Build Officially Started!

[Tatey]

I've officially started my build now!

HandyAndy, has very kindly lent me his build table and i've now started assembling it all.

My garage suddenly seems much smaller with an 8'x4' build table in the middle of it :p

Although 2 steps forward, 1 step back. My recently purchased MIG welder (Clarke 151EN) has got a faulty gas valve, so the torch leaks a small amount of gas, even when the trigger isnt depressed. I've ordered a new one at the grand cost of £18.85 delivered, so all is not lost :D.

Theres always a silver lining though as it now means i've got all weekend to ensure the bottom rails are perfect without my MIG trying to tempt me into rushing ahead :eek:.

I'll start a build blog shortly and put the link in my signature.

I'd just like to thank HandyAndy and the rest of you's in getting me to this stage so far, im sure i'll require more help in the future though :eek:

Cheers
Tatey

[flyerncle]

Nice one Tatey go for it,shout if you get stuck.

[HandyAndy]

all the best for your build mate,

the chassis outline on the table is just about visible under the coffee mug stains :o :D

enjoy your build & you know where i am if needed,
watch out for the front frame :eek: ;)

andy

[Tatey]

Wow.....:eek:

I've been doing a running total of all of the costs of my build. So far the total is......£601.03 :eek:

The majority being tool costs, the main being my MIG which owed me £200 now :rolleyes:, i knew the bloody things where expensive :D

Although i've now got pretty much a fully functioning 'workshop', all of the steel for my build, my roll bar and steering rack, so i should be sorted for the next few months.

[dogwood]

My recently purchased MIG welder (Clarke 151EN) has got a faulty gas valve, so the torch leaks a small amount of gas, even when the trigger isnt depressed. I've ordered a new one at the grand cost of £18.85 delivered, so all is not lost :D.

Cheers
Tatey

Hi Tatey.

Can I just ask,
Is that for the compleat gun, or just the little brass jobbie inside?
Also where did you get it from?
My wife asked at Machine Mart when she collected some stuff for me.
They just told her to get it from the parts dep't.....?????

Cheers David

[Tatey]

Its just for the little brass jobbie inside (although its now aluminium/brass). If you sign up to the MIG welding forum and PM a guy called weldequip. He'll be able to sort you out. He's a clarke supplier and a really nice guy (called Steve), really seems to know his stuff.

I ordered £80.04 worth of bits, new swan neck, regulator, tips, shrouds and wire at 3pm on tues last week, and i received it next day via parcelforce. He even knocked the postage price off for me when i ask for student/armed forces discount :D

He's highly recommended on the MIG welding forum.

Simon

[dogwood]

Cheers for that mate.

I'll give him a try.


David

[AshG]

machine mart have a mail order parts department the number is on the back of the calalogue.

to be honest i wouldnt bother with them just go to weldquip on the mig welding forum. i ordered a new bit for my engine lift from machine mart and it took 2months to turn up.

[dogwood]

Oh so thats where the MM parts dep't is.

Anyway, I'm waiting for their next VAT free day.
I think I'm going to buy a new welder.

The one I got really is on it's last legs,
it'll only run a couple of mins before it overheats.
I'm going to get the new valve for it though.
I leave it in the UK for the odd jobs there.

David

PS....Any idea when Maidstone MM is having their next VAT free day ?

[Tatey]

Well i've now got the bottom rails fixed onto the build table, all of the dimensions seem to be perfect :D. I've also cut U3-U6 and nearly finished the front frame, i just need to make a jig and cut the 14 degree angle at the top, but i need my new gas valve for my MIG before i can do that.

So now its a waiting game as i dont want to cut anymore bits before i've got everything tacked together.

[londonsean69]

My garage suddenly seems much smaller with an 8'x4' build table in the middle of it :p
Tell me about it, I've been having a really decent clearout, and moved everything I could out of the way, onto shelves etc. but when I lay down a sheet of ply in the middle it doesn't half take up some space.

I will be starting my chassis build fairly soon, off work for a couple of days next week so will be getting my order in for the steel and ally

Although 2 steps forward, 1 step back. My recently purchased MIG welder (Clarke 151EN) has got a faulty gas valve, so the torch leaks a small amount of gas, even when the trigger isnt depressed. I've ordered a new one at the grand cost of £18.85 delivered, so all is not lost :D.

Recently purchased new or second hand??

If it was new, I would have been expecting the vendor to provide a replacement part FOC

If you sign up to the MIG welding forum and PM a guy called weldequip. He'll be able to sort you out. He's a clarke supplier and a really nice guy (called Steve), really seems to know his stuff.
Steve is a cracking bloke. It's who I bought my MIG (portamig) from, and he is very good at what he does (tempt me into some nice little extras:D)

Good luck with the build

Sean

[Tatey]

It was a second hand MIG, so problems were expected :p. Yeah Steve does seem to be a cracking bloke, although I've been a bit disappointed with my second purchase from him, as I ordered it on Sat and he's not sure if it was sent out today or not.

[HandyAndy]

nice one tatey, pleased to hear your build is now making progress, hope you get the gas valve soon as i,m sure your eager to get cracking on welding the chassis together:D

all the best & lets see some piccies when your main chassis is taking shape, with you sat in the drivers seat area:cool:

andy:)

[Tatey]

Well as my boredom is growing while waiting for my gas valve to arrive, i've started designing a revolver style potato cannon in 3D cad (im classing it as a uni project :D).

Me and a friend made a potato cannon last year and they work amazingly well :eek:, firing potatos atleast 100m :D. But the reload time for it is quite long, so i thought, why not design one which can hold 8 potato slugs and you pull one leaver, it puts some more fuel into the combustion chamber, move the next potato slug into position and reseals the joints between the potato holder, barrel and combustion chamber. Then you just need to pull the trigger and away you go again. Once i've finished designing it in 3d cad ill make sure to post pics of it :D

[Tatey]

Just for an update: My gas valve arrived last week so i started practising welding and i got the hang of it quite quickly. So i then set to work tacking up the bottom chassis rails, once i'd done that i decided to flip it over to make sure it was symmetrical....it wasnt. The 2 pieces with the massive angle on them were not the same, meaning it sat slightly over to the left hand side, i got all of that sorted and it is symmetrical now.

I've tack welded the front frame together now, after reading through chris's tutorial on it a few times i managed to get it all right first time :D

I've also started tack welding the uprights onto the bottom rails, its all starting to come together now :D

[HandyAndy]

nice one:cool:

lets have a few piccies then:D

hope you are enjoying your build.

all the best

andy

[Tatey]

I've now finished tack welding the uprights and front frame onto the bottom chassis rails. As requested Andy, here are a few pictures (mind the mess :D):

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01161.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01163.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01173.jpg

[flyerncle]

Looks good well done,What about the spud canon?

[Tatey]

I've done a bit more work on it, havent got that far though, as i'm now back at uni so got a lot less time on my hands.

[flyerncle]

Sounds very interesting !!!!!!!

[HandyAndy]

nice one Tatey, it soon starts taking shape, have you sat in the drivers space yet ???? be honest :D :D

keep up the good work.

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

Just thought i should update you all, i've now got the basic shape of the chassis done. Heres a pic:

http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01179.jpg

It really is a satisfying project and im really glad Chris made the book. Thanks Chris! :D

Oh and Andy.....Yes i have! :D

[HandyAndy]

nice work,:cool:
i think it HAS to be done :D

ps your roll bar is at the wrong end :p :D

andy

[Tatey]

ps your roll bar is at the wrong end :p :D


Oh sh*t! I've fully welded it on :D :p

[flyerncle]

It's a bull bar Andy !!!!

[HandyAndy]

It's a bull bar Andy !!!!

:D its Bull something, :o usually what i come out with anyways :D

andy

[Tatey]

Just an update for everyone. This morning i finished the transmission tunnel, i have done the tunnel before the rear section as i currently dont have the money to buy the chassis plates, hopefully i will do soon.

I took the chassis off of the build table and out of the garage with help from my dad, just so i could give the garage a quick tidy and rearrange stuff, and decide what bits i need to take the the scrap yard on monday as i got a lot of extra stuff with my donor parts.

So now that that is done i will be starting to clean up all of my donor parts and give them a nice lick of paint until i get the funds to buy the chassis plates and suspension brackets.

[londonsean69]

Looking good tatey.

The chassis plates for the rear are dead simple. Even the ones that are used as the top suspension mounts. In fact, those ones are dead easy, just a flat piece of 3mm with some careful laying out and drilling.

The hardest bit was making the rear panel round bars. I don't know any plumbers, but if you did it might make it a bit easier to get the bars bent.

I resorted to cutting loads of 1mm slits then bending to suit. A few beads of weld along the inside once bent, and they will be hidden by the rear panel anyway

[HandyAndy]

well done Tatey, i,d put a bet on that you or your dad sat in the chassis with 1 arm on the side rail & other hand holding the imaginary gear stick?????:D :p :cool:

keep at it mate

andy

[Tatey]

How long did it take to make the chassis plates? Also what did you use to make them? Finally what dimensions was the steel plate you used and how much did it cost you?

The cheaper i can make them then the sooner i can do it :D

Also what components have people painted and what paints have you's used? The things i can see being painted are:

Drum Brakes
Brake Calipers
Engine
Gearbox
Diff
Driveshafts

well done Tatey, i,d put a bet on that you or your dad sat in the chassis with 1 arm on the side rail & other hand holding the imaginary gear stick?????


Possibly :D :p

[londonsean69]

How long did it take to make the chassis plates? Also what did you use to make them? Finally what dimensions was the steel plate you used and how much did it cost you?

If you look at the dimensions of what you need, a lot of the plates can actually be cut from 40x3mm flat strip, and a bit of 50x3. There are obviously some other parts that need cutting from a decent sized bit of plate.

The 40x3mm strip was not that expensive, although it would have been a lot cheaper if I bought a full length (I was buying 2m packs off ebay).

I made them over a few months. I don't have a donor, so just started making various bits as and when.

If I were to do them again (and I have no idea why I didn't do it this time) I would print all plans full size (after drawing in CAD) and then use as templates.

For the larger pieces of plate (area wise) I managed to get a 600x1200 piece of 3mm rusty steel from a fabricators I was visiting for work. I still have a bit of it left, and the only thing left to cut is the pedal box.

I bought the 10mm bits for the rear uprights from 3GE (excellent quality) as I didn't fancy cutting that myself.

the 5mm for the diff plates was from ebay (was real fun cutting that!!)

Cheapest is not always best, but for a lot of the plates, if you have time, cutting them yourself is the way forwards.

3GE offer great parts, at a price to match.

If you are capable of measuring, marking, and cutting rails for the chassis, then the chassis plates should be no real hurdle for you.

Also what components have people painted and what paints have you's used? The things i can see being painted are:

Drum Brakes
Brake Calipers
Engine
Gearbox
Diff
Driveshafts



Possibly :D :p

I have painted (in either black or silver, with 2 coats of primer and 2 top coats)

Diff
Drive shafts
Front uprights
Rear uprights/hubs
Steering rack
Steering column
Prop shaft
etc.

Basically, anything that could get painted was

[Tatey]

I have to say that i hadn't actually looked into the chassis plates that much as i assumed they'd be difficult to make, but after your post i immediately went outside and got my build book and i do have to say that they dont look that hard to make. I'll be ringing up my steel supplier on monday morning to get a quote for the 40x3mm flat bar to start me off.

I've just worked out that i'll need 3.404m of 40x3mm flat bar to do the following bits:

CP1 x 2
CP2 x 2
CP8 x 2
CP9 x 2
CP12 x 1
CP13 x 1
CP15 x 2
CP18 x 4
CP21 x 1
CP22 x 2
CP23 x 4
Front Suspension Jig (Lower)

That should keep me busy for a while :D

[HandyAndy]

Tatey..... you need 2 CP15,s & 4 CP18 ;) i,d hate for you to order the wrong amount of steel & only realise it when your steering support frame only has 1 support or that you might struggle to pass IVA with only having 1 seatbelt mounting :D :D :p

just teasing you.

as you know from your visits to my garage i made all my own CP plates .

again , well done on your build progress.

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

Thanks for that Andy. The book doesnt state in the back that i need multiples of them. I think the minimum length of flat bar that i can order is 6m anyway so i should have plenty of material left for some retries :p :D

[londonsean69]

Don't forget 2No. CP 24 (from 25x3mm)

[Tatey]

Right i think i have it cracked now. I've worked out that i need the following:

25mm x 3mm Flat Bar:

CP24 = 89 x 1
SS1 = 449 x 1
Front Suspension Bracket = 360 x 2 + 2 x 40 + .....

30mm x 3mm Flat Bar:

CP19 x 1
CP20 x 1
CP21 x 1
Front Suspension Jig (Upper)

Total Length:

40mm x 3mm Flat Bar:

CP1 x 2
CP2 x 2
CP8 x 2
CP9 x 2
CP12 x 1
CP13 x 1
CP15 x 2
CP18 x 4
CP21 x 1
CP22 x 2
CP23 x 4
Front Suspension Jig (Lower)

Total Length: 3.62m


50mm x 3mm Flat Bar:

CP10 x 2
CP14 x 1
GM1 x 1
GM2 x 1

Total Length:

3mm Plate:

CP3 x 1
CP4 x 1
CP5 x 2
CP6 x 2
CP7 x 2
CP11 x 2
CP16 x 1
CP17 x 1
CP25 x 2
EM1 x 2
EM2 x 2
EM3 x 2
EM4 x 2

Total Area Required: 0.470m^2 (Rough Area)

[andyp]

from carter steel in stockton i got a length(6.5 meters i think) of 40x3 for under a tenner to give an idea of the price

[Tatey]

Just rang my local supplier (i got all of my chassis steel from them for £100) and they quoted me £25 for 1 6m length of 40x3mm flat bar :eek: . I gave Franklin steel a ring and they quoted me £12, so im going to pick it up in 30 mins.

[Bonzo]

Just rang my local supplier (i got all of my chassis steel from them for £100) and they quoted me £25 for 1 6m length of 40x3mm flat bar :eek: . I gave Franklin steel a ring and they quoted me £12, so im going to pick it up in 30 mins.

I think they may have quoted you for Bright mild 40X3 flat :confused: :confused:

Never paid much more than £6 a length for 40x3 Mild steel flat ;)

[Tatey]

Well you live and learn eh, i'll shop around next time before i buy my steel.

[Bonzo]

At least you got a decent deal on the chassis steel ;) :)

I was recently quoted £120 for the box section :(

Steel prices are usually quite volatile, luck of the draw where you live & local demand.

[flyerncle]

£8 40x3mm 6 mtr flat strip FM steelstock

[Tatey]

They were the people i rang first who quoted me £25 :eek:. I guess the guy must have thought i meant bright. It did seem a little strange at the time that he said £25, as thats the same price they were charging for 1m x 0.5m of 3mm plate. At least i know for next time, if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't,

[flyerncle]

If you only want little bits Metal Supermarket on TVTE is ok and they will cut it for you but not that cheap.
And the carpark is huge !!!!!!!!!

[Tatey]

Just given metal supermarket a ring. They are quoting £25.30 for 1000x500mm of 3mm thick mild steel plate. So they seem to be the same price as FM Steelstock are charging.

[Bonzo]

All of my 3,5 &10mm plate was bought as off-cuts
60p per kilo :) ;)

I am very lucky that my local stockholder does a fair bit of fabrication.

Normally plenty of bits n bobs kicking about if you can find anybody who can be assed to have a look !!?? :rolleyes:

[Tatey]

Well i started making the chassis plates an hour ago, i've got 5 done so far. It really doesn't take very long and is quite satisfying. Only another 20 chassis plates (not including multiples) + jigs and other plates to cut! :eek:

[flyerncle]

Armoto do a jig block,much easier to use.

[londonsean69]

Armoto do a jig block,much easier to use.

I'm not sure if they still do.

IIRC Jason has left, so no-one else bothered to do the chassis packs, I would imagine that extended to the wishbone jigs as well.

Could be wrong though

[flyerncle]

Shame if thats the case Shaun, cos its an ace idea and works really well as I have one and its brilliant.

[Tatey]

What were the jig blocks made out of? Maybe it could be another product for SSC.

[londonsean69]

What were the jig blocks made out of? Maybe it could be another product for SSC.

They were CNC cut out of timber, might have been plywood, can't remember.

Everything was in there, at the right spacings, depths and angles.

They really did look useful, although I didn't use one, thought it was pointless to buy something to use just once when there was another method

[HandyAndy]

IIRC Jason has left, so no-one else bothered to do the chassis packs.

Could be wrong though

don,t forget that "Chassis flat packs" are now available via me ;) :o :D

cheers
andy

[londonsean69]

don,t forget that "Chassis flat packs" are now available via me ;) :o

cheers
andy

And very nice they look too:D

I don't think armoto are doing anything with regards to the Roadster now, I was speaking about the wishbone jigs, but that obviously stands for the chassis packs as well.

IIRC his price was the same as yours, but, TBH, if anyone on here is thinking about buying one, I would think (hope) they would go to you.

If I were to ever do it again, I would buy a pre-cut pack.

Whilst the idea of making it all yourself is a nice one, the cutting/profiling gets a bit boring;)

As an aside, any idea when the flat packs for the single seater will be available?? Quite happy to be a guinea pig - lol

I've edited the original reply to clarify what I meant

[HandyAndy]

sorry to jump on Tatey,s thread.

Sean,
i did realise you meant the wishbone jig block but couldn,t resist the chance of a "plug" :D
in fact my current price of a flat pack kit is lower than armoto,s was :eek:

i think i,m starting to be a sad git as i,m now able to tell each tube its part code & dimensions almost without needing the book, Tall Andy & even Chris Gibbs told me i need to get out more.....lol

hmmmm ..... the flat pack for the single seater will become available once the book is published, ;) ,

cheers
andy

[londonsean69]

hmmmm ..... the flat pack for the single seater will become available once the book is published, ;)

I though as much :(

A bit closer to the 'official' release I may have to drop you a line ;)

Anyway - back to Tateys thread now, this has been enough of a hijack:D

[HandyAndy]

Sean, if you look closely in the photos of the thread "grand day out" you might spot something lurking ;)

andy

[londonsean69]

Sean, if you look closely in the photos of the thread "grand day out" you might spot something lurking ;)

andy

Nope:( unless it's a set of plans someone is looking at??

PM it if needs be:D

[Land Locked]

Nope:( unless it's a set of plans someone is looking at??

PM it if needs be:D

'tis well camouflaged. It looks small.

[flyerncle]

CNC cut from hardwood,chippy friend said it was oak. It is a shame that they stopped doing them but if memory serves me right Jason left there so there is probably no interest anymore.

[Tatey]

Just a quick update to my build:

I've just finished the diff area on the chassis and i've ran out of steel so im now needing to wait until after Christmas, when i'll have enough money to buy the 3mm steel plate, 30x3mm steel flat, 40x3mm steel flat and an extra length of 19x19 box, im needing to finish the chassis. I haven't got a camera at the moment so i cant take any pictures.

I'm trying to find some jobs to do on the car up until Christmas.

[Tatey]

Another quick update here. My build has finally resumed now that i have all of the steel plate and flat bar needed to finish the chassis. I've also got some 1mm cutting discs and some new ceramic flap discs (supposed to last 3 times as long as zirconium flap discs).

I have to say i feel like i was living in the stone age using a hacksaw.

I've also decided I'm going to try and build myself an engine stand instead of buying one, I've got the majority of the things i need to make one, i just need to buy some casters and get some larger diameter pipe and i should be sorted, meaning it should hopefully only cost £10 to make.

[Tatey]

It's been a long while since i've posted in this thread, but here are a couple of photos to show my progress so far and my new engine:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10258.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10263.jpg

The new engine is a 1.8l Zetec Silvertop. Which cost me a grand total of £40 :D. It has come with a chopped down sump and oil pickup pipe, meaning it's one less job for me to do.

My plan is to run it on ZX9R carbs with megajolt. I'll be making my own inlet and exhaust manifold to go with it, as well as having the engine 25mm further forward to accommodate the thermostat housing.

[Tatey]

Well I had a nice trip down to SSC and to a Locost Builder in york to pick up all of my wishbones, uprights, polybushes + crush tubes, rear camber adjuster and my bargain £25 seats! All in all its been a good day especially since I had my last exam today.

I immediately got in the garage and decided to have a quick tidy up of the build table and check to see if the seats fit (they do :D). I took a couple of pictures to show you, I have to say it looks much better with a tidy table, I think I might keep it that way:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10298.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10297.jpg

[HandyAndy]

Looking nice Tatey :cool:

nah, leave the table messy.......it hides the coffee cup stains :p

well done on finishing your exams :cool:

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

I have to say it's much more motivating bolting stuff onto the chassis (like the handbrake) and now have seats to sit in (yes I did make brum brum noises).

The only problem I have with the seats at the moment is that because of the 2 different types of runners, one seat sits much higher than the other. So I could either find another seat of runners so I have 1 complete set, or make custom seat mountings for each side of the car so that the seats sit at the same height. What are everyone's thoughts on doing either way?

Once I have the seats in place I'll be getting the seat column mounting, and over the next week I'll be putting the suspension mounts onto the chassis.

[HandyAndy]

with regard your seat height issue,

Why not just raise the lower one by using some box steel, then on the other side just use flat plate for the seat mounting point? ;)
saves the hassle of making new runners or buying a matching pair.

when are you fully welding your chassis?

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

I think I will go for that option Andy, as you say, saves effort in finding 1 set of runners.

I wasn't sure whether to fully weld the chassis now, before the suspension brackets are on, my thoughts were that if the chassis were to distort during welding and the brackets are in place then it could result in them being wrong. However I'm not sure if distortion could actually pull the chassis out by that much if I were to move to a different side of the car for each weld.

Which way did you do it Andy?

Also in regards to fully welding, did you just weld one side of the car and swap to another after each weld and doing the same for the back. So say left front, right front, left rear, right rear? Or did you just work your way from the front to the back swapping between left and right?

After all of this effort I don't really want to mess it up now :eek: :D.

[HandyAndy]

when I fully welded my chassis I basically started at lets say the front right hand side TR1 to front frame area,
let it cool down a bit then went to the rear left ( SB part codes on passenger side)
let it cool down
Then after every 2 welding points I checked measurement of the height of the chassis from the build table and at each diagonal points.

Basically I tried to weld as far away as I could from the previous weld, & checked all measurements along the way,
It took a while, but like you say, at this point of the build I too didn,t want it to go wrong.
I welded on the suspension brackets once the chassis was fully welded & only when I was happy it hadn,t distorted.

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

It's been a long time since I've updated this thread, mainly because I started a new job 5 weeks ago which is 200 miles south of where my build is located.

However due to the kindness of Handy Andy, my build is now officially moved into the new house! I now have a lot more space since it is only my stuff in the garage.

I started organising stuff last night after Hand Andy left and cleared some space to allow myself to work.

This morning I set to work reconstructing and improving my build table. Back at home I had the build table supported on an old dining room table and then just had 1 legs supporting the outer corners. This worked well at the time, but I no long have the dining room table and the way the legs were fixed to the top it wouldnt support its self. However each leg is now secured to the top by M12 studded bar and seems to be sturdy as a rock.

I now need to wait until one of my house mates gets back so we can lift the table upright as I dont want to risk damaging the wood by doing it myself. Then I'll be putting the chassis back on the table for hopefully the last time.

Since moving house it has also meant that I no longer have a work bench, so while waiting for someone else to come back, I set to work constructing my new work bench. It is being made from 2 layers of bed slats (1000mmx500mm), with a 3mm steel plate covering the top. It is then going to be supported on 4 30x30x3mm steel angle legs with a rim of steel angle along the edges of the top to spread the load. Im designing it so that the steel plate is only bolted to the top (so it can be replaced if needs be) and so that the legs can be broken down into individual pieces (since in 12 months time I will be moving back home). I am just needing to find a new steel supplier local to me so I can order the steel plate and angle.

Even though I have made no progress on my chassis today, I am one step closer to!

The chassis is nearly fully welded, I think I can finish welding it tomorrow evening, then I can start putting on the suspension brackets and finally getting the chassis rolling, hopefully I can have it rolling by the end of next weekend!

I am still aiming to have the car completed and on the road for my 21st birthday on Jan 10th 2010, which is a tall order, but I think if I try hard I will be able to do it.

Once I get the internet installed at my house at the end of this week I will post some pictures of my progress.

[Tatey]

Well I just thought I'd let you's know how I am getting on.

I am all settled into my new house/garage now. The work bench will be completed tomorrow morning which I am really looking forward to. It feels really solid so far and I think it will get stronger once its complete. Pics will come on Tues when the internet is activated in my house.

I've found myself a cheap steel supplier as well. I got the following for a grand total of £42.60 delivered (inc vat)

1000x500x3mm Steel Plate - £12
2 * 6m of 30x30x3mm steel angle - £7 each
£10 delivery
+ VAT

So overall they seem quite cheap.

I have started work on the suspension brackets and I am hoping to have them done for Sunday night, meaning the car should be on its wheels by the end of the weekend!

[HandyAndy]

Nice one Tatey :cool:

Sounds like you are cracking on in your new home, & you seem to have found a bargain supplier too :cool:

Take your time getting the wishbone brackets in the correct place, looking forward to seeing your chassis rolling :cool:

post up a pic or 2 when its rolling :)

cheers
andy

[twinturbo]

I am still aiming to have the car completed and on the road for my 21st birthday on Jan 10th 2010, which is a tall order, but I think if I try hard I will be able to do it.





Errrrrr.... I think you failed already :D


TT

[Tatey]

Well after a week I have been productive in some areas, and not productive at all in others.

When welding up my workbench last weekend, I managed to knock the gas cylinder over and put a large hole in the rubber hose, which quickly ended my ambition of getting the suspension brackets welded in place. I've been quoted £10 delivered for a new hose/brass fixing so its not too bad.

So until I find some more money I've been trying to find jobs to do on the car until I have more money to buy some more welding wire, flap discs, new hose, new tips and shrouds.

So far I have:


Ground down all of the welds on the bottom, left/right sides of the chassis and I've half finished the seat back welds.
Stripped down my drum brakes, as they are very rusty so thought the back plates could do with some time in the electrolysis bath. I then found out that the transformer I was using is broken and blowing fuses, so that has been chucked out and I need to find a new power source to get me up and running again.
Since moving to the new house I had noticed a lot more rust on the chassis, and due to having no money to finish welding the bits to it and going away for 2 weeks with the army at the start of sept. I decided to give the chassis a quick coat of primer as I felt that the time required to remove the primer to weld was going to be much less than the time to completely de rust the chassis. To put 1 coat of primer on all tubes accessible with the chassis sitting upright took about an hour with a roller :D, so I would highly recommed doing it this way and getting the inaccessible areas with a brush instead of painting it all with a brush.
I finished making all of the chassis plates I hadn't made yet, or misplaced during the move.
My work bench is pretty much finished now, I just need to weld some cross bracing to the bottom of the legs to prevent them from moving and then weld on some nuts to allow each leg to be adjusted to make sure it is level. The top feels unbelievably solid, it has been made from 3mm thick plate with 80mm of wooden slats below that and then top off with a rim of 3mmx30mm steel angle. It is all held together with the M12 bolts which were supposed to be used for my car suspension, so it looks like I will be buying a new set :p.

So it is all slowly getting there, once my finances allow it I will be buying the bits I need for my welder and getting cracking with these suspension mounts!

[tkpm]

Thats one hell of work table, are you going to be building more than one car with it?

Terry

[Tatey]

That's the plan :D. I always wanted a decent bench which I could actually use and I now do! It has only cost me £50 as well, which for a custom made bench 1m x 0.5m and at the right height for me to work at (I'm 6'6") so standard benches tend to be a right arse to work at for me.

I'll try and upload pictures of the bench and chassis later on tonight.

[Tatey]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10406.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10405.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10409.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/SDC10408.jpg

[Tatey]

As it's been nearly a year and a half since I updated this thread I thought I would post a very long over due update!

Since the last post on this forum I've added the suspension mounts, engine/gear box mounts, steering column mount, driver footplate, front brake hose mounts, as well as a load of other brackets. My car has now been moved back to my house in Newcastle, and it fit perfectly in a long wheel base sprinter, I honestly never knew how big those things were!

Today I managed to get the radiator mounts finished. I still need to tidy up one of the lower mounts but they are functional at the minute. I need to buy some self tappers for the top mounts.

Over Christmas I contemplated buying myself a BMW E30 325i, even to the extend of going to view one in Manchester from Newcastle with the cash ready to buy, however I ended up walking away from it. This then got me thinking about why I was considering buying a new faster car when I have my kit car unfinished in the garage 2 and a half years after starting it! So outcame the savings and money has been spent! I have also extended the steering column so I now have functioning steering as well.

At the minute I am waiting for the following to be delivered/picked up by myself this week:

• GRP Seats
• Roll Bar
• Fuel Tank
• Harnesses
• Fuel filler cap
• Alloys
• ZX6R Carbs
• ZX6R Fuel Pump
• Seat Runners

I dropped by alloys off at the powder coaters on Thursday to get a nice coat of anthractite (gun metal grey), I was originally going to sand these down and paint them myself, but at £40 a wheel and with the new drive to get the car finished I decided to bite the bullet and get them done! I will be picking them up on Tuesday and will post some pictures when I get them back.

Once I have my seats and seat runners I can make my seat mounts, then move onto the rear brake line brackets and the roll bar rear stay bracket and finally the driver footwell plate. Then chassis will be finished and I will finally be able to paint it satin black and then get the floor in place. My plan is to order the ali for the floor the first week of feb.

By the looks of things I still have quite a bit to spend on the car with all of the bits I want, but my aim is to get it done for the summer, as I don't want it to go over 3 years of building, as then I would have been able to complete a degree in the time its taken to finish it :eek:.

I have also decided that I will be getting a full set of braded stainless steel fuel and brake lines made for the car by Voucht, these will be expensive but I think well worth while and are a nice bit of 'bling' that should hopefully set my car apart.

Here are the latest pictures of my build.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/WP_000078.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/WP_000074.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/WP_000080.jpg

[Davidbolam]

Good to see your photo's. Where in ncl are you. I am building in Brunton Park

[Tatey]

I'm actually in Northumberland, 10 miles East of Hexham. It's good to see there are a few more builders in the North East!

[Tatey]

Well bits have started arriving now. On monday my harnesses and fuel filler cap arrived, on friday I picked up my seats, roll bar, fuel tank and alloys, here are the pictures of them on my car:

I've ordered a set of Toyo TR1 tyres to go on my alloys and they should hopefully be here this week.

My next job is to drill holes in the roll bar plates, as I made the mistake of trying to sit in the car and put the harness on and tighten the straps, which resulted in the roll bar toppling over and smacking me on the head...

The roll bar is 125mm taller than the book spec. It does look tall, but my head sticks a couple of inches above the seat tops and then if you add the extra height of a helmet then it makes sense to have it that height, it is a similar height to spuds.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00040.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00039.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00042.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00050.jpg

[mark]

You may already know but your front upper wishbones are upside down!

[Tatey]

You may already know but your front upper wishbones are upside down!

I didn't! Thanks very much Mark.

[Tatey]

Well my 3M Di-noc carbon film arrived so I can improve the look of my centre caps. I'm not entirely sure I like the look yet, but for £4 for the sheet I can't complain, as new centre caps are £13 each! Please let me know what you think.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00123-1.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00131-1.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00133.jpg

My Toyo TR1 tyres arrived earlier on and these will be getting fitted on Thursday, meaning that I will be able to get my car back on wheels after a very long wait.

[Tatey]

Well my tyres are now fitted and I have to say I much prefer the look of them now.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00148.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00151.jpg

[Tatey]

Well I got sick of tripping over everything in the garage so chucked out 2.5 years of crap that I've accumulated, this included a lot of wood from old beds that I thought 'may come in handy...'. And while it was nice and tidy I thought I might as well put the wheels on and get it out in the open! So here are the pictures:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00170.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00171.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00172.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00173.jpg

[Tatey]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00174.jpg

[rapidtornado]

Looking good mate... have you trial fit the engine and gearbox yet?

[Tatey]

Engine and gearbox have been in installed before, but I took them out to finish welding a few more brackets on and to primer the chassis. They will be going back in once the seat mounts have been made and the roll bar rear stays are in, as well as the welding of a few other bits then the chassis can be primed again and then painted and then the floor can be put in.

I ordered the aluminium yesterday and it came to a grand total of £202 inc VAT and delivery. however that was for 1 sheet of 2500x1250 5251 2mm and 2 sheets of 2500x1250 1.2mm 1050. I was shocked at the price as I got a quote before christmas of £176, for 3 sheets of 1050 and 1 of 5251 inc vat but this didnt include delivery.

[Tatey]

Quick update from me, I've put the engine and gearbox back in the car for the time being as I got annoyed at tripping over the engine. My aluminium inlet manifold arrived from FastDan over at locostbuilders, my ZX6R carbs are also here so they have been bolted up to the head, I ordered some starrett hole saws last week which arrived early this week so I can cut out the hole for the sausage airfilter backing plate.

I've been making good progress on the pedal box which is nearly finished now, just need to finish the pedals and drill the holes for the master cylinder then fully weld.

I've also completed my roll bar which was quite a satisfying job to do.

I've recently been ordering a lot of parts ready for finishing exams at the end of May so I can get a good 6 weeks worth of work done on the car, brake pads arrived yesterday, which upon fitting I found out one of my calipers is seized, quick phone to my local motorfactors revealed they have a reconditioned pair in stock that they wanting rid of so are happy to sell them to me for £25 each, which seems like a good deal as they are £40 on ebay (£15 if you return your current set and then postage on top of that).

My clutch cable arrived today and I think my headlights (from SVC) and front indicators were attempted to be delivered earlier so I should get them tomorrow, my handbrake cable should hopefully arrive tomorrow as well.

Finally I've ordered a loom from Premier Looms for £160, which will be arriving in 2-3 weeks, I was originally planning on making my own loom, but thought life is too short and I don't really enjoy electrics so thought I should make my life a bit simpler and buy one off the shelf and hopefully get my car on the road sooner.

Next on the list is some more steel so I can make mounts for the passenger seat and some aluminium strip to secure the fuel tank + run some strip down to transmission tunnel for the loom, brake lines and fuel lines.

Then I'll be measuring up and ordering the propshaft, and brake and fuel lines. and putting then painting the chassis + putting the floor in.

[voucht]

Hi Simon, Waoh, I'm very impressed by all the work you've done since our last contact: congrats!


Then I'll be measuring up and ordering the propshaft, and brake and fuel lines. and putting then painting the chassis + putting the floor in.

So I expect to hear from you soon? :rolleyes:
Keep up the good work!
Regards.
Sylvain

[Tatey]

Sylvain, you'll definitely be hearing from me shortly, I think around the start of June you'll have an order coming your way.

[twinturbo]

There's a company in Brampton called DR Prop that may be worth speaking to for your prop.

TT

[twinturbo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170822724089?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[michael92]

Looks ace mate!, I absolutley lüüüüürve them carbon centre caps very nice work :)

[Tatey]

Well I've made quite a bit of progress since the 10th. The pedal box is now finished (just needs fully welding). I have measured up my brake line and fuel lines and the order of that has gone in with Sylvian on the forum, I'll be paying for them on Monday so hopefully I'll have them to fit shortly. I decided to get the brake lines done in red to suit the car so hopefully they will look good, if not it's a lot of money to spend on something I may not like :eek:.

My brake reservoir has arrived along with the clevis pin for my brake pedal and I picked up a load of fasteners from my local bolt supplier (last time I'll be using them as I gave him a list of things I wanted and I got a load of compromises back so have ended up re-ordering a few fasteners online so I know what I'm getting.

I've now moved the chassis rail back to allow the standard thermostat housing to fit in, I've braced it quite a lot so hopefully I won't have lost much strength there, but even with the extra 25mm of clearance it inst actually possible to take the bottom thermostat housing bolt out unless you pull the engine forward, annoying, but it'll have to do and I doubt it'll be coming out anyway. I did contemplate getting an after market water rail but they cost around £200 and it really didn't seem worth it.

After having a play in the garage earlier on today it because apparent that the type 9 rubber gearbox mount is way to soft, and when using the standard coil pack bracket it is possible for the bracket to contact the chassis rail if you put some force into the gear box, the mount looks like it's on its last legs anyway so I've decided to buy one of the much stiffer Caterham gearbox mounts (£15 inc VAT), which should arrive next week. It does mean re-doing my gearbox mounts but it shouldn't take too long.

http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=85

The picture shows the underside of the mount and the v slot is on the other side, I will also be using a standard M12 bolt to fix the mount to the gearbox to increase the ground clearance when compared to the standard Ford part.

I also paid a visit to gaz05 from the forum today and he very kindly gave me a new metal inlet gasket for my 1.8 zetec and a throttle position sensor that I need for my megajolt setup.

So the next things on the list for my build are to get hold of more steel for the passenger seat mounts, order a megajolt system and fit the new gearbox mount and then order the propshaft. The new gearbox mounts and the passenger seat mounts are the only brackets left to go onto the chassis, once they have been done I can flip the chassis and fully weld it all, finish priming it and then paint it ready for the floor to go on.

My mates seem keen to give me a hand on the car and after starting the car nearly 3 years ago I think it's time I let them!

If anyone would like any pictures of anything then please feel free to give me a shout, I think I will also take a video of the current standard gearbox mount movement and then another one when I get the caterham mount.

[Tatey]

While out in the garage videoing the gearbox movement thought I might as well take a picture:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/Haynes%20Roadster/DSC00860.jpg

And here is a video showing the severity of the gearbox movement, I'm looking forward to seeing how much better the Caterham mount is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dexfmtMJ974&hd=1

[The V8 Files]

Hi Tatey, thats a really nice looking build you got there, I have a question, TR5 isnt there, are you leaving that out permanently? Apart from that is the chassis book spec?

Apologies if you've covered it in the blog, I just went through it all but didnt see it.

Bruce

[flyerncle]

Simon,if you speak to Ginetta in Leeds and ask for the stat housing they use in the G20 they are about £40 and very short and low profile.
You may be able to see it on the Teamtrain pics on NTS website.

Have you got the large cup washer on the gearbox bolt.

Rally Design mount is the dogs bits and is what was fitted to the Teamtrain car I built.

[Tatey]

TR5 is the engine bay diagonal cross member I think? I was originally going for a CVH engine install and it was recommended that this wasnt put in as the engine wouldnt fit with it in and when I stripped it down it was proved to be a dud so I ended up going for a zetec engine instead, I've been waiting to finish my inlet system so I can see if I can put this back in, which I think in the next few days I'll have a look and see if it can.

But other than that it is a book spec chassis, other than the roll bar which has been extended due to my height (6'5"), its been increased in height by 125mm.

[Tatey]

Simon,if you speak to Ginetta in Leeds and ask for the stat housing they use in the G20 they are about £40 and very short and low profile.
You may be able to see it on the Teamtrain pics on NTS website.

Have you got the large cup washer on the gearbox bolt.

Rally Design mount is the dogs bits and is what was fitted to the Teamtrain car I built.

I did consider the Rally Design mount but at £45 + VAT and delivery it didn't really seem worth it.

If only I knew about the Ginetta stat housing a few weeks ago! Ah well, the new stat is in so I'll leave it at that for the moment, it should mean I don't have any cooling issues since it is stock.

[The V8 Files]

TR5 is the engine bay diagonal cross member I think? I was originally going for a CVH engine install and it was recommended that this wasnt put in as the engine wouldnt fit with it in and when I stripped it down it was proved to be a dud so I ended up going for a zetec engine instead, I've been waiting to finish my inlet system so I can see if I can put this back in, which I think in the next few days I'll have a look and see if it can.

But other than that it is a book spec chassis, other than the roll bar which has been extended due to my height (6'5"), its been increased in height by 125mm.

Thanks for that, I'm trying to get my head around if I can use a standard chassis around a V8 (I'm hoping so) and TR5 looks like it would probably be in the way for me too. I feel better now about the possibility that it can be removed, was it recommended to add shorter bracing on either side?

[Tatey]

I have to say I don't know many people with TR5 in and they haven't put in any shorter bracing in. I know some people have shoe horned the Sierra V6 engine in there so I'm sure a V8 will be more than possible as there is plenty of room lengthways. I think if I can't add TR5 back in then I will add some shorted braces between the outer rail and the transmission tunnel rails, but put them on both sides so long as they don't get in the way of anything.

[The V8 Files]

thank you, thats a big help :)

[Tatey]

Well the brake line/fuel line/brake reservoir hose + p-clips and hose joiner order is in! £260 spent and countless days and emails spent with Sylvain (Voucht) making sure everything was correct.

I've ordered a full set of stainless braided brake lines with separate bulk head connection down the transmission tunnel, meaning that I've got a total of 9 brake lines coming (4 corner lines, M/C to N/S + O/S (which is in 2 parts for hydraulic brake switch), M/C down to handbrake bracket, handbrake bracket to O/S rear brake bracket T-piece and then N/S rear brake bracket.) all brake hoses are coloured red with a PVC coating which means they wont rub on anything so my IVA should be happy.

Next I've ordered 4m of stainless braided nitrile fuel hose with aluminium hose covers/clamp which look like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AN4-4-12MM-BLACK-HOSE-CLAMP-COVER-FINISHER-BRAIDED-PTFE-SILICONE-FUEL-HOSE-/290631544407#ht_1739wt_929

As well as some braided brake fluid reservoir filler hose as I have a remote reservoir, with some more of the above hose covers/clamps.

Then finally a rear t-piece, P-clips for both the brake lines and fuel lines and finally shipping to the UK.

All in £260 for all of my brake lines and fuel lines seems like a good deal to me especially the quality that they will be and I think they will really make the car. I will post a picture when they arrive later this week.

[Tatey]

Well my parts from Caterham arrived today including the new gearbox mount, I've taken the old one off and fitted the new one to the gearbox, but will have to make new mounts for it later this week, however it is resting on top of the old mounts at the minute and its safe to say it has made a massive difference!

Where before I could move the box up and down with my hand on top of the gear stick or my foot on the end of the box, i now have to fully stand on top of the box and jump up and down to get any movement!

I will try and get a comparison video when I have the new mounts in.

Also on a side note....why does it seem that fastener suppliers can't get orders right?! The new fasteners I ordered for my air filter backing plate also arrived today, they came in a pack of 12 for some M5x25mm cap head stainless fasteners, however 3 of the fasteners were actually M5x15....luckily I only needed 8 for my backing plate, but still...is it honestly that hard?

I have to say the only positive fastener supplier I've had so far is Orbital Fasteners, it's just a shame their postage is so much.

[Tatey]

Well I finished my last exam of 3rd year for my degree today and I got back to find my brake and fuel lines had arrived! Impressed doesnt get near to my opinion of them. They are very high quality and I think they will definitely look the business on my car. I haven't had a chance to get them fitted but I will try and do it tomorrow and take some pictures. Here are the pictures of what I got:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01012.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01016.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01018.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC01021.jpg

I've now painted my gearbox satin black, it was far too hot in the garage over the weekend so decided to take the engine and box out to give it a lick of paint, it looks a lot better now and I'll get some pictures up tomorrow. Still need to make the new gearbox mount, just need to find where I put my left over 5mm plate...

My rear light clusters, number plate light and aluminium passenger foot rest have been ordered from SVC so they should arrive at some point this week.

I ordered a new oil filter for my engine as I managed to dint my one, however the one that has arrived is the longer style which I don't think will fit as it will hit the steering column so I may have to order a new one. It only cost £4 so its that much of a problem.

I should start making a lot more progress on the car now that my dissertation and exams are out of the way.

[The V8 Files]

Shiny bits :)

[robo]

I like shiny bits as well. That overbraid stuff just adds a nice touch to an engine bay:) http://www.minispares-online.co.uk/?cat_id=173&sub_cat_id=174&prod_id=2299

Bob

[vmax1974]

I like these shiney bits too I believe my brake and fuel lines will be coming from sweden when the time comes

[Tatey]

Quick update before I go on holiday for 10 days.

My mate came round to help me the other day and we managed to get quite a lot done, the new gearbox mount is in now and it is safe to say the new mount is 100% better than the old one, the gearbox moves a couple of mm, compared to the mass amounts of movement in the old one.

I've put another bulkhead bracket underneath the handbrake bracket for my brake lines, I decided on this as I felt it was a neater solution.

Welds were ground down to allow for bodywork/aluminium panels to be fitted.

I finally got round to buying some more steel and I have nearly finished mounting my passenger seat. I just need to profile some spaces so that the runners sit flat against the seats then weld in the mounts. Once this is done then I just need to weld in a few tube ends and then flip the chassis, and fully weld the brackets that have been put on recently.

The chassis can then be primed and painted satin black ready for the floor to be fitted.

I also popped round to NTS yesterday and managed to pick up all of the bodywork for my car for £205 (Nose cone, scuttle, front cycle wings, rear arches, bonnet and a carbon aeroscreen), they are all seconds and require a small amount of work but should look good. As they are all different colours I will be wrapping them in vinyl and have ordered this in tomato red (£65 for 6x1.5m of cast automotive vinyl inc VAT and delivery, which is enough vinyl to do the entire car) as well as some wing stays from ebay (I'm starting to get sick of fabrication and at £43 they were a bargain in my eyes), and finally I've ordered some body filler to fill in a few chips/cracks on the bodywork. The carbon aeroscreen has a few problems like a large air bubble in the top left hand corner and the carbon weave hasnt gotten into the front edge of the mold so there is a large amount of resin there, so I will be cutting the air bubble out and profiling the side to match, and then surround it all in edge trim and then give it all a polish and hopefully it should look quite good.

Another mate of mine has had experience with carbon fibre/fibre glass so he is going to give me a hand with the bodywork and I will post lots of pictures of the wrapping process in case anyone is interested in doing it.

Finally I've ordered of custom Roadster grills from this thread which I think will make the car look really nice:

http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=8105

Any questions just give me a shout.

[tkpm]

Tatey where did you order your vinyl wrap from?

Terry

[Tatey]

It's been ordered from here:

http://www.mdpsupplies.co.uk/vehiclewrapping.asp

Someone on Locost Builders recommend it as he wrapped his motorbike in it and said it was fine to use so should be perfect for the roadster. I was originally going to go for 3M stuff but at around £200 vs £65 it didn't seem worth it.

[tkpm]

Thanks :)

Terry

[voucht]

Hi Simon,
Could you post a picture of the bracket you welded under CP14 for the bulkhead fitting of the rear central brake line please? I'm very curious about it :-)
Thanks.
Sylvain

[Tatey]

Sylvain, I will take a couple of pictures of the bracket later on today and post them up.

A quick update on my build, I've been away for the past 2 weeks travelling around Europe covering 2,500 miles, so not that much progress has been made.

However I managed to mount the passenger seat yesterday which was a lot easier than the driver seat since I knew what I was doing, I have welded the end caps to the open chassis tube on the front roll bar mounts. This now just leads me into stripping everything from the chassis, priming it and painting it.

I have got my tomato red vinyl that I will be using to cover the car, it has a very slight pinkish tinge to it, but I guess I'll see how it looks and I can always change it at a later date, being £60 and all it won't be too much of an issue. The body filler also arrived so when I am waiting for the chassis to dry I will be working on the bodywork.

My loom also arrived from Premier looms and it looks very good, I can see now it would have taken a lot of work to get a loom of the quality they have provided.

So at the minute there isn't much I need to buy to make a lot of progress on the car, I've got the next 3 weeks free and then the army is paying me to get my C+E licence (£2500s worth...) so that should be good, then I head off to the Olympics for 4 weeks with the army to provide security, then the weekend after getting back I then go to work for Triumph Motorcycle for 5 weeks then the weekend after I get back I go back to uni, so the next 3 weeks are the only real time I'll have to work on my car so I am seeing that I may ever day count! I've also got a couple of friends who are keen to give me a hand, so that should speed things up somewhat.

[Tatey]

Well I've managed to make a fair bit of progress over the past few days, I have finished welding my chassis, primed it, and painted it satin black, I have cut out the floor and started drilling the holes for it and temporarily securing it using cleco fasteners, I still need to drill quite a few holes and then primed and repaint some chassis members where I have been modifying the floor to fit perfectly against the chassis.

Here is a picture of the mess my garage is in at the minute, the pile of parts that I've been building over the past few months can be seen at the back, all of the bodywork, seats and roll bar have had to be moved into the green house so I could paint and fit the floor to the chassis:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02063.jpg

I have been working on my bodywork as well and have sorted out one of the rear wings by filling in chips and removing scratches, I attempted to wrap it however I am still learning how to use it and I think I have it cracked now but I managed to over stretch the vinyl and put 2 holes in it so it will need to come off and I will start again, but here is a picture of it half way through:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02052.jpg

[Tatey]

Well the floor is now in place and the engine is back in, here are a couple of pictures of it, it seems very study with minimal flex, I used 2mm 5251 grade ali for the floor with rivets placed every 50mm, I was surprised at how quickly I managed to rivet it in place, it took about 45 minutes from putting the sikaflex on to putting in the last rivet.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02071.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02072.jpg

Also my mate came round and gave me a hand re-wrapping the rear wheel arch, it was so much easier with 2 people, one to hold the vinyl/use the heat gun and the other to smooth it down, it did take an hour and a half to do though, but I am happy with the results. I think I will be putting some edge trim around the edge of the wheel arch just to finish it off and prevent the vinyl from moving.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02064.jpg

The next job on the list is to do the interior panels and run brake, fuel and electrical lines, I am ordering some aluminium strip from Aalco at the minute so I can do lines over the weekend.

[Tatey]

I've managed to put my first brake line in this morning, it is safe to say I need to buy another riveter as my Stanley riveter isn't up to the job of dealing with 4.8mm aluminium (steel mandrel) rivets as it required way too much strength to put those three rivets in, and I injured myself every time it did put them in as one of my hands would smack off a piece of chassis. So the plan is to get one of the lazy tongue riveters later on. I do however need to buy a rivnut to secure the T-piece for the hydraulic brake switch.

But I have to say I am very impressed with the brake lines from Sylvain!

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02091.jpg

Let me know what you think.

[HandyAndy]

Wow :eek: very nice indeed :cool:

Your garage looks ..errmmm FULL :D ...be nice when all those parts get fitted :cool:

Nice work Tatey

cheers
andy

[Tatey]

I have to say it's not been too bad up until recently when all of the parts started arriving....but soon they should all be in place and give me a lot more room. I'm looking forward to moving out so I can get my own garage without all of my parents stuff in the way....

[Tatey]

I've now managed to get all brake lines mounted except for the one down the tunnel, I need to drill holes in some ali strip and then rivet that into the tunnel. The rest of the brake lines are held in with Cleco fasteners until I get round to buying a new riveter tomorrow, here are some more pictures:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02096.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02099.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02098.jpg

[Tatey]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02092.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02100.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02102.jpg

[voucht]

Very neat Simon, really!
And thank you for the pictures, it is very nice for me to see the first complete brake line set from us fitted on a Haynes Roadster :) And I'm glad that everything looks to be fitting well now!
Could you, when you have time, show a picture of the bulkhead fitting through the additional bracket you welded under CP14 please? I'm dying to see it! Thanks.
Hope to fit my own brake line set before the end of this summer (which has not started yet in Sweden :mad: )
And the rest of the car looks terrific too :cool:
I'm amazed how quick you go with your build, congratulations.

[deezee]

Do you have a certificate to say the hose is suitable for brake fluid? I got asked this on my IVA. They wouldn't accept a reciept either, Chadderton wanted an actual certificate of conformity! They just accept that copper is suitable, but asked about my flexi hose to the calipers.

[Tatey]

Sylvain, I will make sure to take a picture tomorrow off it, I was holding off until I had the aluminium strip in place to make it look a bit neater. Feel free to use my pictures on your site if you like, I can send full res pictures via email if you'd like to use them and some more up to date ones when I have them riveted in place instead of held with clecos.

Deezee what did you say about your flexi lines? Did you get away without a certificate?

[Tatey]

Sylvain, as promised here are the pictures of the bulkhead bracket.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02106.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02109.jpg

[voucht]

Ahh very nice. It think it is a great and neat solution rather than tuning around CP14. Thanks for the pics :)

Do you have a certificate to say the hose is suitable for brake fluid? I got asked this on my IVA. They wouldn't accept a reciept either, Chadderton wanted an actual certificate of conformity! They just accept that copper is suitable, but asked about my flexi hose to the calipers.

May be they expect the flexi hose to be in copper :D


Sorry... more seriously, regarding the certificates, no worries, the hoses are road approved and I will supply you with all the necessary paperwork, including the certificate saying the hose is brake fluid resistant. I sent you an email regarding this.

[K4KEV]

Sylvain....it might be a good idea to put up a pdf or jpg letter of the conformity of the pipework for those of us who have decided on that long pipe down the trans tunnel.

[voucht]

Sylvain....it might be a good idea to put up a pdf or jpg letter of the conformity of the pipework for those of us who have decided on that long pipe down the trans tunnel.

Definitely Kev', or by email when I know the order is being shipped, so they don't have to think about the paperwork at the workshop.
Thanks.

[Tatey]

Well after buying a long armed riveter from axminster tools I have now managed to rivet in all of my brake lines, I have to say I am very happy with the job, they look good and weren't difficult to install, it's nice to be able to fit parts rather than fabricate them. Here some pictures:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02118.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02110.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02114.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02115.jpg

[Tatey]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02128.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02122.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02126.jpg

[Tatey]

Now that the brake lines are done I've started running the fuel line, again I've used another 40mm strip of aluminium running the length of the straight part of the tunnel to run the fuel line:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02130.jpg

I just need to figure out what what round the fuel pump goes before I mount that...

[twinturbo]

The lines look ace.

TT

[Tatey]

The lines look ace.

TT

Cheers TT, it's much appreciated.

Well I've now finished riveting in the fuel line and have created the fuel pump and filter mounting plate and now how them mounted. I just need to cut the fuel line to join it all together and order another 4 hose finishers so that everything matches.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02141.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02138.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02144.jpg

[Johno]

One thing to say :cool:
Top notch installation of all your lines. I bet it makes life easier with the flexible lines..:)
Is there still plenty of clearance between gearbox and pipes as they look a little bigger than hard lines...?
Looks like this could be the way to go for new builders.
The only other question is this OK for the IVA with using all flexible lines?
In my opinion it should be as we use flexible lines between callipers and chassis.

Nice build:cool:

Johno

[Tatey]

I haven't actually trial fitted the engine/box with the lines in place yet, but when I received the lines I messed around with the brake lines and there was plenty of clearance if I used current routing, there should hopefully be plenty of clearance for the fuel lines but tomorrows job will now to be to refit the engine and make sure!

It will also give me a chance to measure up for the drive shaft and get that ordered on Monday morning.

I will take some pictures tomorrow with the engine and box fitted.

Also the flexible lines will be fine with IVA as long as the correct paperwork is used as you need to have a certificate of compliance for the hoses to ensure they are to the correct standard.

The lines were very easy to install, however it did require a bit of effort before hand to decide on routing, what fitting and fixtures I wanted, if I wanted a hydraulic or micro switch brake light, thread sizes ended up being a very big deal as it turned out I ordered a Sierra master cylinder instead of a Fiat 124 (supposed to give a better brake pedal) and the threads were different, I only found out when I received the lines but Sylvain was very helpful and provided a really good service and got the fittings changed for me.

[martinl]

hi tatey

those brake lines look excellent. 2 questions, is your rear brake set up discs or drums?, and how much did the pipe set cost?

cheers martin

[Tatey]

The rear setup is drum and it cost me about £260 (including delivery and VAT) for full brake line setup + stainless braided fuel hose + hose clamps/finishers + rubber lined p-clips for brake and fuel hoses + stainless braided hose for master cylinder to remote reservoir + push fittings for master cylinder + brass t-piece. It's definitely a more expensive option than copper lines but definitely seems worth the extra money!

[Tatey]

I've just been out and refitted the engine and box and everything has copious amounts of clearance except for the two p-clips either side of the gearbox by the reverse switch, it should take 2 seconds to move them, to increase the clearance, I also need to trim a bit off of aluminium strip to allow for the reverse switch as at the minute it is touching and preventing the gearbox mount from being in the correct position, again a 2 second job to do, but other than that everything fits perfectly.

[Tatey]

I haven't had a chance to do much work to the car over the past week as a few of my mates are back from uni and I've been busy mountain biking, visiting a car show, learning how to row and more importantly, spending time at the pub!

However today I went to my mates house and he gave me a hand sorting out my scuttle as it needs all of the excess fibreglass cutting off with a dremel as well as applying a bit of clear gel coat to a few air bubbles in my carbon aeroscreen. I also decided while I was there that we'd try and make a boot panel and dashboard, so I've now ordered some carbon fibre fabric, some epoxy, a bit of 3mm coremat and finally some mould release wax. The plan is to have the top ply carbon fibre, the next coremat with a couple of plys of fibreglass on top, that way it should look like carbon but bring the cost down as fibreglass is about £5 per square meter compared to £30 of carbon fibre...

The plan is to make them next weekend so I will see how it goes and take some photos of the process. But hopefully I will have a carbon dash and boot panel for £85 with some carbon left over.

[Tatey]

Well it's been a busy summer working at the Olympics and back down at Triumph but I got back on Friday and started uni on Monday but have finally managed to do some work on my car! The fuel tank securing brackets are now finished, they are made out of 3mm x 40mm aluminium with some 3mm x 50mm rubber strip between the tank and the brackets to make Mr IVA man happy, I was surprised at how good they came out, they seem to look the business and the tank is going no where! I just need to make some compression limiters for the top bolts and they will be complete.

I have also moved the position of the fuel line and brake hoses that were running very close to the gearbox (they were touching...), I just need to cut out a recess in the aluminium strip for the reverse switch and they will be complete.

I think my next task will be to run the wiring, secure it in place and then continue making body panels.

I have held off making the carbon fibre as I am currently trying to locate a vacuum pump I can use as my test piece contained a lot of pin holes in the surface which I wasn't too happy about, so I think the wait will be worth it. I think my university has one, so I just need to find someone who will let me use it.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02165.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02167.jpg

[voucht]

Good to see you back Simon.
I tried to find you in the crowed while I was watching the Olympics, but no chance :D
The fuel tank brackets look very nice indeed. Like it :)
I will PM you about the loom you ordered for your Roadster.

[Tatey]

Well I've now ordered my propshaft from Dunning & Fairbanks for a total cost of £138 delivered including delivery, it should be here in a week or two.

I have also started the task of running the loom and its safe to say it is going to require a bit of a learning into car electrics! I don't think it's going to be too difficult but I've never really done any wiring before so it's all new to me. I am first looking into the routing as I have now figured out what each part of the loom does, and then I will get it all in place with p-clips and then start crimping components together once I buy a decent set of crimps.

[spud69]

Good luck with the loom it can be quite daunting at first. Remove as little as possible, the car audio system, electric windows and central locking is easily removed and takes out quite a bit of the loom. But dont forget you've got a lot of room in the scuttle to tie away the excess in the loom and can be done quite neatly.

All the Best........Andrew

[Tatey]

Spud, I took the easy option and ordered one from Premier Looms, £170 well spent if you ask me...it comes with wiring instructions with all of the colour codes on it so should be relatively easy to do, whether it is is another mater :p.

[alga]

Eeek! My body loom is about 10 wires running along the transmission tunnel to the rear lights, fuel sender and fuel pump, about 10 wires running to the front lights and radiator fan, Sierra's fusebox in the middle, and a reshaped engine loom. Took a while to sort out, but was not complex at all. I don't see how a pre-fabricated loom could justify such a cost, you will still have to splice it with stalks, senders, switches, etc.

[Tatey]

I didn't have a sierra loom to start with Alga and I priced up building my own, bearing in mind I wanted all of my cables to be different colours so it would be possible to fault find at a later date along with a couple of small fuse holders etc with all of the crimps needed along with the trunking, cable ties etc it seemed stupid not to go for the ready made loom.

[Tatey]

I've now finished my right hand side tunnel panel and fitted my OBP passenger footrest, I was going to start the rear tub and other panels this weekend but have decided that I will wait until my 10m of corrugated cardboard arrives (only cost £5 so I think it should be worth it. I've also ordered some rivnuts and some more nuts, so I should be able to start fitting bodywork shortly.

[Tatey]

Quick update, I've been working on the rear panel as of late and it's safe to say I need some more practice at sheet metal work as I'm not that good at the minute, but hopefully by the time I've finished all of the alu work on the car I will be a dab hand...I just need to sikaflex the panel and roll the bottom end and it will be complete.

My new exhaust has arrived as well, it is one from CBS that a member on LB sold to me for £110, it's in really good condition and has only covered about 3,500 miles (he bought a bigger one for his BEC install), it is also repackable and the mounting system can be hidden so it should look a lot better than my original silencer. I am hoping to make up a bracket for it this Saturday.

My propshaft also arrived late last week and has now been installed, which has also allowed me to tighten up the rear hub nuts so my rear wheels no longer wobble about like no ones business, they still need torquing up but I won't be able to do that until I run the handbrake cables.

I will try and get some pictures this weekend as it is starting to look a lot more car like now.

[Tatey]

Another update with pictures! I've now installed the clutch cable which is nice and secure, but it seems that the cable is slightly too long as it is off the adjuster when in the correct position, I need to look into this and decide what I'm going to do, worst case I can cut the end of the cable and shorten it using a solderless nipple.

I'm in the process of fitting the handbrake cable, I have got it fitted on side I have now created an adapter to go from the handbrake to the half moon on the cable, I am just trying to figure out what length I want to cut the cable to, knowing me I'll end up cutting it that bit too short. I may also need to modify my rear uprights to give clearance between the handbrake cable and the upright as at the minute there isnt enough space to allow the handbrake cable to sit flush against the back plate, I am going to see if it will be possible to install the handbrake cable to the back plate first and then install the back plate to the rear upright.

I have also started fitting the bodywork, the nose cone is now bolted in place by the use of rivnuts, I made a tool using a couple of nuts and a bolt instead of buying a rivnut tool, I am sure it is a bit more fiddly than a proper tool as you need really need 3 hands to use it, but I'm not planning on using that many rivnuts. My next job on bodywork is to finish the rear tub which requires a few rivets to get it in the correct place and then I will roll the bottom edge and rivet that. I then need to put the scuttle in the correct place and buy some bonnet catches, I am planning on using the lockable flush fitting type which are about twice the price of the usual ones but stop someone trying to steal my bonnet and I think they look a lot better.

After this I will continue making more transmission tunnel panels and the side panels and then I can start mounting lights to the bodywork and then finally vinyl wrap it all. I am starting to get better at vinyl wrapping and I have discovered why the edge of my wrapped rear wheel arch lifted, it was because there was an excessive amount of tension left in the vinyl when wrapping and to alleviate this I just need to apply some head to the edge using a heat gun. I also bought a teflon coated squeegee which works wonders with the vinyl.

Here are the pictures so far (excuse the mess of the garage):

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00005.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC00001.jpg

[voucht]

It looks great Simon. I've always looked at your build thread with great interest, and we can see you are really going forward.
Congratulations and keep on the good work :)

[Tatey]

Scuttle is now in place with rivnuts and fasteners, the holes in the fibreglass just need tweaking slightly to get a flush finish with the side panel, but this will be done when I've made and fitted the side panels. My next job is finishing off the rear tub which I still haven't gotten round to doing yet, at least now my bodywork can sit on my car instead of being propped up against a wall.

[jps]

Scuttle is now in place with rivnuts and fasteners, the holes in the fibreglass just need tweaking slightly to get a flush finish with the side panel.

Having not worked with GRP so far - is it a bit flexible - hence you can sort of (gently one assumes) push and pull it into position...?

[alga]

My scuttle stretched to abont an inch too wide before I fitted it. I clamped it to the chassis in summer, it flexed to 1 cm too wide in an unstressed state within a couple of weeks, and it easily flexes 1-2 cm more without much strain. Looks like NTS bodywork was made out of a single layer of 600 or 400 g/m^2 CSM, it's pretty light and flimsy.

[Tatey]

My scuttle is very flexible and it was about an inch too wide, so I drilled the holes for one side of the scuttle, fitted the rivnuts into the chassis, bolted it down and then flexed the other side of the scuttle into the correct place. I am tempted to in the future remake everything out of carbon fibre but that will be a long way off.

I've now finished the rear aluminium panel and safe to say it was a bit of a ball ache, I am not a fan of creating panels I have to say, but it's done now and I'm reasonably satisfied with it, here is a picture:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02360.jpg

It will be vinyl wrapped like the rest of the body panels. I think I have also decided I will be vinyl wrapping my carbon aeroscreen with dinoc carbon vinyl as it looks a bit crap due to the large amount of resin at the bottom of the screen with a number of airbubbles/disturbed fibre strands, it only cost £5 and will look reasonable once wrapped.

[skov]

Rear panel looks good. That's one job I didn't enjoy much either!

[Tatey]

I really hope the side panels are an easier job...

I've now fitted the wing mirrors, although need to buy some fine pitched M10 nuts, I will have every fastener under the sun by the time I've finished this car...

Still need to finish off the handbrake cable, all that is left to do is to put the cable through the nearside brake shoe and cut it to length, but I couldnt for the life of me get the nipple through the hole (the offside was no problem at all)...do people take the shoe off to do this or is there a method I am missing?

[jps]

My scuttle is very flexible and it was about an inch too wide, so I drilled the holes for one side of the scuttle, fitted the rivnuts into the chassis, bolted it down and then flexed the other side of the scuttle into the correct place.

This is why this forum is great! Info like this is gold-dust I reckon! Will the dash and front bulkhead panel hold it all rigid once it's all riveted / bolted up?

[Tatey]

It's very rigid once bolted down, its just quite easy to flex if you grab both ends and push together when not attached to anything, attaching the bulkhead and dash should increase the rigidity even further.

[Tatey]

I've made quite a bit of progress since my last post, I've now sorted out the handbrake so it works (just need to cut the cable to length when I'm 100% happy with it...

I've finally got round to cutting bolts to length and fitting washers were there weren't before and trying to sort out other little niggles

I've now continued working on the transmission tunnel and have now completed the tunnel top, the driver side tunnel panel and the tunnel front top panel, I just need to make the passenger side panel and then it can all be bolted/riveted into place, then I will just need to make the bulkhead panel and both side panels and all the aluminium work will be complete. I am slowly getting better at dealing with the ali, some bits have got little niggles where I missed with the hammer or stupidly didnt put any wood on top when using a g-clamp but I can remake those panels in the future if it still bugs me.

My bonnet catches have also arrived now, £90 worth of lockable aerocatches, they look the business and hopefully they won't be too difficult to install, I have also ordered myself a Dremel 3000 to make cutting the holes a bit easier.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02386.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02389.jpg

[Tatey]

I've been spending the majority of my time working on installing my bonnet catches, which do look good, but are a right pain to install :rolleyes:, to get them roughly in the right place is easy but getting the bonnet to sit flush against the side panels is the biggest pain as you end up moving a bracket which then moves the pin position and then you need to alter the angle the pin sits at, I have got 2 finished on one side so the bonnet sits flush, and I have started on the other 2, hopefully these will go a bit quicker now I know what I'm doing, I then just need to buy some rubber edge trim/foam to sit on the bonnet edge/scuttle and nose cone mounting surfaces so that the bonnet sits flush with the top/sides of the scuttle and nose cone. I have to say though I have no idea how I managed to cope without a dremel....

I will try to get some pictures up later on today.

[tkpm]

Please post pic, as i'm going to fit the same catches over christmas hols.

Terry

[Tatey]

Terry,

Just need to wait for the sikaflex to dry and I'll put the bonnet back into place to take some pictures, I'll have some later on for you

[Tatey]

Terry,

Pictures as promised, I used the following pictures from someone's build on LocostBuilders:

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=161450

However I ended up making the box section bracket as it didnt look to be possible to do it the same way he did due to the angle of the bonnet.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02460_zps8f01f60b.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02475_zpse1429355.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02477_zpse3eb144f.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02481_zps5cf51298.jpg

[Tatey]

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02473_zpsa80db286.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02474_zps308ee106.jpg

[tkpm]

Thanks Tatey, the pictures will be very handy.

Terry

[robo]

Those are really nice catches, where are they from? Anyway those catches wont keep the sides of the bonnet in line with the side panels, they are good for holding down but not locating. I saw an ali bonnet on a kit car that was held down with straps and the guy had put a couple of tapered pins in the top chassis rail looking up on each side. They passed through the bonnet return underneath purely for locating purposes ,all the straps had to do was hold the bonnet down , the tapered pins kept it in place.

Bob

Edit. Something along the lines of this x4 but with a bit more taper. Screwed into a rivnut on the top rail would do the job
http://www.xionglian.chinafastener.com/ImgProducts/2012/7/20120705115119_X.jpg

[Tatey]

Terry, you are more than welcome.

Rob they are called AeroCatches, you can buy them from ebay and a few other places, but they cost £45 a pair so aren't cheap...They are the flush fitting and lockable variety, you can get non-locking flush and lockable/non-locking surface mounted so you just bolt them on instead of bonding them.

The way the brackets are set up allow for the lateral positioning of the bonnet as the bonnet is flush up against them so it stops them moving side to side and the brackets have slotted holes to allow them to be moved inboard to line the bonnet up correctly. I agree that if it was just the pins then this would be the case as you then have no adjustment.

1 thing I do have to mention though is be careful when you put the brackets on and fit the bonnet, the bottom flange of the bonnet needs a recess cutting in it which goes to the edge of the bonnet and my bonnet had an air bubble in it where the fibreglass hadnt been pushed into the gel coat, and when the bonnet was fitted the gel broke off (you can see this in the first picture, the front bracket), however as I am vinyl wrapping my bodywork it isnt an issue for me as I can easily sort it out with body filler, however if you have decent bodywork you need to be careful.

[tkpm]

My panals are not that good, they have a shed load of air pockets along the edges. So mine will be vinyl wrapped as well. Thanks for the warning tatey.

I got my catches from the exeter kit car show, can't remember what i paid for them, will have a look for the reciept.

Terry

[Tatey]

While I'm waiting for the sikaflex on the final catch to cure I thought I'd put some pictures of up of my inlet system that I finished off yesterday:

It is made up of a custom aluminium inlet manifold from FastDan on Locostbuilders, a set of ZX9R bike carbs and a Pipercross sausage filter with a backing plate to match the carbs. I just need to get round to repainting my cam cover :eek:.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02496_zps92b90d9b.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02498_zps7bc82237.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02499_zpsd970adda.jpg

[twinturbo]

You need to get your edge trim on the bonnet and make sure the catches still work. Good job though :)

I have used the normal rubber over centre latches, but may also add a few tapered pins to aid location.

TT

[Tatey]

I am keen to get some rubber trim but I'm waiting until I have a long enough list to buy from CBS to try and save on postage costs, so far it consists of:

• Self-Adhesive Non-slip grip tape
• Ultra flexible fuel filler hose + hose clamps
• Edge Trim – Seats + Bodywork
• Centre mirror
• 8mm to 10mm hose reducer * 2 - Nylon
• 4 hose finishers (2 * 8mm hose, 2 * 10mm hose) (red)
• 10mm fuel hose – 1m
• Flexible exhaust tubing

Also need to decide what parts need edge trim, what size it needs to be and what length and I am sure there will be a few other bits to add to the list...

[Tatey]

The bulkhead panel has now been made and it was a bit of a nightmare to bend that large of a panel, I ended up having to clamp it between a 1.5m long bit of 50x50mm box and some angle iron and clamp it in a vice and then go at it with a bit of wood and a hammer.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02538_zps7c5d2eef.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02539_zps2ce7e675.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02540_zpse5f7e9dd.jpg

As I always manage to do with these aluminium panels, I missed with the hammer and it has a nice crease mark in the middle where there was a massive dint, but I'm sure I can find something to cover it up and then if I still aren't happy with it when I have finished the car I will make a new panel.

[K4KEV]

like the use of button heads there Simon, they give a pro finish, I am using a lot of them in my build, little touches like that can make a difference to the overall look.....making good progress there bud, keep it up.

[Davidbolam]

Tatey

I have some non slip self adhesive you can have if you like. Is it for the pedals?

David

[Tatey]

Thanks for the comments Kev, after working at Triumph for a year the use of quality fasteners is now engrained in me, costs slightly mort but the little things really do seem to mater.

David, the self adhesive grip tape is for the pedals, I'd be very grateful if I could have some.

[Davidbolam]

You are more then welcome. I bought mine for my pedals but when Nathan delivered them he had painted them and put the grip tape on. I will dig it out and arrange to get it to you somehow. Where are you based Hexham??

[Tatey]

I'm in Stocksfield, so 10 miles east of hexham. If you let me know how much it will cost to post I'll happily bank transfer you the money. Once again thanks very much!

[Davidbolam]

Don't worry about the cost. Drop me a pm with your address and I will pop it in the post ASAP

David

[Tatey]

I've now finished wrapping the scuttle and I am liking the red now that there is more on the car. There are a few imperfections in the wrap on the scuttle, mainly around the corners with the lip at the front, I am sure I will eventually be able to crack this but for the moment it will do, it will be completely hidden when the bonnet is on and isn't that noticeable when it isn't.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02542_zps53ca4d67.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02545_zps3e2b57db.jpg

[Tatey]

I've now finished the bracket for the brake reservoir, I originally made it out of the same ali as the rest of the panels but it was a bit too flimsy and I wasn't happy with it, so it has now been made out of the same ali as I used for the floor, which is 2mm thick and hardened was a bit of an arse to bend as you can see on the bottom edges which arent flat, I think I will give it another seeing to with the hammer to see if I can tidy it up a bit. I now just need to buy some 10mm to 8mm push in reducers for the master cylinder, cut the pipes to length, and then put a couple of rivnuts in place for the two t-pieces and the brake system will be complete.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02553_zps4f12ccb4.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02555_zpseebf25a7.jpg

[K4KEV]

bit by bit Simon ...it is coming together....I would put a grommet or piece of rubber tubing on the cable tie that holds the reservoir as it will cut through with vibration from the engine, just an observation bud :rolleyes:

[Tatey]

I honestly didn't even consider that Kev, thanks for the input, will get a couple ordered later on today.

I think the next job now is to make a bracket to mount the polo header tank you can see on the right of the second picture, cost me £6 brand new including postage and even comes with a level sensor so I could implement a low coolant warning on my dash. However it didn't come with a cap and the cap has just cost me £6 to buy... Then once that is mounted I can decided how I want to route my cooling system and then buy all of the silicon hose, joiners, clips and the like, looks like it's going to cost a fair bit but buy cheap buy twice...

I've also looked into the cost of getting my bonnet and nose cone vinyl wrapped as it looks like it will be beyond my ability and I got a quote back for £140 with them providing the vinyl, which isn't too bad and will be a last resort after attempting them myself.

[ayjay]

I vinyl wrapped arches ,scuttlle ,bonnet and nose. The nose cone is a nightmare to do well and although it looks ok would not pass close inspection due to small wrinkles at the compound angles. Its ok for now and gets the car looking good for very little money.
However it will def. be a professional spray job when I get the dosh together.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Tatey]

Ayjay, what was the bonnet like to wrap? If it wasn't too bad then I may wrap the bonnet myself and get the nose professionally wrapped to get the best of both worlds.

I have now finished the bracket for my header tank, however it does oscillate a bit if you pull it down and let go, I am hoping once the hoses are on they will act like a damper to stop this from happening, if it doesn't then I'll make a new bracket with more than one support arm.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02556_zps7e075247.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02557_zpse1565df5.jpg

[ayjay]

The bonnet is easy compared with the scuttle. There were no compound angles visible on the outside surface so no wrinkle potential. However your power bulge complicates things .Make sure the surface is nice and warm before starting as well as the vinyl. The little vinyl smoothing tool that you can get on ebay works better than any other sort of squeegee.

Hope this helps:)

[Tatey]

I'm guessing it will be a case of applying it to the middle and working back first and then move forward onto the scoop and apply heat to the vinyl to stretch it around the scoop?

I have a Teflon squeegee that seems to work quite well, however I have seen in a video on YouTube of what was essentially a nylon wheel with a handle that allows you to push the vinyl into concave surfaces like the edges of the scoop after applying a bit of heat, it looked like a brilliant tool but I can't find it anywhere.

I've now provisionally placed an order for some of my cooling system, I've gone for silicon hose and polished aluminium lengths, however I have only ordered the hot coolant hoses and the expansion hoses to start with as the cold side of things is a bit complex as you are joining 4 different hoses together that have different diameters and point in different directions so I'm going to have a go at the easier side first to get the hang of dealing with the silicon hose.

[ayjay]

I have a Teflon squeegee that seems to work quite well, however I have seen in a video on YouTube of what was essentially a nylon wheel with a handle that allows you to push the vinyl into concave surfaces like the edges of the scoop after applying a bit of heat, it looked like a brilliant tool but I can't find it anywhere.



I think plenty of stretch is the trick, then when its cool heat it again to reset its "memory" otherwise it shrinks over a couple of days:mad:

[Tatey]

Quick update, I've now finished applying the body filler to my bonnet and I've hosed it down to remove all of the fibreglass dust so I should be able to attempt wrapping it on Wednesday when I have a day off.

I have placed an order for 2/3 of my cooling system and when they arrive this week and I fit them then I will place the remaining order for the rest of it now I have decided what I want.

I've also managed to remove the large bubbles in my scuttle on the flange that the bonnet sits on, this was done by applying a lot of heat and pushing it into place, it now looks a lot better, its not perfect by any means but has been a good first attempt and will happily see me through IVA.

My header tank cap arrived however it turned out I ordered a mk4 polo cap instead of a mk3 so a new one is now in the post and I will be sending the wrong one back.

I have also started making the passenger foot well end panel out of aluminium and should finish it by tomorrow morning if all things go to plan.

[Tatey]

Well my silicon hoses arrived yesterday and I've started fitting them now, although only sent me 1 length of 8mm ID hose instead of 2 so I haven't been able to finish the expansion hoses. I am impressed with the way they look and all hoses should be running down the same side of the car and will be in top of each other so should make for a tidy looking install.

My new header tank cap arrived today as well, so that's been fitted.

I just need to order the remaining bits for it as well as some big p-clips to secure the top hose to the chassis rail.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02565_zps9cff3b93.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02568_zpse3680b9e.jpg

[voucht]

I'm very impressed with the progresses you made on your build, Simon, and how nice your car look :cool: you are far ahead of me now!
The orange colour of your silicone hoses and body work should be due to your camera or the lightning of your garage, because even the brake lines (that I know are really red), look orange on your pictures, so I guess everything is more red than it looks here :p

Anyway, congratulations for the good work :)

[Tatey]

Thanks for the comments Sylvain, its much appreciated. And I can confirm that everything is bright red and not in fact orange, those pictures were taken without a flash in my poorly light garage, just need to get the engine started and I can take some pictures of it outside!

[Tatey]

Well it's been a long while since I've updated this, I've now moved out of my parents house but as I'm living in an apartment I don't have a garage, so my car is 15 mins away from me so progress has been slow.

I've been trying to get into the garage to little odd jobs that I can complete while I'm at my parents house so I've finished assembling the brakes, I just need to modify one of the brackets to make it IVA compliant and buy some larger push in fittings for my master cylinder and then my brake system will be complete.

I've made the passenger side transmission tunnel panel now and I've finished my dashboard, getting the 19mm bend radius on the bottom was a right nightmare but i've discovered a rubber mallet makes for a really good tool when making panels as you dont mark the aluminium when you hit it (previously I was using a piece of wood on top with a ball pien hammer).

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02591.jpg

The next job on my list is to try and tidy up the garage! As I am not living at my parents now it has been used as a bit of a dumping ground, and with it being a single garage with 5 push bikes, 1 motorbike, a kit car, 2 sets of tools, a kayak and all of the other crap that seems to accumulate in there it is getting a bit tight, so when the weather improves I'm going to take everything out and try and get some order in there as at the minute I spend half of my time looking for tools.

[Tatey]

I've now managed to finish off my wing stays, they just need a slight tweek when I can roll the car out of the garage to get the fully in the right position, then I will be fibreglassing them to the wing stays as I don't like the look of fasteners going through the top side of them. They need a polish up and some edge trim as well, but I will do that once the car is nearing completion as its pretty tight in the garage now so they tend to get knock about.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02595.jpg

I've also fitted my fog light, reverse light and number plate light after lending a spare number plate my mate had.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC02593.jpg

The next job will be to install the rear arches so I can mount the remainder of the rear lights.

I still need to order some more aluminium to make the side panels, but that will have to wait until I have some more money and in the mean time I have a lot of jobs that can be done without spending any money which is always good.

[alga]

Your fog and reverse are the other way around, that's how they are on the continent.

[Tatey]

I wasn't sure which way they should be and as they are the same size and swappable thought i'd just put them on this way, I'll get them changed later on, cheers.

[flyerncle]

Fog light right or centre reverse to left.

Daft thought,will the rad not go in front of the engine inside the chassis,would save hose length and make it less likely to damage stuck out the front.
Good progress Simon.

[Tatey]

Paul, I think I would fit in front if the engine but you may get overheating problems as you won't be able to channel the air through the rad. I don't know if people experience issues with them getting damaged.

[flyerncle]

It works ok Simon,the Teamtrain car we built has it there and its no probs even without a fan,the zetec does like to run fairly hot for good performance.

Twas just a thought.......;)

[Tatey]

Maybe I should invest in some cardboard to reduce the cooling efficiency :D. How is your roadster coming along?

[flyerncle]

Rolling chassis for past couple of years since I last saw you Simon,change of job and other kak have stalled it but sorting bits and pieces.

Have new job as garage service manager to start soon so wages are better and want to get it sorted for my own satisfaction,just got 2ltr Zetec for nothing and set of Mondeo wheels,nice little tickle !

[Tatey]

We'll it's been a long while since I've updated this, I've been moving forward with the wiring and have the loom in place with cable tie backs riveted to the chassis and cable ties, which means in the future if there is anything that needs adding it will be quite easy.

I started off using insulated crimps but I wasn't happy with the quality of them so I have bought some Superseal connectors which Premier Looms confirmed will be fine with my setup. I have gone for a number of 4 way, 3 way and 2 way connectors to connect the headlights, radiator fan, indicators, rear light clusters, fuel pump, reverse switch and number plate light. I've also ordered a special set of ratchet crimps to create these connections which are yet to arrive so they are delaying me some what. Here is a picture of one:

http://www.beastboxes.co.uk/ekmps/shops/djuplift/images/superseal-1.5mm-female-442-p.jpg

I have also ordered the remaining bits (except hose finishers) that I need to finish off my fuelling system. I have bought another set of ZX9R bike carbs, these are the E type kind and therefore have a TPS built in, I didn't realise when I bought my original ones that I needed a TPS, it can be done using a MAP sensor but again my inlet manifold does not have the adapters on them, so I have a spare set of carbs if anyone would like to make me an offer.

I think once I have finished wiring up all of my connectors I will buy myself a Megajolt ECU and a digidash, I should then be able to start my engine.

I still need to finish off my cooling system and sort out all of my body work but everything seems to be coming together now.

[Tatey]

I've now managed to wire the headlights, radiator fan, reverse switch, handbrake switch and horn. I'm waiting for a few more connectors to allow me to wire up the rear lights. I've also tidied up the loom slightly by running some cables down the sheathing for the reverse switch/handbrake switch.

The fuel lines are now complete after my 10mm fuel hose + 10mm to 8mm inline adapters arrived, I just need to order some more 8mm fuel hose as the braid has become a bit knackered at for the fuel filter hoses + some hose finishers to complete it. Below are some pictures:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03519.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03512.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03512.jpg.html)

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03507.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03507.jpg.html)

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03501.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03501.jpg.html)

[Tatey]

I've now wired my reverse and fog lights, fuel pump as well as soldering/heat shrinking all of the column cables, I have left out the wiper switches as I wont have a windscreen, but my loom has them in, so it gives me the opportunity in the future to put them in if I want to.

I have also drilled and tapped my offside mushroom/upright as well as reaming out the upright.

I've continued running my loom and have ordered some non-adhesive loom tape to allow me to tidy up the column wiring as it is just a jumble of wires at the moment.

I have also now mounted my front indicators and also now need to fill a hole in my nosecone where I drilled the hole in the wrong place :(.

My next job is to drill and tap/ream the nearside upright and then fibreglass the wings to the wing stays.

I still have a few more wiring jobs to do like welding bolts to the chassis to act as earth points and adding connectors to all of my earth leads, connecting up the front indicators and mounting the rear lights. I also need to order a fuel tank sender and wire that up.

So I'm managing to make a fair amount of progress at the minute now that I have finished my exams at uni, I will have officially finished my degree next Thursday after giving a couple of presentations, but only having another 2 weeks until I go on holiday for 2 weeks and then start my job the week after I don't have too much time so I'm trying to fit in as many jobs as I can. Then I have the task of deciding how I will get my kit car down south, I am thinking of just hiring another long wheel base transit van and stripping the car down completely putting into the back of the van and then rebuilding it, which will allow me to do the final fitment as I don't own a car with a tow bar to allow me to tow it.

[K4KEV]

sounds like you are going to have a lot on your plate over the next few months....... good luck with it all bud;) ;)

[Tatey]

Cheers Kev, I honestly don't think I have ever had a clear plate...but I guess that's half the fun otherwise I'd be bored. :p

I've just finished drilling/tapping the nearside upright and reaming it out for the bottom ball joint.

One question I do have is that there appears to be a slight amount of play between the top ball joint and the wishbone, am I right to think that I require a locking nut to remove this play? If so what thread size is it?

[K4KEV]

yup....M18 x 1.5:D

[Tatey]

Thanks Kev, just to confirm they are a right hand thread? I'd go to the garage and check but I've literally just bolted everything back together.

[robo]

I have just been doing catch up on your thread tatey . You have been busy, its all coming together well;) . I noticed you are multi colour on the f/g at the moment. What colour scheme are you going for?

Bob

[flyerncle]

Well done on all counts Simon especially the degree,well worth the effort.;)

[Tatey]

Bob, the F/G and aluminium is all getting vinyl wrapped gloss red, you can see I have already done the scuttle and one of the rear arches. I will be giving my nose cone, bonnet and other rear arch to a professional wrapper to do as it is a real pain in the backside and I don't have the skills to do it to the standard I want.

Thanks very much flyerncle, it'll be a proud day when I collect my scroll in July.

[flyerncle]

It's a good feeling Simon,been to two at city hall with the daughter and the dragon,both got degree's.:eek:

[Tatey]

Well I thought it was time for some more pictures, however I've found that the jobs I'm doing don't take very interesting photos.

But I have now finished modifying my wing stays (in other words bodge until they fit correctly...), I think the wing stays I purchased off of ebay were for a different sized wheel and wing, meaning that they have required a bit of cutting and shutting to make them fit correctly. So my plan for the future is to possible make some fancy carbon fibres ones that will be made to measure, but that will be a winter mod after the car is on the road. They have now been primed and painted and will be fitted to the car later on so I can sikaflex my wings to them and then fibreglass them on top of that to ensure they don't come off during use.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03784.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03784.jpg.html)

I've managed to do a few other odd jobs like ensuring my hydraulic brake sensor is fitted correctly to my t-piece, this required cutting down the threaded section of the sensor to allow a copper washer to be used to allow adequate sealing, I still need to test the system with some brake fluid to make sure I have no leaks, but before I do that I need to create a new bracket for the rear brake line t-piece as at the moment it is not as far as I can tell IVA friendly as the t-piece is supported by the three brake lines, not the other way around. I can provide a picture if people are unsure what I mean.

I've also discovered that I have issues trying to tighten my headlight nuts, meaning I have a droopy headlight at the minute, it appears that it is the equivalent of a 21.5mm across flats nut (whatever that is?) but the headlight brackets don't allow me enough space to get a spanner in there, any tips would be appreciated as my car looks a bit 'special' with its one droopy eye... You can also see the indicators I have fitted which will need extensions made for them to pass IVA.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03695.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03695.jpg.html)

My non-adhesive self amalgamating loom tape arrived on Saturday so I have now taped up the column switch cables which has made it a lot tidier.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03788.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03788.jpg.html)

Finally I have put in a 90° elbow to remove a kink in my brake hose, I just need to buy some hose clamps to secure everything.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03795.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03795.jpg.html)

I have also got my aluminium battery tray and rear view mirror arriving today so hopefully by tonight I will have fitted those as well as my wings.

[Tatey]

Well my battery tray arrived which give me the issue of where to mount it and the best solution I came up with since I have installed a foot rest in my passenger footwell was to move my header tank to the front of the car under the nose cone and mount the battery tray on the bulkhead which seems to have worked well. It has actually reduced the complexity of my cooling circuit and has made it a neater install.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03830.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03830.jpg.html)

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03829.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03829.jpg.html)

I've also installed my rear view mirror which is near to useless (could really do with a convex mirror) but should hopefully get me through IVA.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03833.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03833.jpg.html)

My carbon aeroscreen still needs a lot of work doing to it and I am still undecided if I will be vinyl wrapping it or not as it is pretty poor quality with looks of imperfections. I will see how I feel about it when it is fixed in place and with some edge trim.

I have also sikaflexed and fibreglassed my cycle wings to the wing stays and once the epoxy cures I will put them back on and then the wings just need a polish and some edge trim and they will be complete.

My next job is to finish off the cooling system, I am just trying to locate all of the bits I require. I also need some more dremel accessories to aid me in finishing my aeroscreen.

[Johno]

Hi Tatey,
Do you have a better picture of the headlight problem from underneath?
By what you are saying I'm guessing the wire passes through the thread and stops you from using a socket (are they SVC lights?)
If that is the case I have the same setup and no way can you use a spanner.:(
But I might have a solution if the above is the problem..
I've bought a long reach socket which I intend to cut the bottom 1/2" drive off. Then I'm going to cut a slot all the way down the socket to allow the wires to pass through. On the bottom of the socket I'm going to weld on a large nut also with a slot in.
This way I can tighten the nut (with the wires hanging out the bottom of the socket) with a spanner on the tacked on nut.
You just need to leave enough spare cable to pass through the socket.

That's what I plan to do on my lights (not tried it yet though but have bought the socket):eek:



Sorry but did that make any sense....:eek:

ps... cars looking good..:cool:

[Tatey]

Johno they are SVC and yes the cables going through the thread is dropping me using a socket. Modifying a deep socket sounds like a good plan, have you tried dissembling the lights to remove the wires allowing a normal socket to be used? I tried to the other day but couldn't find my 3mm Allen key.

[K4KEV]

Hi Tatey,
Do you have a better picture of the headlight problem from underneath?
By what you are saying I'm guessing the wire passes through the thread and stops you from using a socket (are they SVC lights?)
If that is the case I have the same setup and no way can you use a spanner.:(
But I might have a solution if the above is the problem..
I've bought a long reach socket which I intend to cut the bottom 1/2" drive off. Then I'm going to cut a slot all the way down the socket to allow the wires to pass through. On the bottom of the socket I'm going to weld on a large nut also with a slot in.
This way I can tighten the nut (with the wires hanging out the bottom of the socket) with a spanner on the tacked on nut.
You just need to leave enough spare cable to pass through the socket.

That's what I plan to do on my lights (not tried it yet though but have bought the socket):eek:

Sorry but did that make any sense....:eek:
why not keep it even easier ......long socket and just grind away half the socket in the middle nearly up to each of the ends then just use a normal ratchet and thread the wires through the socket....sorry for that little hijack
you are not half plodding away there Simon keep it up mate.

[Johno]

Johno they are SVC and yes the cables going through the thread is dropping me using a socket. Modifying a deep socket sounds like a good plan, have you tried dissembling the lights to remove the wires allowing a normal socket to be used? I tried to the other day but couldn't find my 3mm Allen key.

Yeah,
I was able to pull the wires back into the light and tighten the nut fine.
The main reason for trashing the socket was when it came to setting the lights up. If I left enough slack in the cables inboard of the chassis I could alter the lights angle without removing the wires, just perhaps only cut a few cable ties.
It would be a pain disconnecting the wires each time just to set them up..:)

[Tatey]

Kev I would thread the wires through the socket but since using the superseal connectors it wouldn't be possible as the connector is very large, I need to cut a small slot in my headlight brackets to allow me to take off my headlights in the future. Ill do some head scratching tomorrow and see if I can come up with any solutions.

[robo]

[QUOTE=Tatey;90706] It has actually reduced the complexity of my cooling circuit and has made it a neater install.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03829.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03829.jpg.html)

I was just wondering if it was a good idea not using the pump over tapping on the thermostat housing that goes to the hose connection on the expansion tank. It keeps the engine purged all the time even with the stat closed, normally has a restrictor in the pipe with a 2mm ish hole. Just thoughts.

http://www.emeng.gentlyhosting.co.uk/Cooling/Part1.htm


Bob

[Johno]

No worries Kev...:)
I just thought if you have enough cable to pull below the socket you can tighten the nut up without any problem with the wires still connected.
I plan to take my car to a local MOT station before IVA and thought this would help them out if I supplied the modified socket.;)
I plan to have my cables connected via heat shrinkable butt connectors with the inbuilt resin to make them watertight so I could setup my lights without disconnecting them each time.

[Tatey]

[QUOTE=Tatey;90706]
I was just wondering if it was a good idea not using the pump over tapping on the thermostat housing that goes to the hose connection on the expansion tank. It keeps the engine purged all the time even with the stat closed, normally has a restrictor in the pipe with a 2mm ish hole. Just thoughts.

http://www.emeng.gentlyhosting.co.uk/Cooling/Part1.htm


Bob

Bob, I'm not 100% sure if I understand you, do you mean you don't think it is it a good idea to have it the way my cooling system is currently setup where I haven't connected the expansion feed from the thermostat housing and only have the expansion feed from the radiator?

If so then my cooling circuit is not complete yet and I am planning on using both of the expansion feeds (radiator + thermostat housing). I just need to order some extra alloy pipe to run to the thermostat housing and I have some extra 8mm hose and a T-piece to finish the run.

[robo]

Sorry I thought I was looking at the finished job:) . Land rover disco 300 tdi do a tee with a check valve to do exactly that job , it stops the water thats being pumped back to the expansion tank from the thermostat housing being fired straight back to the top of the rad. It also acts as an ejector tee drawing from the top of the rad, god knows how it does it but they do work.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/western214h/300Tdiheadertankhoses.jpg.

Bob

[Tatey]

Well it turns out I had an old 21mm spark plug socket in my tool box that never gets used and is perfect for the job as it has a 21mm hex end for it allowing you to a spanner on the end without having to weld on a nut.

So out came the angry grinder and I cut a 5mm slit in the side of it which allowed me to put the cables into the middle of socket, however one thing I didn't consider prior to doing this was that the cable sheathing may be large than the hole in the centre of the socket, it was. So it mean that when turning the socket it would grab the sheathing and turn that too, so my I though, oh I'll just drill a bigger hole...1 shattered 9.5mm drill bit later and I've come with the tip of drill the hole out first and then cut the slit otherwise the drill bit catches on the slit and if your drill is torquey enough like mine is it will just shatter the bit.

So instead I took the front of the light off and pulled the cable through so that it was just the 4 cables that would go through the socket and not the cable sheathing, this does mean that it's a lot harder to align the lights, so I think I will eventually buy a new socket to drill out first and then cut the slit.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03837.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03837.jpg.html)

[Tatey]

Well I think I've managed to figure out what bends/hose joiners/alloy bends/alloy pipes/t-pieces and whatever ever else I need to complete my cooling system, however it is going to cost another £100 to get everything :eek:. I just need to confirm with my supplier the bend radius of their 180*° 25mm alloy tubes, which I should get tomorrow.

I've also been preparing my nose cone for vinyl wrapping by applying a bit of body filler to fix some imperfections/previous owners mounting holes. I'm going to try and drop it off at the wrappers tomorrow morning, but it all depends how long they think it'll take to wrap.

[Johno]

Well it turns out I had an old 21mm spark plug socket in my tool box that never gets used and is perfect for the job as it has a 21mm hex end for it allowing you to a spanner on the end without having to weld on a nut.

So out came the angry grinder and I cut a 5mm slit in the side of it which allowed me to put the cables into the middle of socket, however one thing I didn't consider prior to doing this was that the cable sheathing may be large than the hole in the centre of the socket, it was. So it mean that when turning the socket it would grab the sheathing and turn that too, so my I though, oh I'll just drill a bigger hole...1 shattered 9.5mm drill bit later and I've come with the tip of drill the hole out first and then cut the slit otherwise the drill bit catches on the slit and if your drill is torquey enough like mine is it will just shatter the bit.

So instead I took the front of the light off and pulled the cable through so that it was just the 4 cables that would go through the socket and not the cable sheathing, this does mean that it's a lot harder to align the lights, so I think I will eventually buy a new socket to drill out first and then cut the slit.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC03837.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC03837.jpg.html)

Hi Tatey,
With any luck I'll get my makeshift light adjuster done tomorrow. I'm using a 1/2" drive socket which I'll cut the drive off and tack a 20mm nut to and Dremel the threads out, should be plenty of room for the cables.

[Tatey]

Sounds like a good plan Johno.

After receiving a quote of £400 to vinyl wrap my rear arches, scuttle, nose cone and bonnet and realising I could buy a new set of bodywork for £30 more I've been looking into other options to colour match my bodywork, with it looking more and more likely that I will paint it all.

I've learned tonight that you can buy specialist HPLV spray painters that are designer only for spraying, with prices starting at £100 for ones which can be used to spray cars, namely the Apollo Spraymate, and the price goes up for more professional setups. However they negative the need to own a bulky/noisy expensive compressor which I don't think I'd end up using. So I think in a few weeks when I have moved my car down south and have a lot more room in my parents garage I will buy an Apollo Spraymate from axminster + 2.5l of cellulose paint, primer and some etch primer and give it a shot.

A classic car magazine ran an article back in 2006 about the electric HPLV spray painting setups you can buy and they were pleasantly surprised and that you can get a good finish from using them.

So I will try and post a review with pictures when I eventually get mine.

I'm also trying to source the bends required for my exhaust system. I will be running one down pipe to my silencer and require a 45°, 90°, 6° and a 10° bend with a bit of straight to make it. I have decided that I will go for mild steel and weld it together myself and wrap it with the aim to eventually get a custom manifold made by MK Engineering. I can easily source the 45° and 90° degree bends, I have sent some quotes out to a few companies to try and get a 6° and 10° bend made up (these bends are to try and keep the exhaust as close as possible to the side panel).

I am also having to wait for a week before ordering my cooling system bits as Autosilicone Hoses have not got the technical dimensions for the distance between centres of the 25mm 180° bend that I require to join my top hose to my thermostat bypass hose as per the Westfield cooling system design. I need this dimensions to make sure that it will actually fit because if it doesn't then I need to rethink it all. However they don't keep the dimension on file and are out of stock so can't measure one for me.

So tomorrow I am going to crack on and find some other work that needs to be completed.

[Tatey]

Well I've just ordered the 4 bends I need for my exhaust system at £5.34 each, they are press bent so are are not cosmetically sound, however they will be wrapped with black exhaust wrap so they will be hidden anyway. I've also order 2*500mm of 2" 1.5 ERW to allow me to join it all together, they are supposed to be getting sent out later on today so it means next week I may be able to tack it all together when I get back from holiday.

I did a bit of head scratching this morning to decide how I could make/buy two spigots for my Sierra master cylinder for my remote reservoir, and the easiest option I came up with was to use the dust caps that came with the master cylinder and epoxy some metal 8mm hose joiners to them and drill and hole through the cap, the caps fit snugly in the M/C I am just hoping that they will be compatible with brake fluid, I have put one in a small cup of brake fluid to see how it will react. I now just need to buy some more P-clips to allow me to tidy up the braided hose for the reservoir and the brake system will be nearly complete.

I've also remade my transmission tunnel top piece (the bit that goes under the scuttle) as I wasn't happy with it at all as it was very rough and the sides were not straight/the same length, so I scrapped it and remade one which I'd say is nearing perfection in my eyes lol. Bending aluminium with a rubber mallet definitely seems to be the way forward as it leaves no marks and gives a nice bend. I've also drilled the 5 holes for my relay holders into this panel, I have 5 relay holders, but a few of them will not be used as they are for wipers and screen wash etc, but will be good future proofing.

Finally I am currently sikaflexing my transmission tunnel side panels on, I considered riveting them on but decided it would take too long and this way if I want to take my panels off it will be possible without leaving lots of rivets inside the chassis members/having to attempt to match up holes.

[twinturbo]

I made a bottom plate for my hedlamp bracket so that I can get a spanner on the nut. I will drill a hole in the thread anyway so that the wires can exit into the mount tube and be hidden from view. Then just need to cap the nut with something.

TT

[Tatey]

I considered doing that TT but the threaded length wasn't long enough to exit out of the bottom of my headlight bracket and I really didn't want to modify the bracket.

[Johno]

Hi Tatey,
I sorted the headlight socket adapter this weekend. Basically I cut most of the socket away apart from 20mm from the top and left a spine of about 20mm from top to bottom of the socket. The bottom part where the 1/2" drive goes I didn't touch. The 20mm at the top I cut a slot in for the wires to pass through.
I tried it on mine and it works. You get a good half turn on the nut before you have to pull it down and get another bite on the nut....(that sounds wrong).....:eek:
I forgot to take a photo but will post one soon and all will become clear.:D

[Johno]

Hi Tatey,
Here's a couple of photos of my modified socket. You can only give it about half a turn at a time but good enough for adjusting.

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130803_013_zpsf0ea9410.jpg


http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa472/JohnoSS1/WP_20130803_012_zps71ada70f.jpg

Hope this helps...:)

[Tatey]

Well it's been 2 months since I've managed to do any work on my kit car due to working down in Hinckley at Triumph and my kit car being located 200 miles north at my parents in Newcastle.

This was the first weekend that I had nothing else on so I decided it was time to put some work in! Out came the hole saw and in went the fuel level sender, I may have mounted it slightly too far inboard and it now fouls my tank straps, but the straps happily sit on top of it, so at the moment I think I will leave it where it is and if it annoys me in the future I'll change my tank strap arrangement or get a larger fuel tank and move the position of it then.

The next job on the list was the exhaust, the exhaust bends had already arrived (2" mild steel ERW) which meant that I could cut and weld it myself instead of paying for someone else to do it. I decided to go for cheap bend which means they have some necking which will restrict my exhaust some what, but I am planning on upgrading to a stainless system later on anyway so it is a decent temporary fix.

The most difficult part of the exhaust was making the matching flange for the manifold, it was only difficult because it took some time and a bit of fettling. After tacking everything together and chopping the bends to suit it all went together quite nicely, I then fully welded everything together and put it back on the car and I have to say I am quite impressed with it. The exhaust is also rock solid which I originally felt might be an issue as the rubber mount I have used seemed a bit too compliant.

The welds still need to be dressed and the exhaust needs wrapping but other than that it is complete.

Let me know what you think.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC05538.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC05538.jpg.html)

[Tatey]

Apologies for the severe lack of updates on here but there hasn't been any work done on my car since the last update as I've been working in Hinckley with my car being up in Newcastle, I was supposed to be going away with the army for 12 months next week but that was cancelled last Thursday so I am now on the hunt for a house with a garage so I can finally finish off my car! It may be a couple of months until I find one, but rest assured that my car will be on the road this summer!

I hope everyone is well and I look forward to getting back into the game.

[flyerncle]

Nice to see you have not given up .;)

[voucht]

Hi Simon!

Nice to see you're still alive ;)
So finally, my car might be on the road before yours... it is going to be a tight finish :D

Have you noticed that some members want to be added to the members location map? As you were the one who managed that and started the thread, perhaps you can have a look at your original thread?

Thanks, and good luck for all that is coming :)

[Tatey]

Well good news, I'll be moving into a new house on Friday with a garage! So on Friday I'll be driving up to Newcastle to pick up the Haynes, last Sunday I spent the day stripping it all down so it'll fit in the back of a long wheel base sprinter. I've also finished planning my cooling system so once pay day hits I can order the rest of the bits I need and on my way up to Newcastle I'll be picking up a sheet of aluminium to make my side panels, I'm hoping I'll be able to make reasonable progress on it now, I'm determined to get it on the road this summer!

I'll make sure I get some picture of it all in the back of the van.

[Tatey]

Well the move went well, I just need to source some fluorescent lights and an extension cable to get power to the garage and I'll be all good to get to get cracking on my build. I also managed to pick up the aluminium I need to create my side panels. So hopefully next week I'll be able to get some more pictures of the build.

[voucht]

Hi Simon,
Good to see you back.
Considering the long break you took, I could say proudly that I'm now ahead of you in my build, but actually, I'm not even sure :eek: !
Good luck mate :)

[Tatey]

Well its been 9 months since I last posted a picture of my build update but one is finally here!

I've nearly completed one of my sidepanels, I just need to trim the bottom edge, and put a few more clearance cuts in for a wishbone + steering rack. I hasnt been too difficult, but I think if I did it again I would go for fibreglass panels just for ease and speed. I think I will mount the rear arch once this panel is in place as it will give me a break from panel beating for an hour or two. I also need to fabricate the rear section of the panel for the curved part of the chassis, that will be done after this is finished.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC08361.jpg

I'm hoping to have the other sidepanel finished by the end of next bank holiday weekend (with a couple of days mountain biking in Wales planned).

[Tatey]

Well I've now managed to finish the nearside side panel and mount the rear arch, I just need to cut a hole for the exhaust to go through and rivet it in place.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC08401.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC08401.jpg.html)

I've also managed to finish off a lot of little jobs on the chassis I've been trying to get round to for ages but needed the engine out to do. So I've now put in a rivnut to secure the brake pressure sensor, riveted in a few more cable tie holders and made a new bracket/welded it in for the rear brake tee as previously it was secured by the way it is in the book, but with my braided lines I've made a new bracket to bolt the tee directly to it as I didn't think it would get through IVA with the old setup.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm22/Simon_Tate/DSC08405.jpg (http://s292.photobucket.com/user/Simon_Tate/media/DSC08405.jpg.html)

I'll try and get a picture of the new bracket later on today.

Todays jobs are to trim a bit of aluminium on the rear tub so it runs flush against the chassis members, drill holes + cleco the side panels in place and to repaint the chassis in areas it needs it as it's looking a bit worn after 4.5 years of being bashed about! Then mid weeks jobs will be to put my wheel set back on and mount my rear lights to the arches and finish off the wiring for them.

[Tatey]

Well my build has been set back slightly, I was doing some odd jobs on the car and was going to put a hose clip on my fuel hose to discover that it has completely perished!

The hose is only about a year or 2 old and hasnt had any fuel through it yet. Its going to be a right PITA to remove it as now that my transmission tunnel panels are on I'll require a 90 degree drill adapter to drill out the rivets. Luckily I riveted an aluminium strip down the tunnel which only requires 6 rivets to be taken out rather than having to awkwardly drill out all of the p-clips.

So I've decided now to instead of having rubber fuel hose running the hole length of the car I will have some metal pipe down the tunnel with rubber hose on the ends as it'll be a lot easier to replace in the future.

[rpjg1975]

I am doing the same, 'obtained' a length of pipe used to plum kerosene tanks in then rubber from roughly seat back panel to tank and rear of engine bay to fuel filter then carbs. Is also handy as I can reduce diameter one side of fuel filter.

Russ

[Tatey]

Ive managed to make quite a lot of progress on the car over the past week. The new fuel line is in, it was an absolute pig to fit and requires chiselling out rivets but one broken rivet gun later (on the final rivet I might add!).

This weekend I refitted the engine/gearbox/propshaft after making mods to my engine mounts, filling the gearbox with oil and giving it a bit of a clean up.

Next job completed was to carry on wiring the engine bay, I've now figured out where everything needs to go and ordered the rest of the bits I need including a megajolt ECU. The brake switch has also been wired up.

Ive also refitted the exhaust system and cut a hole in the side panel for it, I've ordered some black exhaust wrap and a clamp to finish it off. I just need to source a gasket for my ford manifold to seal the downpipe.

Next job completed was to drill holes in the side panels for the brake flexy hoses and I've fitted some rubber grommets to make it IVA safe as well.

Finally I have ordered the remaining bits I need for my cooling system and I some of the bits I need for my throttle cable.

So all in all a productive but expensive weekend!

Here are the customary pictures as proof it happened:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2E83119BCBB5E0AE!27511&authkey=!AD7lkGm9SyaQGlM&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2E83119BCBB5E0AE!27509&authkey=!AJW6oMxHRAFI-lk&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=2E83119BCBB5E0AE!27510&authkey=!AKp-10RynKQGgFg&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG

Its safe to say I'm looking forward to finishing building some can start making it look more polished/painted as it has definitely aged a lot in the 5 years I've been building.

[flyerncle]

Keep at Simon, We will both get there one day ;)

[Tatey]

How is your build progressing Paul?

[flyerncle]

Where do I start Simon,it was a rolling chassis and then I changed jobs (unwillingly) so went on hold for a while with little progress.
Now fully powder coated (another story) and putting it back together slowly as time and money permits,plenty of time the grandaughter is only 3 3/4 lol.
One of these days :rolleyes:

[twinturbo]

Going faster than mine probably. I put the part finished loom in the corner of the dining room in November!

TT

[Tatey]

Well I've now completed enough engine bay wiring to get engine started, I'm just waiting for an engine earth strap to arrive and I need to buy some more battery acid to fill my battery up with. Halfords for some reason don't sell any so I'm going to try my local motor factors on Monday. Once all of that is sorted then it'll be time to fire it up!

Todays job is to continue wiring more things in the engine bay, wiring up my megajolt and bolt it in place along with the EDIS unit. I've got most of the bits I need for my cooling system so I need to cut hoses to length, it looks like it might turn out to be a reasonably near install, I was worried it was just going to look like a birds near of hoses. Then finally I'm going to try and fabricate an alternator bracket and mount that.