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My Rossa project.
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Author:  CamelotR [ Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Very-very nice!

Respect!!!
Author:  RaymondH [ Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Thankyou! Much appreciated :)
Author:  RaymondH [ Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
I've been fiddling again....

I was never very happy with the finish of the leathercloth on my instrument panel so when it started to lift off like this

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I took it off and replaced it with this

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I used the same stuff to cover the 3 panels around the windscreen and it looks much better now (at £60/mtr + VAT it should be better.....)

The edge of the top windscreen rail is too sharp for IVA so I blunted it by covering it with 3mm thick foam rubber sealing strip which also seals the hardtop (hopefully...)

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Similarly, the edge behind the seats is too sharp and this was covered with self adhesive velcro loop. The 'D' shaped sealing strip is fixed below the edge of the hardtop

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It's getting there slowly :)
Author:  RaymondH [ Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
I'm still plugging away slowly at my Rossa and, having finished it to all intents and purposes, I started to take it to bits again to re-do things that I wasn't happy with. A lot of time was spent on the oil burning problem and this is covered in another thread. Suffice to say that I hope it's sorted now so I fitted the stainless steel GTM exhaust purchased on ebay. This fitted easily enough but I had difficulty sealing the manifold to downpipe joint which could really do with being sleeved internally so I made my own sleeves from a pair of exhaust reducers and it's now gas tight :)

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When I came to fit the rear tub the removeable panel with the exhaust exit in it was hitting the exhaust pipework and the tailpipe was miles out from the hole :roll: Obviously, the exhaust is designed for the Mk2 Rossa and not the Mk1.....I got round that by cutting a piece out of the inside of the bend on the tailpipe, bending it to shape and having it welded up again. The exhaust panel (for want of a better description) has been fitted with the bottom edge spaced out as far as practicable from the main panel so that it (just) clears the pipework. I'm still not too happy with it but it will do for now.

Next step is to redo the brakes and this little beauty arrived yesterday (thanks to Alan at Rossabitz for telling me about it)

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That 's my winter project taken care of 8) The front tub will need to be removed again to sort out the brake pipes and there's other things I want to do when it's off so it won't be a 5 minute job. I also have nearly all the parts I need to fit discs on the back with MGF rear calipers so I might crack on and do that as well but it depends on the finances as usual :roll: I shouldn't have any bother stopping it once it's all done though :mrgreen:
Author:  rossabitz [ Sat Nov 24, 2012 11:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Hi Raymond
I should have mentioned the Rossa mk1 stainless tailpipes I have in stock.
Would have saved you some work. Sorry.
Author:  RaymondH [ Sun Nov 25, 2012 9:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
No problem, Alan, but it would have been very handy! Are they 1 3/4" ID too? I think mine looks a bit small by modern standards peeking out from the back panel :roll:

I don't know how acceptable it would be but it would be very useful to a lot of people if you could have a list of everything you stock somewhere on this site - has that ever been considered?
Author:  rossabitz [ Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Hi Raymond

Yes the pipes are 1-3/4" dia and they fit the GTM box and the Rossabitz system.

It's always been my intention to post details of the parts I stock.
But I need to be more organised in case I get overwhelmed with enquires.
Maybe next year I'll do a stocktake and list everything have.
Author:  RaymondH [ Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
I've been having a busy time in the garage since I last updated this and can't believe that it's 6 months ago. Anyway, at the beginning of January I started to strip the Rossa down again and began by removing the complete front end including the subframe so that I could change the perished rubbers on the knuckle joints. That done, I turned to the brake servo and removed the hard top and interior so that I could change the brake plumbing as required so my garage was rapidly filling up with bits of Rossa again! Servo fitting was straightforward and it just took some time to do it neatly. The servo is double acting with two master cylinders, the front of which operates the front brakes and the back one operates the back brakes - simple. There are now lots of pipes in the front end and there is virtually no room left.

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Next, I turned to the back brakes and the disc conversion. Again, this was pretty straightforward after researching it on here and no machining was required, just a little bit of filing bolt holes and, in fact, I had to use some thin stainless washers to shim the caliper to centralise the disc. It now looks and performs much better and I've finally got rid of those GTM handbrake cables which I hated :)

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I had an oil leak from the timing cover so, thinking that it was maybe a little bit warped considering it's age, I bought a brand new one and fitted it with a bit of fiddling. When I tightened up the bolts (which are only to a very low torque figure) I found that the bottom one felt 'soft'. Oh dear..............but, fingers crossed........

I took my time rebuilding everything and sorted out a number of little things that had been niggling me. Finally, it was complete and a friend who works in the trade came round with a set of trade plates and the big moment had finally arrived :mrgreen: I did 30 miles that first time out and the engine settled down after a couple of miles and even stopped smoking :mrgreen: :mrgreen: The brakes are very good and it handles like a kart even though the wheels are pointing in all directions - great fun! Last weekend I took it to a weighbridge and got suspect results so I'll have to do that again and since then I've spoken to some others who found the same thing at that weighbridge. To get the correct weights the car was in the same state as it will be in for the IVA test, ie full tank, etc and I replaced the alloys with the metric TD wheels as fitted to the donor car so the the speedo will read correctly and the wheels tuck well into the arches to keep it 'legal'. The only problem was that the wheels have so much offset that they rubbed against the inner arches at the rear and I couldn't get full lock at the front so I had to invest another £50 in a set of 32mm spacers with extension studs. It doesn't look so macho on these wheels...

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After the weighbridge I took it to a garage and had the emissions and brake balance checked - both passed :mrgreen: So, I need to get it weighed again, get the wheels laser aligned, get the headlights aligned and check the speedo against my sat nav. And that's it, except.....that timing cover oil leak is now worse and I now think that it's coming from behind the front plate so a bit more work is required - so what's new :roll: Never mind - it's nearly there and after having a drive I've got plenty of incentive to get it finished.
Author:  RaymondH [ Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Well, my car nearly passed the IVA test today :D It failed on just two daft things - unbelievably, the rear fog and brake lights are wired wrongly, coming on in place of each other so I just need to swap the wires around. The loom must have been wired wrongly from the factory because all I've done is to plug it together. Also, the shortened MGF handbrake cables have settled in and if you really pull hard on the handbrake lever it can touch the console (ie running out of spare travel) which it never did before. And that's it :D I just need to fix these points, get a retest (another £90 :roll: ) and it will be ready for registering almost 27 years after it left the factory... I've decided to drive it to the test centre next time rather than trailering it because I'm itching to have a proper drive in it so I'll need to sort out some Insurance too.

While I'm on, has anybody used the services of Paul Jepson who advertises in the kit car mags as a paperwork expert? I'm hoping to get an age related number so that I can replace it with a GTM one but the paperwork looks a bit daunting and it's so important to get it right otherwise I'll get a Q. Nearly there!
Author:  Malcolm_Ball [ Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
That's good news (well mostly) :)
Author:  RaymondH [ Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Back to the test station for my IVA retest today and IT PASSED :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I got the car insured on the chassis number and drove it for the 70 mile round trip and it was brilliant! I can't believe that after 5 years it's nearly there at last and I'm going to the DVLA office tomorrow (in the Mazda :roll: ) to see about getting it registered. I really did wonder if I was wasting time and money trying to get a 25 year old kit through a modern IVA test but it can be done so if anybody is thinking about it I would say do it but do loads of research first so you get it right the first time instead of doing it several times like I did :? I have to say thanks to everybody on here who has helped with my numerous questions and offered moral support - I really appreciate it.
Author:  West [ Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Good news, Now get the registration for it already!
Author:  David Large [ Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
[quote="RaymondH"]Back to the test station for my IVA retest today and IT PASSED

Well done, a milestone, have great fun in it.


David
Author:  Sven [ Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Great news & well done!
Author:  apbellamy [ Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: My Rossa project.
Well done. The car looks great. Gives me more confidence for getting my Nimbus through an IVA.

EDIT: What steering wheel is that?
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