Build Day 26

Front Wings

The front wings are complete wrap around pieces where the bracket starts at the stub axle which attaches to a sleve at either end and then to two "L" brackets which hold the arch on. This makes it all very fiddly and quite hard to get alligned rigtht and is probably why it took the etire day to sort out. First we started by removing the overlap weld from the rear of the upright. Dad had fitted all the brackets and arms together which required quite a bit of filling. The sleeves are bolted to the central bracket and "L" brackets. Holding the arch in place we marked where the arch needs to be trimmed for the bracket and where we wanted to cut the front at an angle to look similar to the rear. We then bolted the wing bracket to the arch with dome head bolts and rivnuts in the bracket.

Heres how it all looks

Bodywork - Final Fit

As we are nearing completion its time to get everything back together. Once all the wires are fed through the scuttle it is being attached with two locating bolts towards the front of the car and 4 bolts(existing tub bolts) reachable from inside the car.



The bonnet has been left a while again and whilst standing up its spread out again and not a great fit. Like the scuttle were using the existing tub bolts to give something for the bonnet to locate into. There are 3 bolts either side of the bonnet and we have drilled the bonnet to fix into the bolt heads. Once this was done we left it so that hopefully after a few nights it might fit around the scuttle shape a bit better so we can add the bonnet catches next saturday.




On the other hand the nose cone isnt looking too bad in the pictures but were going to try and reduce the gap further where it meets the tub if possible.

Build Day 25 - Its even colder but theres light at the end of the tunnel!

Last week was cold but its nothing on the weather this week with 12 inches of snow! We have both been really busy with work, I've had interviews and of course the days of for the obligatory snow days!

Not much has been done. Now its saturday and we still cant open the garage door because of the snow so were going to try and work indoors. The main projects for today are more wiring and holes for gauges, R1 clock and switches in the scuttle.

Exhaust Tip

First off though we needed to finish the exhaust silencer. The tip has a much smaller diameter hole than that of the silencer. Dad used some thin aluminium to create a spacer and then tightened it up with the Mikalor exhaust band clamp. That finalised, we started the engine and wow the difference is night and day. It really has turned the roar into a mellow throb which were hoping will be enough for the stringent SVA noise regulations but we might want something fruitier to compete with the pink V8 cobra replica a few houses down once its registerd.

Wiring

I dont know how many times i have written about wiring but its too much so imagine actually carrying out the work. I had quite a few wires to extend then - illumination, earths, ignition and sensor wires. I have connected all the earths and lives into two parallel circuits based on a layout I remember from primary school electronic work.


It seems to work pretty well - the leds are activated once the side light button is pressed.


I completed all the wiring from the main harness to the savage switches with some guidance from Dave(DPD.net) on the difficuly hazard and indicator sub loom as the savage switches are a 2 pole switche which make it far more difficult than the stalk on the sierra was. Heres a simplified diagram of what I have carried out - hopefully it will help some others in the same situation although i havent been able to test it yet.


Now ive made all the important changes I thought it was about time to give something a try. Easiest to test are the side lights and fog lights. Plus the fog light only comes on after the sidelights are on its also an important test to ensure the wiring is correct. I reconnected the fog and side light and insulated all the open connectors I could see. I flicked the key and pressed the side light switch and a fuse popped so we had an open circuit withing the side light wiring. We eventually came to the realisation the number plate light wires were earthing so with a new fuse and the wires insulated we tried again AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT! Ok it sounds simple turning on a switch but this is all part of work we started back in March so we were really chuffed it worked.



Now onto everything else so we have put the rear arches back on and both headlights in to test the horn, hazards, indicators, headlights, and main beam. The horn is ridiculously loud and I will be getting one for my Leon to replace its dodgey tooter soon as this project is done. Headlights and main beam are fine but dont seem really bright which I guess is just because its in day light. The main beam also activates the warning light on the R1 clocks as I spliced it into the loom saving the need for an additional warning light(black yellow). Indicators work on both sides and illuminate the R1 Clock warning lights(brown and dark green wires). Hazard as I imagined is the difficult one. Both lights flashed but something blew and then we only had one side flashing and before we knew it nothing was flashing and the relay didnt click so i checked the continuity over the diodes and they have definitly had it so il replace them in the week from maplins QL80 to QL81C.

Scuttle Trimming

With the components near finished (i say near as it never feels finished) Dad started making holes all over the scuttle to ressemble swiss cheese. Were going for 7 savage switches below the clocks in the centre with 2 on the tunnel for security and a nice symetrical layout if all goes to plan. Im glad he is doing this job as I would hate to cut the hole for the clock as you cant use a hole saw and there is no room for error as too big and it just wont fit and we need a new dash.

With something fitted to it

Number Plate Light

Only last week we realised we didnt have one as we were sure it was hidden in a box in the attik but sadly it was only a Racetech mirror. MNR got one to us pretty quickly and its just a case of drilling 3 holts and securing with nuts. Connecting it up wasnt too bad its got a weird way of connecting the wires. I used bullet connectors pusged into the sockets and clamped up tight with pliers.

Boot Cover

As a quick temporary measure Bassett Senior is making a boot cover out of MDF that we plan to stick in place and spray black. As its cold the kitchen became his workshop


Its proving a bit more trouble that we thought but should be completed sometime in the week.

Build Day 24 - Its Bloody Cold!!!!

My god is it cold out today. With the garage space tight as the cars track is rather wide and needing to work round the car its got to be moved out onto the drive. For most Sunday morning its been cold with a freezing breeze but about mid day it starts snowing - its better than rain atleast.

Exhaust Silencer

As mentioned in a previous post we have an MNR exhaust bracket which were not 100% happy with and wanted to fabricate something the right sixe but with time pushing on we have kept it and made it taller and deeper to accept our silencer with the bobbin at the side. We also bought some proper mikalor style exhaust clamps that will go through the SVA. Dad spent the morning fettling it to fit and its bolt to the chassis rail with two bolts and two bolts to the floor. With everything put together it is fully supporting itselt.

Brake Caliper and Hoses

Fitting the pads to the Wilwood calipers is a real breeze with the push in retaining clamps. Its really nice find bits like this designed to be strong, functional and quick to fit. I then mounted the caliper to the mounting bracket with some loctite and then bolted the unit to the uprights with more loctite and spring washers. With the wheels off we attached the safety washers to the top wishbones on the nut side as apparently these are needed to stop the rod end being pulled over the nut. These aren't needed on the bottom as our wishbones are flipped over so the bearing cannot be pulled through so I have finished it off with just washer on the nut side before the spacer. Next up is the braided Goodridge hoses - As MNR had only just started supplying these when we ordered them the hose thread is m10x1 whereas the Wilwoods are 1/8 NPT so we got some rather unsightly adapters until we can get new hoses. They dont tighten up 100% so were going to use a little PTFE tape. Were not sure its actually suitable for use with brake fluid but we used it only on the last threads hoping it wont be an issue. The hoses went together really easy on the caliper side but on the tight and hard to get to chassis side its, er - tight! Eventually though I got them tightened up. I wont know if there tight enough untill we have actually bled the system but we will soon find out.



Rear hoses were easier with no adapters needed as we have stock Sierra calipers and with the wheel off we just attached one end of the hose to the caliper and the other to the copper union with a lot more space to use a spanner compared to the front. However they are very close to the wheel so may need tieing down to avoid chaffing.