Build Day 27

Build time today 3.5 hours - Total build time 78.0 hours.

Man time today 3.5 hours - Total man time 94.5 hours.

Throttle cable

I managed to get the bush inserted into the lower steering column stay. The trick is to well lubricate the bush, and use a vice to press the bush into the stay. I was told to use either WD40 or washing up liquid, but I actually used some lubricate I have for putting plastic waste pipes together, seemed to be a sensible choice as it is designed to act as a lubricant. I then used my workmate to slowly insert the bush, regularly checking it was lined up and square.

I then looked at the throttle cable again, when I first looked at it I wondered how I was going to get the washers on as they would not fit over the ball at the end of the cable. It then dawned on me that the inner cable could be pulled out which made the job very straight forward. Once complete I then fitted the throttle stop so that the pedal stops just short of when it can't be pushed any further.



Clutch Cable
runs through guide and clutch leaver



Next on to the Clutch cable. this was not quite so straight forward, again it looked like the cable needed to be pulled out, threaded through holes and pushed back, it can't though. Under the car where the cable attaches the clutch arm there is a hole  for the cable to go through and then there is the arm/leaver then disengages the clutch. There is a piece of rubber/plastic that can be detached at the end of the arm where the cables goes through, once removed I could see how this fitted over the end of the cable, trouble was how to get enough free cable to push the cable through the hole in the arm and then fit the plastic back on.

To achieve this I managed to pull the clutch leaver over and jam it in place allowing me enough free cable to assemble push the cable through the holes and put the plastic protector on. I then released the arm and adjusted until the cable was taught. The clutch pedal stop was then fitted and adjusted to the point it just stopped before full movement. I suspect it may need adjustment once the engine is running. I was a little unsure that the approach was correct so I have sought verification from Westfield.



Cutting end off steering rack



Once the cables were installed I then loosely assembled the lower steering rack to see when holes needed to be drilled in the chassis for the stay and a couple of cable clip mounting points to keep the cables in place, I was told by Westfield that the stay needs to be cut to fit. It is important to use the stay to keep the lower arm away from the engine and its ancillaries so positioning is important. Once marked up I disassembled and moved on to my next task for the day.

I had confirmed with the factory the length the rack should be, they measured a rack in their stores at 1005mm, I disassembled the track rod ends and measured the rack, it was 1020mm long. I decided to cut 10mm from each end. To do this I used two nuts and locked them together 10mm from the end so I could use the nut as a cutting guide. It took a little while and some effort but the rack was shortened, once re-assembled and tightened up there still seems to be some toe out, I will check with Westfield if it needs to be trimmed more.

I next completed the fitment of the hinged panel that holds the engine management module, this fits over the passenger foot well, I fitted as far left as possible to leave as much room as possible for the heater outlet. It was just a matter of marking drilling and either fitting nuts and bolts or rivets.

To finish the day I cut a piece off an Aluminium off cut I had acquired from the factory to act as a cover for the hole I had made to fill the gearbox.Simple to cut a rectangle and round the corners, I think I will use rivet nuts to attach.



Panel fitted
From above (left) and below (above)
The hole cut to fill the gearbox is also visible

IVA update - you need to put some edging along the exposed edges