LMAOTatra Man wrote:Work has started!
Not an easy (or dignified) position for someone just turned 64!
Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
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neilgreenfield
- Posts: 463
- Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 12:24 pm
- CMBA Member: 0
Re: Albatross Alpine restoration
Re: Albatross Alpine restoration
WHAT' S HAPPENING TATRA ?
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
Well, after a bad winter, what with my Father's deteriorating mental and physical condition and the weather, things are looking up now he's in a care home, decent weather has arrived and I'm in the process of rescuing 2002 from being scrapped or broken up.
2002 has what I believe to be its original trailer and a few parts missing from 2003. This doesn't mean I'll be breaking 2002 up for parts, just that I can get 2003 correct sooner. I may also do a quick and dirty job on 2002 as I have a Holbay lying around which has to be better than the Ford in her at the moment.
We shall see - but, if I decide not to proceed with 2002, then she'll be available to someone who wants a long-term project.
In the meantime, the jack staff has been filled and the right screen pillar repaired by an aluminium welder contact but I may use the right pillar from 2002. A bit more work on the hull has been done, mainly stripping the anti-fouling someone chose to paint the bottom with. I've acquired an Icknield tacho. with the Albatross Marine markings and a suitable range for the Rootes engine and a replica ID plate - many thanks to John for both - and I've got a couple of period RB106/2 voltage regulators.
2002 has what I believe to be its original trailer and a few parts missing from 2003. This doesn't mean I'll be breaking 2002 up for parts, just that I can get 2003 correct sooner. I may also do a quick and dirty job on 2002 as I have a Holbay lying around which has to be better than the Ford in her at the moment.
We shall see - but, if I decide not to proceed with 2002, then she'll be available to someone who wants a long-term project.
In the meantime, the jack staff has been filled and the right screen pillar repaired by an aluminium welder contact but I may use the right pillar from 2002. A bit more work on the hull has been done, mainly stripping the anti-fouling someone chose to paint the bottom with. I've acquired an Icknield tacho. with the Albatross Marine markings and a suitable range for the Rootes engine and a replica ID plate - many thanks to John for both - and I've got a couple of period RB106/2 voltage regulators.
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!
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solitaire
- Posts: 1021
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 4:02 am
- CMBA Member: 511
- Location: Cheselbourne - Nr Dorchester
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
Hi tatra man - Good to see a club member rescued her - I thought 2002 just need a battery and ther shaft refitting! - could be on the water in a couple of weeks!! - personally I'd keep the ford! (or fit a Rover) - a good Cortina could always outdrag a Hillman Hunter at the traffic lights (and Ford didn't go broke!) - Good luck with the restoration
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
i think you need a name for the boat 2003 is year been and gone
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
Les 24 Heures du Mans 1961 - Winner of Indice au Rendemment Energetique - Sunbeam Alpine.sinbadthesailor wrote:Hi tatra man - Good to see a club member rescued her - I thought 2002 just need a battery and ther shaft refitting! - could be on the water in a couple of weeks!! - personally I'd keep the ford! (or fit a Rover) - a good Cortina could always outdrag a Hillman Hunter at the traffic lights (and Ford didn't go broke!) - Good luck with the restoration
London to Sydney Marathon 1968 - Outright winner - Hillman Hunter.
Never forget:- The majority is always wrong!
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
Very true, Howard. And now it's even worse - I need two names!Howstar wrote:i think you need a name for the boat 2003 is year been and gone
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
With the decent weather (which you can thank me for - I bought a 3m x 6m pop-up gazebo to keep the rain off and it's been nearly 30° ever since!! 
) I've had the engine out of 2003 and got her on her side to get a better look at the P-bracket and rudder area as it had been glassed on the inside. This didn't look good:-
I was anticipating adding a reinforcing sheet between the sub-frame and the outer skin but it looked like the outer skin had a bad crack through the top row of P-bracket mounting holes so I was now thinking I might have to patch it. I took an angle grinder cup brush to what looked like filler and found:-
No crack through the P-bracket mounting holes - because it had all been welded!! But what are the extra four blind holes for? I checked and found that the hull here is no less than four layers thick! Between the sub-frame rails and the outer skin there's a sheet which is folded up round the outside of each rail and riveted to the rails and another sheet between that and the hull which is riveted to the hull and folds up to also be riveted to the stringers. The riveting isn't very even so I'm guessing it was added when the outer skin was welded. The blind holes seem to go through the outer skin and that "new"(?) sheet so could they have been there to bolt them together whilst welding up the outer skin? Anyway, I seem to have four good intact layers but there's a nasty looking crack in the outer skin round the rudder bush although the "new"(?) sheet is perfect inside.
Another question is why was it glassed on the inside? Well the replacement riveting doesn't look pretty and one of the sub-frame rails has some movement at the front where it meets the cross brace so I'm guessing that the replacement rivets aren't expanded enough to seal properly and it was done to try to cure leaks. Hopefully tightening them will improve things.
So why is there that crack round the rudder bush? The funny thing is, 2002 has a reinforcing sheet there on the outside of the hull but it's not riveted, it's bolted on with the standard Albatross 2BA stainless steel countersunk machine screws and nylock nuts! Do Continentals crack there?
Look carefully and you can see that a small part of that crack has been welded too. I'm not sure what to do with it. Does anyone have any experience of Durafix, Lumiweld or Technoweld? Are they all the same thing under different trade names?
) I've had the engine out of 2003 and got her on her side to get a better look at the P-bracket and rudder area as it had been glassed on the inside. This didn't look good:-I was anticipating adding a reinforcing sheet between the sub-frame and the outer skin but it looked like the outer skin had a bad crack through the top row of P-bracket mounting holes so I was now thinking I might have to patch it. I took an angle grinder cup brush to what looked like filler and found:-
No crack through the P-bracket mounting holes - because it had all been welded!! But what are the extra four blind holes for? I checked and found that the hull here is no less than four layers thick! Between the sub-frame rails and the outer skin there's a sheet which is folded up round the outside of each rail and riveted to the rails and another sheet between that and the hull which is riveted to the hull and folds up to also be riveted to the stringers. The riveting isn't very even so I'm guessing it was added when the outer skin was welded. The blind holes seem to go through the outer skin and that "new"(?) sheet so could they have been there to bolt them together whilst welding up the outer skin? Anyway, I seem to have four good intact layers but there's a nasty looking crack in the outer skin round the rudder bush although the "new"(?) sheet is perfect inside.
Another question is why was it glassed on the inside? Well the replacement riveting doesn't look pretty and one of the sub-frame rails has some movement at the front where it meets the cross brace so I'm guessing that the replacement rivets aren't expanded enough to seal properly and it was done to try to cure leaks. Hopefully tightening them will improve things.
So why is there that crack round the rudder bush? The funny thing is, 2002 has a reinforcing sheet there on the outside of the hull but it's not riveted, it's bolted on with the standard Albatross 2BA stainless steel countersunk machine screws and nylock nuts! Do Continentals crack there?
Look carefully and you can see that a small part of that crack has been welded too. I'm not sure what to do with it. Does anyone have any experience of Durafix, Lumiweld or Technoweld? Are they all the same thing under different trade names?
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!
Re: Albatross Alpine number 2003 restoration
On a different note but, while 2003 is on her side, it looks like this is where the hull bottom has been lengthened from the standard Continental length:-
Inside, the front joint is covered by a second skin which extends the full length of the rear seat and into the engine bay thus making the whole area beneath the fuel tank double-skinned.
Inside, the front joint is covered by a second skin which extends the full length of the rear seat and into the engine bay thus making the whole area beneath the fuel tank double-skinned.
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!
Re: Albatross Alpine restoration
Tatra Man wrote:
A series wrote:Nice glove box !
Well the learning curve was steep! Alpine dashes are just mirror-images of other Albatross dashes (except for the instrument panel) so the two rails are, indeed, for the bottom tray of the "glove box". I haven't the foggiest idea why it was hacked about by a previous owner but, now I've acquired 2002, I've something to copy and today I've been playing with my dollies!!Tatra Man wrote:Yeah. . . . . Bit of a mystery, that. Can anyone explain why there is an original panel running forward from each side of that cut-out but no mirror image structure on the port side? Each of those side panels even has a horizontal section which appears to be designed to hold some kind of base panel but the hole in the dash is a right mess. I realise that Alpines were evolving all the time and were virtually built to order so it's always possible that the buyer specified a "glove box" but, if so, why has it been hacked about so badly?
I hope my new Alpine floats better than my old one!