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Shortened the last 2 instrument clamps now that I have them back (after my dad was sanding out the holes in the dash plate), and fitted the 3rd bulb holder to the loom.
With the lhs petrol tank in position, I worked out how much of the filler neck needed removing (to allow the filler pipe to smoothly bend round from the cap to the tank), then removed the tank and carefully shortened the neck, making sure to keep any stray bits of metal out of the tank by cutting it on the bench with the filler neck pointing down, which was a bit awkward and took a while. Once this was done, I measured and cut a length of filler pipe to fit.
12/8/2002
Measured the fuel hose needed for the lhs tank connections to the pump
and rhs tank, as currently only the rhs tank is connected to the pump.
The hinges were fitted to the boot permanently, and then the boot was bolted to the body to start working out the requirements for boot catches. The only solution seems to be one at each front corner, mounted to the chassis rails on each side of the boot. The catch needs to be something flat (most car boot catches are angled a bit), with the release on the same side as the mechanism, This rules out all door catches, as they all have the release on the other side, which would make it pretty much impossible to fit.
The wheels were fitted, and it was dropped onto the ground so that work could be started on fitting the front indicator mounting blocks now that I have a bit of wood turned to the correct size to fit into the black plasic drainipipe (thanks to my dad having access to a lathe).
13/8/2002
Trip to the scrapyard to hunt down some suitable boot catches. After
looking at everything ranging from Ladas and Maestros up to BMWs and
Volvos, there were only really two cars with suitable boot catches -
the Mark 2 Golf, and the Jaguar XJ6. So, I ended up with a pair of Jag
catches for a fiver, as they were the easiest ones to remove, and were
more simple and compact, just needing a pin to vertically slot into
the mechanism, and a single pull on a lever to release it.
Also picked up a rear wiper seal (but I can't remmeber what it was from!) which is a perfect fit onto the AX front wiper. On most cars, the front wipers are in front of the bulkhead so don't need sealing, but on the Storm it has ended up inside the car, so has to be waterproof to stop my feet being dripped on.
Finally managed to get the plasic shim out of a Sierra/Granada gearbox, but it turned out that I already had one anyway. I was expecting the shim to fit onto the end of the gearlever, but it actually cliips onto the selector pin in the gearbox, and I'd just never noticed it being there in my gearbox. So, at least I have a replacement if the original breaks...
Back at home, the drainpipe and wooden block for the front indicators was cut to the right angle for the bodywork, after lots of careful measurement, leaving plenty spare in case of any mistakes or slips with the saw leaving gouges in the plastic. It all ended up being cut safely, and to the right angle, so I left them with my dad to trim the flat fronts (which we'd left long) and get them perfectly flat with a decent sander.
We also then made a start on working out how to fit the boot catches.
14/8/2002
Removed the pedal box and drilled a small hole through the end of the
brake pushrod so that a security clip pin could be fitted. This will
ensure that the pushrod moves back with the brake pedal, and should
never fall out of the hole in the pedal.
Spent a bit more time thinking about the boot catches and decided how it would all work. The catches will be mounted on 2 thick alloy plates, which are then bolted to the top rear chassis rails on each side of the boot. A bit of steel bar will then be bent to shape and attached to the boot lid, with the end holding a pin that sticks out horizontally to the side, so that when the boot is closed, the pin drops almost vertically into the catch. The main problem with this is working out the locations of everything, as access with the boot shut is a bit awkward and limited.
The first boot lid strip was cut, shaped and drilled, as this will be the best starting point. We ended up using a pin from a Fiat Uno door catch with the head ground off (which I got ages ago when I had planned on having opening doors), as this just happens to be a perfect fit in the Jag boot catch. Unfortunately, there are 2 sizes of door pin (which both work fine in the same door catches), and I have one of the right size (small), and 2 of the wrong (big) size, as I ended up getting the door catches off 2 different cars. So, I'll either just have to grind one of the big pins down to the correct size (from around 10mm to 8mm), or go to the scrappy again and try and find a small pin. I even got my brother to check the pins on his Uno, but they are both the large size so can't be swapped over.
As with the boot hinges, M5 rivnuts were fitted to mount the boot pin bracket. However, the lhs of the boot lid didn't want to play, as the grp was much thicker than it is anywhere else on the boot, and wouldn't allow the rivnuts to compress properly and stay in place. So, lots of filing of the holes later, the inside thickness was reduced enough to fit the rivnuts properly.
With this as a reference point, the catch was hung over the chassis rail on a bit of thin alloy panels, and reshaped until it was in the right place for the pin on the boot lid. This template could then be used to make a proper mounting plate.
15/8/2002
A bit of thick alloy plate was cut and drilled for the lhs catch, and
the mounting holes for it were measured and drilled in the chassis
rail. As the bodywork got in the way a bit for the front hole, it
ended up at a bit of an angle, so a couple of alloy washers were made
to allow the nut and bolt to be tightened against something flat.
Due to the operation of the catch, when used on the lhs there is nothing to stop the pin from moving backwards and slipping out (not a problem for the rhs when it is reversed). So, one of the mounting bolts was positioned to be a stop to prevent this happening. The head needed grinding down a bit to allow the catch mechanism to move over it. With everything bolted in place it was tested and worked first time, which was nice.
16/8/2002
Both catches were cleaned up, the old greasy one ending up looking
much cleaner than the more recent one that started off much better.
Made the rhs boot lid catch bracket, and drilled and fitted the rivnuts, which went in without any hassle this time as it was sensible thickness grp. Made the rhs alloy mounting plate for the catch and drilled the mounting holes in the chassis. Due to the catch being mounted the opposite way round, the very top part of the catch gets in the way of the pin as it moves down in an arc. So, the top was trimmed to allow the pin to pass, being careful to avoid getting any bits of metal into the rest of the mechanism.
17/8/2002
Shortened and ground down the heads of the bolts for the rhs boot
catch. The front bolt holes on this side also ended up being drilled
at an angle, so the alloy plate was shaped to allow the bolt head to
sit flat.
The 2 strips that mount on the boot lid were shaped to remove the sharp edges, and the nuts for the door pins (which are actually 1x2" plates with a threaded section created in the middle) were cut down to fit properly. Inner tube was also cut for the boot strips.
Painted some more bits - the boot pin strips, the brake pushrod, the lump of steel for the 10->8mm battery isolation switch adaptor, and the front load spreader plates for the central bulkhead support brackets. The pedal box was then refitted with the clip on the brake pushrod.
Spent a while trying to improve the gear remote. The problem its always had is it seems to lock up every so often, even though the link bar is slack at each end. I finally traced the problem to the alignment of the gearbox and the remote lever. Basically, the box is too far to the right of the pre-drilled hole in the chassis for the remote, so even though the link bar is loose at each end, when its fitted to both it has to twist them a bit to line up, so isn't as free as it should be. The only solution to this is to move the hols in the chassis to the right (as the gearbox mount can't be moved left), so it was filed out. I ended up moving it by the diameter of the original hole which took a while, but made a huge difference to the shift and stopped it locking up. The reverse stop was then adjusted to match the new position.
19/8/2002
The location of the fog light was measured again, using the reference
marks left on the floor from the last time. A hole was then drilled
and filed out to shape for the back of the light, just slightly to the
right side of the car. With the exact location of the light now known,
the wooden mounting block was shaped to fit the body, and also a bit
more was taken from the inside so that the light sits flush. The
incredibly fiddly plug was then fitted to the loom. the 2 crimp
connectors clip into the plastic plug, but for some reason one of them
just didn't want to stay in place and got pushed out when the light
was plugged in. I fiddled with it for ages and finally got it to stay,
but I've no idea how I managed it. The lhs fog light loom connection
was trimmed back as its not needed, and alloy p-clips were made and
fitted on the rhs fog/numberplate light section of the loom.
With such a wide hole holding the gear remote, I decided it would probably be best to fill it with something. The easiest way I could think to do this was to cut a bit of steel to shape and hammer it into the space. So, the lhs of the hole was filed square, and a hole the same size as the gear remote bolt was drilled in a thick bit of steel plate, which was then cut to leave a square with a semicircle in the rhs.
20/8/2002
The tiny bit of steel was filed to shape until it would fit into the
chassis, and then it was hammered into position and painted. The nuts
that hold the rose-joint in the chassis cover a fair bit of the plug,
so it shouldn't move anywhere.
Made a starton fitting the windscreen supports. First, the hardwood cylinders that my dad made ages ago were hammered into the lower ends of the windscreen support tubes to stop the mounting bolts crushing the tube. The positions of the holes to mount the anlge to the bar were worked out, marked and drilled, and then the holes to mount the angle to the chassis were marked and drilled. With it all bolted in place the sides of the windscreen were definitely stiffer, but far from solid. Having the windscreen in place should improve it as well.
As the rhs wing mirror currently just has mounting holes through the grp, I started working out a way of using the windscreeen support tube to als support the mirror. This ended up being a bit of fairly thin steel plate which is attached to the tube, sits flush against the gpr, and which the mirror then bolts through.
21/8/2002
Finished the mirror support. The plate was bent around the bar at one
end (by hammering it around an offcut of the pipe), drilled and
rivetted in place, and then drilled to allow the mirror's bolts to
pass through. This also has the advantage of holding the tube against
the body, so helps to stop things moving around and might be worth
doing to the other side as well even though there isn't a mirror
there.
The alloy lump for the rear view mirror was shaped to fit the body, as well as scraping some lumps off the inside of the grp. The surface of the grp was then sandpapered and cleaned ready for the alloy to be glassed in place.
The 3 LED holes in the dash plate that had moved a bit while being drilled were carefully filed out to the correct position, ready to be drilled to the right size.
22/8/2002
As the rear view mirror alloy lump still doesn't sit very flat due to
the lumpy grp,some body filler was slapped on and the alloy clamped in
place while it cured so that the gaps are all filled in. Each side of
the alloy was then glassed over a couple of times, which ended up
being very messy due to that part of the windscreen frame being
horizontal, so the resin ran down the brush and got everywhere.
After meaning to do something about it for ages, I finally got round to putting an extra jubilee clip on the heater hose coming out of the water pump where it bends back round towards the heater, as it kinks so needs to be squeezed back into shape. There are 2 needed on the bend, but they seem to be working.
The LED holes in the dash plate were very carefully drilled out. Holes for the header tank mounting bracket were drilled in the central bulkhead panel, along with a hole for the throttle cable. The header tank bracket was then cleaned up ready to be painted, as even though it is galvanised its a bit of a mess. A couple of alloy plate spacers were also made for the bracket, as it can't sit flush due to the shape of the tank. The heater, relays and steering column support bracket were all bolted in place permanently. The inside of the rubber seal for the wiper (which actually contains a steel washer) was filed out to make it more of a loose fit on the wiper spindle.
23/8/2002
The hoses were attached to the heater, shortening the top one a bit to
make it a better fit. An alloy plate was then fitted to it where it
touches the clutch part of the pedal box to stop it rubbing. An extra
clip was also put on the hose to stop it kinking and keep it open.
To hopefully keep the SVA man happy, the washer bottle levels were measured and marked in half litre steps (just over 1.5 litres in total), and then it was bolted in place. The washer hose from the bottle was then routed to the interior and cable tied to the heater hoses. The chassis clamp for the heater hoses was then fitted, holding the 2 hoses, the washer hose and the brake fluid reservoir switch wires in place.
The nuts, bolts and washers needed for the bulkhead brackets, bonnet latches and various other things were sorted out to make sure that I had enough of them left. The bulkhead and bonnet latch bolts were then all trimmed to the right length.
After plenty of preparation, the 2 front bulkhead panesl were fitted along with the 4 bulkhead brackets which hold the tops of the panels in place. With all of this bolted and rivetted in place, the scuttle is much more rigid than it ever was, so hopefully should move even less when the side panels, windscreen and supports are fitted. The angled brackets on the bonnet latches were adjusted to fit though the bulkhead panels.
24/8/2002
The bonnet latches were bolted in place. New panels were made to fit
round the master cylinder as the originals were a bit too small and
would have left some gaps that would need filling. These were then
stuck in place, and the 3 rear interior panels were also fitted, with
some modifications needed to the central one as it seems the bit of
grp between the roll hoops has moved down a bit somehow.
New screw holes were drilled in all 6 rear lights, as the original holes are much too close to the centre of the light, so that there wouldn't be very much of the ply disks to get hold of.
The outside of the header tank was cleaned as much as possible by scraping the muck off, but a lot of it is impossible to shift so it still looks a bit messy.
26/8/2002
The header tank bracket, windscreen support brackets and boot catch
pin brackets were painted to keep the rust at bay. Various gaps around
the bulkhead and rear interior panels were filled with sealant.
The loom under the dash was tidied up and cable tied in place now that the heater is fitted properly. The new throttle return spring bracket was fitted to the inlet manifold. the dash LED connections were worked out and cut to the right lengths for the multi-plug. The fit of the correct instruments were checked in the dash plate, but they seem to be slightly different sizes as some of them don't fit very well. So, the bits that were touching were marked, and the labels were removed from the sides of the 3 small instruments to make them a better fit.
27/8/2002
Started attaching the tiny crimp connectors to the loom for the LED
multi-plug.
28/8/2002
Finished off the LED connections and fitted the plug. While playing
around with the LEDs a while ago, I found out that the 3W resistor
apparently needed to kick-start the alternator will get quite hot if
the ignition is left on but the engine isn't running. So, not wanting
to cause a fire under the dash, a thick alloy heatsink was made which
wraps round the resistor and bolts to the thick steel steering column
support brackets, out of the way of any wiring or grp.
29/8/2002
The resistor was fitted to the loom and bolted in position. Made a
start on planning the routing of the washer hose under the dash. The
dash plate holes were filed out a bit so that all 5 of the instruments
are an easy fit, and I also checked it in the dash just to be sure
that it all lined up.
30/8/2002
Decided on the routing of the washer hose and started cutting and
tying it in place. The holes I'd drilled to lighten the bulkhead
brackets are actually useful places to fit the cable ties to.
Total hours this month -
106.0
Total build hours -
1345.5
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