New mirrors arrived from CBS whom although a little dear offer the excellent service we have come to expect from them. Centre mirror isnt too pretty but does the job.
The bumper bar is the one item we really wished MNR could have got us. The cats expensive but is pretty simple. The bumper bar is cheaper to make but does a lot more, basically it means the entire front suspension is exluded from radius testing which is great as there are so many sharp edges and it also gives a mount for the indicators at the right height width that is suitable. Dads made something up which is a bit temporary but does the job - SVA only i assure you! Along with this we covered the bolts heads and nuts with nut caps where possible incase the bumper bar doesnt exclude them. Also thick heat shrink used to cover the track rod end adjuster nuts supported with cable ties as i've heard inspectors like to see them.
In the first sunny weekend a few friends and neighbours popped round to see what we've been doing all this time. All was going well untill the engine started to spluttler and eventually die. Trying to start again we noticed the fuel filter was filling with air so assumed we just needed some more fuel - simple! Turns out that didnt sort it and we could no longer hear the whizz of the fuel pump prime when the keys were turned. Instantly put this down to the pump and ordered a new one but were suspicious it couldnt handle no fuel for a couple of seconds although ive never run out of fuel in a regular car im sure it doesnt need a new fuel pump every time. A new Bosch 070 pump fitted again by Dad cured the problem which was reassuring with the SVA getting ever closer and i can assure you we will never go lower that a 1/4 of a tank.
MNR finally sent us some new switches which is great if not a little late but turns out there not the ones we sent back? Why im not sure. new ones arent green indicators but just blue blank switches. Oh well they will do for now. So finally we could assemble the scuttle and all the switches for final fitment. Of course this wasnt as simple as it sounds and numerous problems arose but i cant remember what they were but basically wasted another day with things not working/going in right and running issues again!
A picture showing the sidelights working now the scuttle is wired and bolted in.
Now its the friday before the sva and i saw a concerning topic on Locostbuilders regarding the need for a fuel neck restrictor(a little flap that makes only unleaded fuel pumps from a petrol station fit). Having never heard about this from MNR i was a bit shocked it had never been mentioned. I thought there would be nothing we could do but luckily CBS came up trumps again and having ordered it at 4pm in the afternoon it arrived saturday - phew! It apparenlty only fits/guaranteed to fit the CBS own filler caps but after removing our current one it fits perfectly from the back of the cap which is just the good news we needed although easily took an hour.
There are loads of other bits(last weeks list started at 50-60 jobs some major some minor) we've sorted over the last two weeks which would take an age to cover but i wont bore the readers that are still reading anymore. Finally the finished car the day before we drive to the test centre for our SVA.
