Main wiring harness

So.... back to the build and time to look at the harness. Whilst the chassis is still accessible and before the rear back panel goes in I thought it would be wise to get the routing for the main wiring harness resolved and in situ.

This part of the build, well in fact anything electric for that matter is filling me with dread a likely irrational thought since opening the packaging reveals a harness fully labelled, with proper plug and play capability and what seems on the face of it at this stage anyway minimal wiring and soldering required. 

Full credit to GBS and I can fully see from looking at this why they are proud of the whole electric configuration on the zero. Each element be it instrument panel, engine bay, speed sensor, battery terminals are additional sub assemblies which merely plug into the main harness - Ideal for someone like me who fears the dark art of automotive electrics!

First thing to do was to temporary fix the firewall into position and then fix the fuse box onto the firewall so I can get a datum for where the wires run - first snag / head-scratch which way does the fuse box go and why four holes in the firewall when only two holes in the fuse box to fix in place?

Problem solved with a quick enquiry onto the owners club forum - wires come out of the top of the fuse box and two holes in the fire wall are not needed (why they are drilled in the first place...well that's for another day perhaps!). That problem resolved, fuse box fixed into position, time to route the harness through the chassis.

I elected to hang the harness off the brake lines/fuel line run thus keeping all services down the one side of the transmission tunnel - it gets very tight through the transmission area out into the rear and run around the boot bottom framework.

Moving towards the front of the car again hanging off the brake lines,along the passenger side, down the left hand side of the engine bay across the front left and right to the radiator, onto the headlamps area.

Being happy with the general running of the wires I fixed into place with cables ties ensuring spacing of ties complied with IVA rules (I have kept the front temporarily tied into place until I am comfortable with final positioning, I suspect how I have it now will change as attention is turned to the front of the car down the line).

The main harness is earthed to the chassis at the rear, so find a suitable place to rivnut a connection which will allow the earthing terminal to fix into place.

All loose wires were tidied up to prevent damage. 

Alas photos don't really do any justice to the routing / final fix as black on black does not come out well 

rear wishbones complete

Back on rear wishbones and focus turned to the lower wishbone units which are prepared exactly same in regards to inserting the plastic bushes followed by the steel collars.

Once all bushes have been fitted it was time to align the wishbones into the chassis frame locating in the U shape brackets and packing out with penny washers. One constant I found with this process was the quantity of penny washers needed to pack the wishbones varied from side to side, upper and lower. One side needed two, another side only needed one. Although the build tolerance has so far been excellent, I was rather wary of this seemingly inconsistent placement of penny washers. 

A quick check with GBS at their open day confirmed there is no hard and fast rule with the penny washer placement apart from ensuring you replicate their placement each side so for eg if you put two washers in on the top left, ensure you fit two top right so as to ensure equal spacing and a square suspension geometry.

Bolts then need to be inserted through the U-shaped bracket, penny washer(s), bush and secured with a nyloc nut - a reamer is an essential tool here, to clean out powder coat from the U-shaped brackets as is some emery paper to clean the bolts so they push through smoothly. the fit should be tight but allow for smooth upward/downward motion.

Uprights next, again you will need a reamer to clean the powder coat from the holes and you will also have to file away some of the powder coat on the bottom corners of the upright so it will fit between the lower wishbone bushes together with penny washer either side between the bush and the upright. The long bolt also needs some emery paper to polish /smooth it off

All the above was dry fitted and overall quite rewarding, all ready for the shocks to be fitted.

very pleased with the result so far!

 

GBS open day June 2015

 

Gulf Oils racing example

 June 2015 saw GBS have their open day at the factory so I  took this opportunity to make a visit across the pennines (via Chesterfield to pick up my father en-route) to  Nottinghamshire and have a chat with some fellow builders  whilst getting some added motivation from seeing finished  examples and variations of a theme.

 As per the norm, everyone at GBS was most welcome, tea,  coffee and cake plus the dry weather ensured a good turn out of zeros lining the car park through the morning.

Kawasaki green compliments the white nicely 

I also took the opportunity to pick up some parts which I will be needing in the coming weeks as I progress through the build so I came away with the 2.4 quick turn steering rack, steering shaft and rear Gaz shock absorbers.

 

beautifully finish in white

A couple of factory builds were in progress to cast an eye over which allowed me to get confirmation of how the rear suspension penny washers fitted, wiring loom routed through the chassis plus look at the dreaded rear panel and how that in theory bends into its desired shape...all useful research for applying to my build.

Wind deflector panels - a nice touch

carbon effect vinyl wrap on bonnet

A race spec Zero