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Donor done, build started


Dommo

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Definitely. It was quite tricky routing it back over the master cylinder whilst avoiding the brake pressure switch but it's certainly far tidier, and much more secure. I've left the unused clips in for now in case they prove useful for wiring or something later in the build.
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I'm almost proud of todays effort!

I took the front rear pipe off and rerouted it closer to the side, straightening it as I went. It was fiddly and time consuming but ultimately worth it:

PA190086_s.jpg

The front of the pipe has been fixed using p-clips now. I've left a couple of the other clips along the seat floor to keep it away from the edge, then used p-clips as it went backwards where the bend doesn't come so close to the corners.

I'll clean off the excess silicone tomorrow, then the chassis can be flipped and I can forget about brakes for a while!

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Finished the panelling, well, finished the panelling for now. I've not done the exterior panels so I can still get access to the footwells, and I've left the tunnel top panels off for now too.

PA220087_s.jpg

PA220088_s.jpg

With that done I started to press the bushes into the wishbones. I'd always planned to take them to a garage and get them done but thought I might as well give it a go first. At first, it wasn't that difficult. Got one about half way in though and it started getting really tight. I wasn't convinced the vice was going to break, it's a pretty solid unit but seeing as there was 20 of these to do, I think I'll leave it to someone with a hydraulic press!

Ordered some cable and tape to start on the rear loom modifications too. That one crept up on me a bit, but then I wasn't expecting to have decided I'd finished panelling yesterday.

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Yep, even warming the wishbones and chilling the bushes, I still broke a vice doing mine  :bangshead:  :bangshead:  :bangshead:  :down: I've since gone down the Nylon route, but if I had to do anymore metalastics it'd be cheaper to pay someone to do it than break another damn vice  :D

I presume you're going to use Rivnuts or some thing similar for the tunnel top pieces?

I also fitted Rivnuts for the fuse box mountings; much easier if you need to loosen the fuse boxes at any point in the future, once the engines in it gets a bit hard to reach down the tunnel to get at the nuts!

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I'm almost proud of todays effort!

I took the front rear pipe off and rerouted it closer to the side, straightening it as I went. It was fiddly and time consuming but ultimately worth it:

PA190086_s.jpg

The front of the pipe has been fixed using p-clips now. I've left a couple of the other clips along the seat floor to keep it away from the edge, then used p-clips as it went backwards where the bend doesn't come so close to the corners.

I'll clean off the excess silicone tomorrow, then the chassis can be flipped and I can forget about brakes for a while!

........and so you should be Dom - that is so much better than the first attempt!

Looks good  :)  :t-up:

P.S. Don't forget to clear any plastic coating from the inside of the wishbone where the bush fits into.

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Just mind you're pipes are not chaffing against the edge of the chassis where they come round the corners. From the bulkhead to the floor as the IVA man will be checking for this.

In places where it was close I cable tied on some rubber hose between the pipe and the edges :)

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I did actively try to avoid this, which is probably one of the reasons the first effort wasn't that good looking! I'll still put rubber of the edges though, better safe than sorry.

Started quite a few jobs this week, managed to finish a lot of them today.

First up, painting! A bit later doing this than planned, but as the time when they would be fitted was looming ever closer, I thought I'd best make a start. I did the front bits first:

PA240086_s.jpg

and yes, it did end up rather pointless marking what went where. Being only two choices though I'm sure it won't be too difficult to suss out later.

Here they are after a quick coat of POR-15:

PA260093_s.jpg

I tidied them up a bit more, retapped some of the threads and put them back on the shelf.

Meanwhile, whilst waiting for the paint to dry, I started looking ahead to see what was required when fitting the diff. (Yes Mark, I'd finally cut it off the PPF!). It seems there was some reducer still in the diff that I needed to remove, that would need removing. So, out with the penetrating spray, decent drift and hammer. Yes, I bashed one out in the garage again :D

The only thing I could think of whilst struggling to remove it though, was I'd only have to fit a bigger one (on the left).

PA260095_s.jpg

I put that in the freezer and have gotten it half in, but it's thawed and getting quite stuck. Rather than deform it with a hammer, I'll see if I can get it in with a nut/bolt. Failing that, off to the friendly garage and borrow their press.

The rear loom was also started this week, here it is laid out over the car.

PA280097_s.jpg

I trimmed the wires as per the manual, then started removing what wasn't needed. This was wires for door switches, heated rear screen and the such. Looking at another build someone had used one of the door switch wires as the added handbrake cable, which was probably a good idea. Ah well, bit too late now as I've already removed it and added a new cable.

With the wires trimmed, I began to wrap it in loom tape.

PA290110_s.jpg

I taped it up as far as where the splits started at the rear. I haven't yet added all the left hand side wires as I need more lighter fluid for the soldering iron. Still, it looks good and that's what counts!

PA290112_s.jpg

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The steering rack got some attention today too. I read, re-read, then read the manual again to be sure. It definitely says to cut 25mm off each end so out with the hacksaw.

PA290101_s.jpg

One side done:

PA290102_s.jpg

and the other side:

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The first side wasn't quite straight, but the nut went straight on both times with no filing required.

I then grabbed the bag with the fittings and fixed the rack to the car, using good old fairy liquid to lubricate the rubber. The bag only had four washers in whilst the manual said 8 were required. It doesn't get torqued up yet, so I'll source another 4 to be safe.

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I don't know if Westfield have suddenly gained the ability to work to fine tolerances, the the mountings were only just in the right place.

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Lastly for the steering rack I put the extensions on just to ensure bodily injury every time I walked around the car.

PA290108_s.jpg

The last job for today was the rear suspension. I'll be fitting the wishbones tomorrow (having pressed the bushes in with a hydraulic press earlier in the week). The manual said the suspension comes pre-assembled, which generally means it doesn't. Still, I soon sussed out how to get the top mount off and put the springs on. I've left it as high as it will go for now and will adjust it later.

PA290109_s.jpg

Halloween party tonight, so might be a late start tomorrow!

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Looking good Dom :cool:

To push the new bush into the dif, smear a small amount of oil or grease on it's face then press it in with a G-clamp.

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have you finished the bushes yet? when i put mine in i found covering them in copper slip helped them to go in easy. instead of using a hammer or vice i also found that i could push them in by using a little rig made up of washers and a lond bolt. by tightening up a nut onto the bolt i could push the bush into place.
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All bushes fitted yeah, well still got that spacer to get in the diff. Need to source a long bolt or a big G clamp. Looking at it, it's probably not the right shape to go in the press.

Today, it started to look a lot more like a car - the wishbones got fitted. Started with the rears but couldn't do too much as the diff wasn't ready and neither were the uprights. At least being bolted to the car they weren't taking up space on the garage floor.

PA300087_s.jpg

Then the fronts were attacked. The top wishbone fixing also includes the headlamp bracket so one of the bolts is longer.

PA300088_s.jpg

There's a spacer to keep the headlamp bracket away from wishbone mounting, though the manual doesn't specify what it looks like nor the dimensions of it. We guessed at this:

PA300089_s.jpg

Carrying on, the locknuts Westfield supplied for the top ball joints didn't have the same thread pitch, so I'll have to phone them up tomorrow to see if I'm missing something. Other than that, everything at the front went smoothly. Nowhere in the manual did it say to fit the front suspension though, so I made an executive decision on that front. The standard manual had the same fixings for the shock, with washers each side of the mountings.

PA300095_s.jpg

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The track rod ends also aren't attached - I've decided to buy new ones rather than reuse.

So, the car (or front end at least) is now looking pretty car like!

PA300098_s.jpg

Scarily running out of things to do with the starter kit now, so I think it's time to order the completion kit. I'll get the deposit down on that next week and hopefully be able to get it before Christmas. I wasn't expecting to make so much progress this weekend, so even ordering the completion kit now I think there's going to be a gap where I'll have nothing to do.

To complicate matters though, the engine isn't ready to go back in. Hopefully the head will be ready next week (and even more hopefully it'll be worth it and my block won't be warped!). I'm also going to take the opportunity to have the flywheel lightened and balanced as well as skimmed.

Next week then, as well as forking out lots of money I'll finish off the rear loom and hopefully get the spacer fitted to the diff. I might then be able to get the rear end finished off.

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Did the pipes get there ok Dom?

Oh yeah sorry I forgot - picked them up from the parents last weekend - thanks very much! Should be fitted soon... ish  :D

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