Pedal power ... time to use some spanners!

Friday 30th October - Work time = 2 hrs ... Build Time To Date = 20 hrs
Day off work today (well most of a day off ... lots of work "distractions" still!) so I spent a couple of hours fitting the pedals.  Earlier in the week I checked all the parts required and noticed I was missing the metal fitting that attached brake master cylinder push rod and the clevis pin on the brake pedal.  A quick call to Westfield and they said they'd post a new one to me.  Then Royal Mail decided to go strike again so god knows when it will arrive.  Undeterred I carried on ... pleased at last to be actually bolting something on. 
Here is the finished article ... for those of you unfamilar with these things my finger is strategically placed to indicate the brake pedal (and stop it falling down in the picture as it is not attached to the master cylinder pushrod!).

Now to get some pipe bending training from Andy!

A quick turnover ... floor now fitted

Sunday 25th October - Work time = 3.5 hrs ... Build Time To Date = 18 hrs

As I mentioned yesterday I planned not to fit the off side exterior panel until after the pedals were fitted.  However I decided to drill the chassis in preparation as it would have been difficult to clamp it in place once the floor was fitted.

Then it was time to turn over the chassis to fit the floors.  Henry is climbing in France so had to enlist Amy  and Sandra to help with the lifting.  As it turns out Amy did most of the lifting at her and Sandra's end!

The floor panels were pretty straightforward so here is the completed underside.

Henry is back on Tuesday so I can turn it back over and start to fit some real stuff ... the pedals !

Yet more drilling ... but finally it's time to attach bits

Saturday 24th October - Work time = 8.5 hrs ... Build Time To Date = 14.5 hrs
More drilling for the interior panels today.  Started off with the rear bulkhead ... I was not looking forward to this as I had read on several forums how difficult it was to get it fitted due to the need to bend the panel.  I flattened the top bend a little in the middle, masked off the interior rails so I didn't scratch them and after that it was pretty straightforward to bend and slot in.  Here's another "hedgehog" shot showing the panel drilled and rivets in.

I continued with the near side exterior panel and also the scuttle.  I decided to leave the off side exterior panel until after I'd fitted the pedals as access would be easier with it off.

At last the time had come ...I could now change to fitting and rivetting instead of drilling.  First on was the back panel, closely followed by the tunnel panels.  The lazy tongs rivetter made things a lot easier once I'd worked out the how to eject the spent rivet shanks.  However there were many places where it wouldn't fit so I had to resort to the traditional hand pull rivet tool.  Fair play to other Westfield builders who only use a hand pull rivetter for all the build rivets ... they must have a stronger grip than me!

So finally some pictures where I have added something to the chassis ... demonstrable progress at last.

Spurred on by the sense of achievement I continued with the front bulkheads.  I thought it best to put some washers under the rivet heads on the fibre-glass clutch pedal panel to spread the load a little better.

Finally it now looks like I'm making some progress ... not a huge amount to show for 14.5 hours effort though !

More drilling ... the chassis is now resembling a colander!

Sunday 18th October - Work time = 4 hrs ... Build Time To Date = 6 hrs
I decided I would trial fit all the panels and drill the holes ready for final fitting before I secured any of the panels.  This allows me full access for the clamps and drilling.  So today I drilled holes for the offside inner tunnel, front bulk heads and inner front bulk heads.  Lots of panels required some "dremmel fetteling" but apart from that no issues. 
Here is the fibre glass inner bulk head with clutch foot rest moulding.

So 6 hours in and all I have managed to do is drill the chassis full of holes and I am still to trial fit the scuttle and exterior side panels.

Let the Build commence ... this could take some time!

Saturday 17th October 2009 - Work Time = 2hrs  
Having spent last weekend sorting out all the boxes and nuts, bolts and rivets it's now time to get started.
I read the manual again ... I can no recite almost every word! ... and decided start with the nearside inner tunnel panel.  After clamping the panel in place it was obvious that the seat belt mounting holes were not quite aligned. 

Time for some fettling with the trusty dremmel before reclamping back into place and starting to drill the holes.  No real issues with anything but the 4 holes at the rear were difficult to reach.  I needed to use the flexible drill shaft to access the holes.  At this point I called upon my daughter to operate the drill trigger whilst I held the drill bit ... way to go Amy!


Here is the obligatory "hedgehog" shot with all the rivets in place ... I put them all in to make sure I hadn't missed any holes. 

Out with the panel again to debur the holes.  At this point I realised that I had spent 2 hours working on this and I haven't actually fitted anything yet!  Somehow I think this is gonna take a long time!

Kit Collected ... lots of boxes full of unknown bits!

Friday 9th October
We leave Cricklade at 6am for the 1.5hr trip to Westfield allowing time for the mandatory truckers breakfast en route.  Arrive at the factory just after they open at 8am.  More reversing required into the loading area ... this time with no incident (I'm starting to get used to this!).
The guys then start loading the van ... hmmm seems like a lot of boxes of car parts, most of which don't look very familiar! 
Meanwhile armed with camera I start taking pictures of a part built car covering all angles, pipe routes, wiring etc. on the basis that it might be a good reference for my build.
The loading took a couple of hours so we were back on our way just after 10am.  The trip back home was pretty quick with no major hold ups. 

Time to unload ... 
                                          we filled this ...

... with the contents of this ...

... and ended up with this (plus a lot of boxes in the loft!)

Now where is that build manual?

  

Collection day minus 1 ... collect the van

Thursday 8th Oct
The van rental company phone to say the LWB Luton with tail lift that I had booked is damaged and I can't have it but offer a Merc Sprinter instead.  Quick call to Westfield confirms that this should be OK still so first potential issue overcome.  I collect the van at 4:30pm and set off to drive to Cricklade, Wilts ... Andy my brother-in-law is helping me collect the kit tomorrow so we are setting off from there to Westfield early doors on Friday.  The "white van" driving in pretty straighforward and the van lives up to it's sprinter name along the M4. 
Second potential mishap overcome when I reverse into my sisters drive and nearly demolish next doors garage ... the van is deceptively long and her instructions weren't clear!