KugaWestie Posted January 7, 2019 Author Posted January 7, 2019 Thanks for all the thermostat input guys. I have decided to go with one that opens at 74c and is fully open at 82c. Hopefully that will work well and keep the engine around 85c
KugaWestie Posted January 7, 2019 Author Posted January 7, 2019 Fuel pump clamp fitted to its new mounting bracket and pump temporarily slipped in place
KugaWestie Posted January 8, 2019 Author Posted January 8, 2019 The fuel tank that came with the kit was pre-drilled halfway up the side for the sender. Not ideal in my eyes and a potential leak point. I have decided to use a VDO dip tube sender for my fuel gauge meaning this hole needed to be sealed over. So I took it to my friendly tig welder Nice job and the right thing to do IMO
KugaWestie Posted January 8, 2019 Author Posted January 8, 2019 I cleaned up my vacuum port connection on the inlet manifold Into the stores for a fish around in my bag of pipes and I threw out a piece of blue silicone that will do for now to test the brake pedal/master cylinder when the engine is running. I need to find something better eventually I also decided on my coil position and fitted it
KugaWestie Posted January 8, 2019 Author Posted January 8, 2019 Gauges/Instruments and senders were ordered today from ETB. Gauges are made to order so take a few weeks, but I was after the senders to allow me fit fit them while there is lots of room about, so I should have these for the weekend
Thrustyjust Posted January 8, 2019 Posted January 8, 2019 Good progress Gary. If you want to test the brakes, perhaps stick the vacuum cleaner on the end of the pipe ?
KugaWestie Posted January 8, 2019 Author Posted January 8, 2019 10 hours ago, Thrustyjust said: Good progress Gary. If you want to test the brakes, perhaps stick the vacuum cleaner on the end of the pipe ? I have done the vacuum trick already, I think there was a post on the thread several pages ago. But I want to see how they are for real, that's what really matters
Gary Taylor Posted January 8, 2019 Posted January 8, 2019 Lovely work as always and great to see you building her up
Steve (sdh2903) Posted January 8, 2019 Posted January 8, 2019 4 minutes ago, Gary Taylor - Scotland AO said: Lovely work as always and great to see you building her up I Agree. Cant wait to see it running and the body on. What's the plans for the body out of interest will the gel coat polish up or is it getting painted?
KugaWestie Posted January 9, 2019 Author Posted January 9, 2019 9 hours ago, Steve (sdh2903) said: I Agree. Cant wait to see it running and the body on. What's the plans for the body out of interest will the gel coat polish up or is it getting painted? The body needs a lot of work - the fibreglass and gelcoat needs repair in places so it will have to be sprayed.
corsechris Posted January 9, 2019 Posted January 9, 2019 Re the vacuum line, you could do a hard line with aluminium tube and just short sections of silicone to join it up, or perhaps some pf that silicone with the internal spring built into the wall, but that stuff is expensive, ugly and hard to work with (bit like me), or perhaps even make or find a spring to insert inside the tube you already have? On one of the air pipes on the blower install I did on my last project it had to stand up to full engine depression without collapsing so I hand-wound a spring out of piano wire and stuffed it inside. It worked great, although the whole assembly was a complete and total b******d to assemble. Good luck with the body - had similar issues on my last build as it was made up of a mixture of mostly old and a few new parts, some of which had been "improved" by a previous owner along the way before it got to me. The new parts weren't exactly perfect either - they needed quite a lot of fettling. Worst parts were the the doors, which I had to split and thicken and restore the original door handle apertures, the rear clamshell that needed both wheel arch profiles changing completely and one needed to move out 4cm, and the front clamshell which was just the wrong shape entirely where it met the doors and scuttle. Spent about a year sorting that out. Didn't cost much other than time though, which was a bonus as I had no money. The Cobra I built was gelcoat, but it always looked a bit of a disappointment next to a painted car even though it polished up well enough - it costs more, but you'll be happy about paint once it's done.
corsechris Posted January 11, 2019 Posted January 11, 2019 I’m conscious I’m coming across a bit “oh, yeh, me too” on this thread. It’s not what I intend, I’m just hoping to help with the odd bit of wisdom that might lurk amongst the rest of the dross I spout. Truth is though, I have built a Fake Snake with an RV8, I did have a Marcos that came with a 3.5 V8 that I modded, then later stripped the car, took out the Capri live axle and fitted a narrowed Jaguar IRS and fitted a 4.2 injected V8 and sorted the comically bad bump steer and I did build a Stratos copy from the picked over remains of a 4th hand kit. There’s a Westy build in there too, plus the stuff I’ve done with regular cars over the years as well, so I reckon I’ve done my time
KugaWestie Posted January 11, 2019 Author Posted January 11, 2019 14 hours ago, corsechris said: I’m conscious I’m coming across a bit “oh, yeh, me too” on this thread. It’s not what I intend, I’m just hoping to help with the odd bit of wisdom that might lurk amongst the rest of the dross I spout. Truth is though, I have built a Fake Snake with an RV8, I did have a Marcos that came with a 3.5 V8 that I modded, then later stripped the car, took out the Capri live axle and fitted a narrowed Jaguar IRS and fitted a 4.2 injected V8 and sorted the comically bad bump steer and I did build a Stratos copy from the picked over remains of a 4th hand kit. There’s a Westy build in there too, plus the stuff I’ve done with regular cars over the years as well, so I reckon I’ve done my time Chris, Your input, comments and guidance on this thread have been much appreciated and long may they continue. Nuff said
KugaWestie Posted January 12, 2019 Author Posted January 12, 2019 Not much progress over the last few days as I have been waiting for parts to arrive. My senders arrived a couple of days ago, so this afternoon I decided to have a look at these. I thought it would be best to start with the most difficult one, the fuel tank sender. It didn't disappoint, very fiddly job and glad it is done. I picked my spot, and drilled a pilot hole and made a slight mark with the hole cutter and then smeared some oil around The next hour involved a fair bit of tutting and sighing (I contained my language well) and I forgot to take photos of the stages I went through, but it is done and fitted. I also marked up the longest screw on the clamp in case I forget in the future which one it is. I also washed the swarf out of the tank. I then fitted the water temperature sensor into the inlet manifold Followed by removing the rover sensors from the oil filter housing/pump and fitting a new pressure/low pressure sensor and an oil temp sender.
KugaWestie Posted January 14, 2019 Author Posted January 14, 2019 The wife was out this evening for a while meaning it was a perfect time to get some accurate thermostat testing done, so out with the saucepan I had had three thermostats to test. After testing them all I have settled on one that starts to open at 78c, is fully open by 83c and then on cool down is fully closed again at 75c. I am hoping this will let the engine run between 80-85c. Having chosen the thermostat, I drilled a 3mm diameter bleed hole through it, and then popped it into the inlet manifold. Out with my trusty Loctite sealant and I run a bead around both sides of my home made gasket. And finally the housing cover got fitted I had been waiting for my fuel pump barbed connectors to arrive and they did today, so whilst the sealant was out I applied a smear to these and fitted them to the pump.
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