June 15th 2013 - Finished?

Expecting a date from Swansea anytime now, so it was time to try to finish off the remaining jobs.  First of these was to re-route the front brake pipes so the flexible pipes mount securely to the chassis.  Not sure why I didn't do this before filling the braking system and still not sure that its the right thing to do, but it was relatively easy (other than having to bleed the brakes again) and seems much safer.

Next job was to re-bend the battery clamp to fit the new, smaller, battery.  Not being used to cars that aren't used every day, I hadn't thought to charge up the old one regularly, so after 3 years it was flat and wouldn't recharge.  Another one the same is over £70, but GBS came up with this one for just over £40.  Its slightly lower powered, but they think it'll be OK.

Next was the side indicator repeaters.... again.  The one's I'd sourced from ebay turned out to be far too flimsy and the cable on one of them broke where it joins the light.  Searches for better self-adhesive units proved fruitless and the Westfield ones are too ugly, so I picked up a couple from GBS of a type that is sold by other suppliers and is said to be IVA compliant.  They did require holes in the wing though, so I guess they won't be able to "mysteriously" move to the far better (but not IVA compliant) location on the side of the car.

Time then to repeat another already-done job by adding edge trim to the cycle wings for IVA compliance.  The stuff supplied with the kit kept falling off, so eBay to the rescue again with a metal-reinforced version.  Harder to fit, but at least it should stay on:

Having attached the remaining earth strap I connected the battery to see what happened:

What worked was:

• Headlights and rear lights
• Fog light
• Wipers
• blower
• handbrake warning light
• gauge illumination
• indicators
• fuel pump (I think)

What didn't work was:

• Horn
• Hazard lights
• main headlight beam
• Windscreen washer
• starter motor (it whirred but didn't engage)
• Reversing light and brake lights (forgot to test them)

I suspect the first three may be down to the wiring of the switches, since I connected them based on verbal instructions from Westfield.  The washer may be simply the absence of fluid. The starter motor is slightly more worrying, but will have to wait for another day (or professional help).

Newark kit car show tomorrow, but I hope to fill the cooling system, possibly put some fuel in, fit the press studs for the door retaining straps and fit some edging around the reversing and fog lights (Matthew wants to do that).  That should be everything.... I think.

June 2nd 2013 - Bravery Pills! (AKA Alternator Connections and Oil pressure sender)

Having worked out where most of the remaining wires go yesterday made it easier to work out that the others are for the alternator.  Not sure why I hadn't realised it wasn't connected nut there you go.  The connections to it, even in daylight were really hard to get to and even harder to see, so I decided to temporarily remove the alternator, which was a bit of a fiddle and needed some flexible socket bars, but actually came away easier than expected.  Once off, connecting the wires was simplicity itself and well worth the effort.

With the alternator off I could see the star-drive plug on the side of the engine block which needs removing to allow the oil pressure sender to be fitted and feeling brave after having removed the alternator I thought I'd have a go at removing it.  Other reports say this is quite difficult, but it came out with no fuss at all.  I then wrapped the thread in PTFE tape and screwed it in easily.  I'd have done this earlier in the build if I'd known it was going to be this easy!

Oil pressure sender in place

With the alternator back on and the sun still shining, I had a go at the IVA covers (having previously scrawled down some instructions over the phone from Westfield.  I checked all the front suspension and steering bolts were torqued up correctly first then added covers to any bolt heads or nuts that would be visible with the nosecone on, although there's no photo because the cammera battery went flat. 

Talking of which, with nearly all the wiring connected I thought I'd connect the battery to see what happened when I turned the key..... which turned out to be.... nothing!  I'm pretty sure the battery's flat after 3 years without use, even though I did try charging it to no avail.  It looks like I'll need a new one.

June 1st 2013 - Almost finished

For the first time this year it was warm enough to wheel the car outside to work in the sunshine... and this seemed to make a huge difference on some of the small but significant jobs I've been struggling with.

First though, was the other side repeater.  Unfortunately, after running the wiring and changing the connectors, the wire broke just at the point it enters the light unit.  This doesn't look fixable, so another unit is the only option. At least they were less than a tenner the pair - I guess you get what you pay for!

Whilst working on the near side, I started thinking that the angle between the l-shaped cooling pipe and the lower t-piece didn't seem as impossible as it has done for two years, so I had a go at fitting a hose to connect them.... and it seems fine!  I now can't believe I've been worrying about this for so long.

Spurred on by this success, I had another look at the starter motor wiring: The manual says there should be two connectors with two wires on each, but this didn't fit with what's available on the loom with the right connector, so I went with what did fit.  This only leaves a couple of wires plus the oil pressure sensor, so I'll stand a better chance of completing all the wiring now by checking the wiring diagram.  I also managed to route the starter motor wires well away from the exhaust!  Its amazing what a bit of daylight can do!

I've also charged up and fitted the battery, so tidied up the wiring at the front and refitted the nose cone.  Time for another photo:

May 28th 2013 - "O"s

With the IVA application form now awaiting attention in Swansea it was time to get on with the final few items, particularly the various under-bonnet hoses I've been putting off for ages.

First up were the pipes from the steel fuel lines to the fuel injection rail.  I had to look at someone else's blog to find out which to connect where and the best routing, but I'm pleased with the end result:

A long-standing previously-documented problem has been that the L-shaped three-ended steel pipe that runs from the expansion tank to the front of the engine appears to be bent incorrectly and this was preventing the fitting of many of the cooling system pipes.  Not wishing to be held up any further, I decided to fit the pipe anyway, but used a rivnut/bolt to secure it to the bulkhead so that it can be removed when a solution to the problem is found and the other pipes can be fitted in the meantime.  These pipes were:

1. A short tapered one from the bottom of the expansion tank to the first of the three connectors on the rigid pipe. 
2. From the lower heater connection to the middle rigid pipe connector.
3. From the upper heater connection to the near-side edge of the thermostat (this required a pipe that is slightly larger on the thermostat end
4. A piece of leftover fuel hose from the side of the expansion tank to the overflow on top of the thermostat.

This still leaves to be done on the cooling system:

1. A blanking plug on the off-side of the thermostat (haven't seen that anywhere)
2. A blanking screw in the remaining expansion tank outlet
3. The connection from the front part of the rigid pipe to the t-piece just below it (but currently at the wrong angle).

Still some time left, so I had a go at the indicator side repeater, which has to be mounted on the front wing to satisfy the IVA requirements.... even though this means having to route cables across moving suspension parts and around a moving wheel!  This is one of the few areas where I've decided to make a break from the standard hardware and use smaller more streamlined versions that don't look (quite) so daft.

To fit these I had to remove connectors on both the loom and the e-bay-sourced LED lights and connect them with bullet connectors.  It was then a matter of covering the cable with a flexible tube and tie-wrapping it along the wishbone, up the cycle wing bracket and then using tape to attach it under the wheel arch.  This worked better than expected:

I then re-attached the wheelarch, removed the IVA-spec edging, attached the self-adhesive repeater and replaced the edging to hide the wire.  The end result is quite neat - let's hope it works!

May 6th 2013 - Doors

No real progress this weekend due to a weekend away at the Stoneleigh kit car show..... where I collected a pair of slightly used doors from a fellow owners club member after I posted a "wanted" ad on the club website.

Fitting them wasn't quite as easy as expected due to the need to drill out the mounting holes on the windscreen pillars to 5mm with drill access a problem.  I'll need to source a couple of press studs to attach the rear retaining straps, but the doors fit well:

Whilst at Stoneleigh I took the opportunity to discuss options for getting a pre-IVA check (plus a few final bits of wiring and maybe plumbing) with both Westfield and GBS.  The former know the cars like the back of their hands and have some responsibility for the car being capable of passing IVA.  GBS seem really competent though, know the engine fitment, are far nearer and far cheaper. Hmmm.......

April 21st 2013 - Rear View Mirror

Only had a few minutes today, so I quickly wired up the number plate light now that the red bullet connectors have arrived.

The rear view mirror came with a sticky pad to attach it to the windscreen, but I remember reading somewhere that it must be bolted on ..... and there's a rivnut in the top of the windscreen frame, so I removed the sticky pad and drilled a hole through where it used to be.  Then I attached it with a 5mm bolt and washer.  Small but significant job done.

April 16th 2013 - Brake fluid

A day off to supervise some garden work today, so I took a bravery pill and had a go at filling the braking system.  To do this single-handedly I used a Gunson's Eezibleed kit, which is basically a way of feeding fluid into the system under pressure to (in theory) force the air out. Using it involved fitting a temporary cap to the master cylinder connected to a plastic bottle, which in turn connects to the valve of a spare tyre, or for me one of Matthew's go-kart wheels inflated to about 20psi.

Eezibleed in use

 Once this was connected up it was simply a matter of attaching a plastic tube to each of the bleed nipples in turn, opening them and letting the fluid exit into an old bottle until there are no more bubbles.  After I'd done this twice, the brake pedal felt fine and the handbrake worked!  This all seemed a bit too easy after reading of other builders' issues, so maybe I've missed something.

Bleed tube attached to near-side rear brake

I spent most of the rest of the day doing bits and pieces, including fitting the edge trim to the wheel arches, tie-wrapping the rear wiring, checking the torque of the rear suspension and enlarging the holes in the boot box where the  seatbelts pass through it.  I did this so that they could be torqued down without damaging the fibreglass.  The hardest part of all this was refitting the roll bar, which did not want to be bolted back up.

Looks the same as a previous picture, but this time its really really finished at the back (I think)

Running out of jobs to do now and no sign of any IVA kit instructions from Westfield, so I might have to have a go at the remaining under-bonnet plumbing and wiring.