Build Officially Started!

[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!

Originally Posted by Tatey

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?
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/1708227240... 4.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 .

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/produ...?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.