Bonnet fitting

Sun 28th 2010 - Work time = 6hrs ... Build Time To Date = 134hrs
Yes ...6 hour to fit the bonnet!  Well nearer 5 actually because I fitted the bottom hose as well.

The bonnet fitting took so long because I needed to grind aways some of the welds on the chassis so that it would sit down properly.  I also needed to file a little off the bonnet. 

The fitting of the hinge was tricky too ... I ended up rivetting the hinge to the bonnet and used rivnuts to secure to the chassis rail.

I hope all the other bodywork fitting doesn't take this long.

Exhaust manifold ... time to cut holes!

Sun 21st 2010 - Work time = 5hrs ... Build Time To Date = 128hrs
Time to cut the hole for the exhaust.  Using the template I made earlier I drilled out the glassfibre.

I then took my time to gently cut away the body work with the dremel sanding drum.  It took a long time ... as you can see by the work time recorded today.  There isn't a lot of room to insert the manifold in the engine bay .. it required a lot of twisting/turning and removal of the bodywork a millemetre at a time.  I was pleased with the end product.  It does look as though the hole is much bigger than needed when it's finally fitted but trust me it needed to be this big to wiggle the manifold through.

Rear lights and glass fibre !

Sat 20th 2010 - Work time = 4hrs ... Build Time To Date = 123hrs

Putting off the time to start cutting holes I decided to fit the rear lights.  The reflectors and stop/tail/indicator light clusters were pretty easy except for the connection to the loom.  There was no made up connector on the light fitting so had to work out the wiring colours and fit one of the 6 way connectors from those supplied.

It was a different matter for the fog and reversing light.  The light housing in the body was not very deep and the manual said the lights should be mounted flush and "bonded in".  I decided to make up my own fibre glass housings and fit the lights in these.  With no previous experience of fibre glassing this was a new venture!  It all worked out pretty well, though it was quite messy!

Engine Wiring Completed + Other Small Tasks

Sat/Sun 13th/14th March 2010 - Work time = 7hrs ... Build Time To Date = 119hrs
A couple days of finishing off a few things following my visit to the factory and the advice from Mark.
First item ... twist round the injector connector on No 2 cylinder so that it didn't foul the throttle linkage.  Fairly easy task but needed to removing all the linkage to gain access.  Connected up the throtle cable at the same time ... now a fully functional throttle!

Next item ... connect up the coolant temp sensor to the webcon loom.  As suggested I removed the connector from it's fixing on the engine block and this thn reached the loom connection.  Just one issue the connector plugs were different!  Again another simple job that quickly became complicated.  Fortunately in the wiring loom bits there were plenty of spare connectors.

Third item .. replace the oil pressure sender with the one from the instrument set.  Had to partially destroy the old one so that I could get a socket on it to undo it  There was also no room to get a spanner on the new one to tightem it so it was a lot of brusied knuckles to get it hand tight.

Item no. 4 ... relocate the clutch cable in to clutch arm. I decided to follow Mark's advice and remove the grommet so the cable sits in the lower part of the arm and has a straight feed to the adjuster.  Aso put a cable tie in to tidy up the clutch cable routing round the engine mount.

Next ... connect up the fuel lines to the carbs

And the final bit of the engine work ... install and connect the Water Temp gauge sender into the thermostat housing.

Next step ... ran a wire from the rear brake lights so that I can fit a high level brake light in the roll bar.  Just hope I identified the correct cable from the loom! 

Torqued up the rear suspension whilst I was there too!

Attention now turned to gettng the bodywork fitted ... at least starting to get it fitted.  The sides were not sitting quite right and didn't hook down under the floor very well ... actually it seemed a tight fit and i didn't want to force it.  I made som clearane holes to clear the rivnut fixing for the scuttle and that seemed to give enough clearance and the sides popped into place (with a bit of creaking which was slightly disconcerting!).  The scuttle needed some cutouts to clear the wiring loom grommet where the loom goes to the ECU and also the steering column.  With all that complete it seemed to line up except for the bonnet fouling on the lower wishbone bolts at the front.  A job for another day. 

Starting to run out of jobs now so next weekends job will be to start cutting holes in the bodywork for the exhaust and fuel filler and seat belts.  Not looking forward to this ... keep reminding myself ... measure twice cut once!

Collected Body, Carpets, Seats ...

Fri 5th March 2010 - Work time = 0hrs ... Build Time To Date = 112hrs

Another "white van man" day ... collected all the remaining bits fom Westfield today.  Got off to an early start, leaving home at 4:15am and managed to get to Westfield at 8.  Spent some time with Mark to get some answers to my earlier questions:

1. No2 Injector needs to be swivelled around to clear the throttle linkage (may also need to remove some of the metal on the linkage) otherwise linkage is in the correct place.


2. The Coolant Temp sensor needs to be unclipped from the engine ... then it should be OK to reach the wire.
3. The oil pressure sensor needs to be swapped with a new one in the instrument pack

4.  Clutch cable can be in the top hole on the clutch arm with the grommet or lower hole without the gromemet.  Mark recommends the later.

Got back home and unloaded the van by about 1:30 ... most of the body panels had to be put loosely on the chassis ... the rest of the bits up in the attic.

It's starting to look a little like a car now ... oh and Sandra approves of the colour!
 

4 Wheels on my Wagon!

Sun 28th February 2010 - Work time = 2hrs ... Build Time To Date = 112hrs
Connected up the Clutch cable ... another straightforward job you'd have thought but it was not quite that way.  The clutch arm had a rubber grommet in it and from the way it was shaped it looked like it was meant to go round the end of the cable and position the cable in the upper part of the hole.  However the narrow part of the hole was at the bottom and this is where the cable was supposed to go. With the cable in the grommet it was not properly aligned with the cable adjuster so not sure that is right.  After much head scratching again (difficult when lying under the car!) I opted for using the grommet and leaving the cable in the top hole. Will check with Westfield when I'm there at the end of the week.

Time for a milestone moment ... put the wheels on and lower it off the chassis stands.  Amy summed the up the occassion with an "It's awesome Dad!"