22 January 2021 Masked up the steering column and put some primer on it. 23 January 2021 Top coated the steering column. Cleaned up, and greased the pedal pivots, reassembled them into their brackets. Did a test fit of the servo, I needed to file out the central hole slightly to fit. Discovered the engine side spacer I made is not quite right so reworked the design but too late to start a print. Ordered some more bits; the original MX5 clutch pipe goes across the engine bay and then back so I've ordered a new shorter flexible hose, new pedal rubbers, more crushed glass for blasting, paint to touch up the chassis where I have to drill/file, gasket paper, and I've ordered a gear knob. 24 January 2021 Test fitted the pedals, brake servo, clutch master cylinder and steering column with the modified spacer. I will need to look at the spacers again as I can't depress the clutch pedal fully without it hitting the bulkhead, it's a matter of a few millimetres so if I adjust the spacer thickness then I think I can fix that. Similar problem with the brake and throttle pedals, hoping that a couple of washers will fix that. The throttle pedal could be easily bent but not the brake so if I can adjust the bracket position to fix it then that would be best. 25 February 2021 Had a call from Classic and Modern Engines, the block and crank are ready for collection. Crank only needed repolishing and the block only needed honing so all good there. Collected the engine and ordered bearings and rings which should be here tomorrow. 26 February 2021 I've been thinking about the engine build and I will need to fit the various sensors for the gauges, that will be easier with the engine on the bench, so I need to decide on the gauges I want and sensors that go with them. I picked a set of gauges from ETB, they are a classic black dial, white pointer and chrome bezel (IVA safe) (https://www.etbinstruments.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=101&product_id=185). They come with all the senders and I ordered the thread adapters from them too. I will use the Mazda fuel gauge sensor as it is integral to the pump and regulator. To make that work I've also ordered a device that will allow me to match the sender to the gauge (Gauge Wizard from www.Spiyda.com). The speedo should work with the Mazda gearbox sender, the ECU will drive the tachometer. 27 February 2021 Had a rethink on the clutch pedal and cylinder mounting, decided not to use the 3D printed spacers as they were too brittle. I also needed to solve the problem of sealing the hole through the bulkhead. The clutch master cylinder arrangement is a bit tricky. The bracket bolts to the bulkeahd and the cylinder bolts to the pedal bracket, not to the bulkhead directly. Some sort of cover is needed to seal up the hole. I made a plate out of some scrap aluminium, carefully cutting out holes to match the master cylinder. The plate will be attached to the engine side of the bulkhead with some sealant and rivets or self tapping screws. I made up some new spacers out of some off cuts of the plastic floor tiles in the garage. These will ensure the clutch pedal doesn't foul the lower bulkhead. I will add an additional support for the brake and clutch pedals attached to the chassis above the pedals. Hopefully tomorrow I can do a final fit for the pedals. I've done a trial fit of the steering column and everything seems to line up nicely. 28 February 2021 I've lost count of the number of times the pedals and master cylinders have come off the car this week, but it's the only way to get it right. The first job today was to fix the sealing plate onto the bulkhead. I applied some silicone sealant to the bulkhead, lined up the plate and secured it with a couple of self tapping screws. It sounds easy enough but in reality meant taking the pedal on and off at least 4 times! I modified the spacer behind the clutch pedal and put a bit of a taper on it so that the bracket would be tilted up slightly, which was enough to stop the pedal hitting the lower bulkhead. The brake pedal still hits the bulkhead on full depression but currently it isn't linked up to the hydraulics. I measured the pedal movement and checked against the specifications, the pedal should only need 3-4 inches of travel when it is all connected up and I've got over 6 inches so I think everything is good there. I bent the accelerator pedal slightly to rprevent it hitting the bulkhead. With that finalised, I made up a plate for the top of the clutch pedal bracket and then drilled through the frame above it so I could bolt the pedal bracket to it with a long bolt and nut. The brake pedal bracket was slightly easier as the mounting hole on the bracket lined up with the chassis and I was able to drill through the rail to it, another bolt secured that. Next it was time to finalise the steering column position. I got one of the MX5 seats and placed it in the cockpit so I could judge the position. I used a ratchet strap across the car to support the column, that let me adjust the position to what I felt would be correct. With that done I drilled out the steering column support plate, mounted it to the top rail and bolted the steering column in place. The plate needed bending slightly to get the angles correct. The last job on the column at this stage is to bend the bulkhead seal around the bulkhead which will mean taking at the steering column and clutch pedal out one more time. Once that is done, I am hoping I don't have to take it out again. I may need to fine tune the steering column once the dash position is finalised. Next up hopefully is rebuilding the engine.
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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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