun in summer and is the wall the workbench will be along. The radiant heat off that wall on a hot day is horrible! I had some sheets of Foilboard cavity wall insulation (rigid foil faced foam board) from a granny flat I completed earlier this year and it was perfect for what I required. I welded some ceiling battens between the girts, trimmed and installed the 15mm Foilboard around the battens with a 15mm air gap between the external wall sheets and the insulation (to increase the R-value) and screwed oriented strand board (OSB) over the top, onto the batten pieces. I wanted to keep the raw look of the OSB so painted it with a clear polyurethane to seal/protect the timber.

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I've also started running the lighting/power cabling and conduits around the garage and I am making sure I have an abundance of power outlets including two 15A pendants for my MIG welder so I can roll the MIG trolley anywhere in the garage.

When the garage slab was first painted a couple of years ago, an overnight drizzle damaged the paint surface over some of the slab (see the discolouration in the photo below) so I've prepped & repainted that half of the slab with the same commercial epoxy paint which is resistant to oils, acids etc etc. That's it for now, but in the new year I'll start on some shelving, paint booth (small 2m x 1.5m), workbench, sink/water supply, custom lathe bench & compressed air lines.

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Author:  goodie [ Sun Dec 13, 2015 6:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mearcat 4E-FTE Clubman Build

You can't give the Man Cave enough attention in my opinion , you will enjoy spending the time in it ,
looking the goods 8) .

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