DONE ........... well maybe .........

Time to report that to all intents and purposes the car is 100% complete and ready for IVA. The only hold up is waiting for a new relay which is en route from the USA and should be here this week. The pictures are of me sitting in the car as this is probably the last I shall see of it as Joe is keeping it in his garage so dad driving it is probably a pipe dream !!!
We couldn't have done this without the friends we have made on the blogs and the forum and I am very grateful. 3 hours today 263 hours total .... 21st April to 21st October.

Brumm Brumm ....................

The car was largely complete today with the exception of a few minor items but we were impatient to see if we could get it to run properly. To cut a long story short I enlisted the help of Tony from Falcon Auto Centre. I had reams of printed paper from the ecu manufacturer, from the syncronometer manufacturer and from various blogs on the net ! Tony laughed and asked for a piece of rubber tube ! the linkage set up was a country mile out which is why I couldn't get the syncronometer to make any sense. He disconnected the throttle body interconnect, set up the butterfly gap at idle and then got the engine to idle with his rubber tube and finally used the syncronometer to get the bodies spot on. The engine now idles happily with no vibration and seems to run very smooth, why do people like Tony make it look so easy !! of course I would have found the answer (in about a month LOL)

Joe and Tony listening to the purr !

We then had a sneaky test run on the close, all seems to work as it should. The snag list is down to about a dozen items which are probably another couple of hours work. Last job tonight was to fit the rear diffuser with sikaflex and a couple of black rivets, held in place with the trolley jack until morning. Forms for IVA done so as soon as we get a new relay from the states we will be done. 7 hours today 260 hours total.


2012-10-20 15.55.42 from Joe Bromley on Vimeo.

Finishing straight ..............

After a time away from the car attending to other matters we regrouped this morning to push on. First job of the day was to finish the boot locks, Joe had some fun and games getting the locks as neat and the slots as compact as he could, a very slow process which took almost three hours of messing around and numerous trial fits. However at the end Joe produced a really neat slot and two locks which work smoothly, so much for a five minute job !

Finished boot lid.

I had earlier managed to take a small chip of gelcoat from the edge of the rear return where it goes over the bulkhead carpet, we purchased a thin black gloss trim strip which fits perfectly and disguises the chip, although in retrospect it has finished behind the seat and wouldn't have been visible, but I guess we would have known it was there.

Black edging strip.

Pushing on we drilled the holes for the seats, a pity they don't fit the supplied ones and are very close to the edge, a little time consuming and fiddly, I strongly recommend making a template of the seat base, all lines up much easier then ! Carpets were next and then seats and belts all fitted very well with no drama. We fitted carbon chassis rail covers which were double side taped on top of the supplied leatherette ones and were cut to fit under the side panels making a very neat finish.

Carpets and harnesses in place

Carbon chassis rail covers

Finally seats in place and we could sit in and make brum brum noises !!! must take my medication !

Seats in place

Joe trying car for size

We have not fitted the steering wheel as yet as we have to lose some material from the rear of the plastic boss which interferes with the padded dash, however not too concerned about that as the supplied steering wheel may be removed just after IVA ! and replaced. 10 hours today and hoping for similar tomorrow, shortly will only be the snag list left ! 253 hours total.

Short sunday ...................

Just a few hours today forging on ...
Managed to correct the wiper blade angle by a combination of repositioning the rubbers and a gentle tweak of the wiper arms. The blades are now much more parallel to the windscreen and appear to do an acceptable job. We drilled the holes for the shoulder harness and fitted the eyed bolts I am not sure as they are too short will do some reading. We ran the engine again all appears well but am not convinced the water temperature gauge is working, although it could be we did not get it hot enough. The idle is very rough but will just about keep going when the engine has warmed up. We cleaned out the interior ready for seats and carpets and fitted the rubber gaiters to handbrake and gearlever. 3 hours today 243 hours total. My better half was rejoicing as her dining room appeared from under a pile of parts, they may have to move back in yet but I won't spoil it for her for now!

Running with drl on.

Front (after IVA)

Not too much longer !

Unicorn Horn ..................

178 days after paying in full I have a complete kit, the steering arrived yesterday. I had expected it to be made of Unicorn Horn with an fine inlay of Dodo beak polished to perfection but no .... just metal and powder coat. Enough of the sarcasm and onwards ........
The steering fitted into place without too much difficulty and my drain pipe centering idea worked well so no re cutting of the scuttle. We then set about finishing the wiring and installing the dashboard, the work we had done earlier made it a relatively short task and it fitted into place and all still seems to work. The upper trim piece was added and I am pleased with the result. Tomorrow Joe will have to spend some time flat on his back under the dash doing some final tidying but all in all a satisfying few hours work. Ted was most unimpressed and slept in the car all afternoon. We finished the day with attaching the windscreen trim piece which took longer than anticipated and I am still not happy with the final angle of the wiper blades in relation to the screen, some further fiddling necessary tomorrow I think. I have just noticed also that the trim piece is clearly a different gelcoat when under fluorescent light but in daylight the contrast will not be as bad. I would ask WF for a new one but as I am likely to die of old age before receiving it, we will put up with the mismatch ! 4 hours today 240 hours total.

Dash in progress

 

 

Ted got bored !

 

 

 

Dashboard in place

Wiper trim