1 November 2005
Day 6 - Pedal Box
Only spent 1 hour in the garage this evening. Turned the chassis back over and then installed the pedal box! I find this a milestone, the first sign of looking like a functional car! I know it is a long way off but..
The pedal box needs torquing up at 20ft/lbs or 27Nm. The instructions for my new torque wrench say that it may take a few goes for the lubrication to kick in and become accurate, not on my car! So I decided to borrow a friend's one that was a few years old and in fact had been used to assemble an airplane, now this has been tried and tested, good enough for my car.
It was today last week that I picked up the kit from Westfield. I am content with my progress so far.
See photos below in which scrat the squirrel (my favorite character from ice age, yes I am older than 12) demonstrates the pedals:
2 November 2005
Day 7 - Scuttle Panel
Spent 3.5 hours in the garage tonight. Drilled holes in scuttle panel and chassis. Had to shape the GRP foot rest panel as it was not square and drilled holes in the panel and chassis. Drilled holes in chassis for the passenger small side transmission panel, which by the way, the existence of is not even mentioned in the build manual. De-burred everything and painted holes in chassis with the usual metal paint. No point posting photos tonight.
Attaching the three panels tomorrow will probably take less than 90 minutes.
3 November 2005
Day 8 - Scuttle Panel fitted
Spent just 1.5 hours in the garage tonight. Achieved what I set out to do which was fit scuttle panel, driver foot rest and passenger small transmission side panel. Wow this means the foot wells are completely enclosed. I want to carpet but there are many things to do before that!
Here's the photos as promised:
4 November 2005
Day 9 - Front brake lines
Spent 1.5 hours in the garage tonight. Messing about with brake pipes! I have some old stuff which I am trial fitting rather than screw up the nice westfield pipes. Unfortunately the build manual does not cover my chassis and engine option and the V8 is such a tight fit that it is crucial where the brake pipes are fitted, for example have install on the outside edge of the side chassis rail otherwise it will be fouled by various ancillary engine components! Something tells me I am going to hate this! Something tells me I am not going to get this right first time!
I started using a pipe bender for the job but after the first bend I decided that a) it was too difficult to try and align up in situ and b) the loops were far too big. So I resorted to doing all by hand! Not too bad I went steady and had no kinks. I think when I do this for real I am going to get hold of some tubes which are a little bigger than the chassis rails as a guide so that I can form the bends nice and even. I want it too look professional.
Here are some small photos of the trial fit:
5 November 2005
Day 10 - Brake lining
Spent 4.5 hours in the garage tonight and it didn't go well at all. I had major trouble trying to fit the front brake pipe to the primary master cylinder as it is too close to the clutch cylinder, at the narrowest section it is only 3mm away! Strikes me as impossible, I shall be speaking to Westfield on Monday. The front brakes pipes from the t-piece to the chassis brackets are too long. The brake pipe from the secondary port on the brake master cylinder to the rear t-piece is 3 inches too short! In the standard car the pedal box is mounted at the bottom of the front fire wall not the top as in mine, this would have therefore been sufficient length. I am very disappointed, please see photographs below:
See how close the primary port, that's the one with the red cap, is to the clutch cylinder:
Top mounted box, see pipe running down:
Front left pipe to chassis bracket:
Rear t-piece:
7 November 2005
Day 11 - Optional external side panels
My side panels arrived today. These are optional extras but I think add to the quality of the build. If my car was going to be pure track I would not install these as every bit of weight that can be saved is a bonus, mind you I think there is a bit of a trade-off not fitting them as they add to the stiffness of the chassis and improve handling. In all honesty though I do not think I would be able to tell either way as I am not mad enough to drive so close to a cars limits, honest!
I spent 1.5 hours in the garage and all I did was align up the passenger side panel and drill the holes into the chassis and do the usual prep of de-burring and painting. Mind you there are 92 holes per side! I am suffering from tennis elbow, no I am not joking all the riveting I have done over the last week has sprained my flexor tendon!
I may have to get my son to give me a hand tomorrow with the riveting! Hopefully I will be able to post a photo tomorrow, at least of the passenger side.
8 November 2005
Day 12 - Optional side panels
Spent 2 hours in the garage tonight. Managed to fit the passenger side panel and prepare the driver's side panel for fitting tomorrow. Holes drilled in chassis and painted. Panel De-burred all ready for fitting tomorrow. Need to buy some more silicon, I have got through two tubes already. I have been using plenty of the silicon, better to use too much than too little. If water gets in the car it will not be from the bottom, erm may have to fit a bath plug!
I managed to speak to Westfield today regarding my brake piping disasters. The have accepted liability, that the manual for this part of the build has the wrong instructions which lead to my issue. Westfield also said that the male connector supplied for the primary port of the master brake cylinder protrudes out too far and thus making the clearance between the master brake cylinder and the clutch resevoir too small for fitting the brake pipe, they are sending a smaller one.
View from front showing passenger exterior panel fitted, oh, just look at those rivets aren't they lovely! My tennis elbow not too bad today, although I fear popping 92 rivets my aggravate it again:
View from back, look at the glistening aluminum panels, can't wait to peel the green stuff of all the panels, shame it will be covered in carpet, well almost, I seriously wouldn't cope with the finger prints!
9 November 2005
Day 13 - Optional side panels completed!
Yes, it has took me three evenings but I have done it, both external side panels have now been fitted only spent 1 hour in the garage tonight, next job is too big to start which takes me onto brake lining again! As I said yesterday I spoke to Westfield in the late afternoon and they agreed to send me some more brake pipes free of charge but it is testament to their exceptional customer service as I received the brake pipes today! Wow now that is fast. They had even stuck notes as to where the pipes should be fitted. I tell you though they must have a warehouse full of packaging material as everything they send always seemed to be very well packaged.
Driver's side external side panel:
Interior view with all panels attached:
10 November 2005
Day 14 - Back to brake lining for my sins!
I spent 3 hours in the garage tonight. I think my wife is not very impressed, but all I did was form one brake pipe, I started so I wanted to finish. I decided to tackle the dreaded line from the master brake cylinder primary port to the front T-piece. For those are not aware the clearance between this port and the neighbouring clutch cylinder is bordering on criminal! Anyway these things are sent to try us. This line has to take the most complicated path requiring loops to be formed in all 3 dimensions and my spatial awareness is not my strongest point, put it this way, you wouldn't want me in air traffic control but I am persistent and kinked brake line is less severe than bent 747s.
A tip I saw on the WSCC is to use plumber's solder to model the route of the brake line. Basically cut the solder to the same length of the pipe to be fitted and that way you can check the best route and make sure you have enough pipe for the route you want to take, conversely you can check you do not have too much. If you have too much then maybe taking a slight different route or form bigger loops around chassis rails etc. When I finished forming my front pipe to the T-piece and I arrived at the T-piece, there quite literally wasn't a millimetre spare, erm a bit of judgment and lots of luck. Anyway here are the photos, which also show the rear pipeline I formed the other day, the only bit that did not go wrong:
Next photo in sequence, yes I know that is the body side of the chassis, don't worry I checked this with the factory. When the V8 is installed it will be very close and in fact the exhaust manifold will be right next to this rail, therefore not ideal to have brake pipe installed that side if there was the space!
And finally into the front T-piece, I have chosen to go into the left connector as opposed to the centre one, pipe not long enough, it doesn't matter which port it goes in, the pressure is equal on all three. I will be connect the left brake to the centre one as the pipe is long enough anyway. It needs to be installed on the same rail, you cannot see from the photo but the pipe I installed as at the back of the rail, therefore leaving enough room for the left brake pipe. It will become clear when I install this one tomorrow:
Picture of rear left brake line:
Picture of rear right brake line. You can see the T-piece has not got the front to rear pipe in place yet. I am still deliberating whether to route pipe under floor as per westfield manual, which I do not think is ideal, sorry Westfield. I want to install in transmission tunnel I am leaning towards installing at the top of the tunnel, most builders have install on the bottom, probably because most have bottom mounted pedals, as you can see I have top mounted so will use less pipe if I go along top:
11 November 2005
Day 15 - Brake lines continued
Yep still! Tonight I really did feel I made some progress. I decided to file the banjo connector bolt, I only needed to remove 2mm but it took 40 minutes but it is over!
I also reformed the front brake lines as Westfield has sent new ones in the kit and I was not completely happy with my first attempt. The second attempt is much better as you will see in the photos.
The rear brake pipes I am quite happy with. Only one brake line left, the front to rear one. I am going to leave this for tomorrow when I am fresher.
I spent a total of 3 hours in the garage tonight. Everyone was out doing their thing so..
12 November 2005
Day 16 - Brake lining continued..
Spent 2 hours tonight plumbing in the front to rear line. This is a little more difficult than it looks. Have done it but not quite as neat as the other lines. I am also a little concerned that I may find the route taken fouls with the wiring loom, I shall have to wait and see. I have not installed the P-clips yet on any brake line just in case I find I need to tweak the position of the line and once the P-clips are riveted to the chassis it is pretty permanent.
13 November 2005
Day 17 - Upper steering column
Spent 3.5 hours in the garage this afternoon. Installed in the upper steering column which required making a large hold in the front bulk head. Erm discovered that the brake line I installed yesterday from the chassis mounted bracket is actually in the way, lucky I had not formed a bend in this part of the pipe so it is permissible to form the bend now. Clearance between the brake line and the steering column is just 5mm but that is enough as both are mounted to the chassis and if that flexes enough for that clearance to be a problem then we have bigger problems! I spent some more time tweaking the brake line down the transmission tunnel and I am much happier with the fit.
I also fitted the pedal box aluminum panels. I decided not to pop rivet as per Westfield 's suggestion, I have installed with self tapers. I know that I will need access to this box later if only to the accelerator cable. If I change the brake master I will need access again.
Photo showing the upper steering column exit point in the front bulkhead. Why did Westfield decide to weld that chassis bracket here, right in the middle of the steering column. Anyway I formed the line as mentioned above, you can see the clearance. I am going to fit a rubber gromet around the hole, once I find one with the right measurements:
Look at that steering column, just need a steering wheel. In the foreground you will see the pedal box now covered in nice panels:
15 November 2005
Day 18 - Suspension bushes
Only went in the garage today for about 30 seconds! No seriously I took my rear wishbones off to a specialist Porsche restorer! I know, but they have the right equipment to insert my two metalastic bushes on my rear lower wishbones. I have decided to upgrade all the other bushes to nylon but the outboard bushes need more play for adjustment and that is why I am leaving as metalastic. Nylon bushes have very little play and ensures the suspension geometry is kept as close to optimum as possible and this improves handling.
I have sent over the other 16 bushes to Westfield and should receive nice nylon replacements this week. I shall then be able to start attaching the wishbones to the car although I need dampers and springs!
16 November 2005
Day 19 - Rear Wishbones
Picked up my rear lower wishbones from Autofarm; the Porsche restorer. They made an excellent job. The two metalastic bushes are in. Cost £10. They have some nice porsches, if it interests you then visit http://www.autofarm.co.uk/ . They restored that white one that was on Top gear this year. They have done work for many celebs.
I spent 1 hour in the garage installing the rose joints of the upper and lower rear wishbones. Prior to screwing the rose joints I ran a tap down the hole in the wishbone to remove some very small traces of epoxy paint. The rose joints needed some metal sleeves inserted. Copper Slip used on threads and screwed in with lock nuts showing just three threads as instructed. The job of the copper slip is to lubricate the thread and stop corrosion so when the suspension needs adjusting it should not be too stiff.
I am expecting my nylon bushes should arrive tomorrow afternoon. I can then get on with installing on the chassis. At which point can I stop referring to the chassis and call it a car?
18 November 2005
Day 20 - Nylon Bushes in
Just spent 1.25 hours in the garage tonight. I have inserted the 8 nylon bushes into the inboard rear upper and lower wishbones (a right mouthful I know). Insertion was quite a straight forward process, basically ensure that no too much build of epoxy paint where you insert the bush, I used some grade 60 sandpaper rolled up. Use some general purpose grease the wishbone where the bush will be inserted. Nylon bushes come in three parts. 2 nylon like caps which insert either end, knock in with a mallet, make sure square before you do. The other part is a metal sleeve which is inserted into the nylon bush, again grease the metal sleeve and offer to one side and ensure is straight, lightly tap with a mallet and then press the sleeve in with a bench vice, making sure it is straight as you press it in. The smallest vice you can get away is, is a 4", ideally 5". As I mentioned in a previous post the outboard lower rear wishbone bush should be metalastic as you need more flexibility opposite the rose joint for toe adjustment.
I have just noticed that Westfield only sent me 15 sleeves, I need 16 in total. 8 for the rear and 8 for the front. I do however seem to have the required 32 nylon bushes. I shall give them a call tomorrow.
19 November 2005
Day 21 - Rear wishbones installed
Spent 4.5hours in the garage today, although spent the first thirty minutes bolting my new vice onto my bench.
Spent the other 4 hours installing the lower and upper rear wishbones onto the chassis and then installing the uprights. Spent quite a bit of time reconciling all the various washers and bolts and where exactly they should be used mounting the uprights to the wishbones. I have used so much copper grease, I need to get some more and use on the upright bolts. Shall do that tomorrow. Westfield sent my the upper steering column spacer (12mm). I therefore remove the steering column and the hole in the front bulkhead and re-attached, that looks better.
Right hand side upright and wishbones:
Left hand side hub and wishbones:
21 November 2005
Day 22 - More bushes
Spent 1 hour in the garage tonight. I have got more copper slip grease so tonight I removed the bolts from the rear uprights and greased. Also took the opportunity to insert nylon bushes in the front upper wishbones. Inserting the four bushes only took me 20 minutes and that is fast!
I am re-designing this site, which is taking me longer that I thought, mainly because design takes time but it will look nice.
22 November 2005
Day 23 - Front wishbones
Spent another 1.5 hours in the garage tonight. Westfield sent the missing nylon bush inner sleeve. I therefore install all the nylon bushes in the upper and lower front wishbones. Installed wishbones to chassis and brackets for headlamps.
Yes I know pieces of string are not a good replacement for shocks!
25 November 2005
Day 24 - fitting of rear shocks
The rear shocks that I ordered yesterday were delivered from Westfield today. I installed but I am concerned about the 7mm gap between the shock top mount eye to the chassis bracket as illustrated in the photo below. The internal width of the bracket is 39mm but the shock eye width with the bush is 32mm. I will call westfield tomorrow to check if I have the wrong shocks.
Incidentally I measured the front shock chassis bracket and this measures 32mm, erm.
26 November 2005
Day 25 - Rear Suspension
Phone the factory this morning and spoke to Mark. He tells me that the gap between the shock upper bush and chassis bracket can be taken up with a 7/16" washer either side of the bush. I thought this may be the case and fellow builders had said this is what they had done but I just wanted to check that it was not a case of the wrong shockers being sent.
I also had a further unanswered question, well unasked by me but something that was concerning me. In the construction manual it is quite clear of the numbers of washers and their respective positions. After I assembled the rear suspension their was no washer between the outboard rear wishbone bush and the upright nor one between the lower shock eye and the upright. The bushes have inner steel sleeves which protrude slightly out of the rubber and this will be making contact with the alloy upright, which is made of a software material. I therefore wanted to get this clarified, and yes I am right there should be a 7/16" washer inserted between the upright and these bushes. Now I am much happier, this means a washer is present between everything on the entire assembly. I just didn't want to take the initiative and not follow the instructions to the letter here, as I was worried this would upset the suspension geometry.
27 November 2005
Day 26 - Rear Suspension
Spent about 1 hour in the garage basically reassembling the rear suspension, putting in the extra washers as per my conversation with the factory. Still 1mm gap with the extra washers between the bush and chassis, I therefore precisely re-aligned the chassis bracket with several strong blows with a mallet and block of wood!
Here's the result:
Here' the proud daddy!
29 November 2005
Day 27 - Custom made panel patch!
With the missing steering column spacer and the lack of mention in the construction manual I had an elongated hole in the driver's bulkhead because I had cut out the hole and then subsequently found out that this item was missing and therefore had to cut another hole.
Spent about 1.25 hours in the garage fabricating a panel patch to a) make it look neater and b) block the gap to reduce possible water ingress and/or draughts!
I think you will agree it looks better:
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