Can't see much realy but there is progress. Tunnel tops are off and being stored somewhere where they can get damaged.



TT

Now have my bodywork - Thanks to Saturn. :) you won't see it for a while though but the special offer tempted me into action.

Shox , Thanls 3GE for thata Special offer.

And have started on the engine mounts thanks to some nicely crafted plates to mount on the Cologne Block. Thanks to 3GE. They fit perfectly :)

TT

Cool stuff
 

Sounds like you are coming on in leaps & bounds Rob :) :cool:

I knew that once you had the chassis, it would be full steam ahead with your build :D :D

Been a bit slow realy, cold weather, being ill, being too busy at work, christmas, etc..

Been back out and got further on with the engine mounts this evening. Just an hour or so but chipping away.

I have a cunning plan as well if my Plenum chamber sits too high. I think it's a stroke of genius.

TT

Will get some pics this week of the slow progress.. :D

TT

Oh and got a wingstay kit of SpikeHaus ( Nick ) to build :)

TT

Know the feeling well, I have hardly set foot in the workshop since mid November :(

Pleased to say it's a lot milder now
Spent some time working on a little project this aternoon & felt good to be doing something usefull for a change :)

Hope to kickstart my build once more ( Real soon ) :cool:

Keep at it Rob, it'll all come togerther in its own good time ;)

Lets see if I can get the engine mounted in place and off the crane before the end of the month. That will be progress, although I have a Stag weekend to go to the weekend after next.

I also seem to be loosing space in the garage rather than gaining it.. Ho Hum.. But I am generating a few £££ which will go towords a prop in the not to distant future.

TT

Second engine mount now tacked up. Will finish off and clean up both tomorrow.

TT

Yet another boring update, but after digging at the back of the garage I found my spare 24V 2.9 and attached to was my spare throttle cable. :) Glad I did not spend £20 on ebay.

I have also been finishing off and sparing the engine mounting arms over the last couple fo weeks and orderd 3mm plate to make up the chassis plates. Hopefully that will arrive before the weekend.

Fixings have also been ordered to aid in attaching the bodywork.

Also picking up a DOHC at the weekend, not sure what I am going to use it for.

Got a bargain pair of refurbed front calipers on the bay, saves me cleaning up a set from the collection.

TT

Show us more photos, TT! They transform even the most boring update into an interesting one! :)

Balls....

You know when you not thinking..

And you order something by dimension.

And the 10cm wide x3mm x500mm plate was actually 10mmX500mmX3mm...

10mm is a bit narrow for my engine mounts to rest on.. :o

Oh well.. Correct stuff on order.

TT

Wait till you get to my age Rob .... You'll find that kinda thing happens quite often :o :D

Glad to see you are still making progress & eargerly awaiting some new pictures :cool:

You have probably done more in the last week than I have in the last 6 months :o

Well, I collected the chassis 14/2/10

Lets see if I can get a progress pic up by the aniversary.

TT

Blooming heck Rob, has it been that long :eek:

Only seems a couple of months ago to me .... There you go, showing my age again :o

Hope you don't mind the thread high jack mate !!

Can you recommend me a reliable computer back up device ?

I remember what you said to me about SD cards & pen drives ;)

Thinking along the lines of a USB external hard drive ( Dont have a massive budget ) but Junior has done a massive amount of behind the scene development work on my web domain & I really want to back it all up, fully independent from the host server.

Also need to store all of my personal stuff as well.

I case it makes any difference, I use 64 bit Windows 7 Pro.

It depends on what quantity you have, how often it changes, where the live data lives, your own buildings etc.

If your live data is in your house, and your backup stays on the shelf next to it then your at risk. If the data is on a web host then back it up to your PC.

You can buy external Hard Disks for around £50. not a lot to discriminate them. Ideally have 2 and rotate them. Keep at least one away from the live data (not in the same building).

Or use one of the Web data stores and upload to that.. service such as live drive.

And don't write over the last backup just incase it fails. keep at least 2 versions of the backup.

If the data is quite small then burning a copy to DVD/CD is well within scope, most software will do a good job and you can file them away easily OFF SITE.

TT


AND.. Check the backup works by restoring something.

Cheers Rob
 

I don't have a massive amount of data to store.

My domain limit at the moment is set to 1gig & only have a few gig of personal archives to store .

Sounds like a couple of small external HD's will be ideal .... Do you think solid state HDs are an option ?
No idea if they are a tried & trusted storage medium as yet.

I tried the CD/DVD route several years ago but found that they sometimes became unreadable after a very short period !!

Probably my own fault for buying Crap media & el cheapo writers :o :o

Thanks for your advice Rob, it is much valued :)

The main thing is my domain, I know my server provider backs up daily .... Just looking to keep a back up of my own, just to ensure that I have a copy of Juniors hours & hours of html scripting :)

Solid State is much more expensive.

You can pick up USB external enclosures for pennies on ebay, add a couple of 2.5" laptop drives and you have a very slimline solution. My external drive is a few MM larger than the HDD.

It's wise not to trust a hoster, in the SLA (probably very very very deeply hidden) will be a data loss disclaimer.

If your domain uses a database then make sure that is backed up regularly too.

TT

Cheers Rob, you are a star

Back to your build mate :o

Are you going to work on this as your main project now ?

I know you have the Sierra to complete at some point ;)

Bet there's no guessing which project your little uns like to see you working on :D

Daddy's Racing Car :cool:

Certainly whilst it's cold,wet and dark I will be in the garage making some progress.

I have plans to do little bits on both sierras and try and get one roadworthy. Taking the 24V out of one for the time being and putting a twink in it. And taking the 2.9 TwinTurbo out of the other car and putting it's original engine back in (so I can fully inspect the turbo engine)

I also have to break up the wifes old V6 Mondeo at some point, which I think will be once the Roadster is rolling and partly bodied. I plan a RWD Mid engine car build after everything else..

Have a meeting to go to tomorrow which may mean I have more time on my hands later in the year. Not sure yet though!!

TT

I promis photos tomorrow.

Anyway.

Having fitted my engine mounts, I find i have the engine a little high. I have the scuttle and nose in place ( temp ) and the engine is proud of the bonnet top line ( I need to dig out the bonnet to see if we are touching. )

Meanwhile I have got the later plenum for the 2.9, it's about 1.5cm shorter. unfortunatly it needs slight mods to fit. in progress

TT

I look forward to seeing some pictures Rob :cool:

Sounds like you have made some good progress :)

No need to drag the bonnet out, why not use a batten/straight edge to span the gap between the nose cone & scuttle.

That will give you a good visual idea of what is going on under the bonnet & where changes could be made ;)

I am hoping the bulge in the bonnet will provide vital clearance :)

TT

Right then..

You wanted pics..


Your getting them!

And..


Your going to find out some colours!!!


WooHooo..



So First up, you can see the 2.9 sitting on the temporary wood, the plan was to get it sitting on it's mounts that I made up and see how high it was on the bonnet line.






TT

I had to get the scuttle out and put it sort of in place to find the bonnet line. This involved notching the drivers side flange. Unfortunatly at some point the rear lower corner has taken a little nock and thepointy bit has cracked off. So that will need sorting somehow.




With that in place I could see the engine was too high, and the next plan was to get the shorter plenum and see how much difference it would make.


TT

The shorter plenum has 2 problems, 1st there is a random block of alloy that was rubbing on the overflow from the thermostat. So that had to be cut away. 2nd, there is a bulge under the plenum for the balance port and PCV outlet. this rubs on the steel fuel rail, so this has been machined down a bit (still to finish it off) So the plenum now fits.

But the line is still too high. So I either get the engine lower, make a custom plenum, or butcher the bonnet.




TT

as you can see the bonnet is standing a bit proud, I fitted two bolts in to hold the nosecone, that's the first pice of bodywork started!!!!

Black and Zinc Yellow



TT

Interior Shots. This was done a few months back!!




TT

The headlamp supports with modifed headlamp mounting brackets ( they were far too large in diamiter for my small sized tubes.


And the holes for the wiring to pass through :)



I wana get this bloomin engine sorted before I decide to go for a different route!!


There Ya GO!!!!!

You may already know this but i will tell you anyway! be careful how you store your fibreglass panels whilst they are waiting to go on the car, your bonnet seems to have taken on a bit of a strange shape, looks like a little kink at the front right hand side of the picture

Apparently it carries on curing for quite a while after manufacture so it will distort and stay like that if its sitting in a twisted position etc

TT, I love the obligatory cushion in the drivers seat area, for the obligatory sitting in and making vroom vroom noises :D

Mark:- Hope it will be alright... May have to apply some gentle preasure.

Aero:- My real seats are tucked up in the loft. I don't think I will pass IVA with the current fittment :rolleyes:

TT

Nice work so far mate. I thought my engine was a but chunkey but yours.... just wow!
But do have a quick question for you. You engine mounts go direct from the engine to the chassis. This is ok for most of the normal builds but i have been thinking that maby it might be worth using rubber mounts for engines with a bit more power. Whats your view one this?

You can see his rubber mounts in a couple of his pics, they look like landrover v8 ones

Im using the same ones, nice and strong and cheap as chips off ebay

All engines should be mounted on rubber mounts with the exception of bike engines which are normally hard mounted

Oh yeah! silly me. :rolleyes:
I will shut up now! heh

yep landy mounts..

TT

Great stuff Rob :cool: :)

That V6 beasie is certainly an engine bay full .... Makes my Zetec look like a Hair dryer motor :D :D

I think I have come to a descision.

The 2.9 is holding me up. And it's only 150BHP at best ( well a little more with the cam and chip ). Too many obstacles to outweigh my enthusiasm and time at the moment.

I have bought a 4pot type 9 and am on the hunt for an engine. Think it will be a big downsize to a 1.8 CVH at first. May have a look at putting my twincam in.

Think longterm it would be an RS2K keeping it's EFI as I think it is lower than that on the DOHC..

Anyone running a 16V I4?

Got somone ringing me about a CVH tomorrow.

2.9 can go in the XR4X4 or get sold off, not sure yet.

TT

Engine mounting arms for the CVH are almost complete, the towers are almost done and hopefuly the engine mountings will be fully done by the end of the weekend.

Then I will hook it up and give it a fire :) before pulling it out and CRAKIN ON!

Engine mounts now finished ( hopefully! )

Wired up the engine and gave it a turn just out of curiosity. WD40 as fuel.

Not even a missfire, pulled lead 2 and tested for spark and had an OK spark. So I am guessing a fresh battery and some real fuel will see it bust into life.

I had all three other cars started today.. A combined BHP of 623 :rolleyes:

Anyway once I have confirmed the engine fires I will haul it out and put it in a corner till it's needed.

TT