Day 40 – 11/6/11 - Success is as fickle as the days weather

First job today was the putting the drive shaft back into the differential.  And two hours later I gave up. I can’t get the end of the shaft passed the circlip and I’m concerned about damaging either the shaft/diff splines or the circlip.  I suspect I need some advice.  Part of the problem is applying the pressure to slip through the circlip.  Eventually I ran out of other ideas so the only option left is to put in on the car so all the parts are secure and I have better control when applying pressure or until I get the advice and try again.

I switched to the steering column. I cut the hole out no problem a quick pilot hole then the new hole saw.  I pulled out the steering column and put it in the hole then grabbed the column/pedal box bracket.  Now if I’m honest something about this bracket bugged me. It had since the Kit Car show.  The problem was the fixing holes.  I mounted the steering column to the bracket and put it up to the underside of the Tub “dashboard”.  The Clutch pedal is already mounted and I was able to slide the bracket over the top of it and then the niggling in the back of my mind became clear. The fixing hole for the front of the clutch pedal bracket didn’t line up, and it wasn’t a millimetre or two out it was far more.  I grabbed the brake pedal and looked at the fixing points and compared them to the bracket holes.  Nope they were nowhere near.

I took the bracket out and removed the column.  Turning the bracket over I tried to put it in place again.  The pedal mount holes aligned no problem but the rest of the bracket wasn’t going to fit.  I’m going to take a guess that when the plate was drilled it was done upside down so when it was welded into place on to the bracket the holes are ass about face.  I went back to the donor car and it confirmed my suspicions.  The holes are the wrong way round.  I took a few photos to send to the lads at MCS and see what they recommend.

Right, back to the rear of the car.  This time it is the rear shock mounts.  The three fixings holes are marked on the tub there are two options A or B. I held the mount up to the tub I would need B.  There is also a centre hole 75mm diameter.  I double checked all the measurements with the donor car and set about drilling pilot holes and then the full 3x8mm.  I measured repeatedly to find the centre between the three points and then drilled 1x75mm.  It took a little playing to ease the 8mm holes before the top fitted close to flush. I still need to do some finishing touches but it looked right.

Day 39 – Twist and Go

It’s a few days later Its Friday morning and I’m laid in bed.  The clock reads 5am.  Recently awoken by some annoying fruit loop on his way to work on a “twist and go” with a “modified” exhaust trying to get to top speed, all of 38mph, between the speed ramps down the street. All noise and no trousers – wish he’d get a proper bike. I could make better time on my mountain bike.

The problem of the sub frame and the tank was bugging me and had done so for the last couple of days.  Trying to work out where I’d messed up or was there another solution.  Then it came to me – Doh! What a pillock! After removing the tank from the donor I had cleaned up the tank. I had also flattened out the seam along the back because to was bent upwards and I couldn’t clean it properly. That was problem.  All I had to do was bend it back up and it should fit.  Wish I could get back to sleep - May as well go to work.

Back from work I took a hammer to the tank seam and “gently” put the curve back into the seam and then touched up the paint work. The sub frame now fitted like it was made to which was a relief.  Next bit to go on was the diff nose mount. I put it in place on the tyres.  The holes were the wrong size 8mm instead of 12mm.  I quickly drilled them out and mounted the front bolts.  Then I looked at the holes for the trailing arm mounts.  The diff nose mount and trailing arm mount all fasten to the same fixing plate on each side in the car so I wanted to make sure they all lined up. The lead hole lined up so I opened it up to the 12mm but the trailing two holes looked a little out.  I took the fixing plate out and compared it to the trailing arm mount they lined up fine so I guess a bit more hole adjustment on the tub.  Now here is a small dilemma the holes in the fixing plate for diff nose and the lead hole are slightly slotted.  Now when I took the rear end off the donor it came off i one piece diff, nose mount hubs etc but it is going back one bit at a time.

I decided to move on the springs as I would need them to take the weight of the hubs when I mount the differential.  The top mounts from the donor car need fitting to the new AST shock absorbers.  The rear shocks and tops went together no problem. In fact there were no spring clamps needed.  The only point of concern was I noticed that the spring was on its highest ride height setting and no clamp required.  So it was on to the front springs.  These were the opposite of the rear shocks.

I was going to take them to Kim at college to use their spring clamps as I originally thought I would need them once for this job and that would be it.  However the adjustable ride height on the shock would require the spring clamps to be used again.  So I splashed out on my own set.  I figured it would be a straight forward job.  However, that was not the case.

The first problem was the bottom spring.  It has a flat cross-section and the clamps are designed for a round cross-section this in itself is not a problem but the space between the spring and the damper cylinder was too tight to fit both clamps.  After numerous attempts each of which, when tension was applied the clamp would slip off. I was concerned I was scratching the paintwork on the shock so I taped up the clamps with some electricians tape.  I tried to compress the flat spring off the shock and make it secure with a few ty-raps.  But that didn’t work.  I tried compressing the main spring which was more traditional in that it had a round cross-section.  The problem there was the threaded shaft of the clamp was obstructing the mounting of the top mount.

I tried a number of different options but at best the compressed spring was still 10mm too tall. Now any experienced engineer will tell you horror stories of springs going flying across workshops clamps slipping/breaking and the nasty injuries incurred. And I figured if not careful I would end up with a similar tale. I tried to press the top down on to the shaft using one hand and my chest and using my other hand to tighten the centre nut.  But although I managed to get the nut on the top bearing was not lined up and it couldn’t get it to square up and maintain pressure.  I need another pair of hands.  The bottom ring on the shock has a number of holes drilled in it which I can only think are used for a special clamp tool.  I decided to leave it and searched online for a special tool.

I couldn’t find a tool online and had a word with Graham at MSC and sent him a few photos to explain the problem.  His response was the same as I had been trying at the start.  Kim called said she would pop round so armed with some large ty-raps and a second pair of hands we tried again.  With a little trial and error we manage to get the compression required and made short work of the second shock.

Mounting them on the car I then gave Kim the task of confirming my measurements on the location of the hole in the firewall for the steering column.  Having received a photo with measurements of the location of the hole from Ben I had previously marked out where I worked out the location was.  So I gave Kim all the measurement tools I had and told her to confirm it.  It may sound straight forward but with the angles don’t make for easy measuring.  Fortunately Kim agreed my mark up was accurate.  I know I have a lot of fibreglass cutting to do and Kim is not good with the dust due to her health so we mounted the suspension arms on the rear sub frame and called it a night. 

Day38 – Hokey cokey fuel tank

It has been a couple of weeks since my last update and things have been a bit slow.  The fuel line has turned up along with the steering knuckle and gear shift linkages.  I was unable to find an identical connector for the fuel line so I opted for a straight brass connector.  I cut the old connector off and using the steam from a kettle to warm the thin wall fuel line (unlike the ticker rubber reinforced fuel pipes supplied with the kit) and fitted the inline connector.  I’m pretty sure the seal was good enough but decided to fit a clip later.  The rest of the fuel pipes were showing signs of corrosion so I cleaned them back and repainted them dark green along with the power steering hydraulic pipes.

    

Now onto the sub frame:  I chopped the exhaust hanger off the sub frame and painted it up.  With the hanger removed I was able to hold the sub frame in place and assess the work required to fit the sub frame properly.  From speaking to Ben at MSC there is a metal crush tube surrounding each of the predrilled holes so I can adjust the hole alignment. A major point here: The bottom hole cannot be widened as it is designed to match the sub frame fixing holes.  I got a round rasp and started working on the worst of the holes.  All was going well until the note from the rasp went all metallic on me. Bugger I’ve hit the crush tube.  I put the sub frame up to tub and fitted the bolts again.  It was better but not enough.  The only alternative was to work on the other hole.  Working on the other hole as I pulled the rasp out it snapped in two. Double bugger!  So I persisted with the broken rasp until my patience and finger tips wore out. I put the sub frame up to the tub again still not enough.  Then an idea came to me I pulled out the battery drill and a 13mm flat blade drill bit.  Ten minutes later and success – the sub frame fitted and the bolts go all the way up and through the holes in the top plate.

      

The fuel tank, now resplendent in black with green pipes, it was time to put it in position. I gave the roll cage fixings a final check tightening as some won’t be seeing daylight again and used a stack of three tyres to rest the tank under the tub so I would only have the lift it a little to get it in place.  After a long struggle I managed to get a nut on each fixing bolt.  But there was no way the tank straps would go all the way to the tub.  I tried again, and then again. This was getting so frustrating. I moved the tank back on the straps and tried again, it was close, but no cigar.  The fit was tight and once the bolts were tightened I was concerned that the pipes and clips might be fouling on the tub.  So off it came...again.  Turns out from the scratched paint work on the top of the tank it was the roll cage bolts on the tank.

Now the only Murtaya in Holland, to my knowledge, belongs to a guy called Bart.  I read his build blog online a year or so ago and I remembered his solution to this problem was simple.  A ruddy big hammer! I downsized the solution to a rubber mallet and moulded the offending areas of the tank.  In the tank went and out it came again, a few more choice blows and in went again and in, out, in, out, shake it all about. You do the hokey cokey etc.

Finally, it went in smoothly and securely.  I used a hacksaw blade to check nothing was rubbing on the tank or the tub.  Now for the sub frame, using the same tyre stack as before I put the sub frame in place and started to wind up the bolts when the lightening strike of bollocks struck again.  The sub frame was fouling on the back of the fuel tank.  I gave up for the day – I was knackered