Footwell panels

One of my early tasks is to get the brake lines, fuel pipes and wiring loom fixed into the chassis before all the panels start to be fitted as once they go in access will begin to reduce. That aside the footwell panels are some which can be fitted early on with little impact on future tasks plus on reflection they need to go in early as front brake lines will be fixed into position on the top edges of these panels.

As a confidence builder they are on the face of it straight forward to fit!

A lot of the panels are already pre-cut to size and shape however the first challenge I found was actually getting the footwell panels into position - a little Chinese puzzle to tease me

for future reference the best way to get these panels into position is through the sides of the chassis frame placing the bottom left corner of each panel into its final position and hinging the whole panel round and into situ (I hope that makes sense and yes it did take me a good ten minutes to realise that was the obvious way to do it!).

You will need to do some filing of edges and corners to get a better fit since being laser cut they don't take account of weld lines on the chassis which protrude - however there should not be too much filing to worry about and overall they fitted well.

Basic process I adopted:

1. file panel and dry fit into position 
2. using masking tape mark out around the edges of the panel the chassis frame
3. find the middle of the tape and equally space holes for drilling
4. drill through with 3.2mm titanium drill
5. Debur the reverse side with a countersunk drill bit
6. Offer panel up and clamp ready for Cleco pins, further drilling, final glue and rivet

So Polyurethane Sealant and Cleco kit on order, the final fixing into position beckons...

bench grinder "borrowed

I took the opportunity whilst visiting my parents to borrow the bench grinder my father has had for many a year. Dad has a wealth of engineering knowledge having built, three boats, two houses, live steam engines, radio controlled airplanes and model railways (I think I have captured everything, no doubt he will correct!) 

He learnt his engineering apprenticeship servicing DeHavilland Mosquitoes in the Fleet Air Arm so I will be taping into that wealth of knowledge as the build progresses as well as borrowing some more workshop hardware as the need arises - thanks Dad!

Differential update

Weather has been a bit nippy recently to be spending long amounts of time in the garage during the evening (must get some heating sorted out...), so took the opportunity to continue the refurb of the differential conscious it is going to need fitting into the chassis in the not too distant future.

A couple of evenings work in the kitchen with some silver Hammerite paint and the outside of the differential is looking a lot better than when I first sourced it last year.

Special thanks to Sue for the "loan" of the table!

Took the opportunity to order the differential fitting kit from GBS which although I have the original bolts which came with the differential some fresh ones won't go amiss plus I get the necessary spacers with the kit to centralise it in the chassis, come fitting.

Just need to source a ready volunteer to help manhandle the unit into the chassis, need to put some thought into method and possibly further support to the chassis as its not exactly light in weight

Brake and clutch pedals part 2

So bushes located into the pedals and assembly on the chassis, next push the tube through the bushes which in turn has a bolt inserted through that.

No simple way to describe this next step except its a laborious task involving rubbing, filing and polishing!

The tube was unwilling to slide through neither the pedals or the chassis frame cleanly, I was expecting this again having read other builds so armed with emery paper and a 14mm drill bit I set to work in getting the tube pushed through cleanly.

Focus on a pedal at a time, i first put a chamfor on the edge of the tube to provide some assistance. Looking into the bushes showed some plastic flash and uneven surface so by using a 14mm drill bit I first ran that through the bushes with the electric drill slowly and cleanly to prevent the hole being widened accidentally and thus creating slack.

Once the drill bit had been run through I wrapped some emery paper round the drill bit and polished up the insides of the bush. Finally using emery paper again I polished the outside surface of the tube to remove any further resistance. Slowly but surely the tube pushed through the pedals and chassis frame.

Hey presto the brake and clutch dry fitted to the chassis. As a stated at the outset a laborious task but in a strange way a rewarding one as well. 

When final fit comes along, I will apply some 3in1 oil to the tube and inside bushes to further smooth the pivot action on the pedals

Brake and clutch pedals part 1

So thought I would turn my attention to the endless supply of plastic bushes which need inserting and start with the brake and clutch pedal assemblies.

Reading several blogs plus the guidance from GBS suggested some brute force was needed to get the bushes inserted successfully however on reflection (so far anyway!) this part of the build has gone to plan very well.

Using a sanding drum inserted into an electric drill I cleaned out the powder coat from the inside of the apertures the bushes fit into, I also filed a champher on the leading edges of the apertures to assist the insertion of the bushes.

Applying some 3in1 oil to the inside of the aperture and the bush itself using a vice I compressed them together and in slid the bush. Process repeated 4 times on the two pedals.

The chassis frame where the pedal bushes locate cannot obviously be accessed with the vice, so a heath-robinson solution of a long bolt, packing, washer and nut provided the necessary force to push/pull the bushes into position.

Happy new year!

Welcome to 2015!

Hope you all had a marvelous Christmas and i wish you a happy and constructive new year.

Not alot happened over the Christmas / new year period build wise on the car, family festivities plus a relaxing break in the Derbyshire peak district curtailed any further progress in the build.

Santa was generous in offering a few gifts to the budding kitcar builder, A pipe bending tool, tin snips and riveter all being particularly welcome gifts plus a brake master cylinder pending from GBS!

Build should start proper once January makes strides into 2015...