Dribbling forward ...........

No not a reference to my age, rather a slow progress this week, my time being taken by other matters. More assembly work has been completed with the radiator on the car, the painted front anti roll bar re-installed and some time spent tidying wiring. Having asked a number of questions about the battery have got the wiring in for that, just need the promised battery tray from Westfield to be able to site and secure the battery, I have a feeling I may have to resort to making one myself !! I trial fitted the manifold and have a concern about how close the solenoid wiring is to the pipes, I may be being pessimistic but I have ordered a length of heatproof sleeving and will protect the ends of the cables where they leave the convoluted tube ! Our IVA centre can only be impressed ! I hope !!
Tomorrow I hope to make serious progress and finish the front end mechanically with the exception of the steering for which I do not have the parts and that shortage is becoming a real pain in the ar  neck.
118 hours to date.

Tidying wiring.

Roll Bar back in place and battery waiting for mount.

Solenoid wiring a bit too close to manifold I reckon.

Front overview progressing albeit slowly.

Silicon is a real xxxxxxx

Having earlier fitted the centre tunnel cover and persuaded myself I could fit the engine with it in place, I had to remove it. Only problem was I had made such a thorough job of sealing it that it was a real struggle to get it off, and once off this morning I started the job of getting the old sealant off the underside of the aluminium. A swine of a job, so much so that I went and bought some silicon sealant remover. The remover said brush on leave 15 minutes wipe off, what could possibly go wrong ! To cut a long story short the remover had no effect whatsoever on the sealant but I have found it makes short work of removing the top layer of skin from your hands ! 3 hours of scraping and cutting later the panel was clean, a hole cut for the gear lever and re fitted, looks ok again ! The label of the bottle needs altering to read skin remover not suitable for silicon LOL ! I assembled and fitted the radiator and fan sensor and connected the wiring. 115 hours total now although some of today was self inflicted !

Centre cover re installed !

Radiator and fan fitted.

Friends will be friends ...........

Decided to enlist some help today, after praying to the gods for the rain to stop lo the sun came out and let us work outside. Joe and I were joined by Dave and Sean and having more eyes and more height the engine was trial fitted mounts drilled and finally fitted into place. Phew thats a relief ! Spent some time trying to get the wiring as neat as Jon's which I was admiring on his blog, took a long time but not a bad result in the end. Placed the cars number on the front for a photocall, thats it then ready for the road !! LOL. The water temp wires are too short, think I have read about this on the forum so will browse later. Time for a beer and watch the football ! 6 hours today 111 hours total ! NELSON hopping on one foot RIP Shep ! (If you are not a cricket fan you won't understand this rubbish)

Dave,Sean and Joe

Yours truly looking busy ! someone has to be in charge !!

IN don't know what the fuss was about !

Number   ready to roll !!

Biblical Rain .............

Received engine yesterday and hoped to make huge progress however even the almighty is against us or so it seems ........  Assembled the engine, gearbox and starter motor swapped the oil pressure sensor and wasted some time looking for the water temp sensor point on the engine. Of course it is not on the engine but on the water pipe, wasted some time working that out. Tried to install the engine for a trial fit but realised that the roof of the garage is too low to permit us to establish the correct angle for the unit. Would have liked to continue outside now we can roll the car but we have had now 48hours of torrential rain and it is not possible. Will have to wait until it clears up and we can work outside for a few hours. 105hrs building.

Engine is here !!

Engine crossing the sea .........

My engine and associated bits is at last with the transport company to cross the Irish sea ! Hoping for a busy weekend...watch this space.

First shiny bit ! ................

In view of impending engine ! ......  well impending in Westfield terms, we spent the day doing the scuttle, heater and wipers. Thanks to others having gone before and their photos, it took a while but was straightforward enough, unfortunately some bits are missing from my wiper kit ! no surprise there then ! so could not tighten up and will have to re visit. Used the first of our engine bay shiny red bits ! (juvenile really LOL). Broken the 100 hour barrier now 101 hours total !

Bit more like a car !

Scuttle interior

Heater outlet misses ECU mount thankfully !

Shiny Bits !

Standstill ....

I have fitted the propshaft and that is about all I can do until I get an engine and ECU & Loom. I telephoned the factory today to check on the arrival of my throttle bodies and ECU etc which should have happened yesterday, apparently they did not show ! My optimism at being able to continue is possibly misplaced we shall see ! Watch this space !!!!!