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.

April 14th 2013 - Wheelarch Infill Panel

Most Westfield build diaries I've read go on about these "mystery" panels which aren't mentioned in the manual.  Well I'm not sure if they are or not, but thanks to their coverage in the aforementioned diaries I didn't even open the manual.

After jacking up one side of the car and taking off the wheel, it was obvious that the panels would fit perfectly in the gap between the body and the aluminium car side facing the front of the car.  All that was needed was to bend the panel to match the curve of the wheel arch, then pop-rivet this in place before repeating the exercise on the other side.  This may have seemed a bit tricky at the start of the build, but at this stage it was as simple as could be:

In-fill panel in place on the near side

I'll probably seal the edges the next time I get the silicone out.

April 7th 2013 - The Finishing Off List

Started working down the "Finishing Off" list today by removing the nose cone to fit a blanking plug (bolt) into the top of the radiator.  Whilst there, I decided to fit the battery and its earth connection. The manual says to fit the latter to one of the steering rack mounting bolts, but (a) the steering rack is attached using M8 bolts and the hole in the earth strap is only M5 and (b) I didn't fancy undoing and re-torquing the steering rack.  Instead I attached it to one of the bolts which holds the lower nose cone bracket (after filing off the powder coat to ensure a good connection):

That done I put an M5 bolt in the top of the radiator and refitted (and realigned (again)) the nose cone.

I then re-fitted and tightened the exhaust and drilled a couple of holes in the grille aperture so it can be attached with tie-wraps.  With hindsight, this would have been easier and tidier done with the nose cone off, but I think it'll need to come off at some point so I can re-do it then.

For once it wasn't snowing, so I took the opportunity to move outside for the first time this year for a photo of what looks like a finished car (but isn't (quite)):

March 24th 2013 - Steering Column Cover Panel

Today's karting event was called off due to snow (after we'd made the effort to get there) so a little bit of bonus time on the build.

Next on the diminishing list of tasks was the small plastic panel which fits over the steering column and pedals.  I trimmed this down a bit at the front so it sits flush with the chassis rail and fastened it down with 4 5.5mm rivet nuts & bolts in case it (or the bulkhead) needs to be removed at any time.  Simple job, but progress nonetheless.

March 17th 2013 - Carpets

Carpets in a kit car?  Is the usual question when I go through the diminishing "to do" list, but as the main use of the car will be on the road comfort is more important than a tenth of a second on the track.  That's also why it has a windscreen, a heater and will probably have doors and a hood.

The passenger side carpets were already done, so it was out with the driver's seat (again) and torquing up of the seat belt mountings.

It was now time to fit the tunnel carpet, so I removed the gear knob and put the carpet in place.  To get it to go all the way forward I had to cut out a rectangular section at the front to go around the dashboard wiring where it comes up through the tunnel, but apart from that it went on very easily, with  couple of bits of Velcro to hold it in place in the foot wells.

I then made another cutout to go around the seat belt mounting, the seat, replaced the gear knob and that was that.  Other builders moan about carpet fitting, but I can't see what the fuss is - especially as they fit so well without the need to trim the edges.

The car really does look finished now, the only remaining visible jobs being the rear view mirror, the side repeaters and the grille.  I might even get some full-car shots outside if it ever stops raining!

March 16th 2013 - Windscreen Fillet

Westfield gave me some advice on toggle switch connections and said the "mystery" mini-loom is for the heated windscreen (which I won't be using), so I finished the dash wiring, put the scuttle and windscreen back on and reconnected the heater, wiper motor and washer fluid pipe.  I didn't seal t down just yet in case it needs to come off again.  I may leave it that way until after its passed its IVA test.

I then moved on to the windscreen fillet.  This is a thin strip of fibreglass intended to make the area around the wipers neater and more weatherproof.

To fit the fillet I removed one of the windscreen pillars, the wiper spindles and the top hat-shaped plastic bushes below them:

These latter items will hold the fillet in place, so I had to drill out the pre-marked holes on the fillet to the smaller diameter of the bush.  This resulted in the job being almost done.... except that it then required lots of filing of the ends and the lower edge to get it to sit properly between the scuttle ant the screen.  Eventually it fitted, but again I didn't seal it down just in case....

Having been a bit dubious about how it would look, the end result actually looks very neat.

March 2nd 2013 - Dash Wiring

I decided to tackle the dash wiring today, so removed the windscreen and scuttle to ease access to the loom.  I debated leaving them on, but the cables seem a bit on the short side and the scuttle will need sealing down anyway.

Scuttle removed ready to start wiring

 I labelled the loom ages ago, so plugging the wires onto the gauges and rocker switches was straightforward.... except for having to swap the rocker switch locations to allow the wires to reach.

The toggle switches were a different matter:  Firstly, there was no way the cables for the horn were going to reach to the location indicated in the manual, so I had to open up a new hole above the headlamp dip switch, leaving an unwanted hole where it used to be.  I'll have to find something else (even if its a dummy switch) to go in there.

The next problem was that the manual very helpfully says which colour wire goes to which numbered terminal on all three switches (horn, headlamp dip and indicators).  This would be fine if the switches actually had numbers on the terminals!

Most wires connected

I need to call Westfield before I put everything back together anyway, as I'm a bit concerned that the small "mystery" wiring loom may need to connect to the loom behind the dash in some way as it has a mini push-button attached.

"Mystery" loom not mentioned in the manual!

February 16th 2013 - Passenger side interior finishing

A mixture of things today, with the aim of finishing the passenger side interior.  First up was the propshaft to diff bolts:  These have been temporarily fitted for ages but now needed to have threadlock applied and be tightened to the correct torque.  Other builders have cursed this task due to the apparent need to crawl around under the car.  I didn't need to do this, however - I just:

1. Jacked up one rear wheel
2. Removed the two rearmost cover panels
3. Slackened the handbrake cable
4. Unfastened the handbrake lever
5. Attached a long extension bar to the torque wrench and an adapter to allow the use of a 3/8 drive socket
6. Turned the rear wheel to move the first bolt to the top
7. Lowered the wheel back down

This allowed easy access and just needed the car to be jacked up again for each of the four bolts to be accessed and torqued.  On each one I used an old red touch up paint to put a line across the bolt and flange as a reminder that it's been torqued and to allow any loosening to be spotted.

Next task was to finish off in the footwell:

1. Drilling out the gearbox filler access hole (see earlier entries) to 25mm to allow a grommet to be fitted.
2.  Making a hole for the washer pipe to pass through to the washer bottle - a 9.5mm hole with an open rubber grommet.

Passenger footwell - gearbox filler grommet on the right

 The carpet under the seat went in next, after blanking the holes for the standard seats with some 9mm grommets.  To get the holes for the seat mountings in the right place I jacked the car up, weighted the carpet down, then used the conveniently-handy red touch up paint to mark through from the underside.

under-seat carpet with seat mounting holes visible

Before putting the seat back in, the seatbelt mounting needed fitting and torquing.  Whilst doing this I temporarily fitted the tunnel carpet so I could make a cut-out for the seatbelt to allow the carpet to be fitted/removed without taking the seat out:

seat belt mounting passes through tunnel carpet - note vertical cut to allow easy fitting

The seat then went in, along with the footwell carpet:

Footwell carpet in but not yet secured

Dark now (I didn't get to start until mid-afternoon) but surprisingly warm for mid February, so I decided to fit the expansion bottle for the cooling system so that the scuttle can be fixed permanently next time.  This was simply a matter of mounting the bottle to its bracket using two 5mm bolts, then fixing the bracket to the scuttle, again using a 5mm bolt and nyloc nut.  Its location was determined by the cooling system metal pipework and the need for the expansion bottle top not to foul the bonnet.  The pipe angles on the metal pipe still seem as wrong as they do at the other end (see earlier entry), but hopefully Westfield will have a solution that doesn't involve trying to bend the (steel) pipe!

Expansion bottle in place.  Definitely dark now!

January 31st 2013 - Boot Box

With a reasonable amount of time available today, I decided to have a go at fitting the boot box.  The roll bar goes through the edge of this, so that had to come off first.  I did think about cutting through the boot box from the front edge to allow easier removal in future, but decided against this as it could look untidy and its not that much effort to remove the roll bar if you take the rear wheels off.

The boot box fitted without the trimming other builders have had to do, so the first job was to put in a couple of 5mm rivet nuts on the rear edge.  These will be needed to hold it in place, so I did them first to hold the box in place while measuring the holes for the roll bar.  It was then a matter of taking the wheels off and drilling a marker hole upwards through the roll bar bolt hole.  This was then enlarged enough to make the mounting point accessible so that the roll bar could be temporarily attached using some longer bolts and its position marked on masking tape.

Roll bar temporarily replaced and position marked

The hold was then cut and filed out carefully as any errors would be very visible.  This created a huge amount of dust.

Hole cut out for roll bar.  Note the amount of dust!

The next task was to make four holes for the seat belts, as the boot box only has cut-outs for the inertia reel belts the kit was ordered with.  Not sure if there's a different boot box for four-point harnesses, but this one will have to do.  Making these holes required lots of measuring, re-measuring and pilot holes to make sure they were in the right place, but at least the chassis mounts have no bottom so a screwdriver could be passed through the pilot hole and mounting to ensure alignment.

The final job (apart from cleaning up all the dust) was to fit the trim panel that fits over top of the rear bulkhead carpet and the front edge of the boot box.  I fitted this (with Velcro) with the (incorrectly placed) cut outs downward as it virtually covers the holes for the inertia reel mountings.

The finished job with dust removed!  Not the biggest of boots, but better than none.

January 19th 2013 - Tunnel Cover Panel & Rear Bulkhead Carpet

Too cold to do much today, but to keep at least some momentum going I fitted the final tunnel cover plate above the handbrake adjuster and propshaft coupling.  The other two panels are fitted using self-tapping screws, but for this one I used rivet nuts and M5 dome headed bolts as it may need to come off for maintenance.  Whilst in that area I couldn't resist fitting the rear bulkhead carpet using double-sided velcro.

January 12th 2013 - Dashboard fitting

Mainly preparatory work over Christmas, and also the arrival of a great new rivet nut tool (how sad to get excited over a new tool!) which was put to use to great effect today to fit the dashboard.  The manual says to use standard nuts, but I figured the space behind the dash will be restricted and the dash is something that may need to come off from time to time.

New Rivet Nut Tool

It was easy to get the rivnuts in to the correct tightness with the new tool with minimal effort - just turn the wheel at the back, then unscrew.  The dash was then put in place, with the dash top trim in place and masking tape placed around the edge of it to indicate the area for drilling the holes so the bolt heads would not be visible.

Rivet nuts in place around the scuttle edge

Dash bolted in place before the top trim panel was added

 The trim panel was then stuck in place using Velcro strips.  I'm tempted to put a bolt in as well to secure it.

Last job of the day was to fit the gearlever gaiter.  I reduced the height of the supplied gaiter slightly, then made holes in it so that the four long pop rivets would hold the whole lot securely in place. It was then simple job to fit what seems like the the 5000th rivet.

Gear lever gaiter cut and positioned so that the lower edge will be sandwiched in place

Finished dash area looks smart.  Major wiring job looming :-)