8 June 2021 New crank oil seal arrived today so got on with fitting that, I 3D printed a oil seal press tool that uses the crank bolt to correctly position the seal. It worked a treat. I got the engine back together again and running I nervously started it up, and no oil leak. I ran it up to temperature and revved it a bit and no massive leaks. After I had let it cool down I did find a couple of small leaks, a water leak from the gauge temperature sender which was resolved by tightening up, and an oil leak by the oil pressure sender which improved with being tightened but I think there is a small leak from somewhere else I will have to trace. 9 June 2021 Bored with chasing oil leaks from the engine I decided to start fitting the headlights to the body shell today. I lowered it down from the roof and onto saw horses with a couple of planks of wood to support it. I tried several slightly different positions for the headlights using the rubber gasket as a template. In the end I decided to position them slightly below the middle of the aperture, this would ensure I had room to adjust the headlight aim and give me a bit more space for fixing in the perspex covers. I marked it with a felt tip and cut out with my largest hole saw. That left an inch or so still to remove that I did with a flappy wheel sander in my drill. With much trial fitting of the bowl I eventually go a fit I was happy with. Then I drilled out the two holes to accommodate the adjusters so I could finally position the bowl, this showed up a couple of points that were still tight so a bit more sanding was needed. I used the bowl to mark the position of the 4 mounting holes and then did a pilot hole and rechecked. The bottom holes were too close to the body to get my drill in so I used a dremel to do a pilot hole and then drilled through from the back. I fixed the bowls in place with M5 nuts and bolts with a large washer at the back. I did think about using rivnuts but the fibre glass is quite thick so woul need extra long ones and there's no margin for error. With a nut and bolt you have a bit of leeway if you holes don't quite line up. I had to elongate some of my holes to get them to line up. 10 June 2021 Started work on the front bulkhead. I started with the passenger side which needed a bit of trimmin until I was happy with the fit. Then I trial fitted the central bulkhead panel, I had to withdraw all my wiring in to the engine bay for this. Once I was happy with the position and fit I cut a large hole in the middle to fit the donor bulkhead grommet. I had previously cut a slit in this to remove it from the old loom and this would allow me to fit it over the new loom. Then I carefully threaded the loom back through the hole and slipped the grommet over, once the loom is finalised I will seal it to the bulkhead. I tested how the gearbox cover was going to join the front bulkhead and while I was there marked up where the hole for the gear lever needs to be centred. I drilled all the holes for the pop rivets and then removed the protective plastic, applied some sealant to the chassis and pop riveted the centre bulkhead panel in place. The passenger bulkhead overlaps the centre panel so I decided to cut the panel to allow that part to be stepped over the centre panel so it would lay flat. Next I marked the hole positions and pilot drilled them. I removed all the protective film ready to position it and drill the holes for the pop rivets. 11 June 2021 Fitted the passenger front bulkhead with pop rivets and then started on the front transmission tunnel. I have already decided on the gear lever gaiter I want to use which is a circular Cobra style one. Unfortunately the size of it meant I could not get the rear of the gearbox tunnel to sit where it ineeded to and at the same time have my gearlever. The hole in the transmission tunnel has to be quite large to clear the turret and with that cut my gaiter and trim wouldn't fit. After much trimming and fitting I decided I would have to come up with something a bit different. To use my chosen gaiter and ring it would need to be set higher up and preferably level so it could clear the bolts on the turret. I had thoughts about a panel somehow bent and formed to create a platform that would sit on the top of the transmission but no real idea about how to make it. I retired for a beer and some thinking. 12 June 2021 After an overnight think and a walk with the dog this morning I had come up with a plan. Instead of trying to make a small platform to sit on top of the transmission tunnel and all the accompanying problems of trying to make it look neat and tidy; I would make a new rear section of the transmission tunnel that fitted how I wanted. I could cut off the supplied one and rivet the new one to it. With that plan in mind I started with some CAD work (Cardboard Aided Design). After lots of trimming and masking tape I had a cardboard pattern which fitted The great thing about using cardboard is that the thing I made could then be used as a pattern to cut and bend the aluminium sheet, I used my jigsaw to cut the shape out and then make where the bends needed to be again using the cardboard template. I used some scraps of metal bent to match the 3 angles on the template I would need. I used some pieces of angle iron, my workmate and lots of clamps to bend the sheet. I slipped the relevant pre-bent angle into the clamp and measured my bend against it. It went surprisingly well considering I've never really done anything like this before. The only mistake I made was trying to bend the section where the gear lever hole was rather than clamping it and bending the other side. The cut out made that part a bit weaker and it didn't bend as neatly but by reversing it and gently clamping it flat again I was able to get it back in shape. I've seen an online video about how to make a homemade brake which looks quite simple and would mean sharper bends, I think I might have a go at that, I have most of the bits needed already.
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AuthorThis is my first kit car although I've messed about with cars all my life. Archives
November 2023
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