NITRAM'S BUILD

[scooby1929]

Thats a good idea to John as you say trying to bond onto the wing supports is not great due to the lack of surface area

[nitram]

My last post was in January - a cruel month. At that time I had a leak from the ABS hydraulic unit/pump; the clutch was refusing to bleed and; and the battery had just exploded. Not a happy bunny, I took a couple of months off to feel sorry for myself but I'm now back with renewed vigour (can you smell the b**ls**t?). Thanks to the moggers who have kept my thread warm in my absence.

First the battery:



Bosch asked for photographs, confirmed it was an internal explosion caused by an internal fault and confirmed that it should not have happened. They invited me to claim on the warranty from the retailer knowing that the warranty had just expired. Oh well, the replacement was not that expensive. I obviously checked all fuses and any other potential problem areas before connecting the new battery - everything seems OK and exo fired up first time. Phew.

Next the leaking ABS lump; this thing:



Impossible to tell where the leak was coming from. Removed the item, stripped it down as far as I could and reassembled with a smear of gasket paste on all the joints. Seems to have fixed the leak. Bled the brakes and all seem to be working OK. Phew.

I've been trying to bleed the clutch since September, on and off. I've seen the reports in other threads that it is a pig of a job with a lot of perseverence required. Using the "conventional" bleeding method: a few slow pumps; hold down; release nipple; watch for clear fluid in plastic pipe; tighten nipple; repeat 500 times, I thought I had cracked it last week. But then I noticed bubbles coming along the tube even when the nipple was tight. I had a leak. Taking off the slave cylinder:



it turned out to be reasonably easy to strip. Apart from a bit of black gunge, the piston and seal appeared to be in good nick. However looking at the nipple, showed a lot of scoring and pitting on the end that forms the seal:



And presumably the seat in the casting is similarly scored. The MX5OC forum is full of stories about the slave cylinder failing and that it should be the first thing to consider when experiencing clutch problems. You can get a brand new slave cylinder delivered to you door for about £16. With a new cylinder fitted within 24 hours, the cluth bleeds much better - probably only about 50 repeats required! Phew.

The gloom of January is transformed into the sunshine of April and its time to introduce baby to the world. It emerged, after a 30 month gestation period, from the garage, breach delivery, weighing about 700Kg at 1023 this morning. Mother and father are very happy. Since then, it has been tearing up and down the 30 yards of my driveway with gay abandon.







So far so good. Next stage is to de-snag the handful of things that need sorting followed by a line-by-line look at the IVA manual, again.

[scooby1929]

Looks great Nitram well done

[miket]

Impressive - and a great build thread. Cheers.

[jgilbert]

Congratulations to the Proud Parents. The 'baby' looks awesome!

Interesting to hear about Bosch's response. Very poor customer service message in my eyes. If others agree then I would suggest an appropriate comment on your build blog. I would then send all the comments to there UK CEO. You can get his details from LinkedIn;

Dr. Klaus Peter Fouquet - United Kingdom | LinkedIn
uk.linkedin.com/pub/dr-klaus-peter-fouquet/79/8a1/475
Denham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom - ‎President of Robert Bosch Ltd UK
President of Robert Bosch Ltd UK. Location: Denham ... He is in also in charge of sales of the automotive systems and products in the UK and Benelux. His main ...

Anyway didn't mean to detract from a great build and great looking Exocet. Very well done mate.

[Deleted]

Apr 15, 2014 21:37:24 GMT jgilbert said:

Congratulations to the Proud Parents. The 'baby' looks awesome!

Interesting to hear about Bosch's response. Very poor customer service message in my eyes. If others agree then I would suggest an appropriate comment on your build blog. I would then send all the comments to there UK CEO. You can get his details from LinkedIn;

Dr. Klaus Peter Fouquet - United Kingdom | LinkedIn
uk.linkedin.com/pub/dr-klaus-peter-fouquet/79/8a1/475
Denham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom - ‎President of Robert Bosch Ltd UK
President of Robert Bosch Ltd UK. Location: Denham ... He is in also in charge of sales of the automotive systems and products in the UK and Benelux. His main ...

Anyway didn't mean to detract from a great build and great looking Exocet. Very well done mate.

Looks great mate!

BAD BAD BAD BOSCH, that is disgusting customer service

[nitram]

I've applied for the IVA test but no date yet. I'm ploughing through the IVA manual for the umpteenth time but there is one area I can't find. Will some kind person point me to the section that specifies the requirements of fuel hoses and fuel filler pipes? I'm sure I'm OK on the build but I need to know what proof, if any, is required on the test.

[jgilbert]

Nitram, From other builds you definitely need a receipt that shows any flexible fuel line is approved for petrol use. Also where a solid line meets a flexible line the solid line needs to securely mounted. I can't see anything specific in the manual, my rule of thumb was a fixing point approximately every 200mm (same as brake lines. Hope this helps.

[PardonWhat]

Hi nitram, great looking build.
Your exhaust cover will please Mr IVA. Just had mine done and he commented on the issue of burning legs on the exhaust. Although not in the manual he said it showed I thought about it and helped my case.
Your identity plate might be an issue though. My examiner commented that he was pleased to see my plate was as per the spec in the manual. Correct me if I'm wrong but the axle weights are missing from yours. I've had a quick look back in the manual and on page 140 (section 18) you'll see a diagram of the required info. Feel free to tell me to stick my nose elsewhere but it would be a shame fail on a small thing like that. He may well let it go but if he's a git he could send you away and tell you to get the right info on there..

Cheers mate
Paul.

[nitram]

Thanks for your nice words.

The Statutory Plate, Section 18 of the IVA manual has a note:
"Note 2: Maximum permitted laden masses are not required to be
displayed but if present should be listed in the order as shown in RS6."
So, I think I'm OK.

What did Mr IVA want to see about fuel hoses?

[PardonWhat]

He didn't check anything to with fuel hoses. I took a bunch of photos of what lurks beneath the 'wheelie bin' and had the receipt for the correctly marked fuel line.
I should have read the manual properly re the id plate. I feel a bit stupid now ;-)

P

[nitram]

I had a feeling things were going too well.

I live in Cornwall. Today, 3 weeks after I sent my application in, I received an email from my preferred IVA test station, Exeter. Due to long term staff illness, they are currently unable to offer any appointments for the foreseeable future. They have sent a list of the other stations and suggested I "phone around". The Exeter station is 80 miles away and the nearest after that is Bristol at 158 miles, followed by Southampton at 193 miles. I don't believe either of these can be done in a day with a hired tow car/trailer combo and the thought of having to repeat the trip in the event of a failure is expletive deleted.

Anyone got a small cargo plane I can borrow?

[nitram]

Over the last couple of days, I have been talking to the IVA people at VOSA Swansea and a few of the test stations. They have all been polite and very helpful but share the frustration of having insufficient resources on-the-ground to get the job done efficiently.

DVSA policy says that 95% of IVA customers will be provided with an inspection, at the chosen test station, within 4 weeks of receiving a correctly completed application. Unfortunately, any amateur builders within the South West of England (there must be a few in the 5,000,000 of us) will fall into the 5% statistic. To get an inspection, having jumped through the documentation hoop, there are two requirements. Firstly, there has to be an inspector available and, secondly, for an amateur build, there has to be a 4 hour test slot available.

My correctly completed application was received on 8 May. My nearest test station, Exeter, does not have an inspector for the foreseeable future. The next nearest, Bristol, does not have a 4 hour slot until well into July. I have, reluctantly, accepted a test at Southampton in the middle of June; this will be a round trip of 400 miles. Don't even mention the possibility of a re-test!

So the advice is: GET YOUR APPLICATION IN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If the build goes belly-up and you can't make the date given, an application can be amended without loss of fee if a minimum of 3 working days notice is given.

And, of course, the usual question: has anyone had a test at Southampton recently and, if so, do they have any hot topics?

I'm still hopeful for an offer of a cargo plane.

[trident]

I'm in Southampton and have popped down to speak to the inspectors a few time. They have been very helpful. Sharp edges seem to be the main thing they kept mentioning. What date and time are you coming?

[nitram]

Thanks Trident. I've spent a small fortune on trim, nut covers etc so I'm as confident as any amateur builder can be on the sharp edge topic.
Its looking like the test will be on Wed 11 June at 8am although I have not got written confirmation, yet.