Feb 09 (Pt 1)

Day 6

What a day…..

As I am still waiting for the correct suspension arms I thought I would get on with a couple of jobs that would of been done later in the build. I got the scuttle panel and tunnel cover out and set about notching them to fit, another one of those jobs that I thought would take a couple of hours…..how wrong could I have been.

As I didn’t want to get any of the notches or holes wrong I only took small bits off each time and then refitted them to see if it is was right.  The scuttle took a couple of hours too get right but the tunnel cover took me nearly 8 hours!!!!

I was hoping the tunnel would only need notching over the chassis bars and against the rear bulkhead, but once fitted it was about 30/40mm too high.  As I didn’t want to take too much off and get it wrong I chain drilled along the base and then smoothed the base to reduce the height and then refitted it.  As I was only taking 8/10mm off at a time it took ages to get right….about 8 hours.

Day 5

As I am waiting for the correct suspension arms to arrive I started the day completing some of the smaller jobs that I had not done to date.   I started with the fuel pump as one of my friends had dropped of some ali strips off for me, I mounted the brackets to the chassis rail beneath the diff with 2 rivnuts and 5mm bolts

After the fuel pump I moved on to the handbrake lever, I am not able to fit the cables yet but as this will save me a job later on I mounted it, a very easy job (I like them!!!)

Another small job for the day was to get the hole for the battery holder sized correctly, after a bit of filing I put the holder in place and drilled the bulkhead/battery holder ready for riveting in place,  I won’t actually fit it in place until the loom is finished and the bodywork on.  I asked one of my friends to make a bracket out of 2 strips of ali but he I think he got a bit carried away…..he made this

My friend who is helping with (sorting out) the electrics was also round today so we decided to get the engine mounted and bolted in place, this will then allow him to crack on with electrics knowing that the engine won’t be removed again.  Before this could be done we had to reposition the fuel pipes from the bulkhead to the inside of the tunnel, they could not stay on the bulkhead as they would of been in the way of the engine after bolting the engine in we connected the front prop.

 

Leaving my friend to the wiring I started cutting the hole for the exhaust in the body work, as mentioned earlier I form the hole by using a hole saw to cut out the majority of the GRP and then chain drill the rest of the area with smaller bits, then use the dremmel to take the remaining area and smooth the edges

Last job of the day was to get the (top) steering column fitted, at least once I get the suspension arms and get them fitted I can just get the steering rack and lower column fitted and then get the car dropped on the floor

 

Day 4

Managed to find a few hours again to spend working on the car, after getting the body on it gave me the chance to get the holes cut for the suspension arms

Unfortunately that is where the fun ended, I went to mock up the front & rear suspension only to find that I have been supplied with the completely the wrong suspension arms, I have been supplied the standard RT units rather than the ‘plus’ units which are fully rose jointed.

After a frantic phone call to MNR they said they would get the correct arms sent down to me, but they have to be manufactured and then powder coated before they can be sent.  I am hoping that this will not prevent me from getting the car completed in time for the SVA, I have a few other things to be getting on with but I really need to suspension on.

I am also waiting for other bits to be sent down from MNR that where not in the boxes when I picked up my kit, only small things but things that I need to get on with the build.  I think that as I purchased everything in one go and wanted it all supplied at the same time, it is quite a lot of stuff for them to get together in one go and some things where just missed out. They must be sick and tired of me calling them and emailing them almost every day!!!

As there was nothing else I could do on the suspension etc, I called a few freinds to help me get the body off again so I could fit the exhaust manifold/downpipes, I could then mark up some cardboard to allow me to cut the body to shape. 

I will cut this hole in the same way I have done the holes for the suspension, I used a hole-saw on a drill but ran it in reverse to stop it cracking the GRP (a tip from a fellow MNR builder – thanks Rob), this also stops the hole-saw from pulling itself into the body once through. I then chain drill the rest of the area with various size drill bits then dremel the rest of the GRP out, this allows me to get a nice finish (hopefully!!!) I will see when I take the masking tape off.

After marking up for the exhaust I didn’t want to start drilling the bodywork again, so set about fitting the clutch cable, that was after Marc from MNR actually telling me which of the 2 possible cables it was – we got on installing the cable.

Firstly we had to drill a 5mm hole at the base of the clutch pedal for the rose joint to connect to, and drill a 10.5mm hole in the bulkhead,  once this was done it was just a case of connecting to the clutch arm on the engine.  I do wish that I had done the cable before the brakes as I had to dismantle the brakes so I could get the clutch pedal bolt out, I have put them back together so hope I won’t have to take it apart for the accelerator cable – but knowing my luck that’s exactly what I’ll have to do

 

Day 3

Had a good day on the car today, although it didn’t start all that well.

First job of the day was to take the diff out again and to re-fit it properly with the correct bolts and spacers, I was hoping this would take no more than 30mins or so but after 2 hours we eventually got it in, we had problems getting the final bolt in once all the others where packed and tightened up.

After the diff was in we secured the reverse box in place and attached the prop-shaft to both ends, the rear prop went in quite easily and we then moved on the front section again another easy job.

 

After the drive line was finished I moved onto the fuel tank and formed the brackets and secured it in place, I used 4 M6 bolts drilled and fixed through the tank support brackets

As the day seemed to be going well I started on the top bulkhead panel and offered it into place and drilled through to the chassis, I will not secure the panel until near the end of the build as I am sure I will need access beneath the panel before the end.  I drew on the position of the battery and drew an access panel for the pedal box and cut the shapes out with a jig saw.

After this we dropped the engine in so that my friend could start looking at and sorting out the wiring loom to the engine, this will be ongoing but as the panel is in place he can mark where he wants the rectifier / ECU etc to be positioned

I left him to the wiring and I pulled out the interior panels and marked them up so that I can notch out the areas where the chassis bars run, to allow for their fitment at a later day.

The day was coming to a close and it had been a long day, but before we put the tools away and tided up the garage we decided to get the bodywork on I will then be able to get the holes cut for the front suspension which hopefully I will be able to get sorted in the evenings this week….oh yes and it snowed