Ugh... very little progress.

I'm afraid that my target of finishing the car 'sometime in July' is going to be missed by some margin.

I'm still wiring the thing and to be honest it's led to a severe drop in enthusiasm. It's very nearly there however - the fuel pump runs, the starter solenoid clicks when it should and the dials seem to work. All that is left is to wire coils, the alternator, the neutral light and then the car is ready to start. That will just leave the SPA dual gauge which can be done last.

So that's it. Very little to report. I'm a bit fed up with my slow progress. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

I have a couple of days booked-off work in the next fortnight so hopefully I'll start the engine briefly to prove that it (and my cut 'n' shut wiring loom) are OK.

Christmas is coming... :(

How flippin’ cool is that….

Believe it or not but the fact that the engine is in the chassis is actually holding me up! Now that it’s been in and I’ve connected both ends of the prop, I now need the engine out to be able to drill and fit the centre bearing.

The loom from the ECU to the engine is now complete leaving the ignition circuit, fan circuit, brake light circuit, instruments…. Oh dear! I’m waiting on the arrival of a fuse box with a bus-bar to keep everything neat. Once the wiring is in and I’ve measured where the exhaust cut-out (in the body) needs to be the main tub can finally go on.

So what’s so flippin’ cool? Well the solenoid for the Kliktronic is in and it looks fab! I had some nice fixings lying around so they’ve been used as well. The photo shows the hardware in all its glory. The only downside is that the gear-change arm isn’t aligned with the rest of the kit so I’ll need to get that re-made.

That leads me to an important point… I have been totally reliant on a couple of mates to get this far. I can’t weld and I don’t have a lathe so all of the parts that have had to be fabricated have been done by a combination of Lyn, Lenny (another Lyn) and Colin. Thanks gents – I owe you big time.

Where am I against my July target? Miles off! I’ll be lucky to finish in September at this rate.

It's set to be an expensive weekend...

The engine is sitting in place to allow me to run cables to the correct length and fit the prop centre bearing.

I'm of to Europe's biggest Kit Car show on Sunday to buy a lot of "stuff" to complete the build.
It could be costly!

In other news we have two 8-week old kittens. They've kept me out of the garage this week but I don't mind - they're very funny! We've called them Daff and Dill. (Born in spring and the Welsh national flower.)

Hmmm... the most random post yet. **Nice**

TC

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!