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The visible bits of the airbox backplate were then polished, as the alloy that was used was a little bit messy.
2/3/2003
To fit into the airbox and give extra clearance to the side chassis
rail, the lower edges of three of the carb trumpets were trimmed
off. Not particularly easy to do, as they are fairly flexible so I had
to be careful when filing/hacksawing not to bend them too much. The
top and side of the airbox was also polished - doesn't change the way
it works, but it looks much shinier now.
With the dash and under-dash carpet fitted, the forward ends of the steering column shroud were trimmed to give a bit more clearance to the carpet. A couple of extra small bits of carpet were cut to be stuck onto the column, as the shroud doesn't cover all of it up.
Some of the dash was also trimmed to give extra clearance to the cables going to the column stalks, and the cables were tied out of the way with an alloy collar fitted to the ignition wires to make sure they don't rub through if anything moves.
3/3/2003
Rubbed down the bodywork between the roll hoops, and around the left
roll hoop.
4/3/2003
Scraped some lumps of gelcoat out of the channel around the boot, then
rubbed it down along with the top of the left rear wing and around the
left door. Scraped out some bubbles on the edge of the ridge that runs
across the scuttle, and then rubbed that down as well.
5/3/2003
Scraped some more lumps off around the windscreen and left side of the
scuttle, then rubbed down the rest of the scuttle and the back
sections of the front wings. The left side of the scuttle and the back
of the front left wing were also rubbed down with 1200 and 1500.
6/3/2003
Rubbed down the right rear wing with 800, then 1200 around the
windscreen, the right side of the scuttle, the left rear wing and
around the roll hoops.
7/3/2003
Rubbed out the scratches on the top of the right rear wing, and then
went over it with 1200 and 1500 paper.
8/3/2003
As the imprints of the wooden blocks used to form the rear light
recesses are quite big, some 40 and 80 grit paper was used to rub them
out so that it was all a bit smoother. The whole of the area around
the rear lights was then rubbed down with 800, 1200 and 1500, which
took a while. There are so many messy bits around the light recesses
that it would take weeks to get it all sorted out, so they are just
going to be left for now and I might do something about them in the
future if I can be bothered. Probably not...
The routing for the numberplate light wire was then sorted out - holes were drilled and files in the boot lid, and p-clips were used to hold the cable in place on the bodywork up to the boot hinge.
10/3/2003
Finished off the wiring of the numberplate light. The boot lid was
attached to the car, a bit of steel wire was used to drag the loom
through the holes and out at the top so that it could be trimmed to
the correct length, then the boot was removed and normal flat bladed
connectors were soldered onto the wire instead of the bullet
connectors that were originally on it.
11/3/2003
With 1500 paper I rubbed down the rear of the right front wing, around
the right side of the scuttle, all the way round the windscreen and
the roll hoops.
12/3/2003
Rubbed down the top and sides of the windscreen surround with
compound.
13/3/2003
Rubbed down between the roll hoops and in front of the left hoop. Very
awkward to do, so slow progress. I tried some normal car polish on a
bit of rubbed down grp, and it definitely improves things, getting rid
of the smaller scratches and making it look blacker. The compound gets
rid of a lot, but I think its just a bit too course for final
finishing.
14/3/2003
Rubbed down bodywork around the right roll hoop, and along the channel
in front of the boot. Tested teh compound on a spare bit of the black
drainpipe that was used for the front indicators, and it makes them
nice and shiny, so that's something else to be done.
15/3/2003
Modified the oil catch tank cage so that a cable tie could be fitted
to make sure it doesn't fall out, then bolted it to the footwell
panel. A bit of old washing up sponge (open cell) was cut and tied
onto the spout of the bottle to act as a filter.
I then set to work on sorting out the bonnet releases, as currently they aren't attached to anything. The simplest way to operate them seemed to be to use some old bike cables which are routed to a place where they can be easily accessed, which means cables stops at both ends for the outer, and some sort of handle for the end of the cable.
So, after fiddling around with a couple of bits of cardboard, I formed a steel bracket which attaches to one of the bolts holding the latch in place. This has the end positioned in line with the back of the catch, making sure that the cable doesn't pull at an angle. A lump of thick alloy is attached to the end with a hole the same size as the cable outer in, which keeps the outer at the right angle. A small bit of alloy with 2 holes in was then used to attach the cable to the latch. These were made for both sides, and were basically identical which made things easier the 2nd time round. An alloy clamp was then made to use as a handle on the cable.
16/3/2003
I changed my mind about how to do the lower end of the bonnet release
cables, so instead of a handle decided to go for a smaller clamp which
holds the cable in a loop, so there will be less metal swinging around
under the dash. Clamps were made for both sides, along with more
formed steel brackets to act as lower cable stops for the outer. The
outer for the left latch was the right length, but the left one needed
shortening a bit before it would fit under the dash.
Then, to keep warm, I did a bit more rubbing down of the bodywork with the compound, the left side of the scuttle next to the windscreen, then starting on the main part of the scuttle.
17/3/2003
Finished rubbing down the left side of the scuttle.
18/3/2003
Rubbed down the top of the left rear wing with compound.
20/3/2003
Rubbed down the top of the right rear wing with compound.
22/3/2003
Rubbed down around the rear lights with compound and then
polish. Fitted the wooden spacer blocks into the holes with self
tapping screws from the other side, and then repainted the visible
edges.
Fitted the upper bonnet cable release brackets to the bonnet latches.
Made a start on sorting out some straps to stop the boot lid from opening too far, again going for the good old bike brake cables. The plan is to feed them through the steel strips holding the boot latch pins, and then clamp the other end to the chassis next to the roll hoops. A couple of alloy clamping blocks were cut and drilled, and one mounting hole was drilled in the left side of the chassis.
23/3/2003
Wired in and tested the rear lights - they all appear to work fine
apart from a broken bulb and dodgy ground connection in one indicator,
and the hazard relay not working properly. The problem is that it
seems to try to flash about 100 times a second when the hazard switch
is pressed. I don't think its the wiring, as I removed the switch and
used a bit of wire in the plug to set the left and right indicators
going individually which worked fine, but when they are both driven
together the flasher relay just goes mad, so it looks like that could
be the problem. Unfortunately, thats one of the few things I don't
have a spare of from a scrappy, so I'll have to see if anyone on the
Tiger list knows whats going on.
Polished the left rear wing, fitted the left petrol tank, connected the lower fuel hose and tried to fit breather pipe to neck which was pretty much impossible as the size difference is just too big.
24/3/2003
Finally managed to fit the breather pipe using some hot water to soak
the pipe in and soften it a bit. Then the filler neck was bolted in
place.
Total hours this month -
67.5
Total build hours -
1729.5
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