This is a piece which can quite easily be forgotten about until the time comes to fit the speedo sensor and you realise the sensor has nothing to hang from by which time the transmission tunnel has been nicely finished off, carpeted etc.
The bracket comes as a pre-cut piece of steel, GBS fold the bracket into essentially a box shape and drill holes for rivnuts to be fixed through.
Now maybe I am missing something here but using rivnuts seems overkill when once the bracket is fitted the side panels are carpeted and the seats in position, you will be unable to unscrew the bracket to remove, so why provide for rivnuts..? also using rivnuts will make for an uneven surface in which to stick the carpet to the transmission tunnel sides, so in all honesty that feature is lost on me.
Therefore I elected to rivet the bracket into position....
The bracket itself needs to be positioned over the propshaft bolts. In terms of height its not too important as the speedo sensor has a threaded shaft which you can screw in / out to get the correct height (2mm above the propshaft bolt) in order for the speedo to register.
Some of the bracket will need trimming away so as to prevent it fouling with the fuel lines and brake pipes which run down the driver side of the transmission tunnel.
I used some cardboard to act as a temporary spacer to position the bracket above the propshaft bolts (this equated to approx 1cm above), marked the driver side transmission panel and drilled through, riveting into position.
Same will be done to the passenger side transmission tunnel panel when fitted and all being well that will ensure the bracket is in position to receive the speedo sensor at a later date.
So, back to some carpet laying / fitting...
Now the sides are in position and again focusing on access to the awkward areas of the chassis, I decided to fix some more carpet onto the inner side panel passenger / driver footwells.
4 triangular pieces form this aspect of the interior carpet, all cut to size so a simple case of gluing and fitting. A liberal coating of the carpet adhesive to both the panel surface and the carpet side and apply to the panel, rollering the carpet to ensure even adhesion.
One thing with this task, you will need a ready supply of cheap brushes if you are doing this job piecemeal rather than in one hit since the glue sticks solidly to the bristles and basically the brush cannot be re-used once you have finished applying the glue.
Well, I took the plunge of getting the side panels fitted to the vehicle.
These along with the scuttle and rear panel are what I would class as landmark fitments in the build process, it starts to evolve into looking like a car, becomes more substantial less skeletal even.
Again I spent alot of deliberation as to when these were to be fitted - the factory fit them early in the build so it seemed sensible to take guidance from them, they do after all build these cars to a very high standard and in theory have fined tuned the build sequence over the years.
but you weigh that up with the fact that fitting the panels reduces access around the vehicle and installing items such as the engine / gearbox that bit more tricky.
Consensus from other builders is firmly down the middle, with I would say an even split of those whom fit early to those whom leave until the last possible minute. so no guide to fall back on there! A decision had to be made so I elected to go with an early fitment simply because fitting whilst it is on trestles is easier, storage of the panels was a problem as I did not want them damaged and items such as the front suspension need removing before fitment so doing that later in the build when the vehicle is off trestles would I envisage prove more difficult...we shall see further down the line if this decision is the right one!
fitment of the panels is superb, alot better than I expected, the panels basically fit like a glove round the chassis frame, no trimming needed, a slight bend is needed mid way down the side but that virtually bends itself into position when the whole panel is mated to the chassis.
Out with the polyurethane sealant of which you will need a lot! position the panel and clamp into position.
I elected to do as few rivets as possible (The factory apparently don't even rivet) so I riveted along the front edge near the front suspension, underneath where the panel folds under the chassis and along the rear where the wheel arch will fit.
Leave to cure for a couple of days and hey presto side panels on, no turning back now and I have to say its started to look like a "proper" chassis.
Type 9 or MT75? - a dilemma I have been musing on for a fair while (amazing what thought processes are triggered building cars). This issue required resolving as I need to get the prop shaft into position whilst I still have reasonably good access through the passenger side transmission tunnel.
A phone call to GBS resolved the issue... Type 9 apparently offers alot more flexibility with fitment to the type 9 gearbox providing more tuning/upgrade options via differing gear ratios. Although the MT75 prop-shaft is a more than adequate solution when mated to the MT75 gearbox but has limited tuning capability in terms of swapping out gear ratios.
All those considerations are a long way down the line, need to get the car built and running in anger before I turn attention to changing gear ratios but it all needs to be considered I guess!
Decision made, Type 9 it was and duly ordered.
I had intended to collect the prop-shaft on my way through to another Steelers hockey game at Sheffield Arena however on arrival the factory was closed on one of their rare weekends when they did not open - teach me not to check before turning up. However full praise to GBS whom posted it out the following week via parcelforce at a very competitive postage rate (Certainly alot cheaper than I feared).
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, back to the build - this is a nice ten minute fit - it does need some persuasion to fit through the transmission tunnel towards the differential and angling the mounting plate will ensure it squeezes through.
four bolts locate it onto the differential - all suitably torqued up, job done, a few photos of it in situ however black on black does not come out very well the pictures unfortunately
So, earlier posts highlighted the build and fitment of the front wishbones followed by hub cleanup and prep. Now the hubs have had a good coating of black hammerite paint they have come up quite well - I'm pleased with the finish which will be more than adequate considering how exposed they will be to the elements on the road.
I've still got the front hub nuts to replace but felt it better to do that job whilst the hubs are in situ to give me some support and leverage in releasing them. Realising how tight they were on the rear hubs, the solution I have works (using the ball joint splitter) but it does need alot of brute force and WD40.
So time to see how it all comes together.
The front hub is held in place by top and bottom ball joints. the top however has the cycle wing stays attached which will need some of the powder coating removed to fit into the top of the hub. that in turn is gripped by an M10 x 70mm bolt and nyloc nut.
fitting the upper ball joint through the cycle wing is a fiddle, you need a short socket extension bar plus a lot of patience to locate the nut onto the thread - or I am not doing it right and there is a more obvious way which has not registered with me!
So initial fit all good, just waiting on front shocks to be ordered.
I fitted some IVA cover over the top ball joint thread nut whilst further IVA trim / nut covers need to be applied to the exposed nuts and steering rack extensions.
Some of the bracket will need trimming away so as to prevent it fouling with the fuel lines and brake pipes which run down the driver side of the transmission tunnel.
Same will be done to the passenger side transmission tunnel panel when fitted and all being well that will ensure the bracket is in position to receive the speedo sensor at a later date.
