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| The orange colour was Matthew's choice - we think it look s good |
December 24th 2011 - New Seat Belts
The kit came with the standard inertia reel seatbelts which we'd already half fitted, but we quickly realised the upgraded seats with the cutout below the headrest would look far better with some four-point harnesses. These duly arrived for Mark's birthday and are ORANGE TRS items from Great British Sportscars at little more than half the price of Westfield-supplied belts. No real work on the car then, just five minutes away from a family Christmas-eve lunch to fit the driver's side top mounting bolts:
December 3rd 2011 - Indicator
This time last year there was deep now on the ground, but we didn't manage to take full advantage of the fine weather as we only go about an hour's work in amongst the distractions associated with the car being in the garage of elderly parents!
We did manage to get one of the nosecone-mounted indicators on though. It was, for once, a straightforward task involving marking and drilling three holes in the same way as we did for the fog and reversing lights: a big one in the middle for the grommet, smaller 5.5mm ones either side for the mounting bolts. Once done, it was simply a mattter of bolting the housing on and riveting the light unit to it using small 3.3mm rivets. Easy!
We did manage to get one of the nosecone-mounted indicators on though. It was, for once, a straightforward task involving marking and drilling three holes in the same way as we did for the fog and reversing lights: a big one in the middle for the grommet, smaller 5.5mm ones either side for the mounting bolts. Once done, it was simply a mattter of bolting the housing on and riveting the light unit to it using small 3.3mm rivets. Easy!
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| Riveting the light unit to the bracket |
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| Finished! |
November 19th 2011 - Reversing and Fog lights
Having added the remaining connectors at home, we returned to fit them. We'd worked out that the grommets supplied with the kit would be too big to fit between some of the mounting lugs, so bought some 25mm versions from B&Q, which turned out to be ideal.
Having seen the "A Racing Car is Born" DVD, where the guy doesn't fit his SVA/IVA stuff until after the build and regrets it, we dug out the brackets to make the reversing at fog lights sit vertical (a legal requirement). We had to enlarge the central hole in these as they were not designed for the connector to pass through (and were starting to wonder whether we'd made the right decision on pre-fitting the connectors).
That done, we masked up the area where the lights were to go and measured up (several times) to make sure the lights would be level with the main rear light units and symmetrical with each other. We then chain drilled and filed the 25mm grommet holes and the smaller ones for the mounting lugs.
Having seen the "A Racing Car is Born" DVD, where the guy doesn't fit his SVA/IVA stuff until after the build and regrets it, we dug out the brackets to make the reversing at fog lights sit vertical (a legal requirement). We had to enlarge the central hole in these as they were not designed for the connector to pass through (and were starting to wonder whether we'd made the right decision on pre-fitting the connectors).
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| Rear of reversing light showing IVA bracket, grommet and new connector |
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| Masked (hurriedly), marked, drilled and filed ready to accept the reversing light |
Then followed 4 or 5 trial fittings to cut the right size slot in the to of the IVA bracket to prevent it fouling the grommet. It seems like a lot of effort to avoid the pain of fitting the connectors in situ, but should make it a lot easier should they need to be replaced.
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| Reversing light viewed from above. Cut out to provide clearance for grommet clearly visible |
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| The finished job is pleasing, but belies the amount of effort put in! |
October 2011 - Lighting connectors
To make some "easy" progress, we connected up the headlights. This involved fixing a connector block to the metal spade-like connectors on the end of each wire - easy enough. Spurred on by this, we decided to do the same for the rear lights, but this was more difficult because it involved removing an existing connector, adding the spade-like connectors (which need crimping) then pulling them into a connector block. This was not easily carried out within the wheelarch and with an old set of pliers, so a different approach was needed.
This approach was to take the light units (including the fog light, reversing light and front indicators) home and fit the connectors there. This has the advantage of being sure of a good connection (things are usually easier sitting on a sofa than when hunched under a car), but has the disadvantage of needing larger hols in the bodywork to fit the connector through. We did manage to get one light unit wired up OK though:
This approach was to take the light units (including the fog light, reversing light and front indicators) home and fit the connectors there. This has the advantage of being sure of a good connection (things are usually easier sitting on a sofa than when hunched under a car), but has the disadvantage of needing larger hols in the bodywork to fit the connector through. We did manage to get one light unit wired up OK though:
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| Rear near side wheelarch showing cable coming from rear lights |
September 2011 - Gearbox filler
I'm sure we did slightly more in September, but it must have been fairly unproductive, as the only photo I have is of the hole we made in the passenger footwell to allow easier access to the gearbox filler plug/hole. We'll make a hinged cover for it later. Unfortunately I didn't have an allen key big enough, so had to buy a "proper" set. However, the plug still wouldn't undo - reading up on this afterward I found that they are typically VERY tight - I'll have to use a longer bar to turn it.
August 2011 - Routing the ECU cables
Limited amount of time to work on the car, or even update this blog, so we'll do four months' worth at once.
In August we tackled a job we'd been putting off for ages - routing the ECU engine wiring through to the engine bay. It was of those "if only we'd plannned ahead and put more clips inside the tunnnel" moments and without them, the options were:
1. Take the wiring through the bulkhead (untidy)
2. Undo the cable ties in the tunnel for the main loom (hard to get at without risking damagine the loom)
3. Try to get some more clips in down the other side of the tunnel (hard to get the drill/riveter in)
We went for option 3, and it turned out slightly easier than it looked, and the end result was tidy:
After this, connecting the engine wiring was relatively "plug & play", although there's still one "spare" connector and the hole for the exhaust gas sensor to make. Not sure if I'll do as others have done and get a replacement connector so it doesn't need a massive hole in the side of the body.
In August we tackled a job we'd been putting off for ages - routing the ECU engine wiring through to the engine bay. It was of those "if only we'd plannned ahead and put more clips inside the tunnnel" moments and without them, the options were:
1. Take the wiring through the bulkhead (untidy)
2. Undo the cable ties in the tunnel for the main loom (hard to get at without risking damagine the loom)
3. Try to get some more clips in down the other side of the tunnel (hard to get the drill/riveter in)
We went for option 3, and it turned out slightly easier than it looked, and the end result was tidy:
23 July 2011 - Bonnet fitting
It doesn't seem as long ago as April that we last updated the blog, probably because we've been busy setting up Matthew with his own go-kart and all the paraphernalia that goes with it. We also had a weekend at the British Grand Prix.
That's not to say we haven't been working on the Westfield, but progress has been very slow.
We've probably had about three visits since April and they've mostly been taken up with fitting the bonnet: The pins and grommets at the front edge and bonnet locks at the bulkhead end. The former were quite straight forward in themselves, but required adjustment of the nosecone which we'd previously spent a while getting just right! Too "right" as it turned out, as there wasn't enough of a panel gap to allow for the thickness of the grommet! Several hours later everything was looking straight again.
Next up were the (optional (Christmas present)) bonnet locks, and with them the biggest mistake so far. The position the latest manual gave for the locks seemed too far forward such that they would need a big chunk of the return edge of the bonnet removing to fit them.... so we went our own way and fitted them nearer to the bulkhead. BIG MISTAKE! The fitting was fairly straightforward, if (again) time consuming due to constantly having to take the bonnet off and on. It amounted to an octagonal hole in the bonnet and aligning a U-shaped channel on the edge of the body.
All looked fine until it came time to put the bulkhead back on and it fouled the u-shaped piece on the nearside. The only option (other than getting a new bonnet) was to cut back the bulkhead to allow it to clear the catch. Not ideal, but it could have been worse. The moral of the story is to think twice before assuming you know better than the manual!
That done, we did the final bit of body fitting, the fastening of the rear bodywork. This was easier than the manual suggested it might be: A couple of g-clamps to lift it up about 20mm, then 6 large-head rivets into the two chassis tubes obviously (most things are obvious after the event) put there for that purpose:
With the body now fully secure, the target of having the car in a state to bring home has been reached, and that will happen.... after we've sorted out somewhere to store the go-kart and its trailer. Doh
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| Its a BRM Cadet kart with a WTP 2-stroke engine and lots of grazed knuckles! |
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| Matthew claims it was down to him that Alonso won! |
We've probably had about three visits since April and they've mostly been taken up with fitting the bonnet: The pins and grommets at the front edge and bonnet locks at the bulkhead end. The former were quite straight forward in themselves, but required adjustment of the nosecone which we'd previously spent a while getting just right! Too "right" as it turned out, as there wasn't enough of a panel gap to allow for the thickness of the grommet! Several hours later everything was looking straight again.
Next up were the (optional (Christmas present)) bonnet locks, and with them the biggest mistake so far. The position the latest manual gave for the locks seemed too far forward such that they would need a big chunk of the return edge of the bonnet removing to fit them.... so we went our own way and fitted them nearer to the bulkhead. BIG MISTAKE! The fitting was fairly straightforward, if (again) time consuming due to constantly having to take the bonnet off and on. It amounted to an octagonal hole in the bonnet and aligning a U-shaped channel on the edge of the body.
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| Bonnet catch from the inside (apologies for photo quality) |
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| Looks neater from the outside (or will do if we ever get rid of all the fibreglass dust!) |
That done, we did the final bit of body fitting, the fastening of the rear bodywork. This was easier than the manual suggested it might be: A couple of g-clamps to lift it up about 20mm, then 6 large-head rivets into the two chassis tubes obviously (most things are obvious after the event) put there for that purpose:
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| Rivets to hold the rear bodywork to the chassis |
With the body now fully secure, the target of having the car in a state to bring home has been reached, and that will happen.... after we've sorted out somewhere to store the go-kart and its trailer. Doh
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| Looks the same, but it has progressed, honest! |
16th April 2011 - Roll bar
Tried to follow the Westfield helplne's instructions on how to fit the cooling system pipes today, but there's still a point where the flexible pipe would have to go at too tight an angle - we'll have to find a way of bending the pipe (another day).
Following this disappointment, we felt like doing something visible, so decided to fit the roll bar. This was simply a matter of positioning it on some masking tape, making sure it was central and drawing round the ends. Then came the hole saw to cut through the fibreglass, which worked well apart from creating loads of dust! The hole through the centre has to go through the metal chassis plate as well and needs to be 12.5mm, but unfortunately ours only go to 10mm so a considerable amount of filing was needed to open up the hole.
We also repositioned the driver's seat slightly inboard as it was fouling the bodywork.
Hopefully, we'll be able to move the car to our house soon so we can make faster progress. Only being able to work on it on the occasional Saturday, and then only getting a maximum of 4 hours actual working time out of a whole day is getting a bit frustrating.
Following this disappointment, we felt like doing something visible, so decided to fit the roll bar. This was simply a matter of positioning it on some masking tape, making sure it was central and drawing round the ends. Then came the hole saw to cut through the fibreglass, which worked well apart from creating loads of dust! The hole through the centre has to go through the metal chassis plate as well and needs to be 12.5mm, but unfortunately ours only go to 10mm so a considerable amount of filing was needed to open up the hole.
We also repositioned the driver's seat slightly inboard as it was fouling the bodywork.
Hopefully, we'll be able to move the car to our house soon so we can make faster progress. Only being able to work on it on the occasional Saturday, and then only getting a maximum of 4 hours actual working time out of a whole day is getting a bit frustrating.
26th March 2011 - Rear lights and more cooling
We felt like an easy and visible job to start the day, so fitted the main rear lights. This was relatively straightforward, as the rear wheelarches have a pre-shaped area, so no measuring required. It was simply a case of masking off the area on each side, then marking and drilling the four corner mountings and a larger one in the middle for the cables to pass through. The latter we made slightly larger than suggested, at 7mm, but this was still only just large enough.
We then moved onto the cooling pipes. The water pump to radiator pipes were done a while ago, so we did the next most obvious set - the thermostat to the radiator top connection. This involved two cut sections of flexible hose and a long J-shaped aluminium pipe which will be fastened to the chassis when all the pipes are in place.
We then got a bit stuck, as it is not at all obvious which bits go on next. This is not helped by the manuals: Of the Zetec-engined insstructions the 1800 Zetec is obviously different and the Aerorace seems to vary at this point. A call to the factory on Monday will be needed to work out where the remaining parts go:
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| Near side lights fitted, off side in progress |
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| Rear lights fitted, Matthew resting! |
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| Radiator to thermostat connections |
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| A few cooling pipes left, but not obvious where they all go! |
13th March 2011 - Headlights
We weren't planning any car building this weekend due to other committments. However, one of those commitments involved being where the car is and Matthew wanted to do something, so he ended up putting the headlights on whilst I was drinking tea in the house. Not much in terms of build time, but quite a big step visually:
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| Matthew fitting headlamp |
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| Visible progress - looks like you could start it up and go for a drive! |
5th March 2011 - Exhaust Manifold
Another short day after a later than usual start, but ending with the completion of one of the jobs we hadn't been looking forward to - the cutting of a big hole in the side of the bodywork for the exhaust manifold to pass through. Unfortunately, neither of the manuals gave details about where the hole should be, but we found the details and pictures in the "Aerorace" manual (as that model uses the same engine). We started by masking off the area and marking up an the area indicated in the manual. Then, probably due to our nervousness about the job, chain drilled a hole about half as big as it needed to be. Several hours of careful filing and trial fitting later, we had a hole which matched the one we drew at the start almost exactly! With careful twisting, the manifold fitted through the hole, just, but when in place had plenty of space between it and the bodywork. The gap even looks a little too big, but it definitely wouldn't have fitted through otherwise:
12th February 2011 - More bodywork
Not much build time today, but we did get the nosecone fitted: Two bolts into captive nuts just in front of the bonnet (making sure it all aligns still) and another at the front lower edge onto the bracket we fitted when the radiator went on. We bent the bracket up a bit to align better with the lower edge of the nosecone. Nice weather then prompted a photoshoot:
Whilst the car was outside we moved things around in the garage (now there are far fewer parts to store) and vacuumed the carpet (!). Not much progress, but while ever it keeps moving forward it WILL get finished!
5th February 2011 - Bodywork part 3
Good progress on the bodywork today.... although the photos look as though it hasn't advanced at all! First up was the offside rear wheel arch, which seemed to go on even quicker than the first. We then had another look at the bonnet-scuttle panel gaps and decided that any remaining misalignment would be sorted by fastening the body tub properly. On starting that task we quickly realised that the outer bolt for the steering column bracket was preventing the off side lower edge clipping around the chassis properly, so we had to make a cut-out:
The bodywork seemed to sit much better after that, so we fastened the upper edges in place using countersunk rivets.
The next, time consuming step was to attach the scuttle: The first part of this was to "find" the four rivnuts to fasten it to..... which isn't that easy when the bodywork's covering them! Luckily we'd foreseen this problem just before attaching the body, but making the 20mm cutouts without damaging the rivnuts was a bit of a challenge.
Then came the just as fiddly job of making corresponding holes in the lower edge of the scuttle and bolting through to the rivnuts - again done largely blind with a bit of guesswork thrown in. Worked out OK in the end though, even though it was a bit time-consuming:
Another day done and the car looks little different, but somehow more "together" for being held by bolts and rivets rather than gravity and g-clamps!
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| Front offside lower bodywork in place |
The next, time consuming step was to attach the scuttle: The first part of this was to "find" the four rivnuts to fasten it to..... which isn't that easy when the bodywork's covering them! Luckily we'd foreseen this problem just before attaching the body, but making the 20mm cutouts without damaging the rivnuts was a bit of a challenge.
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| Scuttle rivnut locations - off side |
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| Offside scuttle mounting bolts |
8th January 2011 - Back in the garage - but not for long!
It doesn't seem like almost two months since we were in the garage. The coldest December on record followed by Christmas has seen to that. Talking of Christmas, Santa brought a set of bonnet locks, a brake bleeding kit and some Westfield goodies - good old Santa!
We eased ourselves back into car building with a nice simple task - fitting one of the rear wheelarches. These are self-locating via blocks in the GRP and although there were fewer of these than the build manual said there should be, this didn't cause a problem. We just spaced he fasteners equally:
That was just about enough for the first visit of the year, although we did get the bonnet to align better by filing down the return edge at the rear side edges. It may need a little more removing yet, but at least our worries about having to completely re-align the body were unfounded.
We eased ourselves back into car building with a nice simple task - fitting one of the rear wheelarches. These are self-locating via blocks in the GRP and although there were fewer of these than the build manual said there should be, this didn't cause a problem. We just spaced he fasteners equally:
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| Rear Wheelarch Fastenings |
As suggested on the Owner's club forum, we used plastic number plate bolts purchased on eBay. The theory is that if you bash the arches they just shear off rather than damaging the much-harder-to-replace bodyshell. I suppose it might be true!
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