Day 57 - start hanging things on it

This morning it was back to the garage and make a start on the bonnet.  I wasn’t too sure where to start.  There is a lot of work to do.  Cut out the vents, all 12 of them, there were the headlight mounting plates to glue, cut out the bonnet locks, indicators, trim back the rear edge(to stop it hitting the windscreen later) and mount the hinge brackets.

First thing I used the dremel to cut a hole in the large front grilles.  Big enough to get the reciprocating saw in. It then occurred to me this was going to make a big mess.  It was raining outside so I can’t do it out in the back yard. I was going to have to do it in the garage that meant covering over everything I didn’t want to get covered in dust.

I decided that I would have to cover the engine and the car, my bikes and a few other areas so I put the cutting on hold and decided to bolt a few more pieces to the car, if only temporary, to get them out of the way and under cover.

I mounted the boot lid on its hinges and had a play trying to get the alignment right again. Now the car is on its wheels it is a lot easier to work with. I have two holes left to drill for the high level brake light cabling.  One on the bracket and one under the same bracket in the lid so it looks like the photo sent by Graham.

I fit the radiator unit the top mounting bracket had a good thick layer of dry powder coat on it and the tabs that fit in the side brackets had to be sanded down.  I checked the nut and bolt schedule there appeared to be 2 bolts missing.  The top plate has two holes in it which line up with rubber mounting grommets.  I had a couple of M8 x40 bolts which were left over from the steering column bracket so with a couple of washers and nyloc nuts to fix the bolts in place on the top bracket. Seeing as I was on with the cooling system I fitted the expansion tank and filler pipe. The line between the filler pipe and the metal pipe that runs across the top of the radiator the radius is now too tight and has a double kink in it so I think it will have to replaced.

I looked at the power steering radiator (also known as a bent piece of pipe) previously on the donor car the pipe was mounted in front of the radiator using one of the old radiator mounting brackets (now redundant) and fastening on to the front frame of the donor shell Which doesn’t exist any more.  Some searching around on the facebook photos revealed from the IBIS White car is the interchanger is completely missing. A little further investigation on the orange demo car reveals they have bypassed the cooling pipe also. Guess it is not required then.

Next the bonnet mounting brackets as soon as I put the bolt through bringing the rose joint and bracket together I spotted a couple of issues.  Firstly there is no way I can get the nut on the bolt. There simply is not enough room. A quick check on the photos I’d taken of the demo car at the Stafford show revealed split pins in the bolts instead of the nyloc nuts so that shouldn’t be a problem.  Secondly the shape of the rose joint fouls the bracket I suspect before the bonnet reaches its safe raised position.  Some fettling required here as, whilst it is not designed as a stop, there is a metal check strap for that it would be the next point of contact if the bonnet swings any further over.    So I need to mount the brackets on the bonnet and see how it all lines up.  First things first, after cleaning it of dust, I laid the Bonnet on the car to see how it all lined up. I couldn’t help taking a couple of photos. The back end of the bonnet will need trimming down and the sides will be held by the aero fittings.  The front to back position I wasn’t too worried about it was the side to side position that concerned me. But time was running short and I had places to be so I called it a day.

But It looks sooo good!

Day 56 - finishing off the big night

I managed to press the bush out no problem and with no damage I was able to reverse it and press it back in.  It was only when I got home I realised the lads who’d said it fitted no problem also had the same problem but thrown it together and it wasn’t sitting right.  Bugger! The thought occurred that because I had accidently put the bushes on backwards and if I had just swapped them over everything would have been fine. Doh!  So it was off to work again and press out the other bush and turn it around.  It took less than ten minutes to do it I’ve had that much practice. On the way back I popped into my parents to drill out the old sheared or split pins on the rod ends of the steering rack on a bench drill.

Back in the garage I put the front suspension assemblies together, fitted the wheels and went on to the steering rack which took 3 attempts to get the pipes and steering shaft through the hole in the sub-frame.  But after much sweating and cussing I managed to fit it all through and nipped up the pipe fittings.

I then went on to the prop shaft.  I’d checked with Graham.  Earlier models of Impreza had spacers between the centre mount and the underside of the car tunnel.  My donor didn’t have any but the bolts provided were 60 mm with a shoulder so I will have to borrow a 10mm die to extend the thread or find some replacements. I greased the gearbox end of the prop shaft fitted it to the gearbox and fixed the tail end. I marked out the centres for the centre mount after centralising the prop shaft measuring the point where the prop enters the diff nose mount. I drilled pilot holes to see where the holes came out on the top side of the monocoque tunnel.  The passenger side came out fine, I’ll get a nut and washer on there no problem, but the driver’s side is close to the tunnel wall and may require a bit of fettling.

I’d had enough for the day but couldn’t resist lowering the car from the axle stands and get it standing on its own wheels. Yay! It now looks more like a car and less of an oversized bath tub. And I called it a night.

Day 55 - It’s the big night - This time it has 4 wheels on... or not

Earlier in the week I had managed to get half a dozen friends co-ordinated so that they all turned up around the same time on Thursday evening…well except for Carl who turned up late as per the norm.  To recap this is how it went

First fit the rear wheels and square the tub on the frame. – This went fine and I was able to drill clear the gearbox mounting hole that had caused so much trouble so long ago.

Second lift the front and push the engine and gearbox under the front sub-frame (the engine is currently sat on the engine crane legs). – No problem. I also knocked away the cross braces with a mallet.

Third lift the front and rear together and remove the timber frames. And position two axle stands at the front corners of the tub. (I think this will have to be done quickly) –This didn’t go quite according to plan.  With four guys at the back they tried to lift the back up but couldn’t do it.  I stood there and a though flashed through my mind “Note to self: find bigger mates.”  The problem being there was no more room round the back of the car to get a hold. We shuffled the guys around putting the two guys at the front at the back as they were larger and two of the lighter guys to the front

Fourth lower the rear onto its wheels and the front onto axle stands. With the front guys guiding the sub-frame around the engine. .  We tried again and the back lifted no problem.  With the lads telling Carl, now at the front, to lift also! Late again Carl!  I pulled one frame out and replaced it at the front with and axle stand and repeated the same with the other side.  And gently the car was lowered on to its wheels and stands. Excellent!

Fifth lift the engine into place with the engine crane and fasten all the sub-frame bolts – Using the engine crane we lifted the engine into place and secured the sub-frame with four bolts and I went under the car to fasten the gearbox mounts.  The heavy work done! A call from Mike “Which side are you nipping up first?” I replied “Your side Mike”.  From my laid out position under the car all I could see were 6 pairs of feet two pairs at the front 2 pairs on each side – I had no idea which feet were Mike’s. So after a moments pause “Which side are you on Mike?” Everyone burst out laughing - the delivery was perfect!  But eventually every thing fastened in place.  All the holes lined up perfectly and I was able to connect the gear stick rear mounting bracket. A perfect fit – Brilliant!

Sixth mount the front wheel suspension arms and mount the wheels and steering rack to the sub frame. We split up into two teams to do each front swing arm but Mike had a problem. The rear bush wasn’t sitting right.  Apparently the lads at the other side all fit fine and after a bit of investigation I came to the conclusion I must have mounted the bush in backwards – Bugger!  There was nothing left to do but have a beer.  I’ll get the bush pressed out at work tomorrow.

And finally lift the car off the front axle stands with the engine crane and or trolley jack lower my baby on to its “feet”. Five out of six ain’t bad.

Day 54 - the boot lock

This afternoon I decided to drill the holes for the lock mechanism on the boot. I’d received basic measurements from Ben for the lock centre.  On the CKC build the located the lock in line with the hole cut in the back and then made an extension rod to suit.  However Graham just moved the lock closer to the latch and use the existing connecting rod.  So using his measurements I cut the lock hole with a 20mm hole saw then I tried an OCC – American Chopper method of putting tape over the donor car lock hole and cutting the key profiles out and then transfer the tape to the boot lid. 

Can’t say it really worked that well if I’m honest but that was probably down to the workers technique rather than the tools.  But it worked. I drilled the last hole for the connecting rod to fit through which seemed in the photos to be larger than necessary.  But when the rod is in place the rod is at an angle so moves laterally when operated with the key.

Day 53 We are having a late summer

The weather being on the up I took a couple of days off work top see what I could get done.  I’d put an order in the CBS Online for some nyloc and standard nuts, longer bolts and tube (for spacers) which I would need for the seat mounts.  The Honda seats are great but the rail mounts need moving inward to fit in to the tub.  Previously I’d taken the rails to my Dad’s workshop and with his help drilled out the rivets.  Now with the delivery I can re-assemble the rails. I cut the tube in to 25mm sleeves all 24 of them.  I then mounted the two main pieces offset with long bolts and spacers.  Now here’s where it got interesting.  When I put it together on the seat the slide lock fouled the seat base.  I referred back to the CKC build manual and spotted a few modifications that aren’t mentioned. The slide lock has been moved forward and some welding has been done on the cable holder. So I moved the slide lock which solved the passenger seat with some gentle persuasion (a rubber mallet to slightly reshape seat pan) managed to fit the rails. But the driver’s seat needs the cable holders.  One side I discovered could be sorted by bending the fixing end of the bracket 180 degrees and fixing it to one of the bolts- just need to apply a little heat.  The other side bracket is not so easy but with a little help.  I’ve never done any welding, but I know a man who can.  There is one thing that concerns me the relocated slide lock is now only fixed by one bolt.  So I plan to make a piece that fastens the second fixing back on to the rail.

Now, at last, my Non-ABS brake master cylinder has arrived so I swapped it out and then look at the connections. I spent a while looking at the best way to configure the pipes.  The two stainless flexes for the rear to the balance valve, the two pipes for the front brakes directly to the master cylinder. Then the two pipes from the rear to the balance valve.  The balance valve mounts on a bracket taken from the donor Subaru. I tried a number of different ways to get the lot together.  Now I know the ABS balance valve is different to the original non ABS version but they perform the same function (within tolerance) but the pipe fitting orientation is different. This doesn’t make it impossible just awkward.

A sweeter solution would be if the rear pipes were banjo fittings and the stainless flexes from the master had straight fittings. The balance valve could then be mounted flush to the steelwork and the connections would...flow easier and no donor bracket required.  The photo below might explain better.

After mounting the balance valve I tried fitting the rear pipes. One went in fine but the second I wasn’t happy both pipe fittings are straight thread but there have a slight bent in the fitting.  This makes things easier with the old Non-ABS valve, but in this case the bend presses the pipe on to the steelwork.  The only way I was able to correct this was to unfasten the whole pipe length to turn the pipe through 180 degrees.  Which was a long job but the P-clips don’t allow the remaining slack to move through them at all so I was going to have to undo them all anyhow.

It took me a while to get everything back in place but eventually it all looked good and I put the rear brake callipers in place and the rear wheels to see how to route the pipes to the callipers. I wasn’t happy for some reason the pipes were too close to the wheels until I realised I’d put the callipers on the wrong wheels.  With the correct calliper now in place, I thought back to graham’s advice which was to put a P-clip behind the shock and feed it back. But I had an alternative idea which was to fasten the brake pipe to the shock and then transfer to the tub in line with the trailing arm.  Then follow the hand brake cable back to the tunnel.  I must confess I’m struggling to see how I will fasten the pipe every eight inches around the diff nose bracket and trailing arm.

With two wheels on my wagon I thought I’d test the hand brake.  I pulled the lever and grabbed the wheel turning it forward I got nothing it wouldn’t budge - so far so good.  But turning it backwards I was able to move it.  I suspect the brakes need some bedding in the drum, whilst I had removed the coating of rust that had built up from 12 months on the garage floor had built up it would still need working in – that’ll be fun down the ten foot.

I can’t get proper access to finish the handbrake cable mountings because the wooden frame the tub is sat on. I suspect something similar for the brake lines around the Diff nose mounting. So I called it a night.

Day 52 Back to it...

Back to it and after some thought about the passenger door issue. I fitted the door with only the top and bottom fixings on the door and what do you know it fitted spot on. The two middle holes were out each by a couple of millimetres, but nothing a round file wouldn’t be able to fix with a little elbow grease. With a little jiggling the first alignment of the doors was done. Further alignment will be required when the window assembly and door furniture have been fitted.

Back to the boot lid and another attempt to get the lid aligned. I pressed it to the left repeatedly and with a bit of sanding still achieved absolutely nothing. It always seemed to just spring back to where it started. The grp is flexing and the aluminium isn’t bending. More thinking required... shame no beer left in the house.

Day 51 Pull the other one… its got hinges on it.

The last couple of weekends have been taken up firstly with a cycle ride across the country on the Way Of The Roses - Morecambe to Bridlington 170+ miles of up hill, down dale, and 35 mile an hour winds and the occasional “oh crap! My brakes are burnt out what do I do now?” That was fun weekend all in all… couldn’t climb stairs for a week after but a great time was had by all.  I chickened out at 45.7 mph simply because I didn’t know the road and didn’t know what was coming up after the bend ahead. Some of the lads really wanted to hit that magic 50mph mark though none made it.

Last weekend I went to the Stafford Kit car show which compared to other shows I’ve been to was an anticlimax.  The advertising was minimal and there were but a few car clubs present.  In part, I suspect, due to the poor weather forecast.  However I did get a chance to chat with Graham who was showing the Demo car.  I took a number of photos for my own information and we spent an hour discussing various aspects that I would be encountering very shortly in the build.

Back to earth and now able to move my legs with out pain I went back to the doors and Boot lid.  I decided to get the doors at least swinging correctly with at least some of the fixings in place. 

So to the Drivers door: I took the spreader washers off because they were fouling between the hinge lip and the fixing bolt and restricting the adjustment range on the door.  The washers I will modify later when I happy with the alignment. After that I found a number of points where the door was rubbing.  A quick go with a rasp and sandpaper made short work of the problem.  There is still some cutting back to do on the door seal mount and the door gap isn’t even yet but it swings freely.

The passenger door had problems of a different nature. I have previously mentioned the incorrectly fitted rivet nut. Now this is where it got a bit weird.  The rivet nut I thought was out of alignment was actually in the right place for the hinge plates to line up together.  Despite being 5mm different from the other door.  So does that mean the bottom rivet nut is out? Thinking I’m losing the plot I hung the door in the car using the fixing I originally measured as being out and the two top fixings.  I check and the door was in the right place. In fact it fitted better than the driver’s door.  It wasn’t until I looked down the side of the car I spotted the problem.  The front edge of the door was sitting about 6mm in on the sill.  The top edge of the door under the “A” pillar looks fine.  So I can only assume the bottom fixing that I thought was out might actually be in the right place and the middle two fixing holes are out.  I took a couple of spreader washer and packed them behind the bottom hinge which brought everything back in to alignment regards the body but this has repercussions when you try to open the door.  More thinking required…need beer!

Moving on to the boot lid: I was almost glad to see the demo car has the same alignment issues on the bottom edge of the boot lid.  The key issue is to get it aligned right on the leading edge at the top. An Email from Graham identified the up/down, forward/backwards adjustment the left to right adjustment is less conventional - Just push it, gently lean on it till it aligns.  I managed to get it so far within a few mm but that last couple of mm is a bugger.  I took the lid off and nibbled a bit of the bulkhead that was fouling the hinge.  But when I put the lid back on I still can’t quite get those last couple of mm.  So I called it a night.

Day 50 Done up like the proverbial Kipper

I got up this morning and just leaving the house when I saw a white box stuck outside the front door.  It was a Fedex box. It wasn’t left there last night so I guess it had been an early delivery.  I wasn’t expecting anything so my curiosity was raised – more toys from the boys?  I opened it and inside was a stiff envelope usually used for photos from Murtaya sports cars.  On the back it had a label: Documents Enclosed – multilingual instruction manual and step by step photo build. Coolio! At last a manual.  I opened the envelope and found only a couple of pages closer inspection revealed the assembly instructions for a “princess cozy coupe kiddie car” (the photo speaks volumes).

 

The Cheeky Buggers! It was a wind up.  And to be honest it had me chuckling all day.  But I had to respond in return besides I had a question on the door hinges. So this was my response 

Hi guys,

Great suprise with the delivery this morning - absolutely brilliant! As you can see from the photo I completed it no problem, even the roof.  Amazing the progress you can make with a manual. Still not sure about the colour scheme though? and the man from Autoglass thought I was taking the piss when I asked him to fit the windscreen....
 

 ...cheers

I got home and after sorting the blog out I went back to the hinges and took them off the doors I compared them up to one another to see the difference but they were fine then I had an idea and put the two doors side by side.  Bingo! Its time to play spot the difference. Can you see it?

Yup! The top nut fixing for the lower hinge (third one down) is 5mm out on the passenger door (the door on the right).

I called the lads at MCS and we discussed options there appear to be three, modify the hinge so it mounts vertically. Alternatively drill out the rivet nut, fill the hole and re-drill it but I don’t have a replacement rivet nut let alone a device to fit it. The third option would be to drill out the rivet nut and use a longer Nut and bolt with a spreader washer on the back.  This brought up another option on the doors.  In the past a number of builders have had issues with flex in the door when sorting out the alignment.  This can be fixed by standing the door on end and pouring in more resin.  Once cured the problem should be sorted.

We also discussed a few other things regarding the nose cone and boot hinges which I now find were incorrectly put together.  This was in part to the number of nuts bolts and washes in the schedule.  So I asked them to check the schedule.

 On Sunday I got a call from Dan who, after I recounted the story of the fedex package, confessed that he was the culprit.  The bugger! So it was a somewhat explanatory email I sent to the lads at MCS who were probably thinking I’m a right fruit loop.  I think Dan needs a new job he clearly hasn’t got enough to do – Maybe I’ll send an email to his boss explaining just how good a worker he is.

Day 49 grilles and doors

I got home today and found a note saying a delivery was with my neighbours.  I popped round and picked up the box.  Inside the box well wrapped in bubble-wrap were the 4 Grilles one for the rear and three for the front.  Awesome!  Graham had told me the check the friction welded stud fixings as they had slipped on an earlier build.  All looked good.  Just wish the rest would turn up.

I decided to mount the doors and dug the hinges out of the box.   The bottom hinges have been modified because of the shallowness of the doors (part of the character of the car) The driver’s side door hung okay but the door seemed to be sitting too far back so it wouldn’t actually close - Another question for Ben Do I need to slot the hinges?  I went on to the other door and immediately something was wrong the lower hinge it wouldn’t line up with the top hinge. It looked twisted. It was late so I called it a night.

Day 48 -Seat mods and Boot lid

Having looked at the bonnet I’m sure that my dad’s jigsaw is not up to the job of cutting the vents and grilles in the bonnet.  I popped out to look at getting a reciprocating saw....ended up buying one and a few other bits and pieces.  I came home and decided to move on to the steering column. The new frame came with the rest of the kit and I put it in place loosely putting the bolts through the pedal brackets.  The holes in the frame mount to the underside of the dash but I can only fit two/three of the four fixing points. Me thinks another call to Graham is in order.

I sat around thinking what to move on to? From having very little left to do I have gone to so much to do I don’t know what to do next.  I decide to go on to the boot lid Graham had said that I need to re-use the seal from the donor car.  Easily extracted from the donor I see that there will be a fair amount of fettling to be done to get the boot lid to fit properly.

 I assembled the boot hinges and mounted them.  One side was rubbing on the rear bulkhead. A bit of filing down soon gave it clearance. I dug out the locking mechanism from the boxes.  Taking note from the CKC build I attached a piece of wire to the latch release. The last thing I wanted to do was shut the boot before the key and release lever in the “cockpit” are fitted and then not being able to open it again....ever.  I need to get the hole measurements for the lock, mounting access hole and link shaft.  In the CKC build they replaced the link shaft between the lock and latch with a longer piece.  I looked about the scrap ends at work but we don’t have much call for 4mm. I might have to innovate something.   

During the week I placed a call to Ben to find out how the remaining outstanding parts were doing.  He agreed with me on the steering rack mount that 2 fixings would be enough.  I had also had time to think about lowering the car and getting the engine mounted and realised I couldn’t go much further because I was still waiting for a couple of pieces on the brake master cylinder.  This is a problem because any slack left on the rear brake pipes needs to be at the back to allow for the swing of the suspension assembly.  If I lower the car and put the engine and prop shaft in place I won’t be able to get at the brake cable fixings to work the slack to the rear.  This got me thinking on what to do next? I had a number of jobs to do but as I worked each job over in my head I quickly came to a grinding halt each time due to either parts, technical details or a second set of hands.

I worked out I’m going to need about 6 pairs of hands to lower the car from its timber frame.  I figure 3 on the back and two on the front and the last to pull out the timber frames. And take a few photos.

First fit the rear wheels and square the tub on the frame.

Second lift the front and push the engine and gearbox under the front sub-frame (the engine is currently sat on the engine crane legs).

Third lift the front and rear together and remove the timber frames. And position two axle stands at the front corners of the tub. (I think this will have to be done quickly)

Fourth lower the rear onto its wheels and the front onto axle stands. With the front guys guiding the sub-frame around the engine.

Fifth lift the engine into place with the engine crane and fasten all the sub-frame bolts

Sixth mount the front wheel suspension arms and mount the wheels and steering rack to the sub frame.

And finally lift the car off the front axle stands with the engine crane and or trolley jack lower my baby on to its “feet”.

Job done! Easy – yeah right we'll see! Its a plan at least.

There are still a few things to sort before. Like get the donor car sat on pallets so I can reuse the axle stands once the car is on its wheels.  I have managed to acquire some pallets, from a friend of my parents who was scrapping them, and my uncle has said he will bring them round in his van.  That was a few months ago so a subtle nudge got them delivered this week.

Ben came through with the measurements for the boot lock.  He suggested I could get away without it which is true. I can just use the lever release beside the seat. This I would consider if the latching mechanism was on the lower lip o f the boot and not the boot lid itself. There is a mechanical release beside the hook but the “boot open” switch obscures the access.  So if the cable ever snapped the boot would remain closed forever. I would probably have to cut a hole in the underside of the boot floor to get to the release. So I opted for the traditional key release from the donor car.  I removed the boot lid from the hinges because with the lid down it was sat about 3/8 of an inch to the right of where it was supposed to be and so I could work on the lid off the car.

The boot lid laid in position and the surrounding lip was too proud for it to sit flush.  I took a flapper wheel on the drill and lowered the lip enough to make the lid sit close to flush with the body on top.  I noticed that the back lower edge is proud of the back profile of the car. This will take a little work but I want to chat to Ben to confirm I have the hinge assembly right before I move them to the left by slotting the bulkhead fixing holes.

I was popping up to my parents for dinner.  Now a while back I had tried to put one of the Honda s2000 leather seats I had bought from a scrap yard in Dewsbury.  It concerned me that the seat wouldn’t fit in the tub.  Going back to the CKC build manual I saw the photo showing the seat runners spaced in the seat by 50mm.  I took the seats to pieces and split the runners off and took them up to my parents to use my dad’s bench drill to drill out the rivets holding the rails and seat mounts together. After a bit of trial and error to start and some assistance from my dad we worked out a system og centre punching each rivet drilling a 3mm pilot hole and then an 8mm took the remainder of the rivet heat off. A knock with the centre punch made short work of the rest of the rivet.  Job done, now I need some M6 nuts bolts and spacers to re assemble the runners and put the seats back together.

I moved on to finally fix the steering column bracket.  After checking I was happy with the position, by putting the steering wheel on, I drilled the fixing holes and then dug a holesaw out and cut 2 holes to get the nut, spreader washer and spanner head to tighten it all up.  

Day47 15-8-11 – Woohoo! Toys!!

I had an email from Ben two weeks ago subject: a slight slipup.  Turns out there had been some confusion between the lads and their suppliers and they had been provided with all the bits and not just the module 2 parts – a slight slip up?  Basically they were asking if I would be prepared to pay for the third module also.  I thought about it overnight and called them in the morning and with some discussion I agreed to cough up the remaining price.  This will mean I’m on baked beans on toast for the next couple of months but at least I won’t be short of things to do – There goes my social life.

Got a call last week from Ben arranging a delivery date.  I decided to take a few days off after the delivery date to try a make a start on the car and make some progress on the build.  Ideally I want to get the car to the point where the car can be lowered to its wheels but that would mean getting the engine in.  I’ll see how I get on, could be wishful thinking. 

D-Day: Whilst waiting for the lads to turn up I finished up the rear brake pipes I’d started earlier in the week.  Dan had come down on Tuesday evening and we torqued up the bolts on the rear sub-frame and suspension then went on to mounting the rear brake pipes in the tunnel.  With the tunnel now fixed in place I realised I had ran out of 6mm P-clips.  I suspected I’d need a few more and I wasn’t sure how I was going to run the pipes to the rear callipers.

The lads arrived about half one in the afternoon and we spent the best part of three hours unloading the van and going through the parts as they came out.  Some stuff went straight inside the house such as the heated windscreen (which until it gets fitted is very fragile). There are still some parts outstanding which would follow in the next week or so as they become available.  The front and rear grilles would be delivered directly to me from the manufacturer.  Incidently manufacturer also makes the grilles for Bentley cars.

I had received the technical details for the fuel filler pipes from Ben.  I’d sent an email explaining my dilemma. The pipe in the pictures and the pipe I had been given were different lengths and I suspected I didn’t have enough if I followed the instructions.  The lads had brought up two alternative pieces of pipe, however, the diameters were different one too small and one too large.  After a bit of discussion I agreed to proceed and they would send the correct piece up with the other bits.

The lads left me to my toys with a long trip ahead of them back to Exeter.  We had covered a lot of ground in what felt like a very short time, my head was buzzing with headlights, windows, locking mechanisms, doors, dashboard and an awesome looking bonnet.  That night I sat down and went through the list having a closer look at the parts just getting a handle on things and the work ahead.  There were a couple of minor issues and things I can’t account for but a call to Graham should put it right.

Now with the details for the Fuel line filler and breather pipe I marked out the three hole positions two through the boot floor and the filler cap mounting.  I’m always nervous cutting big holes in the exterior bodywork – no room to fluff it up.  I double checked the measurements and drilled three pilot holes on the centre points I’d marked out. I cut out the exterior hole.  Now having pilot holes I can cut the holes from underneath the car.   Doing it this way it is easier to keep the drill square to the floor.  I cut out the breather pipe hole then looked at filler pipe hole.

  Drawings showed I need a 64mm hole but the pipe going through is only 42mm that seems a lot of backfilling with sealant.  I took a risk and chose a 54mm hole cutter.  If I had to I’d have to cut it larger if necessary. I decided to cut the pipe. I took a hacksaw to the top “flange” part of the pipe, in line with the diagram. The lower half of the pipe I marked up and cut and then the lower end of the “waste” section of the pipe according to the diagram.  I put the two pieces in place and compared them to the pilot hole location.  It looked surprisingly good.  Good enough I decided to cut the hole out.

After cleaning up all the edges I put the flexible pipe on the underside pipe and pinched it up with a jubilee clip. I fitted the filler cap on the top end then with it all in place and a couple more jubilee clips put it all together. I might have to chop 20mm of the bottom of the top pipe (if that makes any sense) but it all looks good.  I drilled the 6 fixing hole of the filler cap and realised I didn’t have any polyurethane sealant. I rang Graham about all the questions I had collated over the last couple of days.  Turns out they had an eventful drive home with someone dropping a brick from a bridge over the motorway into the windscreen of their van.  I suspect that woke them up. The police were not interested – stating that the perps “would be gone by now” and they are probably right....till the next time...and then?

Day 46 23-7-11 - Three jobs I’m nervous about.

Drive shaft, Differential Rear Mounting Bolts and Gear shift mount.  This weekend I need to cross these jobs off the list if I’m to get the engine in place.  And I need to get everything in place and tighten it all up before that. All these jobs concerned me.

I had a cracking piece of luck I was digging through a box of nuts and bolt left over from the build of the garage. There were a few 12mm bolts.  I took the one of the rear mount bolts out.  They are not really bolts but studs with different gauge threads at each end. The Differential end of the stud was standard M12 thread.  The collar of the bolts was exactly the right length to fit through the bush.  They could have been made for the job. I tried one on the car the thread was about three turns too long.  So it was out with the grinder, chop three turns off and touch it up to clean the thread. Repeating the process on the second bolt I had a sudden thought.  Was the bolt made of the right stuff?  Obviously bolts of different types of material can take different loads.  I looked at the bolts used for mounting the engine and gearbox.  The heads of the bolts carried two markings 8.8 and L.  The bolts I had were 8.8 and DFL.  A quick check online told me the 8.8 was the hardness rating so at least they are the same rating as the rest of the car.

I took a set of pipe grips to the second stud bolt and it came out no problem.  Both bolts fitted I moved on to the drive shaft that had popped out after a slightly bodged differential rebuild where they tore the oil seal and crushed it in to the shaft splines.

I had tried numerous times to refit the shaft with the differential off the car.  The circlip that should be on the shaft was still inside the diff and the advice Graham had given was fit the differential to the car and hit the hub end with a big hammer (via some wood).  Now I am not a mechanic and having sheared an number of bolts dismantling the donor and belting some key parts 

together has me ....hesitantly cautious.

I unbolted the suspension arms leaving the coil unit to hold the weight of the hub.  Then with a block of wood on the hub I checked the alignment and gave it a couple of medium whacks with a lump hammer.  I checked the diff. To my surprise it looked good.  The outer cases of the shaft and diff looked as if it was in position.  I gave it a couple of turns and it popped back.  I tried again this time a fair bit harder, a couple of turns to check it was secure and then a final tug back. Done! Phew! With a fair amount of relief I put the suspension arms back on the hub.

 Now I turned my attention back to the tunnel. I adjusted the marks I had made for the hand brake. Now happy that they were now correct I turned my attention to the hole where the pinch had been. I made up a small batch of the resin filler and pressed it on to the hole and smoothed it over.  With the remainder of the resin I touched up one of the roll cage pads that I’d missed. Then while it was curing I drilled the handbrake holes and fitted the handbrake hooking in the handbrake cables and pressing in the handbrake cable grommets.

With the resin cured I looked at the gear shift rear bracket and the gear shift hole.  The bracket holes weren’t a problem until I realised the brackets holes were 6.5mm and the holes on the diagram were 6.5mm but the nuts and bolts supplied were M8’s.  So I opened up the bracket holes and drilled 8mm holes in the tunnel.  Next was the gear stick opening. Now here checked the measurements against the drawing and noticed my centre line was drifting.  There is a fixing plate that clamps the gearshift gasket to the tunnel. I put it on the tunnel in the marked positions but it looked like it was drifting off by a few millimetres.  This, I suspect, is down to my measuring of the centreline with the pinch causing an obstruction and manual layup.  On this occasion after a bit of debate with myself I lined it up by eye and marked out the cut line. I’d borrowed my dad’s jigsaw to do the job and after drilling a start hole managed to cut out.  Towards the end it started to get a bit tough. It wasn’t until I took the blade out that I realised why.  The fibreglass had literally stripped the blade of its teeth.

I spoke to Graham earlier I had laid the rear brake lines in place but there were 6 grommet on each pipe and I didn’t know how many I would need at each end before I clip them all the way down the tunnel.  It turns out that I would only need 2 or maybe three all together.  He also informed me that my bonnet and other GRP parts is in manufacture and hopefully he will be able to arrange a delivery date soon. 

Day 45 11-7-11 Bubble trouble

Earlier in the week I recruited a couple of friends Russ and Carl to assist moving the tub on the stand.  Russ turned up with his wife Claire who confessed she couldn’t see any difference from the last time she had visited – That was when Russ had helped me lift the rear differential out from under the donor car.  In order to fit the “hockey stick” fuel line cover the tub needed to move.  It was only a couple of inches, but it was necessary.  I untied the front end from the stand and it was clear the tub was back heavy as the front end lifted.  Carl held it in place whilst Russ and I took the weight at the back then we all lifted.  It took a couple of attempts to get it right and this time I used 2 pieces of rope to tie the front down.

Having spoken with Graham about the fixing spacing I decided to space them approximately 250mm apart.  Technically cables and pipes are required to be fixed every 200mm (8” in old money). However the hockey stick isn’t technically a pipe it is a cover.  So my decision was to have a max spacing to 250mm between fixings. Carl and I measured up from the front end but couldn’t get a reasonably spaced fixing at the rear. So we marked up the frontend up to the bend and then measured the fixing points from the rear up to the bend.  Then laying the pipes in the cover we held it in place and drilled pilot holes and added the self tappers and called it a night.

Carl had also spent some time checking my measurements and it would appear my idea of a right angle is somewhat lacking and one of the points for the hand brake I had marked was out by a couple of millimetres. Now corrected I looked to the “pinch”. The pinch is the best way I can describe it. It is a crest of resin and fibre in the centre of the tunnel.  By all accounts it should not be there and Graham confirmed it could be removed. I took the Dremel with a cutting disc and sliced around it underneath there was a void, a bubble if you will. I cleared the area and then thinking back to my sailing days I tapped around the sides with the back of a screwdriver.  One side sounded different. The top layer was delaminated from the base layer.  I tapped further it was not massive area but it needed cutting back and re-bonding.  I cut the top away one small piece at a time until I couldn’t put a screwdriver blade between the top and bottom layers.  I have some glass fibre mixed resin left over from the roll cage mounting pads that should finish the job off.

Next it was the handbrake cable grommets no problem with the aid of a 20mm hole saw and the Dremel.  I ran the handbrake cables through the holes and looked at the cable mounts.  The clips were corroded so I stripped them back and treated them with metal prep and a couple of coats of paint.  Whilst I had the wire brush head on the grinder I looked to the brake disks that had been sat on the garage floor since I took them off the donor car.  I cleaned them off and had a look at the state of the discs and something looked wrong the front discs were fine but the inside face of one of the rear disks was a mess.  Now I know when I bought the donor car I knew the brakes had been overhauled and the disks had been skimmed.  That was one of the reasons for choosing this donor.  But the inside face of one of the rear disks clearly had been missed.  I will have to see if I can get that disk face skimmed on a lathe.

Day 44 – 29/6/11 Its a needle in a haystack time – I knew this would happen

With the outside temperature rising into the thirties I expanded the holes from 8mm to 12mm using the step cutter and with the aid of a heal bar managed to line up the holes enough to get the bolts through. I put all the hub bolts in place it all fitted fine. I gave the hub a “strong tap with the rubber mallet to see if the shaft would slip over the circlip in the differential and into the correct position.  It didn’t budge.  I decided I would pay it further attention later with some timber and a bigger hammer and a cooler temperature.  I have a mat to lie on when working under the car but the garage was like an oven. And it was more comfortable to lie on the cooler concrete floor.  I even opened both garage doors to try and get some air flow through.

For now it was on to the bottom brackets on the diff nose mount.  They lined up no problem. I was concerned they were a little low and the spread washers on the other side would foul with the floor but need not have worried.

    

I climbed into the tub and armed with a tape measure, a steel rule, a silver paint pen and a pencil.  The MSC Forum had a drawing of the holes that need cutting for the central tunnel. These constitute two grommet holes for the handbrake cables, Handbrake cable clamp, handbrake mounting holes, gearshift rear mount fixing holes and gearshift access hole.  First is a Line straight across the rear of the tunnel. That’s straight forward.  The next is a centre line along the tunnel.  This is more by eye than anything.  With the tub being a manual layup there are no reference points to measure from to get a centre line.  For the handbrake this is a more aesthetic the cables have a small amount of “play”.  I suspect the gearshift rear mount is a different concern but there are bushes that allow for a little play and then there is the gearshift.

I found the gasket clamp and laid it on the tunnel.  The gearshift gasket has two locating points on the clamp on the centre line of the clamp. I tried numerous different points to find a measure from to get a centre line.  For some reason I was always 5mm off.  Side of the tunnel, side of the tub it made no difference.  It was always 5 mm out.  So this is going to be a “by eye” measurement.  I marked up the best centreline I could and measured off the centres for each hole.  Then I got the new handbrake out of its box -A Rover handbrake.  I wondered why? but the different method of adjustment and the length of the link cable soon gave me the reasons why.

Right now I need the handbrake cable clamp.  Now where did I put it... I went through every box of gear I had stored from the donor – no joy.  Then I tidied the whole garage and went through each box again including my tool chest - still no joy.  Where has it gone? I know what it looks like, I remember taking it off the donor car.  Two pieces of metal, fixing holes top and bottom with the top piece bent at each side to capture the outer handbrake cable sheath.

The scorching temperature of the garage and the lost handbrake clamp did a bloody good job of winding up my frustration.  I knew I’d lose something from the start.  I’d tried so hard to label, tag and store everything I took off the car so where in Hull did I put it!  I stood there soaked in sweat my language becoming some would describe as colourful, bordering on the flouresant.

There was one last place to look - The donor car.  I couldn’t believe I’d leave it in there -I knew I needed it.  I even remember taking it off.  I took the canvas cover off the donor car and started removing the doors, glass, interior panels, air ducts, speakers and redundant steelwork.  After emptying one side with no joy I started on the other side.  Eventually as I removed the last piece of duct there it was in the back of the passenger footwell.  The two pieces one on top of the other as intended, staring up at me.  I could almost see it smiling up at me – you bugger!

I put everything back in the donor car, pulled the cover over it and called it a day.  Still at least I had cleaned the workshop.

Day 43 21/6/11 It’s all in the balance

Dan popped round to assist with the outstanding bolts on the rear strut tops. It took the two of us and some tape on the ratchet spanner.  Now it is on to mounting the differential. I hoped to mount the Differential nose bracket first and fixed it in place then when looking at the differential itself we decided it would be easier to put the nose mount on the differential off the car and fit the whole lot as one.

We were right eventually. With the nose mount now bolted to the diff we put it under the car. We discussed how we would lift slide the rear bolts into the bushes and hold it in place.  In order to lift it we had to move the tub back on the mount about 4 inches. We were about to lift it into place when I had a thought.  The diff with its nose mount and the hubs represent a sizable chunk of weight. I gently pressed down on the rear of the car and the front of the car lifted. Doh! I dug out a length of rope and tied the front frame to the wooden framework the tub was sat on.  This is obviously a temporary solution till the engine is fitted but I can’t help wondering if it will tip the other way once the engine is fitted.

  

We lifted the diff tail first into the new bushes on the rear sub-frame we then stacked 3 wheels under the diff nose and set about fixing the nose bracket.  Once the Diff nose bolts were in place I tightened up the rear diff bush fixings.  New minor problem – the new bushes appear to be thicker than the original bushes.  There appears to be about 6mm difference (see the photo).  Everything is tight and solid but a little voice in the back of my mind says the IVA inspector will frown upon this and I may have to replace the stud bars with something longer.

We moved onto the trailing arm mounts with the aid of a heel bar we were able to line each bolt up on one side the other side was going to take a bit more work.  It was getting late so we called it a night.