Introduction and progress so far

[Eddy]

Afternoon all,

Another long gap since my last update. I’ve continued to make progress:

Fitted the front wing stays
Drilled and tapped the front hubs/mushrooms for a second fixing point
Fitted the rear arches with p trim
Fitted a prop
P clipped rear brake lines
Heat wrapped the exhaust manifold
Installed the rear lights
Roughly cut out the dash and boot panels
Made the rear bulkhead panel
Made a panel for the front of the scuttle
Probably a few other things I've forgotten!

A couple of reasons for this update though…..

I picked up some black Team Dynamics alloys (used to belong to Ben on here, who sold them to Bob on locostbuilders, who I got them from) and had them fitted with some Toyo T1Rs. I was hoping they would be a bit lighter than the Escort alloys they were replacing…. Escort alloy with worn ‘Camac’ tyre 14.7kgs, Team Dynamics Monza with new T1R 16.1kgs. I was a little disappointed that they weigh a little more, but I guess they are 6.5J wide as opposed to 6J and a little bit of weight in the trye. I do think they suit the car a lot better though.

I wrapped the side panels and rear panel in gloss black vinyl. The rear panel didn’t go too well – It was the first thing I’d ever tried to wrap. I pulled all the backing off in one go before placing it, which made it a bit of a nightmare - I have ended up with a crease under the fog light and another that will be hidden by the rear arch, but I think it is good enough for now. I am very happy with the side panels though – They came out really well and were surprisingly easy to do. I stuck a bit of the vinyl on towards the back of the car and left the backing on the rest, and once I adjusted the angle so I was happy that it was lined up all the way to the front of the car, I pulled the backing back on itself and the vinyl stuck to the aluminium as I went. After that it was just a case of smoothing out any bubbles with a felt edged bit of plastic before cutting and folding over the edges. It may have been easier with better quality vinyl and if my heat gun didn’t decide to set fire to itself at the start of the day, but for a total cost of £40, I’m chuffed with the results.

These are the pics I took as I was going, and one with the car reassembled, I’ll get some better ones when I can roll it out of the garage:










Next up, I’ll be making the transmission tunnel panels, finishing the roll bar, securing the tank and properly wiring everything up ready to start AND move under its own power.

[SteveH1]

Japers that looks good fair play
I also like the wheels.

[Eddy]

Getting some time to work on the car at the moment.
I have changed the main jets in the ZX6R carbs to 160s, checked the needle height and the circlip is sitting in the middle slot of 5, and adjusted the air/fuel screws to 2.5 turns out. Megajolt is connected up running a map I found online for a 1.8 cvh and bike carbs and the TPS has been calibrated.
It seems to start pretty well, especially when using the choke, but it boggs down a bit if you open the throttle quickly. It does get there if you open it slowly though. From reading some bike forums, this could be dirty idle jets - Anyone got any other ideas?

I did fill the cooling system, but had a load of leaks. I have bought a few new gaskets and blanked off a couple of take offs I no longer need, so hopefully I can have that sorted and get it running up to temperature to see if it is any better then.

In the mean time, a video:

https://youtu.be/J8b4KOHnzss

[Eddy]

Another few months since my last update.

I have made some more progress:

Brake system filled with fluid (and inevitable leaks fixed!)
Short shift fitted
Bracket made for acewell speed sensor (magnet still needs to be fixed to prop)
Made a bracket for the bottom of the radiator and underside of nosecone
Fitted some 25mm hubcentric spacers/extended studs to the rear
Fitted some shocks purchased from Matt (rapidtornado)

Some pics as it stands now:

[flyerncle]

Try dropping the needles a notch/raising the needles a notch and dirty/blocked idle jets will give you no progression on to the main jet.

Nice car

[Eddy]

I can't believe it has been 4 years since my last update. I had been living and working a long way away from the build, but finally managed to buy a house with a garage (albeit very narrow!).

Following the widening of the garage door opening to its maximum to allow the car to fit in, I had the car transported up:








I have also written a 'to do' list to get the car finished as follows:

Roll Bar
Finish rear stays
Finish holes in roll bar
Drain and vent/remove fuel tank
Bolt roll bar to chassis – open up holes where needed
Tack weld rear stays in place and check bolt locations/aesthetics
Fully weld back stays
Use die grinder set to smooth all welds, then sand flush
Flapwheel/Acetone prep
Etch primer
Black Paint

Dash
T nut bolts through dash panel and fill any holes
Fit acewell and fog light switch aluminium panel with the right sized hole glued to dash panel
Router/rasp/sand edges
Seal with paint or varnish
Cover
Install

Alternator
Bolt on pulley to alternator
Measure belt size and buy

Electrics
Sort out fast indicator flashing – LED relay or higher wattage bulbs
Rivet ali to frame and rivet cable tie mounts to ali
Cable tie electrics to mounts
Tidy electrics under scuttle
Create Earth points where required
Check reverse light switch and wire up handbrake switch
Redo fuse/relay panel – Maybe relay blanks in between the relays to spread them out for mounting
Work out horn with IVA steering wheel
Fuel gauge wiring should be checked
Check orientation of speed sensor
Araldite magnet to prop and cable tie
Wire in wideband lambda sensor
Properly route and shorten crank sensor
Shorten alternator cable
Wrap everything in conduit and loom tape

Interior/Panelling
Make panel for passenger foot well
Finish Riveting panel behind seats to chassis with tiger seal, and tiger seal any exposed bits near diff
Fit transmission tunnel top and sides with gear and handbrake gaiters
Rivnut transmission tunnel sides
Make panel over pedal box, rivnut on to allow access
Work on panel under megajolt
Make engine side panel for scuttle fit nicely over fuses and relays/cabling/steering column
Remove Steering Wheel and fit Ford one
Fit battery tray
Rear tub tray – Make cut outs for roll bar, round edges with sander, make fixing points with countersunk screws and t nuts, seal with varnish/paint, cover
Tether fuel cap
Fit edge trim to seat belt holes

Running
Put battery on charge
Clean out carb jets – Soak in carb cleaner overnight
Install alternator belt
Drain water, rinse through and replace with new
Drain old fuel and dispose
Get new fuel in Jerry can
Top up oil
Get megajolt working on laptop
Check TPS and map on megajolt
Wire up choke to bonnet release
Get it started, idling and up to temperature
Check for leaks and fix them
Check thermostat works
Check fan works
Balance carbs with syncronometer
Adjust needle height if necessary
Test charge from alternator
Fix fuel pump and drain out old fuel, leave lid off to vent tank
Fill gearbox and diff with oil (Gearbox oil - 75/90 semi synthetic GL4, Diff oil - GL5 "Hypoid" Gear Oil Ep75/90)

Mechanical
Fit lock nuts on diff mounts
Try and fit coil pack bracket or make new one
Add brace bar to engine bay and weld vin number on
Check brakes are working and bleed again if needed
Loctite on rear upright to hub bolts – Take a photo for the IVA man
Lock nuts on maxi ball joint etc
Adjust holes on alternator mount to clear inlet manifold and sit straight
Make further bit of alternator mount bracket and buy and install a belt
Bolt on front wings
Finish mounting rear arches with p trim and silicone, cut mounting bolts off with dremel
Fix seats in place
Make boot lid and cover
Bolt in place and fit lock nuts on pedal box
Drill hole in floor for brake pedal stop and install
Cut out and fix panel over pedal box and passenger footwell panels
Install battery tray and lock battery down
Pull through extended wheel bolts further
Second fixing point drill and tap on front left
Lock nuts to ball joints on front suspension (check thread on maxi ball joint with thread gauge)
Swap to lock nuts on all suspension including camber adjuster and rack extensions
Add Lock nuts to bottom of engine mounts
Adjust geometry and set ride height - Front: 5.5° caster, -2° camber, ~1° toe in. 110-120 mm ride height. Rear: 0 caster, -0.5° camber, 0 toe, 120-130 mm ride.
Have prop shaft balanced/tested


Plenty to be getting on with, but hopefully having the car at home will make it easier to get the little bits done when I get a spare hour here and there.

Cheers

Eddy

[twinturbo]

Looks like the garage was just about wide enough for an Austin 7, which used to be the minimum standard long after they had passed away.

[Tatey]

The car is looking good, it is always nice to move the car into a new home so you can actually work on it!

My car has now been in 5 different homes and moved 6 times...

I have seen people use wheel dollies when space in the garage is a bit tight as it allows them to push the car right against the wall to give some space to work around it:

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/wd4000-450kg-wheel-dollies-set-of-four?gclid=CjwKCAjwzvX7BRAeEiwAsXExo41JVRszyLcTnfK c0zCrcwhDGgzTy48KXPm80U0VjYR-EQYjH2FUahoCPhcQAvD_BwE

[jps]

A good list! I've got a similarly long list, and I think it's good to
a) work through ticking things off so you can see you're making progress
and
b) plan so you're not endlessly duplicating - at least any more than you do..!

Originally Posted by Tatey

I have seen people use wheel dollies when space in the garage is a bit tight as it allows them to push the car right against the wall to give some space to work around it:

When I just had a bare chassis I had a rectangular frame of scrap 1mm 20*60 box with some castors on. I put a wooden pallet over the top, then the chassis on top of that - for exactly the purpose you describe. It helped a lot.

With the engine, box and diff now in I suspect it would struggle with the weight - but it's certainly a bit of a pain to push it in and out sometimes!

[twinturbo]

mine has a little 4 wheel trolley under the rear. I have more room but it makes moving it much easier.