23 April 2022
Fitted the offside side indicator. I used the gasket for the lamp as a template to mark on some masking tape. Then I drilled out the centre with a 10mm drill and enlarged it with a small sanding drum in my dremel. I used some small files to slowly shape it to the correct size. It took me about an hour of filing and checking but it finally popped into place. Next up I have to do it all again on the other side! 24 April 2022 Fitted the nearside indicator to the car. Terminated the lamp and body wires with SuperSeal plugs. Terminated the front indicator lamp and body wires with SuperSeal plugs. Successfully tested the indicator and hazard functions. 25 April 2022 Made a start on fitting the additional set of high beams that will go in the apertures either side of the grill. Spent a while looking at it and taking some measurements. Took a rough reading of the angle off the face of the aperture using a long square clamped to the front of the chassis and a ruler across the aperture. I thought about designing and 3d printing something but the surface is quite complex and I would have probably have to file it down to make it fit. As an experiment I bought a short length of plastic pipe from Screwfix and then cut it into a couple of 100mm lengths then roughly marked the angle on the pipe and cut it off with a handsaw. Then I shaped it with a flap wheel and lots of trial fitting to get the length of pipe to match the inside contour of the aperture. I'm pretty happy with the results and I think they will work. My plan is to bond the pipe to the inside with fibreglass and the light will be mounted inside the pipe using its bracket and a 3d printed spacer. There should be enough movement with the bracket mounting to adjust for inconsistencies in the tube positions. 28 April 2022 Designed and 3d printed a space to fit between the lamp bracket and the tube housing. Just a prototype at the moment but it fits well. I will need to adjust the size to position the light vertically in the tube once it is fitted but that is simple to do. Looked at the fuel filler again, the old MX5 filler pipe matches my filler cap diameter (51mm) but Mazda made the pipe on the fuel tank smaller than the bottom of the filler neck. They solved that with a rubber pipe that is different at both ends but that doesn't fit with the position of my filler. I've got flexi fuel filler hose to connect to the tank (38mm) and for the filler cap. So I need an adaptor to reduce the end of the pipe from 42mm down to 38mm. I found a mild steel reducer pipe that will do nicely, just need to braze it on to the end. I also ordered the wheel spacers, I've gone for 10mm ones. 1 May 2022 Up to the National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh today, had a good chat with Andy on his stand and a chance for another look round his demonstrator. Picked a few bits at tha show for the build, boot lock and handle, interior mirror and a few more tools. Had a chat with Intatrim and Classic Cobra Interiors about seats, but nothing ordered yet; also had a chat with Protech about shocks. Looked around the club stands but didn't see any other Replicars. Back at home I spent a few minutes in the garage to trim down the Mazda filler neck and check the fit of my reducer which fitted perfectly. When I got home I ordered some wing mirrors similar to the ones that Andy has on the demonstrator which I like and satisfied the IVA test.
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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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