Friday 25 November 2011

Mirrors

The mirrors were fitted last weekend. The centre mirror from cbs uses three M4 screws to attach through the scuttle, I used some stainless cap heads. The side mirrors are fixed to the scuttle through a single 8mm hole each side. When running the engine, I noticed the side mirrors wobbled quite a bit. To try and improve this, I drilled an 8mm hole into a small square of aluminium plate, about 1mm thick, and this was then bonded to the inside of the scuttle with tigerseal inline with the existing 8mm hole. The result is mirrors which are a lot more rigid.

Monday 21 November 2011

Stripes

Should be good for another 10mph!


Wednesday 16 November 2011

Boot panel

The boot panel is now completed. I used a few aluminium tabs fitted with rivnuts to act as supports for the centre section. I needed a support between the seat belt brackets as the centre section sagged otherwise. The panels rattle a bit when giving them a tap, maybe some sticky foam will stop this, not that it'll be that noticible over the exhaust note.


Not related to boot panel but first photo on the blog showing the front wings on.


Up until now, I hadn't seen any sort of reading on the Koso's fuel gauge and also wasn't sure exactly how much fuel was left in the tank since getting the engine running although I knew it couldn't be much. I put another five litres in tonight and the fuel gauge increased up to 50% so I'm not sure how accurate this reading is. At least it'll give an indication of when the tank gets low which is good enough for me right now. I can play with the float arm on the sender at a later date.

Saturday 12 November 2011

Handbrake gaiter, tunnel trim & boot panel

The Corsa hand brake gaiter and trim surround arrived in the post yesterday so I was able to get these installed today. The leather gaiter took a little trimming so that it didn't get jammed in the handbrake mechanism when taking the handbrake off. I also tried to clip it under the surround but due to the thickness of the leather, the surround wouldn't sit flat so I opted to bolt it through from the underside of the tunnel panel.



Top view with surround attached

Tunnel top attached to car and hockey trim installed. I used some carbon look vinyl wrap to cover the hockey trim, pleased with the result. Now that all the wiring is done, this panel can remain attached.


I then set to work on the boot panel which is now nearly finished. This has also been covered with vinyl wrap. To finish off I need to fix in some rivnuts to some some webs which have been glued to the underside of the two outer panels.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Gear lever surround

A friend had made me a surround using part of an RJT pipe fitting welded to a disc of 3mm stainless (cheers James!). When I offered it up to the tunnel area, I could see that part of the surround would need to be cut away to fit within the hockey trim that runs down each side of the tunnel.

The edges of the disc were marked up and cut away and then the edges of the fitting were chamfered. I drilled four holes so that the surround can be attached to the tunnel top.


The gear lever gaiter has an elasticated skirt so this just clips around the edge of the RJT part of the surround. I also got hold of a pool ball to use as the gear knob, it not a perfect colour match buts its close enough!


I've also ordered another surround and gaiter to use for the handbrake and hoping these arrive for the weekend.

The indicator stalk I was having trouble with was taken apart earlier this week and the contacts inside were given a good clean. These were found to be pretty gunky which, considering the stalk is 20 years old, was to be expected. However, after re-assembly the relay clicking issue had gone - phew!

Sunday 6 November 2011

Cycle wings and more brake work

Both front cycle wings are now on. Rather than use bolts, I chose to use tiger seal to bond the wings to the brackets. The brackets themselves took quite a while to bend, making sure the wings didn't sit too high or low and I had to put in three 90° bends in order to get the wings central to the tire. Before bonding the wings on, I'd riveted on a square of aluminium to each bar to give a larger surface area to bond to, the surface of the aluminium roughed up to give a key. I'm pleased with the results and using Lee's industry standard "wiggle test", they feel stuck on pretty solid. I then went round the edge of each wing with U trim, bonding this on with some strong adhesive.

After the tiger seal had cured, I turned my attention to the front flexi hoses. Releasing the connection to the front brake pipes, the flexi on each side was then given a slight twist so that the flexi stays out of the way of the wishbones, tire, cycle wing bracket etc.. I noted that I'd need to restrict the steering rack movement as the flexis start to come into contact with wishbones at the extreme end of the lock. Once this was as good as it could be, the flexi hoses were then reconnected to the brake pipes. In order to restrict the rack movement, I put a jubilee clip round the rack under the gaiter but when turning the steering wheel to check whether the clamp would slide, the jubilee clamp actually snapped in half. After a rethink, I made some c collars from a 21mm I/D pipe, each approx 25mm long. These collars were clamped to the rack using a new jubilee clip and now when turning the wheel, the collars take the force of the movement and the jubilee clip just holds the collars in place. I can also feel a nice solid stop to the movement through the steering wheel - another job done.

Up until this point, the brake pedal seemed to have a lot of travel before any sort resistance is felt through the pedal. Reading up on this, I thought there may have been air trapped inside the brake switch or the master cylinder could be faulty. With some help, each corner was bled manually using the pedal and opening/closing each bleed nipple in turn. There were quite a few air bubbles in the system which came out during this process. The pedal itself needed minor adjustment on the stop as some of the travel was just slack before the rod makes contact inside the cylinder. The combined result is a much more positive feeling pedal.

Whilst working on the car, I noticed the flasher making a click noise ever few seconds. This only happens with the ignition on and all indicator and hazard switches turned off and when the click noise is heard, all bulb remain off. I'm going to try some contact cleaner in the indicator switch to see if this helps and also check the earth points. If this doesn't work I really hope I don't have to start stripping the loom out!

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Various Jobs

The front suspension has now been put back together after fitting the new rubber boots to all the ball joints. I've since started to make a panel for the back shelf using some 4mm black pp sheet.


Tonight, I made some brackets from stainless plate which support the handbrake cables. These are positioned either side so that the cables are well clear of all the chassis rails and won't come into contact with the top wishbones. I noticed these flex a little when activating the handbrake so the plan is to swap the rivets out for bolts through the box section.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Ball joints

For some reason, the rubber boots for the ball joints, track rods ends and drag links had all perished even though the car has been sat in the garage since the start of the build. Rather than buy new joints, I found some replacement rubber boots which were delivered over the weekend so the evenings this week has been spent replacing the old boots with the new ones. This meant jacking the front up again and removing the uprights to get the joints off. At the same time, I took the opportunity to paint the uprights again, this time with POR15 as the sprayed on hammerite was showing signs of rust coming through. I should get round to putting it all back together again over the weekend and the plan is to fit the cycle wing brackets at the same time so I can start to work on these and get the front wings on.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Wiring nearly finished

The front indicators have now been wired up. I decided to use some connector plugs so then if I need to remove the nose cone at a later date, it won't mean needing to cut through the wires.


The wires under the dash have been tidied up using some cable ties. I also moved one of the fuse boxes so that the wires coming out of the back aren't being squashed over. The wires the other side of the aluminium panel have been secured down and held together using more cable ties and loom tape. I had a general tidy up in the engine and found the battery lead's protection had been overlooked so these are now covered by split conduit.


This just leaves the headlights to wire in. I need to figure out the best way to protect the threads underneath so that they don't fall foul of the radius test at IVA. All I've done so far is offer up some track rod covers which look like they'll do the job quite nicely. I'll try and get the headlight alignment done as best as possible beforehand. I need to read up on these lamps in general as I saw somewhere needing to rotate the glass by a few degrees to get the dip beam pattern correct.




Tuesday 4 October 2011

Dashboard finished

After researching where best to position the digidash, there seemed to be three main options
1) Behind the steering wheel
2) Middle of the dash but recessed so the surface is flush
3) Within the IVA exclusion zone around the steering wheel

I dismissed the first idea as I couldn't see an easy way to mount the digidash plus the wires to the rear would be exposed. I then dismissed option three as this would mean cutting a hole free hand and I wasn't convinced I'd make a tidy job of it so I opted for the third method.

Using masking tape and a square, I marked out the steering wheel radius and then marked another radius 127mm out. Then, whilst sitting in the drivers seat marked a position to mount the digidash making sure I could see the speedo panel. The dremel was used to make a square shaped hole for the loom connector and three more holes to allow the digidash to sit against the dashboard. After mounting the digidash using the supplied screws the dashboard was then offered up to the scuttle. At this point, I realised I could see the speed reading but - only through my left eye! The steering wheel rim blocked the view when looking through my right eye. Feeling rather annoyed I did what was probably best and sulk off for a beer and to sleep on it.



The next morning, I'd decided I should have gone for option 2 from the beginning. The holes I'd made the previous evening were filled with araldite, the dash wrapped with di-noc and a hole cut. Some U trim was applied to the hole to neaten the edges and an aluminium bracket made up to support the digidash. With this in place, I set to wiring up the savage switches with three multi connector plugs to allow for easy connection and removal if required. I'd used some sikaflex to attach some cable tie bases to the back of the dash so that the wires do not hang down.

How digidash is mounted now:


The savage switches from left to right are low brake fluid /test, side lights, fog light switch and fan over-ride switch.

I also needed to extend the speedo cable and water temp cables to connect to the Koso dash. Most of the wiring is now done apart from the front lights and a general tidy up underneath the scuttle.


=====================

To whoever it was that asked about the speedo sensor - I fixed a magnet to one of the drive shafts and using a bracket then pointed the Koso sensor at the magnet. I did reply to your query/comment on this blog but it wouldn't publish my reply (I tried twice! - don't know whats happened to blogspot but its been a pain in the backside to use recently)

Monday 26 September 2011

Hazard telltale light

I'm using LED indicator bulbs and side lights throughout the car along with an LED flasher relay. I found that when the telltale light was fitted to the inside of the standard sierra hazard switch, the LED indicators didn't flash properly. Instead of blink on then off, they blinked on then half off. I tried an LED version of the tell tale bulb and the result was the same. Reading up on similar issues, I'd seen that diodes are normally installed to prevent electrical feedback although I couldn't figure out exactly where to install them! To try and work out what was going on inside the hazard switch, I took the cover off the switch and checked the terminals with a multimeter. With the switch on, I found that the two contacts nearest the steering wheel switched 12v on and off with the relay, and the other two gave a constant 12v live.

The
refore, if I could get one of the LED bulb's contacts connected to earth, the bulb will work correctly with the other contact connected to one of the switching 12v terminals. To put this into practice, a wire was soldered onto one of the bulbs contacts and then this was covered with heat shrink so that it wouldn't come into contact with the 12v terminal inside the switch.


This wire was then routed out of the back of the switch and connected to earth. The bulb was then pushed into the switch for a test and I'm pleased that this now works with no adverse effects to the indicators.




Dashboard started

I made a cardboard copy of the MK dashboard so that I could mark out the section to cut away to slot the dash over the steering column cowling. After a couple of modifications to the cardboard, the shape was then transferred to the dash and the cut made.



Once the dash board was in position, I could figure out how far back to bend the gear lever so it doesn't hit the dash when in 1st, 3rd, 5th or reverse gear. I made a cut at the base of the lever then bent it back and after checking it didn't hit the dash, welded it in the bend. I've since made another bend slightly further up so that the gear knob is in a more comfortable position when in 2nd and 4th.

The next job is to drill the holes so that the dash can be bolted to the scuttle. I'm planning to insert rivnuts into the scuttle to accept the dashboard bolts.

Sunday 18 September 2011

fog light

I hadn't noticed that in the latest IVA manual it stated the fog light had to be F marked as well as E marked. The one I'd just fitted only had the E mark so I purchased a similar light from SVC and luckily it matched the original housing near enough spot on. This is now wired in and I've made the necessary adjustments to the loom by adding an extra relay so that the fog light will only come on once the main beams are on, not just the side lights. I tested the circuit with the new savage switch I bought a while ago and also wired in the switches tell tale LED light.

I'd also purchased a brake test savage switch and after fiddling with the mutlimeter and the wires in the premier loom to see which wires did what and when, this light also now works. The LED comes on with the handbrake up, and on again with the handbrake down but only when the button on the master cylinder is pressed to replicate low brake fluid.

Another purchase made this week was a new horn which is now wired in and mounted just behind the radiator. I'd lost the steering wheel insert which is used as the switch to make the horn turn on so I raided the second donor I'd bought for the part.


The dremel drill saw some more action today creating a hole in the bonnet for the air filter. I used masking tape to mark lines where the top and bottom of the air filter were then transferred these marks onto the bonnet and then using a cardboard template, cut the hole.

Car with bonnet in place showing the hole for the air filter

Thursday 8 September 2011

More on rear lights

I'd finished off the twin light clusters ready to mount the lights themselves but then found that the screws that were included in the set were too small for the pre-drilled holes in the clusters. To get round this I used some M4 screws but had to remove the clusters once more to get a spanner on the M4 nuts. All put back together and with the lights wired in to the premier loom, I'm pleased they all work. For the rear number plate light, I took a feed from the near side tail light.

Hazards on:

Tail lights on:

I then set to work on the fog light. The supplied housing needed some cutting so that the fog light is vertical, a requirement of the IVA test. This is now mounted but not yet wired in.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Side repeaters

I decided to place the side repeaters on the rear arches rather than on the front wings as I wasn't sure how best to route the wiring along the wishbones. On the back arches, I can take a feed from the rear indicators and hide the wiring inside the arch. Some cable tie bases have been stuck to the inside of each rear arch using a blob of sikaflex. I measured 2.6m back from the front of the nose to find the limit stated in the IVA manual then made sure the repeaters were positioned within this limit. A step drill was then used to make a 20mm for the grommet, then the bulb just pushes in. I'm planning to secure these a little better, maybe with some more sikaflex behind them just to make they're not going to work themselves loose.


I've started fitting the twin light housings for the stop, tail and indicators on each arch but found the internal bracket and the top and bottom keep snapping off. I've glued these back on using contact adhesive so will see this improves the strength once its been left for 24 hours. If not, I'll have to figure out a better way of repairing them.

The wires for the rear lights are now covered in pvc sleeving and routed into the rear arch area though a grommet in the side panel.

The centre of the back panel had been marked on to masking tape for positioning the number plate light. Once this is on, I'll fit the fog and reverse light either side of where the number plate will be. I'd bought single housings for both the reverse and fog lights. For the fog light, the housing needed trimming so that the light itself is vertical. The edge will be tidied up with some rubber u trim.



I'd also spent some time looking at the IVA manual for what is needed for tell tale lights and switches I'll need on the dash board. As a result, I bought four savage switches: Fan over-ride, brake test, side lights and a fog light switch. I need the side lights switch as the backlight of koso digidash comes on with ignition, not side lights. The premier loom turns the side lights on using the stalks but I'll use the LED function of the savage switch as a tell tale.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Indicator extensions

I purchased some LED indicators to fit each side of the nosecone. To meet the IVA width requirement these needed to be extended. An M8 flanged nut has been stuck into either end of a 20mm diameter black plastic length of conduit, 120mm in length. Whilst the araldite was setting, a length of M8 stud was used to keep the flanged nuts straight.
A length of pvc sleeving was threaded through the extensions followed by the wires for the indicators. The indicator was then screwed into one end of the plastic pipe and the wires threaded through the hole in the side of the nose cone. I'd previously drilled a hole down the length of two M8 bolts which are used to hold the whole assembly together from the inside of the nosecone.

Extension assembly before fitting:


One side done:
Both in place:



Sunday 31 July 2011

general up date

The rear tub is now fixed on using two M6 nuts and bolts at the top edges and stainless self tappers along with large stainless repair washers along the lower edge of the panel and two either side. I also used some sikaflex along the joins to help spread the load and stop any rattles. The panel needed a bit of fettling with the dremel in the lower corners to help it bend in to meet the sides of the chassis. A couple of clamps either side were in place whilst the sikaflex set. I then moved on with fitting the fuel filler cap which came from CBS. This is fitted with a restrictor so that only unleaded pump nozzles will fit when filling with fuel. I'm not yet sure if I need to fit a tether for IVA so the cap can't be removed from the car. I need to do some further reading of the manual.


The rear arches are now fixed on. Masking tape was placed on the side panel and rear tub so I could mark the position before drilling holes. The front and back edges were lined up with the bottom of the car and centred on the wheel. This was quite straight forward although a bit awkward doing the bolts up with the wheels in place. I'm planning to make one more hole to support the offside arch as the tadpole trim is a bit loose at the front, this should help clamp trim better and make the arch feel a bit more secure too.

The drivers seat has been fitted, this was more awkward than it should've been as the captive nuts at the base of the seat weren't square so I had to make extra brackets so that the seat runners could be parallel. My first attempt worked but upon trying to fit the seat belts, I found I physically couldn't fit the side bolts at the bottom as the runners were in the way. I've got round this by moving the seat runners closer together but it means I've got four holes in the bottom of the floor on the drivers side which I didn't need. Wasn't best pleased about this.

Car as it looks now:


Saturday 2 July 2011

Engine started

I'd made a bracket for the fuel regulator yesterday and connected up the remaining fuel lines.

The battery was re-connected and a few liters of fuel put in the tank but when clicking the ignition on to prime the fuel pump no fuel came through. It turns out I'd connected the fuel pump wires round the wrong way so this was quickly corrected.


Then this happened:



The car had to be moved out of the garage shortly after as it was thick with fumes!
Some tweaks to the MS settings and some balancing of the throttle bodies and its starting to run a bit better:



After moving the car back into the garage there was a pool left on the driveway, luckily this turned out to be water and I think I've found the source of the leak which is coming from a joint which runs along the top chassis rail. I've tightened the clip a little and will check again in the morning for leaks.

credits to Extra EFI for setting up the Megasquirt

Sunday 26 June 2011

More wiring

I've wired in the lambda sensor connection today which completed the megasquirt wiring. Over the past few weeks, I've wired in the engine spur of the premier loom and the various sensors to the digidash and Megasquirt. I changed my mind on how to route the engine loom. Orginally this was going to be routed along the top offside chassis rail, tapping off along the way to the various engine components, but couldn't see how to make this look neat. Instead the loom is now attached to the engine using P clips, the wires will be protected using loom tape or conduit once the connections have been tested and the engine successfully started.

Before:

After:

I found two tapped holes underneath the coil pack so these have been used to mount cable tie bases which in turn support the loom.

Having failed miserably to join and solder three wires together (switched live from the ignition barrel to premier loom to ECU) I found and bought two power jointing boxes, one for switched live connections and the other for permanent live. These have now been fixed to the back of the battery tray and wired in.


As per the Premier instructions a fuseable link has been fitted to the front of the battery tray although not yet connected.

Also this weekend, a header tank from a rover 25 has been mounted using the header tank's bracket.


Saturday 25 June 2011

Lamda Sensor

Having been putting off the decision whether to route the wires for the lambda sensor under the car or through the side panel, I bit the bullet and drilled a hole in the side panel. Two reasons, I didn't like the idea of having wires exposed underneath the car and I think it looks neater. The plug for the sensor had to be cut off for the wires to pass through the grommet but I can solder this back on and then use some heatshrink to protect the joins. The plug will then route into the scuttle from underneath rather than through the engine bay.


This should be the last bodywork task on the side panels so means the front wishbones and suspension can be re-assembled and then the car can come off the axle stands.

Silencer mount

I finally got round to making a mount for the silencer today. This is made up of three parts, a length of 5mm bar bolted to the underside of the car, a Renault bobbin and a bracket to attach to the silencer.


The bar is at an angle so I could bolt through the seat web rather than just the aluminium floor, I thought this would give it a bit more strength. The near side of the bar is bolted through the lower chassis rail from the inside.

The top bracket is 3mm plate welded at right angles, the overall shape tidied up with a hacksaw then file. These parts have been taken off the car for now for painting.

Tuesday 17 May 2011

More on wiring

The rear loom originally ran along the top rail of the transmission tunnel but the convoluted tubing touched the back of the gearbox just behind the gearstick. This has now been re-routed along the lower edge of the tunnel so that it as far away from moving parts as possible. The handbrake and reverse light switches have also been connected and their wires routed up to the area behind the dash for connecting to the main loom.



Two new water temp sensors have been installed in the thermostat housing, one which will connect to the Megasquirt ECU and the other to the Koso dash. Some of the ECU wires have been placed roughly in position so I can start to work out the final routing/positions.



The Koso dash has a second temp sensor for the oil temperature. I've bought a T piece to that I can connect the oil pressure switch and the temp sensor to the engine although I've installed this yet. I believe the thread is tapered so need to check the torque setting first.

I made a few purchases whilst at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show again:

Fog light
Reverse light
Exhaust wrap
Ally hockey trim - to replace the bit I messed up
Small LED side repeaters - planning to install these on the front wings later on.
Red reflectors for back cycle wings
Gear lever gaiter
Various crimp terminals, U trim, P trim and more convoluted tubing

I've also picked up a new Varta 063 type battery to fit into the MK tray.