A picture speaks a thousand words...

... or I hope so, because this installment is going to be light on words and big on visuals. Work is a nightmare so progress is still sloooow!

Below we have a nice picture proving that I can drill in straight lines (I'm getting better,) This is my rather lovely stainless braided fuel line.

Above and below you can see that the scuttle and one-piece tunnel cover have been trimmed to fit and now rest in place. The first Gulf logos are on too - I couldn't resist seeing how they'd look.

My very nice black/polished Minotaur Minilite-look-a-likes.

Also with Cortina stub-axle and Raceleda brake disc.

Work on the wiring continues but is now more-or-less on hold until the Stoneleigh show when I purchase the gubbins required. Soon after that, the main body-tub can go on.

About time eh?

Cheers

TC

Kit Car Crisis (I am a Muppet!)....

In a daze of stupidity this weekend I greased a couple of bearings with Copperslip! Copperslip: the clue is in the name. The stuff contains tiny pieces of metal - perfect for wearing down bearings. Needless to say that when the error of my ways was pointed out, I spent a good few hours cleaning everything with diesel then thoroughly rinsing. I will re-grease with the correct stuff tonight.

I also learnt that the motor is best lifted in by three of you - two lifting and one guiding. Have had to touch-up the powdercoat as a result of that "lesson."

So all in all, I've had less haphazard weekends. On the plus-side, the fuel line is in and the diff is in place. Huzzah! Pics to follow.

Cheers

TC

An unhealthy habit and a new addition...

I appear to have developed a costly and unhealthy habit which has occasionally led to me jabbing myself with small pointy bits of metal. Contrary to what people might tell you, I have not become a heroin junkie. I do however have an unhealthy habit for drill bits. On Friday alone I snapped 5 – that’s right, 5!!!

It all started to go ‘Pete Tong’ when I was drilling a piece of flat bar which would normally be used to mount the handbrake. The 1.5mm titanium bit I was using snapped – I was probably going too fast. Some of the drill-bit got lodged in the chassis and subsequent attempts to drill the bar resulted in blunt bits, a melted bit and a pleasant red-glow around the hole – well the garage is cold! A brand new Bosch bit finally did the business and normal service was resumed.

So why all the drilling? I finally thought it time to crack-on and fit the posh stainless braided brake lines. On the whole it went ok. The only real PITA is that I didn’t quite have enough slack to go as straight as I'd have liked in the front of the tunnel. The result (pictured) looks more like a Welsh mountain pass than a roman road and I shall dispise that part of the car for ever as a result… hopefully once the prop and motor are in though it won’t be so obvious. It also took-up the area that I was intending to use to mount the regulator/rectifier so that’s now moved to the top of the tunnel. The brake lines are nearly all in. I just need to replace the Cleko fasteners with some ‘real’ rivets once they arrive.

That's real blood in the picture as well - Ouch!

There’s been a new addition to the family – Julia’s twin sister gave birth to Francesca Scarlett Coleman a few weeks ago. I’d like to show you a picture but I can’t so here’s a picture of my baby in its cradle instead.

The weekend also saw some serious head scratching in terms of the wiring. I’ll say more when I know what the hell I’m doing! Parts either returned or on their way back to me this week include rear bearing carriers (thanks Derek) with new bearings fitted, a modified steering column (thanks Col – your welding shames most of the manufacturers!) and my freshly ceramic coated exhaust. How exciting is that?

Anyhoo – I’m off to do a bit more.

TC

Slow and steady wins the.... Hillclimb?

I'm not exactly flying through the build at the moment - mostly due to work commitments allied to a lack of sundry-type parts. However, there is some movement.

The picture below shows the footwell panel ready for powdercoating and held in place with Cleco fasteners. These things are brilliant. I've had the panels on and off a dozen or more times and these temporary rivet type devices make it so easy! They are simply squeezed into place with a special pliers and removed in the same way. Mine were bought from http://www.nfauto.co.uk/ and are a must of you have a lot of panelling to do on a kit car. I think they're right up there with a Dremmel in terms of useful tools.

Other work has focused on the wiring and things are starting to fall into place. I'm desperately trying to keep the wiring as neat as possible. The picture below shows the ECU, starter solenoid and Kliktronic controller bolted to the centre tunnel. I need to invest in some wire to get it all plumbed in now.

The new flexible brake lines have arrived from Merlin Motorsport and these will go in as soon as I can get hold of some 6.5mm p-clips.

I was originally hoping to have the engine in these weekend but a combination of 4 nights out on the town this week and lack of time to order bolts has meant that it'll have to wait. There's little chance to make great strides this weekend due to work commitments.

That said, I hope to get the remaining aluminium panel (scuttle/footwell tops) drilled and ready for fitting at a later date. I really need to sort out a powdercoater also!

If you want to see a similar car coming together more quickly, try here: http://mymnrvortx.blogspot.com/ Steve actually collected his kit a week later than me!

In any case, I'm enjoying my time in the garage!


TC

P.S. If you've never tried drinking cocktails named after cars and talking to another Petrolhead with a similar machine I can recommend it. Cheers!

Still no pictures and limited progress.

I have finally got all 100 holes drilled in the aluminium footwell panels and the chassis. I have 3 big holes left before the whole lot can be deburred and finally sent to be powdercoated. Two of these holes are for the brake master cylinders, the final hole is to run the brake line to my line-lock through.

There's more parts to be sorted for powdercoating at the same time. These are:

• 2 x Fuel tank securing straps
• High level brake light mounting panel
• 2 x nose-cone supports

I'm contacting a couple of companies for quotes for the brake lines tomorrow. The ECU is mounted in the footwell. The position of the starter solenoid is marked. I am making some progress - honest Guv! On the subject of the wiring, I'm happy to do it as long as it's kept simple. For this reason, I'm not using the bike relay box or starter solenoid and am instead using a trusty Lucas-type. Where I'm not so good is on the size of cable to use for some of the wiring so I'll be taking advice from Vehicle Wiring Products when I order.

One final bit of good news - after much searching, I've located a source of new diff drain plugs. Mine is chewed to bits so this is a relief!

It's amazing what makes you happy when you're building one of these things.

Look after yourselves & each other... :p

TC

I never said I'd make it easy for myself....

Apologies for the lack of updates, but due to the house move, I've no broadband and we can't even find the charger for the camera!

There's 3 of us that have all picked-up our MNR kits at around the same time. Needless to say, they other two guys have raced ahead. So why is this? Well, predominantly because I've made a few decisions that have slowed me down:

1. The brake lines supplied with the kit have been sold and I'm going to run Goodridge flexible hoses throughout the car. The lines didn't fit anyway because of my line-lock set-up and I just don't like the look of copper pipes (I know - how daft does that sound!?) so with the help of a guy called Chris Mason (cheers Sir!) I've worked out what flexis I need. I haven't bitten the bullet yet because they're not exactly cheap!
2. I once had a conversation with a guy who successfully builds and prepares race cars. He told me that he rivets panels on at inch intervals. Stupidly, I've taken his advice when it comes to my footwell panels. So whereas other MNR builders may use 30-odd rivets to affix the panels, I'm using exactly 100! Great! I've also decided to have the panels powdercoated so they're not on yet either.

On the positive side, I have done a fair amount of planning when it comes to the wiring, so that shouldn't be too difficult. I've also dropped my 4-2-1 exhaust off at Camcoat in Warrington to have it ceramic coated. This should a) Reduce under-bonnet temperatures and b) look cool.

So, that's about it for now. I'm off home to get back in the garage. I should have some pics on Tuesday when I'll explain what a wonderful device the Cleco fastner is.

Ciao for now.

TC

Frustration is an unfinished house....

• The good news: The paint is dry and the kit is in the garage.
  
• The bad news: Work can't start until the house is finished.

It's set to be a week of slow progress while the house is sorted before I can really get stuck into the build. In the mean time, I'll write a bit about the "concept" (overstating it a bit) for the car and also what I've done in preparation.


The BIG idea
The idea has always to build something quick by keeping it simple and therefore hopefully light. That said, I haven't gone all-out for the lightest possible components. Value for money is a big driver. For example, my diff is the heavier lobro-type with viscous LSD and my front uprights and brakes are Cortina originals rather than Raceleda aluminium items. All being well, these components can be swapped at a point in the future to try to see what benefit they give me.



What I am doing is trying not to use anything that I really don't need. As a result, the car's not having a handbrake - just a hydraulic line-lock for occasional use e.g. on a trailer. Similarly, I'm having the bare minimum in terms of lights - hopefully just one bright high level brake light, Also, the loom's been stripped back to the bare minimum and also simplified as much as possible for reliability and to aid fault finding. Wise Man once say: Simple = Reliable. There's no clutch switch, tip-over wotsit or similar here.




Components - general ramblings

I've been collecting bits for ages and from all sorts of places. EBay yielded some freshly reconditioned Cortina uprights/hubs as a start point and it's all gone downhill from there.


The engine was purchased from a guy who races Jedi single seaters. It's supposedly done less than 1000 miles but I'll never know for sure. Looking back, I may have been a bit rash but the engine looks mint and already has all of the modifications done (sump baffle, drilled oil cooler bolt etc) to bolt it straight in. The price was OK, so we just live in hope now. I did end up having to buy a second loom and correct ECU since the one that the guy sold me was off a Fazer. A term meaning frequent masturbater springs to mind. I only have a dodgy photo of the engine but I'll post it anyway.

You'll notice that there's a strange cylinder hanging off the gear shift arm on the motor. This is the actuator for a Kliktronic gear shifter. The guys who built my original MK used one on their next build and I decided I wanted one too. I bought it off a guy on http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/ who had sold his bike engined MK and bought a Jedi single seater. How's that for coincidence?

Wheels are teeny 6"x13" Minators (when they turn-up) and these will be mated with some part worn slicks at least to start with. Cheap and light again.

The 3.62:1 LSD was free from a guy who races a Sierra in the Welsh Sports & Saloons Championship (thanks Ken!) and will be perfect for the hills but pretty rubbish for Brands Hatch. I'll invest in a 2nd longer geared one eventually. This and many other parts have been cleaned up using a combination of electrolysis (see Locostbuilders for more info,) petrol and Hammerite (should have bought shares!) Most of the bits are now shiny and clean. I just have the steering column to do.

I've splashed-out on my seat. I probably should have gone cheap and light again, but instead saw something I really fancied and went for it (same can be said about Julia.) It's an Intatrim Endeavour narrow version. It's surprisingly light, comfortable and should look fan-bloomin-tastic in the car.

In terms of instruments, I've gone for a Veypor VR2 to monitor speed, revs, gear etc and a SPA dual gauge to look after oil pressure and water temperature.

I've stopped keeping track of what everything has cost - I think it'll be easier that way!

Bye for now.

TC