quote:Originally posted by 40inches
May I suggest that you cut a panel out from the top of the pedal side of the bulkhead panel, if you ever need to get to the pedals you will be glad
you did
quote:Originally posted by roadrunner
Great build thread. Glad you are nearly there.
Can I make one suggestion.
Bloody hurry up
Need to see it finished.
Both excellent suggestions
The pedal access hatch may be a post IVAfuture upgrade...in the interests of getting the build finished (the list of future upgrades is getting quite
long!)
I'm getting as much done as I can in three weeks when our baby's due (trying to convince the wife that babies sleep a lot so I can get
garage time in then doesn't seem to be working lol)
quote:Originally posted by christim
I'm getting as much done as I can in three weeks when our baby's due (trying to convince the wife that babies sleep a lot so I can get
garage time in then doesn't seem to be working lol)
[Edited on 18/5/21 by christim]
Is it your first? If you're lucky my experience has been this is essentially true, the first few months are the time when you can still get
stuff done - and small babies really don't do much apart from sleep and eat. Once they start to move and do more, well - you might find that
more interesting than playing with cars!
Yep our first...due on 8th June, not long now!
Hopefully you're right and the little one does lots of sleeping, at least long enough to get the car finished - this year sometime!??
quote:Originally posted by 40inches
May I suggest that you cut a panel out from the top of the pedal side of the bulkhead panel, if you ever need to get to the pedals you will be glad
you did
quote:Originally posted by roadrunner
Great build thread. Glad you are nearly there.
Can I make one suggestion.
Bloody hurry up
Need to see it finished.
Both excellent suggestions
The pedal access hatch may be a post IVAfuture upgrade...in the interests of getting the build finished (the list of future upgrades is getting quite
long!)
I'm getting as much done as I can in three weeks when our baby's due (trying to convince the wife that babies sleep a lot so I can get
garage time in then doesn't seem to be working lol)
[Edited on 18/5/21 by christim]
Most IVA testers will want to see your pedals so it might be easier to save a potential fail do sort one pre IVA.
quote:Originally posted by christim
I'm getting as much done as I can in three weeks when our baby's due (trying to convince the wife that babies sleep a lot so I can get
garage time in then doesn't seem to be working lol)
[Edited on 18/5/21 by christim]
Is it your first? If you're lucky my experience has been this is essentially true, the first few months are the time when you can still get
stuff done - and small babies really don't do much apart from sleep and eat. Once they start to move and do more, well - you might find that
more interesting than playing with cars!
Agree with JPS that you get a bit of a lul post-birth (depending on your feeding/sleeping/working arrangements) and actually, based on my experience
of 2, having a normally full-time partner on maternity leave for best part of a year actually makes life easier! However, they don't get
interesting IMO until you get a bit of decent spoken feedback which based on my 2 was at about 2years.
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
Right folks, update time. Since my daughter came along (May 2021, my last update here...time has flown!) I'm down to around 4 hours a week (read:
nap times at weekends) and the odd day off work.
I've managed to get a fair bit done though, lots of pics, so i'll break this update up into two parts.
Part 1, Headrests, Gaiters, and Dashboard
The headrests fit into the rollbar spaces, making sure everything's IVA compliant (gap less than 50mm, height above 'R' over 700mm)
They have a plywood mount with foam covered by vinyl.
The rhs spine lets me get a flexi screwdriver in to screw the top on to the rollbar once all the padding and covers are in place
Firing up the sewing machine...all vinyl sewn for the headrests and gaiters
Here's the centre console. Sorry no pic of it the right way up (you'll see it in place later on). But this is how it secures to the
car...The metal plate is screwed to the wooden console, and there's holes in the metal plate where bolts are accessed from the handbrake and
gearstick gaps. These then bolt it all on to the car
Moving on the the dashboard (centre console in place). I started with making a cardboard template and offering it up to the scuttle. Then made an mdf
template for the router to trace out the shape into plywood (I did it this way as there were multiple layers with different cuts in each layer), like
so:
Putting some t-nuts in, this is how it's secured to the scuttle
Next on the the woodwork, using Sepele wood. I went for this to get the classic wooden interior look I'm after, but something like a walnut burl
would be taking it a bit too far I reckon. Sepele has just the right amount of detailing, and stains really well
How's that for accuracy!
Cup holders!
You can't really see it, but the centre dash is book-leaved
And this is the glove box
Finally the dash was covered in vinyl, and all put together. (For the past few years I've been looking for any deals on magnolia smiths dials,
and picking them up whenever there's a bargain...They're not cheap)
Part 2...bonnet, windscreen - and bits you have to do when you have a windscreen
So first, I've hinged the bonnet and added gas struts, locating pins, and Aerocatch quick release locks (mind you, with the struts pushing down
it's already very tightly closed! This bonnet is definitely not flying off anywhere)
Now the windscreen. Firstly, I made a frame to fit under the scuttle and fix onto the chassis, so the windscreen actually bolts onto this and
doesn't use the scuttle for any support at all. After this pic was taken I'd added all the brackets for the windscreen to bolt on to
Making sure to add the wiper motor early to check I had clearance
The uprights are made from stainless steel strips, welded (then ground, sanded, and polished)
On to the windscreen frame. I used standard 3/4 x 3/4 aluminium channel. To get the radiused edges I used a router with a normal concave bit. It
worked fine, but this pic doesn't do justice to the amount of aluminium shavings that got everywhere!!
Out with the MDF again to make the windscreen template
And bending the aluminium around the template
The bottom windscreen channel was actually much harder to make. There's no way to bend it into a concave template (at least the stuff I was
using, it's too strong to get into those tight curves, even after heating)
I ended up getting the metal bender out and using that instead. A bit of trial and error, bending, straightening, and eventually I got it good
enough
Here's the frame offered up, ready to have the bolt holes drilled through it and the uprights
It's a landrover defender glass...bit nervous about cutting it but actually really easy to do! straight lines anyway. Curves not so much. I tried
and failed, so the windscreen is cut into a rectangle. This leaves a gap in the bottom edges, which I'll cover somehow
With the windscreen in place I could then work on the wiper setup. Followed David Jenkin's excellent guide for some pointers
Also to make sure the wiper wheel boxes and air vents were really secure I made a sheet steel reinforcing plate
Everything done and in place, I could then add the rubber trim and wipers
On the inside, back to the wood for the air vent louvres
And heating vents. Got to play with my latest toy, a 3d-printer...I used it to make some vent flanges (And already making a list of other parts I can
make for the build)
And putting it all together. You'll see I've extended the carpet up, to hide the gap behind the dash and mount the vents to. I figure if I
have to have a heater it may as well keep my feet warm
And that's where I'm up to! well, I'm currently fitting the electrics. Hopefully not another year before my next update
(Oh and also, the side runners made from aluminium channel covered in same material as boot, with countersunk bolts)
One step closer. The past few months I've been working on the electrics:
First thing I did was fabricate a battery/heater air filter box, with holes cut in the base so air's drawn in from the passenger footwell.
I'll pipe the air from here to the radiator fan
Also I cut a hole for the fusebox
With the battery and fusebox installed I know where I need to wire from/to
The next few weeks was spent unpicking the Sierra loom and Mondeo Engine loom, labelling each wire, following wiring diagrams, etc. I put all the
wires in place first so I could find the correct length needed for each, then out with the wire cutters and cut all to length. I added connectors
& wired everything up, to make sure all was working correctly. Then fault finding, fixing, and retesting
Once everything was working as expected, I cable tied and pulled all the wiring out, then got wrapping. Behind the dashboard is all wrapped in fabric
insulation tape, and everywhere else is wrapped in fabric, then put in conduit, and the conduit's then wrapped in plastic insulation tape. May be
overkill, but it's all definitely protected and not going anywhere!
With that done I installed the finished loom for the last time, securing in place with p-clips and cable ties where appropriate
Here's under the scuttle, with ECU in place (you can also see on the left the bracket I made for the OBD reader)
The dashboard wiring is separate for ease of attaching/removing the dashboard
It attaches to the connectors on the main loom (loose wires are for the PATS antenna, to be finished when I make a steering column shroud)
Engine bay all neatly clipped down
The headlight wiring goes into the chassis headlight stalk and through into the engine bay
For the side indicators I drilled into the headlight bowl and added slimline side indicators
Transmission tunnel wiring, where I 3d-printed a splitter which attaches to the different sized conduit
Conduit then goes on to the back with wiring connected to fuel pumps, reg light, rear lights clusters etc. Those aren't installed yet I'll
do them when the rear arches are on. Putting that task off for as long as possible, as soon as they're on I'm going to have v.limited space
to work in the garage!
Next step is inlet manifold modifications...should only take a few hours. Finding those free hours is getting harder though, with the little one now
2. She's keen to 'help' though
Been a busy few months but still managing to get stuff done. Here's the inlet manifold and extra bits done on the driver's side...basically
anything I can do on this side of the car before I have to pull it out to get to the other side...The garage is getting pretty cramped so there
won't be much space to move around once I've pulled the car out.
I'm using a GBS inlet plenum, so first step was to plane away the inlet flange from the OEM inlet:
I also had to re-fit the fuel rail. I'd turned it around so the outlets were pointing to to back, but the plenum gets in the way if the rail is
that way round. So now the outlet points forward again. I bent some copper pipe all sorts of weird shapes around the various corners so now the outlet
can connect back up to the fuel pipe coming out of the transmission tunnel again:
And I covered the pipe in conduit:
Next I want to keep the Idle Control Valve in the correct setup...meaning it needs to be mounted after the throttle but still taking air from after
the Mass Airflow Sensor. Did some research and a sensible solution seems to be mounting it at the plenum entrance as described
<here>. Only I need an inlet to the IACV that connects to the
inlet air.
I designed and 3d-printed this part, which does the job nicely!:
Test version
And here's the part mounted (bolts go through into the plenum with lock nuts on the through bolts:
Next to the air filter, which is being mounted as far forward as it can go (i.e. in the only space available!). To do this I made up two mounting
bars:
And attached the air filter to the MAF sensor, then mounted to the chassis using those bars:
With that, I could connect the two ends together and finish the inlet. Here it is with the pipe installed:
I got a t section from AutoSiliconeHoses to connect the IACV pipe to:
Staying in the engine bay, I made a mount for the washer canister:
Getting a bit tight on space now!:
And routed the washer fluid pipes via the hinge at the bottom of the nose cone, up and into the bonnet:
I also made a mount for the oil catch can:
Catching oil from both the crankcase breather and rocker cover breather:
And final job in the engine bay for now, adding a view/access point for the pedal...thank you to those who suggested.
It has a rubber seal around the hole and held down with Dzus fasteners:
Update time
Good progress made over the past few months, especially the past two weeks I took off work - child in nursery mon-fri - so I've got a lot done.
Made a list of everything needed to finish, and on track to have it done by Easter (THIS year!).
Starting with a couple of minor things:
I made the front grille, started by laying out the roll and weighing down the template I cut, then used tipex to mark where to cut
Then cut this out, added flanges to pull it tight onto the nosecone, and added rubber trim
Here it is in place
Next was to finish the fuel tank. I've now mounted it on rubber trim to stop the vibrations (it's earthed). Here's my solution for
expansion/fumes...filled an oil catch can with activated charcoal
and mounted it in place, with a non-return/anti roll valve and making sure the pipe is the highest point in the system
Now on to the exhaust. First the manifold...Ideally I wanted stainless steel, the cat inside, and a single exit in the side panel (as the bonnet has a
metal frame meaning the exhaust can't go through there without stopping the bonnet being opened). After much searching I found this from Gravity
Performance, and it fits perfectly, with about 10mm space between the top of the bonnet
The rest of the pipework I could do myself, so ordered various stainless straights, curves, and a turbo flange to mount to the manifold, then welded
it all up
Here I've already welded a straight and a curve together, then polished down...to test my stainless steel welding. Looks good so the rest could
be welded up too. Added a resonator too hoping that will help reduce some Db when it comes to IVA
And now the exhaust in place
For mounting the exhaust, I made a bracket and welded this on to the silencer
I'm not happy with the mount itself...it sits too low (the lowest point on the car by quite a bit). It wouldn't be long before it gets
knocked off on a speed bump, so will make a version 2.0
Time for the side panels to be cut to their final shape. I'd always been trying to keep as little cut off as possible, with holes for each
wishbone arm, suspension, etc. But in the end I had so many holes it made sense to just cut the whole lot away. I think in the end it looks much
neater though so not regretting the decision
Lastly the exhaust hole
Taken a few tips from other builds: With a stainless steel (bin!) cut up to shape and wrapped in heat reflective tape, and kunifer brake pipe used to
trim the edge and keep Mr IVA happy
I have the rear wheel assembly all done, handbrake cable in, and fixing the side panels...so won't be too long before the next update
On the home stretch now! I'm guesstimating finished by Easter at this rate. Here's what I've ticked off the list since the last
update:
I 3d printed a tube to go from the air filter box to the heater unit. It's an odd shape so the 3d printing really came in handy for this.
Here's what I designed
The part being printed
And finally the part on the car
Next some side trim was made up of aluminium bar wrapped in green vinyl to mount onto the side panel arches
And seat belt mount covers, so they're IVA complaint (hopefully). Cut out the patterns and it was out with the sewing machine again
they fit ok too, I was worried they'd look really out of place, but think they blend in nicely actually. Here they are along with the trim added
to the side arch
On to the dashboard and getting the last bits done so it can be attached permanently to the scuttle. I attached wire to the glove box, and a
push-release button, which needed another 3d printed part to mount it at the correct height to work magnetically with the latch
I made some bezels for the heater and light controls, using the same wood as the interior (Sepele) I cut, routed, and lathed them down to shape
You can see here how the older wood has already aged to more of a red colour. the bezels should blend in better once they darken too. The dash is now
permanently attached.
Pedals are also now on with their grip (sandpaper) attached
Looking good, just one observation on your windscreen, it has to have the manufacturers mark etched in the glass or between layers, it looked as
though you may have cut it off, I hope not.
quote:Originally posted by Schrodinger
Looking good, just one observation on your windscreen, it has to have the manufacturers mark etched in the glass or between layers, it looked as
though you may have cut it off, I hope not.
Yep all good...made sure to keep the e mark. While we're on the subject this brings me on to a couple more quick updates:
Back when I cut the glass I had problems cutting the concave curve at the bottom, so ended up with a straight edge. This means there's a gap in
the corners
So back to the 3d printer to make some blanks to fit over the gap
With some dome-headed bolts behind the windscreen screwing into the front blanking plate
Sticking with the windscreen, the wipers are now on. The arms needed twisting so they lay correctly on the glass, and I've pulled the springs
apart slightly as they were too tight. Works a treat now
Also I finished the bonnet aerocatches, extending the bolt/rod and making a housing for them to slot into. (Although now I have to remember to unlatch
them every time I need to get into the engine bay)
Lastly I finished the steering wheel surround. It's good enough but will only be temporary until a post-IVA upgrade of the steering wheel
setup
Left on the to-do list (in order):
Finish exhaust mount v2.0
Rear lights
Front running gear (wishbones/Uprights/Suspension/track rod)
Finish brakes (flexi hoses, bleeding system)
Cut and adjust handbrake cable
Extend steering rod
Attach front/rear wheel arches
Wing mirrors
So I put in some fuel and filled the coolant over the weekend and fired her up (Woop!), check everything works....I need to add a few things to the
list
Coolant pipes and bonnet are too close to the exhaust headers when fully heated up:
1. Move coolant pipes away from headers as much as possible (not much room to play with), making room for:
2. An exhaust heat shield
3. Going to have to go with louvres on the bonnet, headers are about 10mm away from the top. I don't know what temp fibreglass/gelcoat will get
damaged by but it's definitely too close
4. Insulate the windscreen washer pipes
5. Post IVA....heat protection for external bits of the exhaust/silencer
So extra jobs now mostly done, and a few other things ticked off the list:
Exhaust mount 2.0....much better clearance, only a few mm below the floor now. The bobbins are a trial...I've actually drilled two holes in the
mount where the exhaust attaches, so if they fail I can quickly remove them and solidly mount to the chassis if needed
Coolant pipes have been moved and I've made a heat shield:
Also louvres and top grille added (Louvres are parallel I promise! must just be the camera lens):
Moving to the back again, the rear arches are now fitted...I've used rivnuts where the holes go into the metal chassis, and jack nuts where they
go into the fibreglass:
Left on the list is:
2nd set of louvres and heat shield on the bonnet (It's still getting too hot above the headers)
Insulate the windscreen washer pipes
Rear lights
Front running gear
Brakes (make up flexi hoses and fill system)
Cut and fit handbrake cable
Front arches
Additional louvres and heat shield added. The bonnet still gets hot but it should be manageable now, and will be cooler when on the move
The front running gear also fitted. One problem though, I'd made the suspension brackets out of square tube....it's a little too square!
I've had to grind the brackets back to a more round shape so the damper doesn't catch on it
And the rear outer lights (indicator/position/stop/reflector) are now fitted, another 3d printed part with the lighting mounts, angled so they point
directly backwards on the arch (my biggest print yet...12 hours per mount!)
I've also set the right height (110mm front, 135mm rear) toe and camber (used a laser level clamped onto the discs).
So on 29th March 2024 - 8 1/2 years after starting the build - I fired her up and drove her out of the garage for the first time!
Amazing feeling, and great to finally see some daylight on her. Found a few niggles so now sorting them out, along with the last couple of things to
finish...will then book the IVA!
To-do list is/was:
Front arches
Insulate the windscreen washer pipes
Re-seal/re-fit inlet manifold/plenum (it's got a gap and is whistling...thought it was the belt at first but nope, inlet is breathing
somewhere)
Change front brake braided hose union...I'd used a 90 degree bend, but now I'm doing the front arch mounts they're getting in the way.
Will change them over for straight unions)
Tighten up clutch as that was too loose...after a while it got hard to get into gear (DONE)
Tighten up brakes...they were too soft (DONE...handbrake cable was too loose, tightening this to 3 clicks has tightened up the brakes overall)
Change pedal washers from metal to plastic as pedals were too stiff (DONE)
Yep it's good, and the bonnet bulge helps getting the engine in without having to lower it too much.
It's longer than the standard chassis (I think the idea is to cut it to the length you need) but I've taken the opportunity to make the boot
longer so space for more storage
I'm not chancing it with booking the IVA until the car's ready - if i get a slot in a fortnight I can't guarantee I can get it finished
by then. When I book i'll post on here how long the wait time is....It'll (hopefully) be at Beverley
Great car. I don't know whether you have considered this but the amount of road rubbish including water that comes over the side of my car is
considerable. I think that to protect that superb interior a pair of side screens would be handy.
quote:Originally posted by PAULD
Great car. I don't know whether you have considered this but the amount of road rubbish including water that comes over the side of my car is
considerable. I think that to protect that superb interior a pair of side screens would be handy.
Yes definitely! Even just going to the end of the road and back kicked up a lot of grit (didn't have the front arches on though)....but yes side
screens are on the list of things to do after the IVA
Really am on the home straight now....I'll be booking the IVA this week, just waiting on the post to deliver new inlet manifold gaskets then I
can refit the inlet and check the air leak has been solved (don't want to book until I know for sure everything's ok)
I've finished the front arches, using the bender to make the supports out of a single piece of tube
Then offered them up and used some guides to keep them the right distance from the wheels, and tack welded the brackets together
Then fully welded
And painted
Cut the arches to shape and trimmed the edges, and mounted it all in place
The final look
With the arches in place I found they were hitting the lights, so got on the lathe to make up some lock stops for the steering rack
Another 3d printed part....I made some sierra upright hub caps
And finally for this update, I fibreglassed in the conduit to carry the washer pipes
I'm so glad I didn't end up trying to make my own bodywork....This didn't turn out too bad but so stressful to put on, the resin sets
in 5 minutes, the glass fibres come apart when you're painting on the resin. It was just a kit and I don't have the right tools for
fibreglassing....but anything bigger than a patch job like this and I'm happy to leave it to the experts
Things left to do (this list keeps changing!):
Fit new rear light mounts (i've added a 7 degree horizontal angle so they point directly backwards)
Fit trim between the bonnet/scuttle
Fit manufacturer's plate
Refit inlet
Drill new side repeater holes in the headlight units (A shame....I drilled the original ones before the arches went on. Now they're fitted I can
see the side repeaters are too low and obscured by the arches, so will fail IVA)
