Build Day 77

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 228.0 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 253.5 hours.

Managed to grab a couple of hours. Concentrated on the interior and first started to put the rest of the carpets in place. I think there is carpet for all panels but I don't think I will bother with some of the panels.

Once I had an idea what needed to go where decided that before fixing I would secure the lower edges of the side interior panels, these needed to be drilled and riveted and without the carpet in place vacuuming the bits up is easier. Once these were in place I next made the holes in the transmission tunnel carpet for the lower harness mount points checking that I could start the thread the bolts in. 

With the passenger floor carpet in place I marked the positions of the seat mounting points from underneath, before drilling small holes. I then put Velcro across the front edge, put the cross section cover in place and put the carpet back in place. Using a screwdriver I confirmed the small holes were above the seat mounting points and then used a cone drill to enlarge the holes in the carpet to the size of the mounting holes. 

Next on the the passenger foot well. I removed the screws I had left in place for the foot brace and fastened a piece of carpet to the inner side of the transmission tunnel and trimmed and fitted a piece to the very end of the foot well before turning to the foot well bottom piece. With the carpet in place I used a small drill pushed up through the rivet nuts that will hold the foot brace to mark where I need to drill some small holes. Then before applying Velcro made the holes ready for securing the brace. 

Getting the holes lined up and screws through took quite a while and in the end I gave up, I need longer screws.  I just could not get them to bit with the carpet in place. I have had a hunt about and have some suitable screws so completing should be quite straight forward from this point. I found the best way to line up was to push a drill bit up through each of the rivet nuts (the drills for the rivets were just right) and then use these to line up the brace. Rather than trying to line the brace up with the holes using the screw from above.

I checked that the mount points for the harness were OK and I could thread a bolt in, only to find them all very tight with the outer drivers one very very tight. I decided to check with the factory that I had not missed something.

Very nearly there.

  

Build Day 76

Build time today 4.0 hours - Total build time 226.0 hours.

Man time today 4.0 hours - Total man time 251.5 hours.

First task was to continue to check the side light. There is a screw on top of the head lamp once removed the top tiles forward but I could not get the section off. Checked with the factory rather than risk damaging it and they confirmed it should lift out, the carbon effect lamps can be quite tight.
Once apart I found the bulb was OK and there was power to the holder. Much fiddling later I got a bulb that would remain alight.
When fitting the scuttle I had not sealed the bottom. Decided it would be sensible so loosened the mounting bolts and lifted the scuttle a little to allow me to silicon under. Dropped back down, secured and tidied any excess Silicon and the job was done.
Next on to connecting the repeat indicators. This involved cutting the nice connector blocks from the harness and replacing with crimp on spade connectors. I then spent a few minutes checking the indicator functions and all worked correctly.
Back to the interior.

I started with the tunnel carpet and worked out as well as possible where to cut the hole to allow the wiring loom to enter. Once cut tried to fit it in place. I then realized that it needed to slide further forward so the hole needed to be slightly further along and the rear bulk head carpet needed to be fitted first. Before I could do this I needed to start to fix the inner side panels, securing the rear sections with the small black rivets supplied.  Fitting the rear bulk head carpet was a little tricky as it needs to slide up into the tight space between the body work and aluminium panel. I used a couple of trowels to lift the  body work to allow the carpet to slide up into place.
Before fitting I put Velcro tape onto the back of the carpet leaving the panel side backing on, once in place I pulled the backing off to allow it to be fixed in place.



Back to the tunnel carpet, this now fitted OK with the hole for the wiring loom to enter in the correct place. I  now needed to locate the point where I had fixed the relays and the earth from the heated screen.
I relocated the headed screen earth point further towards the front of the tunnel allowing it to be hidden under the carpet. To locate the mount points for the relays I used a small rivet with the end cut off. I could slide it into the rivet nut with the point sticking out and then push the carpet down, it would then stick into the carpet allowing me to locate the correct point and drill a small hole. As with the rear carpet I fixed Velcro to the carpet leaving the tape on the aluminium side and fitted the carpet in place. Only when I was happy with the position did I lift and remove the tape allowing it to be secured in place.
As I was tidying up Tracy and Oli came out to have a look and asked about the gear knob. Which Oli quickly fastened in place.

Very nearly there.

Build Day 75

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 216.0 hours.

Man time today 3.0 hours - Total man time 247.5 hours.

Completed the passenger cycle wing, a much quicker process than the drivers side. Partway through Oli came out to help for a while. I asked him to mark the new holes for the sport turbo seats. I had to spend time coaching him on how to approach it, but in the end we worked out a method of marking the new mount points. The new centre point is 1cm outside the outer edge of the pre drilled hole. I left him to mark, punch and drill the holes. Checking progress periodically while I completed the wing and repeat indicator.

Quick bite to eat and back out for a little while, filed the new holes a little to make sure that they were in line with the existing ones and then tried a seat. Had a little sit in the drivers seat, though not that easy without it fastened down, tried it in the passenge space as well and Oli and Becki had a sit in the passenger seat.
After packing up for the evening I could not resist dabbling with something else and thought I would try the lights. All seemed to be working but I thought I should check all functions only to find that I had no side light on the passenger side.
Out with the multi meter tested the connector blocks and I have power there, next to check the bulb and power to the light, a job for next time.

Build Day 74

Build time today 3.0 hours - Total build time 214.0 hours.

Man time today 3.0 hours - Total man time 244.5 hours.

Managed to pop into Westfield to get, what I hope is, the last lot of advice.

When I got home I set about modifying the wipers. I had two options, it seems that there are two stop points the motor can use and depending upon which is set the rotators need to be in the correct position. I could either alter the stop position on the motor or take the rotator arms apart and reverse them. I started on the motor but realized it was not going to be easy to get it out so decided to rotate the rotators. Even with them now in the new position and the park point on the correct side I am not happy with the fitting. The rotator seem to come out the the body work to steeply but I can't find a method of altering the angle.  Another question for Westfield (not the last after all) but they will pass for the moment so it is something that can be tackled once on the road, not that I plan to drive in the rain.

Next on to replacing the temporary headlamp bolt with the correct bolt and washer from Westfield. Simple job.

Now on to the cycle wing. I needed to get the centre line on the inside of the wings marked accurately, after some though I decided to cut a piece of stiff card at 99mm to give me a reference and used masking take down the centre to draw the line on. Once done it was a matter of removing the wheel placing the cycle wing in place and lining up, checking all the reference points and checking again and again. Eventually when happy that they were all correct and had not moved, the slightest movement could cause the whole wing to shift, I marked the front points and drilled the holes. Then with the front holes secured I marked and drilled the rears.

Now on to fitting. I decided to use some additional washers between the support brackets and wings to keep them clear as the profile of the wing was not quite the same as the bracket and I did not want them to be pulled out of shape when the bolts were tighten. The additional washers did make fitting a little more tricky but nevertheless they went together OK. I had not particularly planned to but while the wheel was off I decided to fit the repeat indicators. I pushed the cable through the sturdy cable protector supplied, stuck the indicator on and fed the wire through under the cycle wing securing to the bracket and upper wishbone.

I put the wheel back on spun it to check it was not fouling any thing only for it to make a noise, realized I had not trimmed the cable ties, so off with the wheel again to trim the cable ties.

One Cycle wing completed, hopefully the next will be quicker.

Build Day 73

Build time today 5.0 hours - Total build time 211.0 hours.

Man time today 7.5 hours - Total man time 241.5 hours.

First thing I did was check the battery had changed. Switched the ignition on and could hear the car come into life, but did not start it.

decided to tackle the wipers first so took the switch off the dash and plugged into the loom so I could run them to get the park position. Once fitted the wipers did not look correct at all. it was as though they were parked on the wrong side.

I next tidied up the head lamp/indicator wiring as it was stopping the bonnet closing unless I moved the wires. I covered the exposed wires that connect between the chassis and bonnet in protective wrap and on the drivers side secured it to the top radiator mounting plate with a cable clip fastener. On the passenger side I could not secure so easily so fastened it to the top water pipe, I think I may have another look at that side though. The bonnet can now be closed without the wires getting in the way.

Next I had another look at the cycle wings trying to determine where they should fit but without committing to anything.

Wife was popping out so decided to go together so I could pop into a DIY store to buy some glue to re-secure the interior panels.

Armed with the correct product I quickly glued the vinyl back down and moved on to completing the dash. At which point Oli arrived on the scene and continued to look at the panel fitting. He used masking tape to mark up where he thought the panel should be marked and checked and enlarged the holes for the harness mounting points.

Oli had a look at the carpet for the centre tunnel and found that it would foul the section where the harness enters from the tunnel and I had secured the additional relays. I thought it best to check with the factory if it was usual practice to have to cut the carpet.

With the car on its wheels and the battery charged it seemed like a good point for the first drive. So armed with some old cushions and the make do steering device the car was started and driven out of the garage. It was videoed but its starts in portrait before shifting to landscape so does not make very good viewing.

Oli even had a go an manoeuvring on the drive but we did not run it too much. steering with mole grips makes the process rather difficult.

With the car in the sun we did some more work preparing for the cycle wing fitting. There are no holes in the wings or the mounts so these needed to be planned and drilled. I decided that placing the button head bolts 10cm apart looked to be about correct so started to line up the supports with the tyre centres, but trying to get the the point on the bracket consistent left and right. If I measured inwards from the bracket edge the same distance left and right I could not get those points consistent with the tyre centre.  So after much deliberation decided to use the tyre centre point and then measure 5cm either side to get the hole points.

Knowing that there were rules on the cycle wing position I printed the relevant checks from the IVA guide and Oli got his geometry set and we checked where the cycle wings needed to be to meet the requirements. There is quite a bit of allowance to meet the requirements so it was really a matter of trying to put the wing where it sat and looked correct. I settled for getting the front of the wing more or less in line with the indicator line. I used masking tape and a marker to mark the points on the wing so they were in line with the brackets so that they could be placed correctly.

Time to tidy up a little, having the car outside meant that I could do a decent sweep and tidy up, removing any loose rubish where the car had been standing since the project started. Once done the car was pushed back into the garage and I continue to work on preparing for the cycle wing fitments. I knew the front wheels would need to come off again so the front was jacked up and put back on stands ready. I was happy with the bracket hole points so drilled them using a block of wood between the bracket and tyre.

I then marked the centre point between the brackets and commenced in trying to mark the centre point of the cycle wing. It measured 198mm across the centre section so I just needed a good method to mark a line down the centre, but that was for another day.

I had not completed as much over the weekend as hoped but the end is most definitely in sight. If only the tasks that I hope would be simple had been.

Build Day 72

Build time today 7.5 hours - Total build time 206.0 hours.

Man time today 11.0 hours - Total man time 234.0 hours.

Final push for completion, possibility of completing this weekend. First off to finish off the front of the car, head lights, indicators, grill.

First of all I needed to get all the parts together, not that it is absolutely obvious what the parts are. In the end I realized I was an M6x20mm and repair washer down. Would use a shorter bolt and normal washer for the short term and replace later.

notch cut out of cover to clear wishbone mount

I first put the parts in place best as I could and clamped in place. The panels that cover the head lamp bracket aren't the best fit in the first place and getting them lined up was not easy, I could also see that they were fouling the front upper wishbone mounting bolts so I trimmed the cover to allow clearance. 

Once I had the basic positioning I marked the centre points on each side and measured there position relative to the front of the chassis. They appeared close but not quite the same on either side.  I decided I ought to make sure the headlamps were positioned at the same point on the chassis on either side of the car. I took a bit of measuring and checking using masking tape on the bonnet and chassis before I was happy that the covers fitted and the brackets were consistent. Once done fixing was quite straightforward.
With the headlamp brackets and covers in place, I fitted the indicators, the holes had already been cut so this was a quick and easy process.

Now on to fitting the headlamps themselves. quite straight forward with the bonnet able to open past the vertical, once fully wired and with the bonnet only able to open normally loosening the nut slightly to allow adjustment is likely to be tricky. I think a box spanner will be needed and even then I will need to cut a slot in it to for the cable.

The headlamps came with the connectors already attached which made fitting the connector block a quick and easy task.  The indicators had bullet connectors but I cut these off and used the connector blocks supplied that matched those on the loom. Unlike the rear lights these were no problem at all.
Next to tidy up the wiring a little and secure the indicator wires in side the nose section. I riveted a cable tie mount either side with the rivet positioned behind the headlamp mounting cover, this allowed the indicator wire to be secured, I also taped up an visible wires and used small cables ties to secure the wires together. I think I will need another look at the wiring but it can wait.

Now on to the grill, this was awkward, reaching into the cone was not easy. To allow easier access I undid the wires for the lights and indicators to allow the nose to hinge forwards as far as possible. In the end the brackets I had used were not secured quite well enough and I ended up drilling through the inner return edge of the nose to use cable ties.  In the end quite a time consuming task.

What to do next.

I continued with the dash next, there were still some of the switches and warning lights to be fitted and additional holes to be drilled or enlarged. So I started on that.
It was as I was doing that that Oli arrived eager to do something and from this point I continued with dash at odd moments.
I suggested he look at fitting the front wing brackets, while I looked at the rear wheel arch mud catcher plates.

Oli found the brackets and the assortment of nuts, bolts spacers and washers to fit them. I said to have a look in the build guide, but he could not find a section, I had a look and found a paragraph on the subject, so  we had a look together, we divided the various bits into two pipes one for each wing and then tried to work out what was what, for each wing there were two spacers; two longer bolts; two shorter bolts; 3 pairs of washes (spring and flat) and four button head bolts with nuts and washer. The button heads are to secure the wings to the brackets, that left the odd assortment for the three fixing points. In the end we did not need to longer bolts and spacers and I needed to find a couple of shorter bolts from my spares.

I continued with the rear wheel arch mud catchers while Oli put the front wheels on. I decided we need to see how the wheels were in relation to the cycle wings before they were to be attached. As usual it is not obvious how the mud catchers fit, but I placed them best as I could and riveted on. I think there is still more to be done in this area but will come back to it once I have given it more thought.

On with the rear wheels and as it was a lovely sunny day we thought we would see if we could drive it out so unwrapped one of the seats to put in place and dropped the car off the axle stands. We could not get the mountings to line up with the holes the runners on the sport turbo seats look to be wider than the standard seats, so the seat when back in the corner covered up. I need to check with Westfield what needs to be done, do we use two of the existing holes, if so inner or outer, or do we need to modify all the existing holes. (modify all, is the answer).
So out with a few cushions and a set of mole grips to steer and try to start the car. Click. The ignition had been left on and the battery was flat, with only the ignition on it was difficult to tell, must remove the key in future. Out with the battery charger and on to something else.

Oli went and fetched the remaining interior bits from in the house. Some of them were not obvious as to where to fit them and there  is little info on what to do.  First job I pointed him at was to fit the handbrake adjustment panel and the rubber handbrake cover. This needed to be lined up and rivet nuts used so a little time was needed explaining how best to approach the process and which drill bit, etc was used. He fell into the same mistake using the rivet nut tool as I did applying too much pressure and sheering the mandrel. Having done it I explained how little force is needed, the transmission tunnel panel needed to be removed and there was enough thread showing through the bottom of the rivet nut to extract the broken section. Knowing they were a little fragile I had order a couple of spares so very little time was lost.

I had a quick look at the cycle wings but decided to continue with the dash while Oli looked at the interior side panels. We expected these to be a straight fit, but they weren't first we needed to trim a slot in the body work at the rear to allow the panels to fit and then had to trim them in a couple of places. As they are vinyl covered this meant pealing back the vinyl and trimming the aluminium. I would need some contact adhesive to re-secure the vinyl. This was a fiddly processes which took quite a while.

In general quite good progress but with what we thought would be straightforward processes taking much longer than anticipated not as much progress as I hoped for.

Build Day 71

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 198.5 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 223.0 hours.

Spent time with carbon wrap. There is Westfield on the grill but its black, I had considered paining it when I spotted some orange carbon wrap on eBay so decided to have a go with that. It was a simple but time consuming task to stick on the wrap then carefully cut down the edges of the letters.  The end product looks OK and highlights the Westfield nicely.

Next on to the roll bar covers. I had mocked the covers up using some foam I had, which was brown, just to see how they worked so I need to strip them down remove the foam and aluminium covering before applying black carbon wrap. I had considered the orange but decided the black would be better. It was a matter of carefully wrapping each piece, sticking on some black foam to seal the edges and screwing them on with black button head screws. They still need a little adjustment but I think they will do the job and are slightly neater than the default covers.

Build Day 70

Build time today 1.5 hours - Total build time 196.5 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 221.0 hours.

Finished fitting the boot lid, cutting the holes was a real fiddle, finally managed to find a tool to make the slots deep enough to allow the catches to turn. Not quite sure what I will ever put in the boot though.

Next on to the front of the car, decided to have a go at the indicators. The guide is quite clear on what to do and I just followed the guide, checking and double checking measurements though. The Indicators are assembled and the holes cut in the body work but I have not fitted them so that I have more room to work on the head lights.

Next on to the head lights the Guide is not quite so clear in this area, there are instructions but they need a little interpretation.  Rather than mess it up or take longer than necessary once I had had a general look to see what I had and how it looked to go together I decided that a trip to look at a factory car would be of help.

To finish off I decided to fit the bonnet catches, a relatively straight forward task but one that is easier with a couple more fingers, soon sorted with Oli and I working on it.

Getting close to completion now.

Build Day 69

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 195.0 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 219.0 hours.

Checked the mountings I had glued on for the grill and they seem to have held OK. Won't fit the grill yet though as I am sure the access through the nose will be useful when fitting the head lights and indicators.

More work on the boot lid, first I completed trimming the return edge of the boot lid to allow it to fit. Next on the the locks. I had noticed a small flaw in the boot lid when I first fetched it down from the bedroom which I planned to bring up with Westfield at a later date. Looking at where to put the locks I then noticed another flaw  and upon closer inspection realized that the flaws were mirrors of each other and in the region I was looking to put the locks.  It may be that the flaws were intentional to indicate where to put the locks. 

Fitting the locks was not too difficult. It was a matter of marking the shape of the required hole and then drilling a starter hole and filling until the lock fitted.

Making the slots in the body work is a little more tricky though, I used masking tape on the inner edge to get an idea where to cut the slots and the base slots are now cut but need to be extended to allow locks to properly engage. Not quite sure how or what I will use to extend the slots through. A job for next time.

Build Day 68

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 193.0 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 217.0 hours.

First thing I did was glue a spare cable tie fastening (the sort that is normally riveted to the chassis) to a fibre glass off cut to see if I could get a decent bond. If successful I would use four to fasten the grill in so that I would not have to drill holes, plus the wire for the number plate lamp is loose in the rear body section and could do with holding in place.

While waiting to see how it took I had a go at the windscreen washer tube. I first had to enlarge the pre-drilled hole to allow the washer jet assembly to be secured then I had to decide how to route the tube. I decided to route it with the coolant pipes that go to the heater. I drilled a hole just big enough between the pipes and carefully (very fiddly, why did I drill the hole there) pushed the wire from in side the scuttle through the hole into the engine bay. I decided the spiral wrap the pipe in the engine bay and then routed it to the bottle using pairs of cable ties to keep it in place, not too tightly secured so as not to pinch the coolant or washer pipe.

Once done I checked the cable tie fastening I had glued to the off cut and it seemed be holding well so decided to use that method. I glued one on the inside of the rear body work to hold the number plate light cable in place and four on the inside of the nose cone to hold the nose grill. Only time will tell if they really are secure and i will need to keep an eye on the mesh to make sure it stays secure for a while.

Could not quite decide to do next but finally took the plunge and fastened the boot inner in place. Not sure if I should really call it a boot as some cars have larger door bins. Initially could not decide how to fasten but having decided I could not get behind it to use nuts settled on using large headed rivets. Hope I don't have to remove it. Next the boot lid, this will need to be trimmed as the return is too long in several places and will need to be trimmed to suit. having checked around the boot it looks to need to be trimmed to no more than 17mm to allow it to fit. Started to tape the edge of the lid ready for trimming but called it a night before starting to trim the edge. Once its trimmed and can be fitted the locks will be next. I have also added some temporary straps using masking tape because getting it out once in place with the boot inner attached is likely to be very difficult, thankfully the first time I tried it in place the inner was not present and it could be pushed from underneath. 

Build Day 67

Build time today 2.5 hours - Total build time 191.0 hours.

Man time today 2.5 hours - Total man time 215.0 hours.

Managed to get a couple of hours in small chunks. Concentrated on the roll bar mounting covers and have what I hope will be an OK solution, once painted and carbon covered.
To attach I tested both rivet nuts and tapping the fibreglass on an off cut and found that tapping seemed to work ok, I have tapped for M4 bolts and will get some black dome head nuts to complete the job. The cover is still in a bit of a prototype form but close to what I want to end up with. 

i will add some pictures of the finished article, and can always revert to the supplied covers if necessary.

Build Day 66

Build time today 7.0 hours - Total build time 185.5 hours.

Man time today 8.5 hours - Total man time 212.5 hours.

Big day today, first engine start.

First to check the coolant system, there is still a leak from the radiator another I need to tweak the temperature sensor a couple of times before correcting it. 

Then onto the oil pressure sensor, this had to be screwed in while lying under the car, very fiddly working in quite a restricted space with little visibility.  There are actually two connectors on the sensor a feed and an earth, only the feed is needed as it earths to the engine block. trouble was lying where I was I could not tell which connector was which, had to find a torch and mirror to see the markings. The sensor has spade connectors the wiring loom a ring connector.  The spade connector was secured with a small nut though and after a little fiddling I managed to get the spade off and the ring on. wound it on till it was secure then as I gave it a last little turn it came loose. Words cannot describe the feeling, annoyance, panic etc. I took the sensor out again trying to work out what to do,  purchase a new one being the most likely out come. looking at the sensor out and in the light I could see that the terminals were small and hollow, they would be very week.there was a small amount of thread remaining and I had the spade I had removed. So out with the soldering iron and I soldered a spade on. Situation saved. Screwed the unit back in, swapped the ring for a spade on the look and it was all connected.

Decided not to start yet as the others were out and thought it should be an occasion that should be witnessed.

So got on with the roll bar. Using the string and a spacers I had rigged up I could mark the centre point with a reasonable amount of confidence, marking the oval was going to be more difficult. I had measured the roll bar tube (38mm or 1.75") and thought I may have an off cut of wast pipe though would be close in size. After a hunt I found some pipe that was a couple of mm smaller. I cut a piece just over the length from the top of the roll bar to the point it would go through the body work. Using the sting I marked the pipe allowing me to cut it at near enough the correct angle to mark the oval hole.
The process I then used was to cut a starter hole with a hole saw and enlarged to the line using my Dremel. I used a piece of the wast pipe to get the hole alignment correct.

Centre point marked

used pipe to mark hole

First hole cut

Once the wast pipe fitted correctly and as it was slightly smaller than the roll bar tube I used a think pen to mark a new cut line and used the Dremel to expand to this new line.  I also realized that the pipe caught the body work edge that the boot inner rests upon so this needed to be cleared also. Time consuming but once the method was worked out not as traumatic as it could have been.

pipe inserted and a slightly larger hole cut

Hole cut

With this done and everyone around on to the engine start up.

Ignition on, wait a moment. give it  a try.. A couple of goes and it fires up, lots of splutters and bangs and I get it running. Not really sure what to expect though.

With the excitement over back to the roll bar, with the body work holes complete it can be fitted, we attached the eyelets to the stays starting with the lock nuts set at 5 turns from the ends at both ends. Close it turned out the 6 was closer. One of the eyelets was very very tight, it needed to be inserted bit at a time screwing in and then out a bit to keep it free. We started with the upper mounts but very quickly realized the bottoms are a two man job and needed to be done  first. So off with the tops again.  The bottoms use 8 washers as spacers, one is square with 4 each side, the other slightly off with 3 and 5, acceptable I think. There was very little space around the bottom fitting point and it was impossible to get the washers in place on the outer side with the stay in place.
The technique that eventually worked was to use a smaller bolt, just longer than the number of washers pushed in from the out side. The stay could then be offered up and just fitted over the end. The real bolt could then be inserted from the inner side and there was enough room to insert the washers. It could then be pushed through the stay and push the other bold out leaving the washers in place.
When we had completed fitting the roll bar and torqued it up I then moved on to the harness mounts and then realized that passenger outer one needed to be done before the roll bar. I would therefore need to remove the roll bar. I would not have to undo the bottom fixings though thankfully.
The harness eyelets need to all finish on the same plane and they did not, one would tighten to the correct point with a bit of leverage the others would not. The factory advice was to use washers, when I tried this I ended up with the fixing points a very different highs and this looked wrong. I also realized that I only need quite thin washers, so decided to make some out of aluminium sheet which did the trick and the mount points all appear to be the same hight.

Now on to the cover for the roll bar mount points. I did not fancy the supplied covers and have decided to make them out of aluminium plate which I will paint black and cover with carbon wrap. I hope they will be smaller and neater, if not I can revert to the standard items.
After some trial and error and lots of filling I managed to get a set that seem to do the job ready for the passenger side.
Hopefully I can get a few hours tomorrow to prepare another.

Build Day 65

Build time today 0.5 hours - Total build time 178.5 hours.

Man time today 0.5 hours - Total man time 204.0 hours.

Almost ready to start, I have all the parts required so managed to fill the coolant system and add a little petrol. First filled with two litres of anti freeze, topping up the header tank and letting it drain through then filling with water. I regularly checked the the pipes to see if I could see any leaks. It was only once it was full I could see what looked like a small leak from the lower radiator connection. Tightened it a little and it seemed to do the trick. 

Checked again later and could still see a little moister and realized it was coming from the radiator temp sensor so carefully tightened it a little. Seemed to do the trick. 

Build Day 64

Build time today 1.0 hours - Total build time 178.0 hours.

Man time today 1.0 hours - Total man time 203.5 hours.

Managed to grab an hour before tea. 

Now I have the correct torque settings for the manifold I quickly made sure the studs were all torqued to the correct setting.

I next moved on to completing the mounts for the harness rings. I had purchased a smaller sanding wheel for my Dremel that allowed it into the hole in the body work. It was a matter of expanding the hole to the line on the masking tape.
Next on to the task of cutting the holes for the roll bar stays. I had rigged up some bolts with copper pipe spacers that I can use to get the line. Once in place I could see that some modification is needed to make sure they run as close to the body work as possible and in parallel to the line the stay will take. the fact that the bracket on the chassis has a different spacing to the bracket on the roll bar is going to make this a little more tricky, but I think it will work.

I am still pondering the best method for cutting the covers that hide the roll bar mounting plates.

Build Day 63

Build time today 2.0 hours - Total build time 177.0 hours.

Man time today 2.0 hours - Total man time 202.5 hours.

Fuel filler fitted, just need some fuel.

Finished the fuel filler cap fitting. having cut the pipe I found I could not get it under the body work and over the tank entrance so trimmed a little more off, eventually I managed to get the pipe in place. It was then simple to fit the remaining parts.

I next had a look at shaping the covers for the roll bar plates. A bit of filling and they fit better, still not sure how I will cut the correct holes in the correct positions though. I will need to cut a hole for the roll bar and the mount for the harness. I suspect I may end up using carbon wrap to hide any sins.

To finish for the day I had a go at fitting the rear anti roll bar drop links. I thought it would be easier to at least fit the top links before the boot is fitted. I first tried to make sure they were the same length by counting the number of turns the locking screws make from each end, setting them to 5 at each end. I then attached one to each end of the bar and to stop it flapping about secured one end only to the lower wishbone. I need a little more information on setting them before tackling fully.

Build Day 62

Build time today 3.0 hours - Total build time 175.0 hours.

Man time today 3.0 hours - Total man time 200.5 hours.

Reached the 200 hours mark today. Managed to pop into Westfield on way home and pick up some of the items I am waiting for plus got some answers to some questions.

First task was to finish the exhaust manifold. Correct procedure is to use a spring and normal washer under each stud. (didn't check the torque but subsequently got it confirmed at 25ft/lbs). Removing the two studs already inserted was not that easy though, eventually I found that a 5mm socket would fit over the end and allowed me to remove them. I could not find a torque setting and determined it to be between 20 and 25ft/lbs based on other fittings of the same of similar size. Decided to set to 20ft/lbs for the moment. (will need to torque to 25ft/lbs later).

I next had a go at fitting the battery, the basic fitting was fiddly but straight forward, fitting the retraining clamp was a different proposition though. I found out some M5 nuts and bolts and managed to get the front fitting started, I could not see how I was going to get the rear nut in place though. Eventually I decided to take a different approach and rather than using nuts and bolts decided to fit a couple of rivet nuts to the battery holder, the existing holes needed to be enlarge a little but it made the process much easier and will mean that taking it off in the future, should it be necessary will be more straight forward. It is not a tight fit though and could move a little so I will probably look to fit some foam padding to the retaining clamp to secure it firmly in place.

Next to the water temp sensor, knowing how this had caused some issues in the past I used a little WD40 to make sure it screwed in as easy as possible, it still tighten up very quickly and I was unsure it would fully seat, so I removed and added a couple of washers, it now seats nicely with the electrical terminal firmly held in place.

Next on to the wipers again, having checked with the factory they said it may be necessary to further trim the rubber collar that sits between the scuttle and fillet, plus looking at a car there I could see that there was silicon under the screen, though not necessary they said it was advisable as it stopped moister coming under the screen. I set about dismantling the wipers and looking at how much to remove. In the end I removed enough to make the rubber collar a triangle in shape, the piece I cut off I reused on the inside to keep the overall length the same. Even with this done I could not get the fillet to fit flush with the windscreen in the centre. Something I may have to look at again in the future. Once I was happy I sealed under the screen and re-assembled the wipers. I have not fitted the arms and wont until I have run the motor to be sure that they work and that they are in the correct stop position.

Next more work on the fuel filler. I had previously marked up where the hole needed to be cut so rigged up the vacuum to collect the dust and put an off cut on top of the tank to protect it  and proceeded to gut a circle of holes, before using my Dremel to enlarge the hole to the line. I then measured and marked up the tube that fits between the filler and tank ready for cutting.

Build Day 61

Build time today 7.0 hours - Total build time 172.0 hours.

Man time today 9.0 hours - Total man time 197.5 hours.

Decided to tackle the windscreen today, a quick read through the guide and I realized the mirrors need to be fitted at this point also. I had only carbon wrapped one mirror so the first job was to carbon wrap the other mirror. This went better than the last one, I think I am starting to get the hang of it. It still helps to have lots of hands though so I ended up with the mirror in my work bench and the hair dryer balanced on a block of wood. The results seem to be OK and generally enhance the look of the mirrors (I think).

Now on to the windscreen. I must admit I did not think I would need wood work tools. But the advice in the guide is to make a stay 1007 mm long. To do this I used a piece of wood I already had and cut a notch 1007mm along that fitted snugly over the windscreen. The process was not as difficult as I expected, I followed the guide took my time and checked and double checked before drilling any holes. (I found out afterwards that it is advisable to use silicon sealant under the windscreen to prevent water ingress.) With the windscreen in place it really does look like a car.
With the screen in place I had another look at the wipers and fitting the fillet pice that covers the bottom front edge of the windscreen. I could not get this to sit well and after much trial and error decided to get some updated advice from the factory.

Next job was to get the body work fully fitted, I had secured across the top edge but it was still loose along the bottom. Not a difficult job but time consuming to mark up, drill and rivet the bottom edge of the body work.

Now on to the exhaust, a job my son had been looking forward to. Nothing in the guide about the exhaust manifold. I had some Allen headed bolts but there were no washers with them and the a couple of studs were still in place that were used to hold the gasket in place when delivered.
I suspected that washers could be needed and possibly nutlock, the studs were tight and seemed to need a special tool to remove, the heads are like torque drive bits (the end that inserts into the screw)
I decided to put the studs in finger tight and check with Westfield.
(a normal and spring washer should be used, the studs can be used or removed and no nutlock is needed).
With the manifold in place it was onto the exhaust, this comprises the main silencer unit a bent pipe and the silencer cover, plus a mounting bracket. The bracket requires a hole to be drilled through the body work from the inside and then the hole expanded to allow a spacer to be inserted that would sit against the chassis. Getting the exhaust to slid onto the manifold took a while eventually we managed to slide it on with the aid of some copper grease. The natural position for the silencer was then against the body work and it need to be pulled away to allow it into the correct position. getting the clamp that holds the silencer and tail pipe in place was difficult to insert, I ended up dis-assembling the mounting bracket so that I could put the half circle clip in the work bench to squeeze it closed so that it would fit into the mount. It then slid together and was not too difficult to get tightened up.

Finished the day looking at the roll bar and harness mountings again, I managed to carefully enlarge one of the holes to allow the spacer to fit through and sit against the chassis. I then spent some time considering how to best tackle cutting the holes for the roll bar braces. These fit to the top corners of the roll bar and the bottom corners of the chassis and require more holes to be cut. Looking at one of the cars in the factory (the drift car) the hole they had cut was rather large, much larger than I want.
I somehow need to get a line to run parallel to the line of the brace that will run just in side the boot hole. I think I have a solution. Using a couple of spare bolts (4" I think) and some spacers made from copper pipe, I should be able to get a string line that will run parallel.

Build Day 60

Build time today 4.0 hours - Total build time 165.0 hours.

Man time today 5.0 hours - Total man time 188.5 hours.

Decided to fit the bonnet.

When I discussed this with Westfield on a visit they said that the hinges could be fitted on the inside but after much looking and fiddling I decided that it would not be possible in my case, When looking at the bonnet fitting I could see that it was catching in the area around the head lamp fittings so the first task was to ease that area a little. I took about 1cm of the return edge depth away in this area meaning that it no longer touched the chassis.

Bonnet hinge cut outs

Next to the hinges, to fit flush I needed to cut out the body work to allow the hinge to sit flush with the chassis and bottom of the nose. I masked up the area and marked out where it need to be cut before using a diamond cutting wheel on my Dremel.

To line up on the chassis I put a piece of masking tape across the chassis rail where the hinges will fit.
Trouble was that the bottom edge of the nose (where it hinges) was not square with the chassis. After much checking, prodding, pushing etc I decided that the side that was slightly higher would pull down to make it level.  So with the bonnet and hinges in place I marked the bottom line and hinge sides and checked several time.
I then drilled and riveted one of the hinges on to the chassis before putting every thing back in place to check   the positioning for the second hinge. All looked OK so that was ready to fix in the same way.

Before fixing I considered how they were to be fixed to the fibreglass nose. Rather than using large washers I made a couple of aluminium plates that mirrored the hinges, these would then be used on the inside to spread the load.

It was then straight forward to secure the second hinge mark, drill and secure to the nose cone.

Hinges secured to lower nose cone

Inside view showing the aluminium plates

Once complete it was then a matter of refitting the radiator. A task that took longer then it ought. I could not get one of the bolts used to secure to the chassis to bite. Off the car everything fitted OK but on it no luck. Eventually I found a slightly longer bolt and thankfully this caught the thread and tightened OK. Part of the problem is that you are bolting into plastic and therefore it is easy to strip the thread if over tightened. 

Build Day 59

Build time today 1.0 hours - Total build time 161.0 hours.

Man time today 1.0 hours - Total man time 183.5 hours.

Managed to grab an hour between getting home and tea.

Progressed with the holes for the harness mounts in the body work. Using the cone drills purchased from eBay I enlarged the two holes already drilled being careful to keep them centred, this was actually more difficult than I expected. Getting the drill properly in the centre was not easy and however hard I tried the holes were not centred. In the end I decided the best approach would be to drill so far and then enlarge with the dremel. Once the holes were large enough to accept the eye bolt I masked up the area and screwed the eye bolt with spacer on so that I could mark round it. I will then expand the hole to the line. 

Once these were marked I used them to mark the position of the inner mount points (241mm centre difference)  then followed the same basic process, drill a small hole, use the cone drills to enlarge until the eye bolt will fit and then marking where the hole needs to be. 

They are all now ready for enlarging.

Now on to the fuel filler cap again, I first checked where it was marked in relation to the centre, In doing this I found the body work was not actually centred but approx 1cm out based upon the roll bar fittings, not that there is much I can do about it. The fuel filler was within a mm of being in the centre based upon the roll bar, which is good enough for me. 

I decided that rather than drilling a full size hole I would drill a slightly smaller hole and then expand to the correct size. I used the gasket supplied with the filler cap to mark the hole ready to drill and enlarge.

Not much to show for it but good progress made.

Build Day 58

Build time today 3.0 hours - Total build time 160.0 hours.

Man time today 3.0 hours - Total man time 182.5 hours.

Managed to pop into Westfield on the way home. They quickly sorted out the wiper part and swapped for one about to be fitted. We measured the spacing between the harness mounts and I now have them noted on a piece of paper in the garage. The recommendation from one of the engineers was to drill a pilot hole upwards through the outer mount, to achieve this the top shock absorber bolt needs to loosened as moved out of the way, then use a taper drill to increase the size of the hole until it was the correct size, using a taper drill should also enable the hole to be centred correctly. I will need to get a taper drill.

When I got home I had a go at completing the wiper motor and even the replacement was a little too long requiring it to be bent to fit. Soon done though. I also changed the fittings holding the heater and wiper motor for some collected from Westfield of the correct length. This simple job was slowed considerably by the failure of my 1/4" ratchet failing to ratchet when tightening. More shopping required. 

Before taking the scuttle off though I checked to make sure that the panels were in line with the bonnet and in a couple of places used to spacers to keep the panels in line. The side panels are now fixed along the top edge and the scuttle secured in place.

With the scuttle in place I completed attaching the cooling system attaching the pipes to the heater, a quick job as the pipes had already been cut to length.

I thought I would carry on with the harnesses using the technique recommended so I loosened the top shock absorber fastening and slid it out of the way before drilling a small hole up through each outer harness mount point. Once done they were re-secured and torqued to the correct settings.

A bit of vacuuming up bits and fibreglass dust and that was it for the evening, the taper drills are needed before continuing with the mountings.

Build Day 57

Build time today 7.0 hours - Total build time 157.0 hours.

Man time today 7.0 hours - Total man time 179.5 hours.

First task for the day was to remove the radiator as suggested by Oli, I think this will make fitting the bonnet easier when I come to it, I then took the plunge and inserted a couple of rivets into the side panels securing them in place, I then secured the rear section to the bracket installed the day before. I still wanted to adjust the side panels a little to make them line up with the bonnet so did not insert any more rivets.

I next decided to install the heater and windscreen wipers, I thought this would be much easier with the scuttle off. I had already done some preparation for the heater so that just bolted in place. The wipers were more tricky though, one of the supplied pipes was too long, I could have cut it down but did not have the tools to spread the end so decided to take it to the factory. there is also an Allen key that is used to secure part of the wiper spigot (think that is the correct term) that is a strange size and I could not find an Allen key to fit correctly, this was not too much of an issue at the moment as these were only being loosely assembled, they would need to be finished when the screen is in place.

I managed to get the parts fitted without one section and put the scuttle back in place. I trimmed the pipes in the engine bay ready for attachment and fitted the overflow header tank. Fitting the pipe to the main connector on the header taken was quite difficult as it had a larger bore than most of the other pipes and therefore the pipe needed to expand a lot more.  Plenty of patients and hot water later and it was pushed in place. The bracket was fixed to the scuttle but not attached to the tank so that the scuttle could be removed once the wiper part was sorted.

a

I next decided to have a go at fitting the RAC roll bar, this involves drilling up through the chassis mounting plates from bellow putting the bar in place and marking where the roll bar fix plates go and cutting a hole in the body work to allow them to sit on the chassis plate. Sounds easy written down like this but drilling holes in the body always make me nervous and the amount of dust created was incredible. 

Once done though I could see the mounting points for the outer harness points and used these and some string to mark a line across the body work.  I did not go any further with drilling holes though as it was far from clear where they were needed and the best method to drill them. They need to be accurate as there are no additional covers to hide any mistakes, as I planed to visit the factory I though I could get some measurements and advice at the same time.  

I finished the day by marking the placement for the fuel filler cap, did not drill it though as I think I will need to double check again probably twice before daring.

Build Day 56

Build time today 4.0 hours - Total build time 150.0 hours.

Man time today 5.0 hours - Total man time 172.5 hours.

More work on the body.
I started by looking at the scuttle again, trimming the blocks a little for a better fit in the hope I could get the panel to sit better. After a while when I could not seem to do anything to make it better I decided to check to see if the scuttle was at fault and placed it against a flat surface, the problem corner did not sit flush. A quick check on the internet reveled that the factory was open to popped up to see if I really had an issue or was being overly fussy (overly fussy).
Comparing my scuttle with one ready for collection revealed them to be much the same, and looking at some of the finished and partly built cars in the factory showed them to be at similar tolerances.

When I got back I decided to start to fit the aluminium bracket that supports the rear of the body work. The build guide is not clear exactly where to fit it but I was advised to fit after the body work was in place and position so that is supports the body work with the lower edge of the body work level with the bottom of the bracket. After a while fiddling through the boot hole and under the car with various clamps I decided where it needed to be fitted. To actually fit I used a spreader clamp to push the bodywork away from the chassis to allow me to locate the bracket where I wanted. Then using various clamps straight edges, masking tape, etc. I got to the point where I could mark the holes for the bracket, drill and then secure in place.
I did not secure the body work at this point just clamped it place.






Next job was to fetch the bonnet, expecting it to just fit in position, it did not. What followed was a period when the sides were unclipped from under the car and adjusted either forwards or backwards until the bonnet sat correctly, taking note of where it fitted against the scuttle and the front lower and upper edges of chassis. Eventually we reached a point where it looked to fit as square as possible. In doing this we could see that fitting the bonnet hinges was going to be a problem and Oli sugested that removing the radiator would provide better access.

The holes I had prepared the previous evening were now in the wrong places as the side panels had been moved so needed to be enlarged to clear the rivet nuts fixed into the chassis.

We finished for the day with everything in place but nothing attached, and the bonnet secured with masking tape.