Build Diary

In the last couple of weeks I have driven the car virtually every day! And what with taking loads of family and friends for spins round the town and local countryside, the car has had a bit of a hammering and considering it is a new build, it has held up really well apart from in two areas. The first is that the fuel hose provided by MAC#1 has split yet again – this is the third time in total and I have even moved the location of the fuel filler to be directly above the filler neck of the tank and it’s split again! I called round all the local motor factors for some 2” fuel hose but nobody does any. So I called MAC#1 and they said that they would send me some in the post, and so will hopefully receive that in the next few days, and it will be easy enough to sort! I will need a second piece of black plastic however to replace the boot lid that I cut for a second time, but I will hopefully get that from MAC#1 also. 

The second problem was the fact that I’d noticed the temperature was running a little higher than I was comfortable with and whilst stuck in traffic (after “giving it some”, aswell!) it dumped a bit of its water out of the overflow. I refilled the radiator and thought nothing more of it, but after another quick blast (and after another case of spirited driving on the country lanes around Oulton Park) it started to overheat again. Whilst parked up back at my mates house the car, once again, let water out of the overflow on the Rad. So with a bit more of an analytical head on my shoulders I had a good look at the cooling system. It seemed that the radiator fan was running in reverse. This was a little annoying since I asked Mark at MAC#1 which wire to put where twice, just to make sure that I wired it the correct way round! But also annoying as I should of known better and checked it by just putting it across a battery, but at the time I was so unsure of my ability with regard the wiring that I was willing to just take someone else’s word for it! Alternately it could have been my mistake that even after asking twice which wire to use, that I still used them the wrong way round! Ah well – I disconnected the crimped on connector and swapped the wires, and shorted out the earth to check it and the difference was amazing! The sound was the first indicator – you could just hear all the air rushing through the Rad! So now cold air from outside will be pushed across it, instead of the hot air from the engine bay being pulled through it! 

The car now seems to run a lot better! 

I called on my good friend Dave yet again to give me a hand in bleeding the brakes. Obviously anyone reading this will already know how bleeding the brakes goes so I won’t bore you with the details, but it went ok. At one point however, the fluid ran a little low in the reservoir (a third friend “was” keeping an eye on this!) and even though they seemed to be ok, they are still a little spongy so I am going to do them again next Friday! 

Apart from putting a good few miles on the car, I’ve not done much too it!
 

There are a few things that need to be done however, they are:
            Ride height
            Suspension and Alignment set-up
            Brakes need bleeding
I really wanted to do the suspension once and once only – I have no real justification for this apart from not wanting to do repeat jobs! I had already aligned the car approximately, but it was still a way off! I struggled slightly as my back yard (where I built the car!) is a little on the small side, so I cannot stand far enough away (with the wheels off) to judge the angle by eye, and it is also much to uneven to measure it!
I had also been offered to use someone’s gauge and with a bit of assistance to boot, so I will put this part off until next Friday!
 

One thing I did want to adjust was the ride height as the car was so low it was scraping everywhere! And since Middlewich is the speed-bump capital of the world this needed sorting!
I did (another) approximated adjustment on the ride height, I just raised the car up to what seemed right. I need to set the ride height to 100mm front and 125 rear (settings from MAC#1), but I want to do that with me in the car so will have to ask a friend to help me out to get it perfect.

When I arrived home after the DVLA inspection the car wouldn’t start – talk about choosing your time not to run! 

I went round and round checking everything I thought it might be, to no avail! I was due back in work at 18.00pm tonight so I was running out of things to try n the time I had left, so as a last ditch attempt I located the old crappy plugs that I removed from the engine when I bought it, and tried them. Believe it or not it fired up straight away and ran even better than it did before! Wahey, cleared everything up and Legally drove it to work!!!!!!!!!!! 

My mates farm is only down the road really but I wanted to give the car a good clean and wanted to leave in plenty of time, so even though my appointment wasn’t until 15.30, I had the car back at my house by about 11.00am. 

I hoovered out all the little bits of stone and a lot of the hidden swarf etc and then used a damp cloth to try and get the rest out. I then gave the outside a bit of a dust off and then a quick polish. I wanted it to look as good as possible for the inspector, but I didn’t go overboard (I’m not really into cleaning my toys!) 

I set off for Chester really early! I wasn’t 100% happy about towing my car with the Audi as, even though the cars weighs very little, the trailer is really pretty hefty! 

A friend of mine was towing once and crashed and wrote off all the vehicles involved – not the end of the world until you realise that it was a new shape Passat, his new trailer and a Porsche 911!!! 

So I wanted to try and avoid that scenario if I could! 

I did have a bit of a hairy moment on the other side of Kelsall Hill when it gave more than just a small wriggle but I just slowed down and kept it at 55mph maximum and managed to make it there intact! 

Apart from a stupidly small carpark that was full bar one space, that part was all alright! To be honest the Inspector (Paul Sergeant) was a pretty spot on bloke – He already had my paperwork so it really was a simple case of tying up the paperwork to the numbers on the car. Engine numbers ok, chassis number ok on engine cradle and then the additional chassis number stamped into the floor near the drivers seat – all ok! 

He asked me to go and wait for him as he went to do the paperwork. This took a good 10-15 minutes, but then he called me over to a spare window and proceeded to hand me all my details back and also to present me with my tax disc and reg details. 

I went to Halfords on the way home and picked up a rear number plate (I’d already decided that the front one had fallen off officer…), and then drove the rest of the way at a very sedate pace! 

That’s the final stage all over and done with! A brand new ’07 number plate – how chuffed was I?!? 

A quick post on locostbuilders when I arrived home and that was the end to what turned out (inspite it being a simple day) to be quite a tiring day! 

Picked up my uncles Audi in readiness for tomorrow. 

I received a phone call from my mate about his LandRover that I was going to be using to tow the car to the DVLA. His clutch had gone and on his 300Tdi that means an engine out job! 

I called my Uncle and asked him if I could borrow his Audi (2.8 V6 A4 Quattro Estate!) and he said that could borrow it the day after tomorrow! Cool – back on track! 

We gave the trailer a try and it was a complete success! It was a bit close going from the ramp to the bed of the trailer, this was due to the fact that the car is so low and this being a an agricultural trailer, the bed is pretty damn high up! 

The plan was to load up the car just the day before, but because it was a bit close we decided to leave it on, and take the trailer back to my mates farm with the car on it and leave it there until the 4^th. 

At the first DVLA appointment I was told that I needed the chassis number stamping on a part of the car that was not as easily removable as the current one (riveted on). So I borrowed the stamps that I used the first time and put the number on the floor inside near to the driver’s seat – in a similar place you’d see it on a Ford. 

Now that I knew that I had to take the car over to Chester, and despite it being legal if I’d driven to the SVA. And even legal to have driven back from it, irregardless of whether it was safe or not, now that the car has passed it’s SVA, and declared suitable for the road and safe to drive – it’s now NOT allowed to be driven to the DVLA! Typical of the rules and regulations of this country! 

I called a local trailer company and was told £40 per day, which isn’t the end of the world, but when you’re as skint as I am now I’ve nearly finished it’s a bit of a pain. Couple that with the fact that a late afternoon appointment might mean I would need it for two days and therefore £80, I decided to ask a mate of mine if I could borrow his trailer. The only problem with that is the fact that it’s a bit agricultural, and tall, so don’t know whether the car will get on it! We are going to give it a trial run this Saturday. 

I went to Chester DVLA today, and spoke to the inspector there. His name is Paul Sergeant and he seems to be a spot on bloke! He took the essential receipts (he was only bothered by my chassis and parts invoice/receipts, and the engine reconditioning receipt) and gave me the rest to take home! 

I am booked in for him to inspect the car on Wednesday 4^th April at 15.30, but he has told me to come slightly early as he doesn’t think it will take that long and I should be on my way!!! 

I received something else from MAC#1 today, it was an invoice so that all the receipts from them were complied into one, and something even more impressive! A Certificate of Newness, so that I could attempt to gain a brand new registration plate when I present it all to the DVLA. 

I also decided that it was about time that I fit the Clutch Bracket that I bought from Andy at AB Performance. It is quite a simple bit of kit, but very well thought out and you can tell that it has been designed and made with a deep experience of both Racing RGB’s and the Honda Fireblade engine! 

Because of the way that MAC#1 make they’re engine cradle, it made it impossible to just lift the clutch arm, so I had to remove the entire clutch cover. For this to be done I obviously had to drop the oil, but after doing that it was a simple case of undoing the bolts, swapping the control arms, and bolting it back up again. 

The other end of the cable did cause me a couple of extra problems though. I had to remove the terminated end, but then that left me without a way to join it to my pedal. I cannibalised the existing cable and mounted the hardware on the new one. It all seemed to work ok, and it already seems worth it as the clutch pedal now has nearly a full range of movement (as opposed to less than an inch previously!!!) and is so light that you can depress the pedal by hand! 

Woohoo, the exhaust arrived today from MAC#1. I was really pleased as this only leaves a few things left for them to still send to me!
 

I went to fit the rear box to the existing system, I had previously cleaned off all the exhaust putty that was left on from the MAC#1 CAT silencer used for the SVA, but to my dismay the new box and pipe was too long! I knew it was going to be slightly longer than the one previously fitted, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be this much longer! The cuts in the pipe (the ones which allow you to be tightened up with a clamp) were well past the bend that Col put into the existing system. Either way I wasn’t going to let this put me off, and so I cut the pipe to length and slid the box over it, and tightened the clamp up as tight as humanly possible to try to ensure a good fit, and seal.
 

Then it was just a case of securing the nut on the rear exhaust hanger.
There wasn’t much room so it was a case of a quarter turn at a time, so just sat down and got on with it!
 

Well at this point I would of liked to have said that I jumped in it, and started it up and listened to it purr, or growl as the case may be! But that was a bit tough since I had taken to carbs off to fit the TTS Dynojet Kit and was struggling a bit with them.
 

I posted a request for help on Locostbuilders and went back outside to take another look at them. I had previously already asked Bigrich for assistance with these as he had done them before, but this didn’t help at the time, as I had no Honda manual, so didn’t exactly know what each identifiable part was! Well, after looking at them over and over, it finally dawned on me where the “Float Bowls” were, so with the cover removed, certain parts of the jetting kit became more obvious. So just like anything else I started on the bits that were easy and the ones that were left made sense eventually – after I had sussed it all out, I nipped back to read a post that then confirmed that I’d done it all right, so that was a relief!
 

I called a couple more insurance companies in an attempt to get the premium lower still, and managed a small discount. I requested that the cover start on Thursday 30^th March as I knew that I would be nowhere near driving it on the road before then! 

I eventually went with Graham Sykes, with a “rebuild it myself” policy including Very restricted mileage details! 

I paid £339.25 

My most gorgeous and wonderful Girlfriend (or should I say Fiancée now!) gave me a call from her work to ask me if I’d bought anything today, and when I told her No, she just said that she had a surprise for me. I was at work before she arrived home, but when I got in, in the morning there was my car all tucked up nice and warm in a really cool Car Cover that she had bought from Argos. I was going to get a fitted one, but they are quite dear, so I thought it was a great gesture! 

Phoned round some insurance companies, and didn’t exactly get great news, but if that’s the price then I’ve got to pay it! 

I also received the pack from DVLA to start the registration process, but can’t complete that as I don’t have my insurance certificate yet, and also not yet received the certificate that I need from MAC#1. 

I removed the GSXR Mirrors and fitted the Carbon aeroscreen, then fitted the new Racetech Mirrors that I’d just bought from MAC#1 yesterday. 

Just a shame that I’m STILL waiting for the screen Pods from MAC#1 for the aeroscreen so it looks really unfinished. 

I am also still waiting for the exhaust pipe/silencer. It’s at times like this that I wish that Mark/Colin could sort out their delivery dates/times! They went from being absolute stars in helping me prepare for the SVA back to people who didn’t quite tell the truth regarding the delivery of my parts! At the end of the day, when you are promised parts on the date you collect the kit, yet don’t even have them AFTER you have finished the build, it’s not very good is it? 

19.03.07
 

The day of my SVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Woohoo, or holy crap! Hmm, which will it be by the end of the day I wonder?!?
I started out for Sheffield after dropping my girlfriend off at work at about 07.30, and I was planning on getting to MAC#1 for about 08.45, and so what time did I arrive – just gone 11.00! I was not impressed by the amount of traffic as I still had quite a few jobs to do!
 

And just to add to the great start to the day, Mark told me that there are a few more probs to work through before we leave. Namely: -
1.                   Speedo wasn’t working at all (very bad news)
2.                   Headlamps wired up (by me) incorrectly
3.                   Headlamps loose
4.                   All Pedals loose
5.                   “Boot lid” needs trimming and fitting
And a few other smaller bits and bobs…
 

So, without much choice I just got on with the jobs at hand, with a bit of help from Mark and Col. (when they weren’t working on Mark’s 944 to get it through an MOT as he’d sold it to a guy in France and he was collecting it Thursday!)
 

I swapped the wires round in the headlamps, it was the main and dipped that were vice versa, so apart from taking a few seconds too long prising the electrical connections out to ensure that they weren’t damaged it went relatively straight forward. I also tightened up the headlamps on the brackets, not mega tight, I left enough play so that they could be adjusted later on if they were mis-aligned.
 

I drilled a 12.5mm hole in the dash, just above the indicator switch, for the Fog light warning lamp whilst Mark looked at the wiring behind the dash to tap into and take the feed from. A few checks with a multimeter and he had located the correct one, tapped into it and wired up the bulb and it worked fine.
 

Whilst the back of the dash off I also removed the drivers footwell top panel to get to the pedal assembly. I tightened them all up and applied the double sided tape and then emery cloth to take the place of Non slip pedals for the SVA test. I placed non-slip stuff on all three of the pedals as per Mark’s instructions for the SVA, but the grip will be coming off the accelerator pedal as soon as it’s passed though!
 

The “Boot Lid” was a bit of a pain really as it was quite tight and therefore I couldn‘t just trim a bit and check it. Each time it had to be fully fitted round the roll bar support tubes. After a few trims and trial fitment it was close enough for the test, so we left it at that. I will remove it when it’s back at home and get it perfect and fitted securely.
 

Now for the Speedo… I was pretty confident in my wiring of this part of the build, so I just disconnected the Speedo Healer and then reconnected the Honda loom back together. Started the car (with the back wheels off the ground) and the Speedo was indeed registering, but with obviously no adjustment for accuracy or polarity.
Mark asked me what I wanted to do about it with regard the SVA. My response – Risk it! (wasn’t much of a choice for me really)
 

Now comes the really great news of the day so far! We were already pushing it for time so whilst Mark and I were working on the “Boot lid” Colin went to get the trailer from the lockup they store it in, next door to their business, only to find that it wasn’t there! One of the lads that works in the unit next door, who has borrowed the trailer before, thought it was fine to borrow it again without permission!
This was not good news. The owner of the business next door was very politely (?) told by Colin that it wasn’t on and so he offered the use of his 7.5 tonner and a driver for the afternoon!
Great err, how the hell were we going to load the car into the back of a lorry on that little tail lift??? So out come these ramps, which were virtually the exact length of the wheelbase of the car! Whilst on them, on the tail lift, it was like a damn seesaw! Reminded Colin of the coach in the “Italian Job” teetering over the edge!
 

So we eventually set off for the test centre (late!), Mark in the Lorry and me following in my car.
It was even more interesting unloading it at the station as there were fewer bodies to support the car from falling! Ah well, nevermind…
I drove the car from the carpark straight into the test bay and stopped where the tester told me too.
Hi name was Martin Bailey and apart from having a poorly toe and a bad cold, he was a pretty spot on bloke!
 

The test was pretty much as you’d imagine it – a thorough MOT type thing – no surprises really.
Martin asked for extra trim to be placed in a few places, which we did. And Mark assisted with the Emissions part of the test by balancing/tuning the Carbs (although he didn’t get to use his new tool – read Toy!) the engine was very smooth and passed well within the limits!
 

Just the brakes to go really, and apart from a slight difference between the two sides for the handbrake performance all was brilliant there too!
 

It was about this time that I started to feel a little excited, and Yes, he confirmed it, a first time pass!
Mark was pretty much as chuffed as I was!
It has been a long three months, but all the hard work in the freezing cold outside and all the rain and collapsed gazebos etc has paid off in this very instance!
 

The rest of the day wasn’t quite as exciting – we loaded the car back up and drove back over to Sheffield, and then drove on home.
A very long, yet rewarding day!

After a good few hours sleep, I arose and relaxed most of the day, went on Locostbuilders forum, and enjoyed Rich’s post of good wishes! Then just relaxed and drank a bit of vodka! 

Over to MAC#1 today and what a long day it was!
After finishing my 12-hour night shift at 6am I went home to change and shower and then left straight for Sheffield without so much as a wink of sleep!
 

Whilst working through the list of jobs and having a chat to the various MAC#1ers it struck me that they are a great bunch of guys. It’s a shame that I live too far away to get to “hang out” there once or twice rather than going over there and never having any time. I also had a look round Chris Woodwards K4 GSXR Worx Car and it really does look as good in real life as it does in the pictures!
 

Apart from a couple of sweets! All I had whilst there was a bottle of Redbull in the vain attempt to keep my energy whilst working through the jobs!
 

1.       Roll bar hole needs a nut/bolt placing in it and then covering
1a.  Removed the nylon bungs, placed in a 12mm bolt and put covers on
2.       All of front end nuts/bolts need covering
2a.  Left for now and will do Monday am
3.       Driveshafts need washers and tightening up (for some strange reason somewhere between getting them from the scrap-man via MAC#1 the washers disappeared)
3a.  Replaced with new washers and torqued up correctly
4.       Dash Clocks Radius needs to be 2.5mm – need to get some Hoover drive belts
4a.  Using an instant ‘O’ Ring kit I made some tight fitting rings to surround the Blade clocks, so that the radiused edge would pass the 2.5mm test
5.       Reflectors need fitting
5a.  Left until Monday am
6.       Front Grille needs fitting (I haven’t got it back from powder-coating yet)
6a.  Fitted into place with 6 6mm bolts/nuts
7.       Rear top back panel (F/G) - still not received from MAC#1
7a.  Cut to shape and Fitted by Colin – I didn’t even asked him to do it, he just cracked on to help as I was running out of time! Cheers Col!

8.       Harness bolts – still not received from MAC#1
8a.  Waiting from me ordered from Sabelt – Bolted into place in no time.

9.       Front Flexi Brake Line N/S needs tightening
9a.  Done.

10.   Gear Knob needs 2.5mm radius on top
10a. Smoothed off on the linisher belt and polished (a little bit) on the wire wheel.

11.   Speedo Healer and magnets need fitting and calibrating
11a. Magnets Araldited on and left to set until tested Monday am
12.   Dash needs securing (after Speedo Healer is fitted)
12a. Secured with bolts provided
13.   Fog Lamp bracket needs a 2.5mm radius round it
13a. Mark put a piece of sliced conduit round my bracket and secured with Zip-Ties

14.   Pedals are loose
14a. Left until Monday am
15.   Headlamps are loose
15a. Left until Monday am
16.   No non-slip grip on pedals – still not received from MAC#1
16a. I took some canvas backed emery cloth, and fitted it onto the pedals with double sided tape

17.   Ignition bracket needs 2.5mm radius round it
17a. U-trimmed and fine
18.   One-way valve needed on fuel tank breather
18a. I bought one from a pet shop for a fish tank, and Mark fitted while I was on something else.

19.   SVA compatible unleaded restrictor needed in fuel filler
19a. Colin inserted a correctly sized washer type thing into the fuel filler neck
20.   Mudguard brackets – still not received from MAC#1
20a. Removed wheels, and with Colin’s help/advice got the brackets bolted into place. I wanted to put the bend in the brackets myself but Colin was one step ahead of me, I didn’t mind too much because I knew he’d do a good job.

21.   Front arches (can only fit after mudguard brackets)
21a. Wurth adhesive’d in place
22.   Diff needs to be filled with oil
22a. Forgot the Oil, and couldn’t get the drain plug out so left until Monday am
23.   Exhaust needs to be made (by MAC#1) and fitted
23a. Col made an excellent job of the exhaust. It really is an attractive looking well welded, evenly length-ed, right length primary secondary exhaust!

24.   Cut out side panel for exhaust
24a. Already done by Col so that he could make the exhaust – it was a bit close and needs a bit of trimming as it is burning a bit where the exhaust is closest.

Well, with most of the jobs done or at least looked at and attempted it was about time to do one! I left MAC#1 at 16.40 and arrived at work at exactly 18.00 and so clocked on for another 12-hour nightshift! Yep, 4 hours sleep in 4 days, and I was well and truly Cream-Crackered by 6am Sunday morning!
 

I spent the time, just before going to work for my last night, compiling all the parts and stuff needed to take over to MAC#1 with me.
 

1.       All U trim
2.       All nuts/bolts needed
3.       Nut/bolt head Covers
4.       Grille
5.       Speedo Healer
6.       Magnets
7.       Araldite
8.       One-way valve
9.       Instant O-Ring pieces for Speedo/Rev Counter
10.   Reflectors
11.   Blue Air Hose (for any additional edging protection
12.   Diff Oil
13.   Grip Tape for Pedals
14.   Black Wurth Adhesive
15.   Driveshaft Washers
16.   Bulb for Stop/Tail
 

I think that’s it really, hopefully anything forgotten will be provided by MAC#1, and I will replace it with my own at a later date.
 

I am also going to take back a few things that I have not used in the build, to get my money back. But since I will be buying a few things when I go over there, I will be taking more money rather than getting any back!

Did nothing on the car again today (a bit obvious really as it’s not here!), apart from I picked up my newly powder-coated Grille from my good friend and awesome car builder in his own right – Trevor Farrington. It looks pretty cool in Satin Black, and should be quite a bit more hardy than just plain painting, and not only that but because the grille is aluminium it would require etch priming first, and I don’t have any of that! 

I also used my time constructively(?) by getting a tattoo by Paul Naylor of Indigo Tattoo, it is of a logo/design by H.R Giger – the designer of the Alien from film Aliens! It is an awesome tattoo for a variety of reasons – but I won’t go on as it has no business here! 

I spoke to Mark today and he talked me through a list that he has made after going over the car properly. The following list is mostly his and a few points of my own: -
 

1.       Roll bar hole needs a nut/bolt placing in it and then covering
2.       All of front end nuts/bolts need covering
3.       Driveshafts need washers and tightening up (for some strange reason somewhere between getting them from the scrap-man via MAC#1 the washers disappeared)
4.       Dash Clocks Radius needs to be 2.5mm – need to get some Hoover drive belts
5.       Reflectors need fitting
6.       Front Grille needs fitting (I haven’t got it back from powder-coating yet)
7.       Rear top back panel (F/G) - still not received from MAC#1
8.       Harness bolts – still not received from MAC#1
9.       Front Flexi Brake Line N/S needs tightening
10.   Gear Knob needs 2.5mm radius on top
11.   Speedo Healer and magnets need fitting and calibrating
12.   Dash needs securing (after Speedo Healer is fitted)
13.   Fog Lamp bracket needs a 2.5mm radius round it
14.   Pedals are loose
15.   Headlamps are loose
16.   No non-slip grip on pedals – still not received from MAC#1
17.   Ignition bracket needs 2.5mm radius round it
18.   One-way valve needed on fuel tank breather
19.   SVA compatible unleaded restrictor needed in fuel filler
20.   Mudguard brackets – still not received from MAC#1
21.   Front arches (can only fit after mudguard brackets)
22.   Diff needs to be filled with oil
23.   Exhaust needs to be made (by MAC#1) and fitted
24.   Cut out side panel for exhaust
 

The above is a list that I will have to work through on Saturday (17.03.07) morning when I go over to see them, I will have to do all of the jobs in that morning as the car is booked for it’s SVA test @ 13.30 Monday (19.03.07)! It has come round quite quickly it seems and I am now a tad cautious as to whether I will finish it all properly and get it through it’s SVA!
 

I’ve had the kit for approximately 3 months, and in that time I have had a few setbacks. From waiting for parts from MAC#1, and trying to source the correct driveshafts, and then the weather playing a part in tearing down the covering I started out with in the form of a couple of Gazebos… I reckon that I could of knocked a month off this time relatively easily if I was building inside a garage, and if I had all the parts when I was told I was getting them. I am, however, still pleased with the progress that I made, and think that its quite a good build time for my first build!

I spoke to Mark today and he talked me through a list that he has made after going over the car properly. The following list is mostly his and a few points of my own: -
 

1.       Roll bar hole needs a nut/bolt placing in it and then covering
2.       All of front end nuts/bolts need covering
3.       Driveshafts need washers and tightening up (for some strange reason somewhere between getting them from the scrap-man via MAC#1 the washers disappeared)
4.       Dash Clocks Radius needs to be 2.5mm – need to get some Hoover drive belts
5.       Reflectors need fitting
6.       Front Grille needs fitting (I haven’t got it back from powder-coating yet)
7.       Rear top back panel (F/G) - still not received from MAC#1
8.       Harness bolts – still not received from MAC#1
9.       Front Flexi Brake Line N/S needs tightening
10.   Gear Knob needs 2.5mm radius on top
11.   Speedo Healer and magnets need fitting and calibrating
12.   Dash needs securing (after Speedo Healer is fitted)
13.   Fog Lamp bracket needs a 2.5mm radius round it
14.   Pedals are loose
15.   Headlamps are loose
16.   No non-slip grip on pedals – still not received from MAC#1
17.   Ignition bracket needs 2.5mm radius round it
18.   One-way valve needed on fuel tank breather
19.   SVA compatible unleaded restrictor needed in fuel filler
20.   Mudguard brackets – still not received from MAC#1
21.   Front arches (can only fit after mudguard brackets)
22.   Diff needs to be filled with oil
23.   Exhaust needs to be made (by MAC#1) and fitted
24.   Cut out side panel for exhaust
 

The above is a list that I will have to work through on Saturday (17.03.07) morning when I go over to see them, I will have to do all of the jobs in that morning as the car is booked for it’s SVA test @ 13.30 Monday (19.03.07)! It has come round quite quickly it seems and I am now a tad cautious as to whether I will finish it all properly and get it through it’s SVA!
 

I’ve had the kit for approximately 3 months, and in that time I have had a few setbacks. From waiting for parts from MAC#1, and trying to source the correct driveshafts, and then the weather playing a part in tearing down the covering I started out with in the form of a couple of Gazebos… I reckon that I could of knocked a month off this time relatively easily if I was building inside a garage, and if I had all the parts when I was told I was getting them. I am, however, still pleased with the progress that I made, and think that its quite a good build time for my first build!

I was really missing working on the car today!!! 

So much so that I brushed the yard, and then scrubbed it with bleach! And then I took the scaffolding down that has been providing me with shelter! It wasn’t an easy job on my own, but just fancied having a go… 

I personally didn’t do anything on the car today. Apart from to get it out of the yard at the back of my house – a bit of challenge on its own! 

Both Mark and Colin showed up after midday to collect the car. It was loaded onto their trailer and then whisked away to its new temporary home of MAC#1 in Sheffield. It will be there for about a week, to have its exhaust made, and then will remain there until (pencilled in date of Monday 19^th May – one week away – aaargh!) after SVA. 

I had a little overspray on the car from painting various parts, so before I could apply the stickers I had ordered, I cleaned the whole thing with panel wipe and then gave it a once over with polish. 

It was then a case of placing the stickers in the perfect spots and then applying them. They were pretty easy to do, but were a little tricky when I needed to cut out around something as they were quite big and I definitely benefited from a second pair of hands! But all on fine albeit with a few air bubbles in them, but I’ll sort those when its back from MAC#1 and I have a bit more time. I have to admit, seeing it with the stickers on makes me feel quite good, and is definitely one of those cases of a “finishing touch” to the look of the car! 

I fitted the wheels with the only nuts that I had – off the donor Sierra. There was a couple missing and I couldn’t tighten them up properly as they would just dig through the softer alloy of the wheel. I didn’t have much choice – I have been waiting for a set of lightweight alloy wheel nuts from MAC#1 for about as long as I’ve been waiting for the mudguard brackets! Ah well, once again – you live and learn don’t you… 

I also went round the car and wrote a list of all the things left to do. 

Well I made the first of three lists that I was going to have to make over the next few days, and tried my best to work through the list today! 

I was once again joined by my “helping pair of hands” friend, Dave Ollier, and after explaining a few of my intended jobs to him, we cracked on… 

Making of the “boot lid” panel was relatively straight forward, but like most things when you don’t want to screw them up, it took a couple of goes opening up the holes further and further until they fit properly. Once I’d got the holes for the roll bar supports lined up, I positioned the fuel filler in between the support and where I thought that the Fibreglass panel (that still hasn’t arrived from MAC#1) would fit – obviously without the panel this was guesswork, so I hope it fits! I also put some slits in it from the “inside” to the holes cut for the supports – these would allow me to slide the panel over the support bars. I made the cuts with the thinnest blade I had – an 18 teeth hacksaw blade – this was in the vain hope that it wouldn’t show up as a cut in it too much. 

I made some support brackets for the panel so that it wouldn’t flex and whip around in the wind. I was just going to rivet in some flat aluminium strip, but I thought that I would do it a little different and have the panel sitting as flush with the top of the Rear Panel. To attain the correct height I purchased 2 metres of aluminium angle from a B&Q superstore place, the size was 15 x 20mm. I held a piece of 20 x 20mm box in one hand and the angle in the other and was shocked at the difference in weight! So in spite of the box being a lot easier to fir, I thought I would get the angle, and just used small pieces of it in opposite angles to create a support and riveted them on. Three in total, and they seem to support the boot lid panel ok – they’ll obviously be even better when secured permanently, but I can only do that when I’ve got the fibreglass piece. 

I wasn’t fully confident in the hose clamp I’d placed on the fuel line immediately after leaving the tank, as I think I heard a slight click when tightening it up. So I replaced that and was a bit happier! 

Whilst I was hanging round underneath the back end I decided to finish off all the tightening of the suspension bolts, with the car so low to the ground it was bit of a pain, but straightforward nevertheless. Just should have done it when I first put them on, but because I had problems sourcing driveshafts I just left them until later. 

I am using the mirrors off a GSXR600 SRAD bike for the SVA – I will purchase a pair of Racetech mirrors for the car when I have passed SVA and have the carbon aeroscreen, and mount them directly to that. 

I sat in the drivers’ seat and with second pair of hands place the mirrors in roughly the right place to see behind. I don’t know how much I need to see for SVA, but the mirrors were quite good really. So after ensuring they were relatively in the right place – I marked, drilled and mounted them. 

The next job on my list was to fill the brake system with fluid and bleed the system. This was the obvious point where any leaks would become obvious! And yes, there was one – at the bottom rear of the master cylinder where the hose to the rear brakes is situated, was leaking slightly. I tightened it up and checked the others - they were fine. I placed a fresh piece of blue tissue under again to check if it leaked again but it was fine this time round. 

I guess describing the bleeding of the brakes is relatively redundant on here, as most will have done it before at some point. The only differences are that the rear calipers, which are mounted the wrong way round on the car, need to be removed and bled off their mounts. So I held them up as high as I could with the bleed nipple to the top, held a brake disc in place and proceeded from there. The other difference is that I bled them twice. Once to fully flush the system and remove any swarf etc and a second time to ensure all air is completely out. 

I remounted the calipers on the spacers I made and tightened them up, fitting the discs back on the hubs at the appropriate time. 

It was at this stage that I was able to fit the handbrake cable to the rear calipers. I removed the handbrake and the device behind it that the cable is wrapped around. Removed the split pin and was left with just the cable. I cut the cable and then pulled either side of it round the device, overlapping each other and then secured with some cable clamps I managed to find. I only measured where I thought it was, but I also fitted them with the adjustment of the cable at its minimum. When I tested the handbrake (after refitting it), it engaged ok (just) but was at its full reach. I’ll just unwind the plastic adjustment behind the rear panel and it will be fine. 

I wanted to have a better way of getting cold air into my engine bay, both to aid under bonnet temperatures and to enable more clean air to get to the airfilter. So I cut out the mound on the front face of the bonnet bulge. I had a piece of aluminium with really small grill pattern left over from doing the exhaust vents on my bike, but it wasn’t long enough to stretch over the entire gap, so then I got to thinking whether I should put one upright “bridge” in it or two uprights. This led me on to one of my less sensible ideas… cutting the word WORX into the fibreglass. I don’t know why I did this, I knew that it was never going to be perfect but that made it even worse – I had to give it a go, well here’s the result. I’m not happy with it, but its ok for now. 

I have been receiving some more wiring advice (lets face it – if anyone needs it it’s me!) from Chris (aka zxrlocost on LB Forum), he has had a look at existing wiring diagram to try to help me with the last (I hope) of my wiring problems The Dreaded Hazard Warning System!!! Well, after following some instructions on testing the switch itself and then of wiring up the Honda Flasher relay with a permanent live instead of a ignition live. I then modified the existing system I had by removing the 2^nd relay and feeding the indicator switch from both sides of the savage switch via two diodes, with the Pin 2 (on both sides) feeding the power to the centre of the indicator toggle. Tested it – all worked fine first time! Chris was an absolute star, not least because he passed me all his phone numbers and he never made me feel like I was bothering him! 

So with that done I was left little time to do anything else. The only other thing I did was to remove the harness bolts from the top of the fitted one, and used them to install the passenger harness at the bottom. Obviously I am still in need of 4 bolts, but this way enables me to bolt in the inaccessible ones, And the seats, leaving the easy top ones until I eventually receive them from MAC#1. 

It’s getting exceedingly closer and closer to the date of MAC#1 coming to pick up the car to take it back over to Sheffield for the fitment of the exhaust, but it seems like I’m getting nowhere with the list of jobs that I’ve got left… I know I’m in work at the moment, and do virtually nothing on the car as it’s 12-hour nights, but I still feel like I should be doing a bit more! 

I did do one thing today which put a smile on my face! 

When I finished work at 6am I went to get some petrol. When I awoke at midday, I had no excuse but to put it back in my recently re-fitted tank. I double-checked all the hose connections that I had released – all fine. 

Then it was time to remove the plugs from the engine – I removed the leads and took out the old plugs, then with the fuel pump turned off I turned the engine over for about 30-40seconds until the oil pressure warning light had gone out. Then I turned on the secondary interrupter for the fuel pump. Put in a new set of plugs, and re-attached the leads, turned on the ignition and hit the Start button! The engine turned over for about a minute with nothing much, so I increased the pressure on the adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Turned it over for another minute and it sounded as if it was trying a bit more. So I left it for a minute then tried it again, this time with a bit of choke, it was nearly there! Another 10 seconds and blahBLAHblahBLAh – Yes, the completely un-silenced disharmonious sound of my engine running without an exhaust! I was quite pleased but didn’t let it run for too long, just in case! I was a little relieved as the engine was an unknown quantity to me – it was bought from ebay locally. 

Ah well, enough mist eyed-ness, back to the real world. I retrieved my brake bleeding kit (a hose and a jar) from my parents house, so am all set for when someone can give me a hand to bleed the brakes – the kit is actually a one man bleed kit, but it just doesn’t work that well… 

Back to something a little more sombre (for me anyway), the completion of the wiring loom. I have been having problems with the hazard switch – it plain just wasn’t working. I followed Rich’s diagrams and instructions but nothing. Whilst speaking to Mark, he said that he changed Rich’s himself, and just to try it his way. So he sent me a mini loom diagram, but then sent me a second one saying the first was wrong. In the meantime I had been speaking to Chris (zxrlocost on locostbuilders), he is yet another really helpful chap! He said that he’d have a look at my diagram for me, and gave me a few suggestions just to test stuff. He suggested a way that was quite similar to Marks so I started to give that a go. I rewired the switch and just used the one (Honda) relay, changing the +ve into the relay from a switched live to a permanent 12v. I just have to finish it off and test it tomorrow. 

Not much today either to be honest – another wet & cold one! I did get the Harnesses out to have a look at fitting them. But I couldn’t remember which way round Mark, from MAC#1, told me to put the spacers in relation to the mounts. So I went to get out the second harness to compare them (the first one was the one that Mark gave me from the display so wasn’t factory new) and guess what? Yep, no bolts at all in this one! I called MAC#1 and told them this, only to be told that I was wrong. I really don’t like this approach by pretty much anyone, but this is the third time it’s happened – I’ve never even opened the damn package so I’d rather someone didn’t tell me I was wrong before actually finding certain things out. It was the same story the other two times – being told I’m wrong before knowing about it! 

Anyway, enough complaining for now! I started to mount the harnesses and seats, but there was a small problem – the seat bracket is in the way of the newly placed harness bolts, so I whipped the seat out again and trimmed the rear of the base bracket down and popped it back in. It was then fine. 

I positioned and marked out where the seats are going to go. Then drilled, and checked they fit OK. 

That’s all for today – it was a bit wet and cold though!!! 

I made up the remaining internal Aluminium panels, it was a relatively simple job, but was a bit easier with the extra pair of hands of my mate Dave again! I also trimmed to size the tunnel top panel, using a piece of textured black plastic, again an easy job, with just the holes for handbrake and gear lever cut in it. 

I went round various pieces of wiring, and added a couple of extra zip ties here and there, making sure that everything was fully 100% secure – I also made sure the wiring for the speed sensor was secure as this was put in after the rest of the loom. 

I spoke to MAC#1, and they said that they finally had some mudguard brackets made up, and would send them out to me. But when I asked when would I receive them, they then told me it would be delayed once again, because even though they’re ready – they still need to be powder coated! 

I tightened up all engine bolts, don’t know why I didn’t do it before – apart from the fact that I was never convinced that the engine was in there to stay! 

I also tightened up all the Brake Unions, this also wasn’t done previously as I thought that I may need to mess around with them again! 

I finished off wiring the rear loom, the near side indicators and stop/tail lamps were done today, and completed by wrapping both sides in insulation tape.

I unbolted the driveshafts from the uprights and then bolted them back together, this time with the Rear Brake Plates in place!

The calipers need a spacer to get them out to the right distance to mate up with the disc.
I bolted the caliper carrier temporarily into place and held a brake disc in place, slid in a couple of pads and measured the distance between them.
I found some hexagonal elongated nut type things that seemed suited to the job, but at 30mm they were a bit too long! I turned four of these elongated nuts down on a lathe to the required 21.5mm, and then just smoothed off any burrs.
I’ll check them tomorrow and fit them if I get a chance.

I went out with the full intention to do couple of jobs on the car, but the sun was shining and in spite of it being a bit cold, I decided to take my Bike out for a spin instead! 

The roads weren’t the grippiest, so I just went out for an hour or so. 

With not much time left I just did one or two things… 

I fitted the terminations to the wires for the rear plugs for both the indicator and stop/tail lights, but only on the driver’s side. 

I put the seats into place where I thought they should go, and just as yesterday I placed the brackets so that the driver seat was where I wanted and the passenger seat was set further back. 

I didn’t get chance to drill and fit these yet, but since I haven’t completed the interior panels I couldn’t anyway! 

I called Andy at AB Performance again, and once again he was a star on the phone – I needed an exhaust stud and nut since I was missing one from the engine I bought. 

I also asked him about a clutch cable and he told me of a bracket that he’s designed for the 919 engine. He is going to make one for me and send it out. Top Bloke! 

Once again work tonight so that’s all for now! 

I put together the seat base brackets that are made up of Aluminium angle and flat bar. I took my time with this, as I wasn’t next to my car when I did it, so hope my measurements are relatively accurate. I positioned the drivers side, pretty much where I wanted it, but set the passenger side quite a bit further back to help with weight distribution for when there is a passenger on-board. 

I made a start on the wiring up of the rear lamp plugs. I wasn’t entirely sure if I could wire them up any old way, so posted a question on locostbuilders and got the answer I thought so cracked on with it. 

I didn’t have a lot of time on the car though as I was back in work for my first of four nights on again. So I thought I would pack up early and post a picture of my progress on locostbuilders, and I received some really good and encouraging comments, which at least gave me a smile to go into work with (don’t worry on 12-hour nights it soon disappeared!) 

I marked drilled and fitted the No. Plate Lamp on the Rear Panel. Same with the Fog Lamp, but instead of drilling the Rear Panel for it I made a small bracket (primed and painted it), as this might have a little accident and fall off after the SVA…