Mooch Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Ah, the infamous fuel tank protection bar... had to file off the powdercoating from the inside of the bolt holes of course but otherwise a perfect fit. The photo shows it extends just over the bolt heads, which I presume is the purpose. The photo also shows a minor mistake on my part. I prepped the fuel tank for fitting (though didn't swap the sender over as I won't be using the Mazda gauges), only to find I've put my wiring in entirely the wrong places! Basically, the two looms prominent in the photo and the two going to the rear light clusters are all on the 'inside' of the where the fuel tank sits. Oops! No rear biggy to move it of course. In other news, I'm yet to find the union for the fuel tank vent, and I've failed miserably at fitting the bearing to the steering column support so that's gone in the freezer. As you do... "In other news, I'm yet to find the union for the fuel tank vent" I'm not sure what you are referring to here, Dommo, unless I've missed something. There should be a red one-way vent valve fitted to the top of the tank, but there's nothing else that goes onto this. There's not much to fit it onto, but you just push on some standard 8mm fuel pipe and hold it on with a clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 Maybe, the manual mentions swapping it out for an 8mm union though. Further investigations show there's only one 8mm union on the pick list so I'll treat that step with a bit of suspicion for now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 IMO you're better to keep the red (one way) vent in the top of the tank rather than the open union they suggest fitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted December 22, 2011 Author Share Posted December 22, 2011 The red one survives based on the advise above, and the fact it's easier to leave it there. I did add some PFTE tape, or PTFE, or whatever it is... First though, I popped into the local fastenings place for some longer bolts for the top shock mounting. I had 3 3/4" inch in there and they weren't quite long enough so I was after some 4" efforts. Unfortunately, they only had 4 1.2" ones but hopefully they won't intrude into the boot box area. Gone from this: To this: I've also managed to make a fuel tank sized dent in the stock of bits too. The manual suggests fitting the fuel tank and then the fuel pump/fuel filter, but I thought access would be better if I did it the other way around. Unfortunately, I don't think I kept the bracket for the filter from the MX5 so I'll have to source another one. I used rivnuts to pump bracket to the chassis like the manual suggests. I had to fit them though as despite paying for the factory to fit rivnuts, these and the filter ones haven't been done. May as well have fitted the rest of them myself and saved £40 odd quid to be honest. The fuel tank isn't quite central, being slightly to the left. I don't see how it's possible to seat it centrally as the outlet would foul against the chassis. I think I'll attack the handbrake next. The two pre-drilled mounting holes that the build manual allude to are missing so I'll have to add them myself, once I've measured them out. I don't think I'll get a lot of time to spend on it over the Christmas break though, too many family functions! 187 hours in and 56.78% of the way through... yikes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 A new year, a new problem for my poor little brain. Fitting the handbrake lever was what I was trying to accomplish today, and it doesn't seem to correlate with the fixings on the chassis. Cue photo: I'd bolted it on the fixing at the back, and the above was with the lever held so that it was level (the bolt holes being vertical). For reference, it's about 2cm out. If I tilt it so that the bolts fit with the bar, it was angled quite far downwards: The problem is, with the lever flat, it touches the tunnel top With the panels fitted and carpet, I don't think it will be possible to level the lever enough for the handbrake switch to disengage. Thus, I have two options and I don't know which is correct: 1. Knock up a small plate to bolt the lever to when it's level 2. Have the lever at the downward angle, finding a way where it'll meet the bar on the chassis and just about not foul the tunnel top I haven't seen anyone mention this problem before, so I'm open to the idea that I've done something daft! Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Just bend/twist the metal chassis strip that the rear mounting tab is welded to, so the handbrake is at the right height/position. IIRC it 's only 3mm plate so pretty easy to shape to the right position with a large adjustable spanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Oops forgot to mention, I did manage to achieve something today. I bolted the drivers seat in so that I could get the pedals adjusted. Unfortunately, the holes in the floor didn't match up with the bolts in the seat runners. I don't know if this was because they were sport turbo seats rather than standard ones but you would have thought the runners would be the same. With a couple of new holes drilled and the seat fitted I gave them a test umm... sit. Unfortunately I can't adjust them too much because I've left the wrapping on for protection. However, initial feelings suggests they're really comfortable seats, but it's going to take some going to achieve the perfect driving position. Currently, the support under the knees is pushing them too high. It's comfortable, but it brings me too close to the steering wheel. I'm sure with the right adjustment (and with the wrapping off) it'll be fine as the sport turbo I sat in at Stoneleigh didn't have these issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Just bend/twist the metal chassis strip that the rear mounting tab is welded to, so the handbrake is at the right height/position. IIRC it 's only 3mm plate so pretty easy to shape to the right position with a large adjustable spanner. That could work, it looks like the top panels will fit better if the lever was shifted back a bit actually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark (smokey mow) Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Just bend/twist the metal chassis strip that the rear mounting tab is welded to, so the handbrake is at the right height/position. IIRC it 's only 3mm plate so pretty easy to shape to the right position with a large adjustable spanner. That could work, it looks like the top panels will fit better if the lever was shifted back a bit actually The fit of my top tunnel was pretty poor and I had to cut an extra chunk out of the panel for it to clear the handbrake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanoecosse Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 The fit of my top tunnel was pretty poor and I had to cut an extra chunk out of the panel for it to clear the handbrake. Dommo, I was the same as Mark. I think I trimmed away a 1cm slot in the tunnel top panel to allow the handbrake lever to travel fully downwards. The joys of hand built cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KugaWestie Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Dont forget it will help avoid the propshaft knock problem if you use some countersunk bolts on the two front fixings when you get to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Progress! Milestones! It's all here... all one of them. A few jobs started over the last couple of weeks, even fewer finished. First up was the handbrake. I twisted the rear bracket as suggested - I sometimes wonder if I'd be able to get this project done without you fine people of the WSCC. Quite a few nuances! I've not attempted to fit countersunk bolts or chop the excess thread - I'm intrigued as to how much movement there will be for the gearbox/prop so want a little play once it's all fitted. Silly of course, I'll still have to do it but we can't all be full of common sense! Another job I need to do is adjust the pedals. The clutch and brake are too high up compared to the accelerator pedal, and I've got no more adjustment on the clutch. I want the pedals to be level once the play has been taken up in the brake. I think if I chop 8mm off the clutch fitting, this should give me what I want. At the very least, the clutch needs to sit behind the footrest! Quite glad I've left the side panels off for now. The eagle eyed amongst you will have seen what I also managed in the above picture... Tadaa! The engine is in! It took a while, largely because I'm disorganised and my bag labelled "bellhousing bolts" contained less than it should. There's no point in being anal about labelling the wiring loom if you're going to be rather lax on the fixings front! Ah well, with a new clutch fitted I shouldn't have an opportunity to misplace them again. You can see why the sumps really should be shortened for this engine. I had wanted to get that done before I fitted the engine but with digital dash/IVA fees coming up, I've not yet sussed out when I'll be able to do it. It's £350 for a sump like Chris'. Here's the thread for that: http://forum.wscc.co...566#entry914566 I'm a bit confused as to why Westfield haven't sorted this out yet. Every build diary I read has to redrill the holes for the passenger side engine mount. I see it as reassurance it's fitted right! The gearshift hole will need trimming too. For reference, the gearbox is in neutral at the moment. The panel is lined up against the scuttle panel. And the gearbox mounting waiting to be drilled. I still need to replace the rear oil seal and turret seals yet. The manual helpfully has a box saying "awaiting picture" where the picture for the bracket goes! Luckily I guess correctly which way round it went, thick end towards the rear of the car. With the engine in place (bar a couple of holes needing to be drilled) I can get on with much more stuff, so hopefully I'll get this project back on track for a March completion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Got the new Autopilot installed too I see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dommo Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Got the new Autopilot installed too I see He's probably a better driver than me, so it seemed sensible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.