I’m soon going to paint the cat flap white, but I can’t decide if the galvanised drip strip should be white or unpainted. There’s a couple of other galv parts on the back panel already. My fear is that running the white line down below the roof sides will look odd. What do you all think?

Fitted the gas strut today which works well. Unfortunately, when closed, the strut compresses the hinge arm which then causes the flap to foul the gutter again on opening. More fettling required. Looking good though.

Drilled the bottom edge for the genuine galvanised drip edge sourced from eBay. Couldn’t think of a better way than this solution for water in the bottom and found some NOS ones for sale at a good price. I might look at adding some kind of rubber seal on the bottom edge of the door in the future.

Bit of progress on the cat flap. The upper hinge brackets are now riveted to the roof and seem very solid. I managed to adjust the door fit with some packing and now all clears the roof gutter ok. This afternoon I refitted the outer skins to the door frame after a good prime to the inner faces...

The two hinges were welded together when bent up to make them exactly the same. I suppose it’s possible there’s some differences elsewhere, like the pin centres? I’ll take it all apart again and make some careful measurements. Luckily nothings finally fixed yet.

I’m getting some interference between the top of the door frame and the bottom of the gutter as the door is opened, but only on the off-side. My tiny brain cannot work out the required adjustment. I could just lower the door (when closed) but that would adversely affect the shut lines. Anyone...

Two now made with slots to allow closure to be adjusted.

Been working on the latching mechanism this morning. Fabricated a fixture that receives the locking bolt, that mimics the original series design. Seems to work ok, but needs some movement built in for adjustment. Got to make the opposing one now it works.

Thanks Disco

Hi Meego and thanks for your comments. I had considered the weight, especially as they’re only mild steel for the hinges. As you say, I’m thinking that the gas struts will hold the weight when it’s open, and the bolts the same when closed. Fingers crossed :-)

Some fettling, and I’ve got an offset to the hinges arms that line up with the uprights in the donor door. The door swings open ok, but currently the top ally skin fouls the underside of the roof gutter so some more fiddling is required. Progress though. It now looks like it may even be a success.

Bit of a wait while my mate bent the hinge arms for me, but now they’re back and hung on the roof. Good news is, they lift to 90° and clear the roof. So now to adapt the arms width to meet the window sides.

I’ve only done the 20 miles in it since I’ve had it. I got it as a non runner (clutch) a year ago, and once I’d got the engine out I couldn’t stop myself. So not got any history to compare it with.

Well I’ve now done about 15 miles and the noise had gone. I’ve not yet checked the transfer for a cross drilled shaft, but it’s on the list. One thing I’ve noted though is the lack of speed! Wow it’s slow. :-)

It’s done 95k miles and I’m sure both boxes are genuine. I have a feeling the transfer may have the very low ratio gearing but I’ll have to check the serial tomorrow. I went for another drive today and the noise seems less severe so fingers crossed. I’ll check the drain plug magnets tomorrow too.

Check them for what Phil? Level and metal glitter or something else? I used EP90 in the transfer.

Driving home from a successful MOT and I noticed a slight screech coming from I think a gearbox but only when off load. Just done a full rebuild but the boxes only had an oil change - it’s been standing since 2008. It sounds like it could be a bush spinning. Any ideas where I should start...

Finished both the upper hinges for ‘project cat-flap’. They were quite tricky to make (for me) so I’ve posted some pics of how I did it. The original hinges are made from 1.25” x 0.25” but it’s much easier to get hold of 30mm x 6mm so this is what I’ve based these around.

Made a hinge bracket.

Finished one door. The door card is pretty shot, especially along the bottom where the door frame had rotted. I glassed the insides where they’d cracked and they’ll have to do for now. The doors are certainly improved from before.