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Post by lukiez on Jul 20, 2013 22:04:00 GMT
Good Grief!! has it been so long? sadly the project has regrettably been put on a back burner due to work, doing the kitchen (the whole lot including new floor), and general busy weekends usually involving families and a lack of holidays. However, i have tried to do odd jobs where possible over that time and recently dedicated a whole week off from work to do more on the project. one of the first jobs was to look at the calipers, i had already seen that the dust cover was split open on the rear. Advice:- if the piston is badly seized don't try to force it out using the adjuster screw, it will just chew up the splines as i discovered! while the bore itself was ok, the piston was not. by which point i checked the remaining calipers by carefully peeking inside the dust cover, and found another corroded piston on the front. repair kits (incl. new pistons) ordered and fitted, smeared rubber grease inside lip of dust covers on good calipers to maintain the seal. wire wheeled and painted calipers and carriers in red meanwhile started fitting the pedal box after a clean and trial fit of the steering column, i left the spacer tubes alone and checked the fit on the servo and found that the proportion valve was hitting the inlet manifold. to get around this i bolted the valve on the inside on the bracket instead and bend the pipes slightly to fit. altho not shown here but the gap is rather small, thankfully no probs with the clutch master cylinder, just needs a washer to retain it on the firewall, i added some spacers between the pedalbox and firewall for better support. fitted the clutch cylinder and made up a flexible hose from slave to master rather than try and use rigid and original flexible hose. as others may have pointed out, bleeding the clutch system is not straight forward or easy probably spent the best part of a day trying to get fluid to show at the the bleed nipple. ended up using an old syringe to suck it thru. fitted the calipers and pads, loosily fitted the goodridge hoses and attempted to route the brake and fuel hoses using the original brackets and pipes which were in very good nick, while the copper pipe supplied in the kit was too short. trial fitted the wing stays and drilled the lugs on the rear hubs, i have the early type stays for the front which requires the light grind on the hubs to allow it to sit flat. i simply made the nut shallower to allow the split pin to fit the hole.
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Post by lukiez on Jul 20, 2013 22:31:48 GMT
While the car was slowly coming along, another big gap of inactivity was filled with jobs needing to be done on my daily driver, replacing front wings and bumpers on another, several engine services... ... took on a side project with my Dad, building up an old honda 125 motorbike we bought which came in a couple of boxes of rusty & dirty bits to see if we could get it in a reasonable state, ended up semi-restoring it once we realised it was 95% complete and in better condition. as a consquence i figured i ought to learn to ride as it neared completion, i passed it having never riden before (managed to stay on it too!), as for the bike it breezed thru the MoT despite being offroad since 1986 and stripped down in 1988!!
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Post by lukiez on Jul 20, 2013 23:25:05 GMT
anyway back to the exocet! at last i could book a week off again, and what timing! the sun (and warmth) came out and i was fully in the mood to crack on in the garage. i started to run the handbrake cables, drilled a large enough hole in the transmission tunnel for the driver's side cable to pull through. finally finished routing the fuel pipes in the tunnel and clipped in, since seeing the post suggesting turning the fuel tank 180* i tried it ages ago, agreed it was better in this position. in fact it worked out better with loads of room for the pipes to come up and the filter naturally wanted to sit in the shallow corner of the tank. i cut off the rear plate and used some angle iron for the new locations to fix the tank in place. while here i mocked up the exhaust back-box (from MEV) and checked for rough alignement and clearance from the tank - fitting the rubbers is a good idea too to locate and make up the hangers. located, drilled and fitted the handbrake, be sure to leave a small amount of slack on the adjuster (not fully set to zero due to stretch. after final positioning of the front flexible hoses i formed and fixed the brake pipes, i used 3mm alu for the backet using gentle heat first to help form the 90* bend - as a guide i compared the original position of where the flexible hose joins the pipe unions (remember i still have a road going MX-5). now was a good time to bleed the braking system (check nuts are tight!), this was a far cry compared to the clutch! a few slow pumps allowed fluid into the cylinder first, then starting from the shortest pipe route and bleed as normal. two old thick sofa cushions made an idea temporary seat for the driver while bleeding the brakes... hmmm, very tempting to make brum BRUMM! noises at this point
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Post by lukiez on Aug 25, 2013 23:08:12 GMT
altho I've been quiet again, I'm still working bit by bit on the car. while we looked at the wiring before and started sorting through it, mainly it was the find and make the rear loom using the original multi-plug. lately we have been attacking the wiring in a big way, really stripping it back and removing everything that won't be used. this is the excess wiring, so far it comes in at over 2Kg ! basically each wire was traced back, any connected to the ECU are left til last in case it needs it, same goes for the engine all were left alone. I also took opportunity to plug in the engine looms and managed to "hide" most of it by careful routing. next up was the front body work, while I had trial fitted a while back including fettling the radiator bracket I never got round to fitting it. so trimmed the bonnet to sit flush and lined up the nosecone, at this point like others noticed things aren't as symmetrical when it comes to the chassis and GRP body oh hum I lined it up as best as possible and fixed the nosecone once done I lined up the rad checked clearances etc. again chassis symmetry made it awkward, anyway ensuring it is level and the right height, drilled and fixed it. for the bottom I reused the original "hooks" but cut down and bent to reach the anti-roll bar bolt fixing, at least using the hooks mean the whole rad remains rubber mounted.
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Post by lukiez on Aug 26, 2013 7:50:49 GMT
now the radiator is fixed, the fan needed minor trimming to fit the gap I had also considered using the A/C fan as an auxiliary to be switched on manually but decided to leave off for now. also fitted all the hose pipes shortening some as necessary, joined the rear heater pipes using a copper pipe with the ends flared. next was the expansion tank, due to the size and shape I was soon scratching my head on where to fit it. initially I wanted it to be easily reachable and read the level, it really only could sit down low in a corner with long (flimsy) brackets to hold in an already tight space with the air/flow pipe even if I moved the fan. then I saw h5ngs thread and saw what he did using a sports drink bottle, I came across this one for £3 including holder! I had looked at the alu ones like h5ngs but weren't as cheap and no holder, plus the fact I won't see the level. being plastic I did test it with boiling water, didn't soften or melt - time will tell. I liked the fact it was a Dunlop bottle means its made for use on cars too(!) the breather pipe is a tight-ish fit down the drink tube and long enough to reach the bottom, I then drilled a hole near the neck for the 8mm plastic elbow, altho the hole is tight I used rubber either side pushed together to act as a basic seal. located it to the other side, drilled and bolted - ah bliss!
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Post by lukiez on Aug 26, 2013 20:56:52 GMT
today's focus was the air/flow meter and filter, a while back i had tried the original airbox and soon relised that it wasn't going to work - no real surprise here, not sure why i thought i could make it fit no biggie i'll just use the HKS mushroom filter that came with the donor. first tho before i forgot while i had the room to get in there, was to make up a bracket to fix the lower coolant hose for better support and gave the pipe a spray up too. after a few trial fits and a couple of measurements, a simple bracket using the studs on the A/F meter and filter support was soon made and rivetted in place. despite the bulk of the whole thing its fairly well supported now, not like it was in the donor engine bay it was flapping around even the filter was loose! i did note that the filter base had been squashed by the clamp, looking at it the connecting pipe seems like it will fit inside the base so with some light heat it pushed in easily enough, now when tightening the clamp (with rubber hose slipped over) it won't get crushed. after bolting it all on, i refit the bonnet to check clearances again (loads of room!) did briefly look at horn locations but thats for another day.
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Post by lukiez on Jun 8, 2014 22:48:57 GMT
here's some current updates so far, the car is starting to look far more complete. plan to have the engine started up by next weekend and check for leaks. with the tank fixed down and the pipes all connected up, i fettled and placed the rear cover over the tank over the winter/spring months i've steadily offering up and trimming the transmission tunnel and footwell panels, they're in temporary til i start to use the PU adhesive in one go (as much as possible as it goes off rather quick). recently fitted in the seats, had to modify the recliner to create as much room as poss. i also put in a crush tube for the cross members, now its perfect for trying it for size and reach of the pedals, steering wheels etc. a very comfy place to be i have to say! fabricated the headlight brackets - i wanted something clean and simple, the small round tube works rather well and is very solid. once the remaining lights go up the wiring can finally be routed. the pods are normally black (the rear ones are) this one is silver as they've originally came from Julie's (team MEV) car as i wanted all the lights to match! will be changed to black later.
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Post by lukiez on Jun 29, 2014 23:18:05 GMT
actually i've put off starting the engine yet however now i'm able to put the hours in the evenings more, i've decided to complete more jobs to almost finish the car first. starting with the wiring, routing it front & back and tidying it up. after fixing the lights last time i noticed it was too easy to knock the indicators loose despite being tightened up, so the better option was to weld the tubes on - unfortunately it means the power coat gets ruined to expose clean metal. after a few tacks to ensure its lined up, it turned out well and much better than fiddling with a bolt inside the tube. while there i fettled the nose cone to fit, easy to do since the lights is independant. continuing on the theme; the rear lights were mocked up to the same style as the front - i tried a few combinations (3 in a row, 2 down 1 up, vertical etc.) and settled on stop/tail & fog/reverse on the top row with the indicators below. once happy with the tubes were welded on like the fronts and a bracket made, welded and fixed on the chassis. not shown here but the rear cover was trimmed to fit over the light fixings, and the number plate light fitted in place.
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Post by lukiez on Jun 29, 2014 23:54:27 GMT
while previously the footwell panels and transmission tunnel were trimmed and placed they have not been finalised for fixing. so infill panels were made including a hole for the speedo cable, these panels will be removable like the transmission tunnel for access to the back of the engine (eg. cam sensor o-ring) and gearbox. i have noticed the transmission panel needed manipulating to sit right, even then at back part is a good fit on one side but has gaps on the other and doesn't sit on the frame. however rather than attempt to re-fold one half of the tunnel and make a mess of it, while bolting it down does help pull it to shape, the gaps will be filled with a foam sealing strip all round - which should help with noise too
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Post by lukiez on Sept 7, 2014 22:14:00 GMT
Huge updates and progress lately, finally beginning to be able to tick off items on the "to-do" list. starting with the rear plastic panels, decided to split in 2 parts for ease of fitting and also keeping them as removable for maintenance of pipes, handbrake etc. also sorted the battery terminals. staying with the plastic panels they were trimmed to size and shape, side decals applied, holes pre-drilled and PU put on they were fixed with black rivets to blend in. another shot for good measure fitted the drivers seat for good this time, passenger's will be left off for testing the electrics and battery box etc.
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Post by lukiez on Sept 7, 2014 22:38:27 GMT
next up was the dreaded wiring now i don't have a problem with the wiring itself with regards to tracing the loom or testing etc. however as many have seen in their own bulids is the rats' nest of a big bundle of wires particular around the front bulkhead especially if you have dared to strip back the loom for any reason. after checking each circuit, shortening or adding length (ooh er missus!) or even just to untangle it, the remaining wires were bunched and wrapped together to make it neat as possible. - later on once i'm happy everything works i'll probably shorten it at a much later date. interesting challenge trying to find spaces for relays, ECU etc. along side the thick wiring loom, i was keen to keep most stuff out of view when possible. Also i took the opportunity to weld the vin plate for the iva - scary! thankfully i didn't acidently weld over the letters or anything. as you may have seen already we've been making panels to go across the top to carry the wires and ECU, i have added another simple fuse box to do away with the awkward shaped one from the donor plus simplify the wires since it was now half empty.
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Post by lukiez on Sept 7, 2014 22:59:32 GMT
Next we started to do some testing! so we refitted all the lights and hooked up a battery with a fused link, steadily switched on a light or two and eventually had the whole lot lit up with no problems - nice! we did wonder how we were going to get the rear fog to work (we checked it lit up independantly) - then i remembered i removed the headlight pop-up wire and had checked previously it could work as a feed for the fog, so that worked. hazards was easy just linked the amber wire. what foxed us briefly was some left over wires from the hazard/pop-up switches (donor switch was removed by a previous owner), while i also noticed the dash light didn't work... initially what i assumed were an earth feed and live were in fact meant to be joined by a dashboard switch blank on the donor - so now the dash lights up! phew. on top of that we figured we may as well see if the engine will turn over - i advise you to disconnect the fuel pump. so the battery fuse taken off by now we primed the the immobilisor and twist the key... the engine turned over nice and easy and it even started to build oil pressure - so far so good.
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Post by lukiez on Sept 7, 2014 23:19:56 GMT
now i wanted to fit the aero catches i bought a couple of weeks back. as always measure 10 times then sheepily cut a gaping hole in the fibreglass . i had decided to mount the post on the suspension top mount plate as it is more or less in the centre of the bonnet. also i plan to reinforce the nosecone better as i was never happy with just the one fixing point on the side tubes - more on that later. now was the time to finally sort out the exhaust, i had already cut off the old back box and the upswept bend. after finding where the new MEV twin exhaust wants to sit, the old upswept pipe was offered up for size - as it happens by turning it on its side it married up to the new exhaust pretty much spot-on! actually i forgot to mention i fashioned up a couple of hangers from some spare exaust scrap (i swear i don't have a junk yard ). after welding it up i painted it up with exhaust paint. i've also started to make up some pipes for the fuel filler re-using some of the original mechanisms used on the donor like the ball valve and the breather splash guard - pictures to be added later.
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Post by lukiez on Sept 8, 2014 0:04:11 GMT
today i had a target in mind to achieve, it started with fabricating this overly complicated piece below can you tell what it might be for? ..... well no prizes for guessing... Da-Da! the heat shield for the fuel tank - the tank sits lower in the the frame if you turn it round so definately needs protecting from the heat. i might even add a seperate shield for the exaust to finish it off. in my opinion the shield helps to tidy the back of the car, as you can see i have now fitted on the exhaust - seems i bought the early version of the MEV twin exaust as i have only ever seen it in the magazine? right, finally it was that time to attempt to start the engine. a quick glug of petrol in the tank, switched on the ignition... nothing, eh? i was expecting the pump to buzz away (yep we plugged it back in), so we started to check the feed to the pump. we were stumped... no live. we added some more fuel in case there wasn't enough in there anyway, we even cranked it over a few times until it stopped dead. Oh Sh*t! it turned out the be the earth on the starter, but as it happens we realised the fuel pump works on cranking - ah thank goodness! so we left the earth off til we built up some pressure in the system, then popped a tiny spray of fuel from the return pipe, so we changed the clips to better jubilee ones, started to crank it over... still not firing, so we checked for a spark, yep got spark.... maybe the injectors..... appears fine, hmmmm. then out of curiousity i thought i should check fuel is in fact coming out, pulled off what should be the outlet pipe on the tank - pretty dry, the opposite of the return pipe when we changed the clips which sprayed out under pressure..... i wonder, so double checked and switched on the pump - nothing came out. DOH!! i realised i had got the pipes plumbed in wrong - luckily just at the tank end, so just a case of swopping the pipes. lessons learned even tho i had swore blind i had them on the right way round, it was obvious once the return pipe was connected the fuel swooshed back into the tank. with that we tried a final time to started the engine, after a couple of cranks it burst into life and settled on a happy idle. AH! at last, happy days!!
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Post by lukiez on Sept 14, 2014 23:38:09 GMT
this saturday we spent time on the cooling system, first by running with just water to check for initial leaks and flush out any dirt or sludge, i left out the old thermostat as it was bent out of shape oddly enough.
after sorting a couple of minor leaks on the pipes the water had already turned a deep orange/brown colour so that was drained out, i had noticed before there were brown slightly sticky lumps that crumbles to powder in the hand. so i flushed it through a few more times then added some rad flush for good measure - at the same time i tought it worthwhile to change the engine oil so added engine flush too.
now its got fresh clean oil and the water coming more clear with each flush and all leaks eliminated, i had changed the radiator cap as the old one looks past its best - thankfully the rad itself was ok with no cold spots, next was to fit the new thermostat and starting filling it up with anti-freeze and keeping the expansion bottle level topped up.
overall, the engine ran well all day long and didn't miss a beat, i even had a brief 'drive' of the car when i turned it around for draining the rad.
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