Is there a plumber in the house...

On Sunday the build continued and it was time to have a look at the windows and check that they were ok.  But during the week my father had rang and said that the passenger side was not all that good as in places you could see through the black surround (NOT GOOD!).  On arrival the windows appeared to be really rather good, the problem however was far more noticeable when the doors were opened and the light was allowed to shine through the window (NOT GOOD, at all!).  The problem is not enough of the etching primer has been applied (although it's not easy), so in some places the border appeared slightly opaque, so what to do?.  Well the answer is odd but it worked like a dream, a black permanent marker pen.  By colouring in (don't go outside the lines though!) the inner edge of the border all (almost all) of the offending areas were concealed.  By the time I had done both windows I was well pleased with the result, it was now time to crack on and fit the rest of the front lights.

The fitting of the lights for us has been a slow process for one reason and another, mainly due to us not fully understanding how much material to remove from the apertures and being a little afraid after what happened last time (see other anchor).  But the lights are now all in position with the back covers fitted, although we did not fit the expanding foam, as Ultima have kindly said that the would look at the lights when the car goes back to them in March.  Anyway with the lights in place and the front extension loom connected up (easy enough just follow the wiring instructions in the build manual) it was time to re-fit the front canopy and connect up the extension plugs.  With that done we could now test the lights (there may be trouble head...)

Side lights?        - Check
Head lights?      - No
Main beam?     - Check (but does not latch)
Indicators?       - No (strange noise from relay)

Oh the woes of designing your own dash...  Out with the multimeter and the continuity tester (buzzer!).  I won't bore you with the pros and the cons, but after some time the problem was found with the Head Lights and was easily rectified. this also had the knock on effect of fixing the problem with the Main Beam not latching.  Two down, one to go.  We had already known about the indicator problems (please note that we have a very different indicator than the one that Ultima supply) in that we thought the problem (clutching at straws!) was down to the fact we only had a couple of bulbs/loads connected.  But with all loads connected it still refused to play ball.  Time to call in a plumber!, eh!?...

Well lucky for us some time on Sunday afternoon Geoff paid us a visit as he hadn't seen the car is some time (9 months, bad lad!).  Now at this time we were attempting to still solve the indicator problem, so Geoff obviously decided to join in the analysis.  After much head scratching and the obligatory cuppa Geoff (plumber by trade) speaks. Why don't we try blah, blah, blah he says, well we'll give a go we thought...

The rest is quite obvious I feel as within minutes the problem was solved and at last we had a flashing/working indicator switch (thanks mate!).  At this point it was getting late in the day so we decided not to start anything else.

Next week I hope to get some more serious work done as the good news just in is that the engine is ready for shipping (can't wait), could be here in time for the weekend..

Been so busy...

Managed to get two days in the weekend on the build and they were both very frustrating days unfortunately. This was mainly all my fault as I had misunderstood (drastically) how the rear light were fitted, I was under the impression that the plugs on the lights sat OUTSIDE of the housing, this (as I found out on Sunday) is of course incorrect. To save massive embarrassment to myself I will not divulge the nature of the cock up, but after much work everything is looking good (oooops!!).

Apart from my misunderstanding the rear lights are easy to fit (no laughing please), needed some usual fettling as the original fit is a little tight. First off a couple of holes needed to be drilled in the rear canopy to allow the loom to pass through to the outer lights from the centre. I drilled a 12mm hole with the stepped drill and used a standard grommet to protect the wires. The whole light assembly (inc wire & plug) fits inside the housing and the extension loom wires are then fed into the housing via a grommet. I drilled a 6mm hole in each grommet with the stepped drill (worked a treat) to allow the cables (that I had covered in black tape) to pass through. I also found that is was difficult to get both a washer and nut on the backs of the lights and in some cases could only use a nut. The lights were then all wired up apart from the number plate lights (I couldn't seem to find the bulb holders), not forgetting to NOT connect the white wire on (no.76 and 81) as this would fail SVA (see wiring diagram (USA spec only)). With the rear lights now basically complete it was time to crack on with something else, next up the mirrors.

The mirrors already seemed to have some holes drilled in the back plate and after much debate (read my father and I arguing) and the weekend phone call to Chris Morris, it was agreed that three new holes would be drilled. The mirror have a TOP indicator stamped on the back of the motors, so with the motor orientated correctly the new holes could be drilled (carefully!) as they need to allow the screws to tap themselves into position. The aluminium backing plates were then filed to ensure a good fit on the front of the motor (as these would be bonded into position later). The mirror wires were then pulled up through the door and though the hole in the mirror. The mirrors were then fitted back to the car and the wires cut at an appropriate length (you can never really have too much!, but I digress...). The terminals were then soldered to the wires and covered in shrink sleeve. A note at this point is that the mirrors do not appear to be handed so the wire on one side will need to be a little longer than the other. With this now done the mirrors could be screwed into position (some of the screws we found to be too long and needed to be shortened). The wires could now be connected up, we were unsure what went where so with only three wires to play with went for the hit/miss approach and the connections were soon made with both mirrors working correctly. The aluminium backing plates were now bonded to the motors using some Super Glue. The mirrors attach via some Velcro and the first thong you need to decide is which side you wish to use. We opted for the magnifying side (WRONG!), as later when we went to used the mirrors it was like staring into a black hole. Lucky that they are only held on with Velcro, these will need to be changed next time.

With some time still left we decide to fit all the lozenge shape grills (6 off) on the rear canopy with the usual 'Bond n Seal' (orrible black mucky gunk, for those who have no idea what I'm talking about). We positioned each grill first and held it in place with some pencils and tie wraps. We then marked a line with a pen around each one to give a idea of positioning for the bonding. Each grill was then removed in turn and a bead of 'Bond n Seal' was placed just on the marked line the grill positioned and then another bead could then be added. This could be then smoothed with a finger or two (assuming that you have covered them in WD-40 first) and the pencil/tie replaced and tightened.

The rear canopy was then replaced back on the car and the loom plugs connected, the lights could then be tested. They work!, cool and look good in the late evening darkness, eventually not a bad weekends build...

News just in is that Chris has kindly collected my engine for me (and paid, perhaps I should now do a runner, but he's got the engine, oops!). Thanks Chris I owe you, no really!

Almost ready for that engine...

Saturday morning's build was almost rained off, we were planning to get the rest of the grills in place as these all would need spraying (to match the others). So first job of the morning then became to fit the heat shielding to the rear canopy. This at first seems an easy sort of job, but once you have to large surfaces covered in Evo-Stick the fun really begins. First the cloth needs to be trimmed to shape allowing it to fit around the lower rear canopy grills. The cloth really needs to be trimmed in situ otherwise you run the risk of getting the angles wrong as the whole surface is quite heavily contoured. We fist positioned the cloth in the desired position and the held the centre section (the most contoured) in place with tape (don't use 'duck tape', it takes the silver off!). This allowed us (Dad really) to cut a slot in the correct position for each grill, this could then be slowly opened out until a perfect fit was achieved. Once we had the desired fit and the edges had all been trimmed it was time to apply the silver edging tape to the cloth, this was achieved simply enough (although we had to make the usual trip the B&Q to get some more, I wonder if Ultima have shares in B&Q?). The canopy was then offered back into position (that's strange it doesn't seem to fit as well, **£$!). The reason being is that we had not pressed the centre section into place (most important), as soon as this was done the grill cut-outs lined up once more and it was time for the glue. An outline was first drawn around the cloth (with a pencil) leaving a guide line on the rear canopy, don't worry too much about going over the lines as you want to make sure the edges are well stuck down. The cloth was then also covered liberally with glue and both were allowed to dry for a while (as it's contact adhesive).

Many hand make light work so Mum was called into action also, this enabled us to keep the cloth away from the sticky surfaces that we didn’t want it to touch. Again it is important to press the centre curved section into position first as this should then align the grill cut-outs. The rest of the cloth could then be massaged into position ensuring not to get any creases (if you try to pull it back off the edging tape may stay behind, not good!). we worked from the centre out towards both the back and the sides, this seemed to work well. Once in position the edges could be pressed down tight (don’t want them to curl) with a suitable object. Looking back at the final result we were very pleased so it was time to move on, time to spray those grills now the weather has cleared.

Of the grills left to do (5 off) the only grill that required some fitting/bending was the rear canopy air intake, this was trimmed a little too and then bent into a suitable position. All the grill could now be sprayed. While spraying the grill we also took the time to spray the number plate light housings. With not much time left in the day I removed the mirrors (easy enough) and refitted them the correct way round. After this we also fitted the alloy wheel centres with some clear silicone sealer all bar one was a good fit (one needing some fettling with a file and some fine wet n’ dry. It was now time to stop as I had a very important meeting (in the pub!).

Sunday came early as I was keen to continue with the build, after fighting off the Stella hangover it was out to the garage, first up grills (damn messy business too!). The two small grills at the rear of the car are anodised and are not easily bent the se were fitted in the normal way and with little fuss. The top air intake vent also was easily fitted after it had been bent into shape as mentioned earlier. Next up was the side grill (read big, highly visible must get ‘em right). Now I’m sure there is no really easy way to tackle these so I’m not going to bother to make a real suggestions. Just make sure you use plenty of goo and make sure all the edges are held in position during the bonding process. Also while the goo (Bond n Seal) was out we also fitted the number plate lights and bonded the newly sprayed covers into position. The routing of the loom was of some concern as it seemed that you rivet some p-clips the the rear inner skin and route the cable along the back of the canopy. As we were not too keen on this idea we actually routed the loom behind the bonded number pate light covers and this seemed to work really well. All that was left to do was to support the plug at one end this was done with a p-clip. The other was just bonded into place with a little ball of goo end as it curved around the bottom of the exhaust grill cut-out. This approach seemed to work well as hopefully can be seen by the pics.

The last job of the day was to final fit the fuel filter as I had had some spacers made (thanks Mark) and also bought some clips to support the filter. The spacer would position the pipe about 22mm away from the body, allowing the water hoses etc to run underneath. The clips were then added above to support the fuel filter itself. I seem to be missing the final pic of this assembly but will post next week.

Next weekend I’m off to sunny Devon to see the 7 litre monster that is Chris Morris (his car!) and to collect a few parts that he has. On my return the plan is to fit the windscreen (about the only part I have left to fit (excluding engine/gearbox), after that in the new year it will be time to fit the…

The good news & the bad!

Sorry for the late update Xmas got in the way (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)...

The bad news first; is that the fitting of the windscreen did not go too well (no we didn't break it!).  But the end result is no really up to scratch, although others have said it's ok, ok is not good enough for me (especially on a car like this!).  The main problem was getting a finish on the black sealant, we think we may of used too much.  I have already spoken to the Andy at Ultima and we have decided to let the factory look at it when it goes back, but something will have to be done.

Other bad news is that I fitted the side grills upside down, no big deal but this allows more light into the engine bay, making the grills look more transparent (looks a bit naff!).  These have now been removed (easy enough!), resprayed and will be re-fitted later this week. 

Also I discovered that I had wired the starter button incorrectly, as you should be able to hear the relay click when you press it (this was not happening).  The wires on pins 2 & 3 needed to be switched, once this was done the switch starting working (previous post has been updated ooops!).  So on to the good news then...

On Saturday 20th I visited Chris Morris to witness the power of his 7 litre V8 and grab a couple of pics.

As you can see the car is looking mighty fine and once that starter button was pressed the overall effect became fantastic (scary even!) for this is truly a beast.  The engine sounds sooooo hard/brutal I just hope that Chris has the B*&&*$%£ to match (it's amazing how many pairs of Pampers you can get in those side pods though)...

This Friday is the BIG day, it's time for the engine to go in (fingers crossed!).  Before that happens the grills have to go back in and I need to position the oil temperature sender (STACK only!).  I also intend to modify the Accusump as most builders have found the associated pipe work to foul on the chevy adaptor plate (pics to follow).