Had a go at fitting the drivers harness (TRS clubman) to the MEV supplied seat today. For anyone that is interested, here’s how I did it:
1. Put some masking tape on the seat in the general area of the proposed holes. 2. Sit in the seat and mark on the tape where your shoulders sit. 3. Get a spirit level and make sure the bottom edge of the hole is above the horizontal of the harness bar. 4. Make up a cardboard template of the hole you want. 5. Draw round the template on the masking tape attached to the seat. 6. Use a spirit level to position the template on the opposite side and draw round. 7. Use a hole cutter drill attachment thing to form the corners of the triangle (I used a 25mm, 37mm & 44mm... from memory) 8. Cut between the holes using an abrafile (aka: a tile saw) 9. Sand / file / dremmel the lumps out. 10. Fit some rubber edging - you have to push it on really hard, but it will bend round the tight corners. 11. Put the harness belt through the hole and remove the supplied anchor attachment from the end. Note how it was threaded on. 12. Use the same method of threading to loop around the harness bar.
Well, I put the bonnet on today, lined it all up, marked out & fitted the hinges (no dramas so far), then came the hood catches... I opted for the circular push button ones (thanks Hammy, I’ve been reading your build), I didn’t want the red anodised ones as they just wouldn’t look right, so went for the black.
I have so little time, it’s all about simplicity, so the easiest option was to place them just in front of the vents, with the bolts underneath attached to the front chassis bar. The idea then was to put a couple of black vinyl viper stripes from front to back to hide them - I know, not very original.
Once I put them in, my 3 year old comes in the garage and says “daddy, why has your broom broom got angry eyes?”... couple of bits of cut up paper later...
I like the eyes and happy to help, been lame in my updates but theres not much I can do as updates as its all final stages now. Will be documenting my fuel filler well though as theres been some dev there
I was going to use the original exhaust for the IVA, then sit out something more aesthetic later, BUT... mine is a Mk2, so it won’t fit! I could spend money messing around and trying to get it to fit, but it would still look horrible and would cost me. Plan B is to build my own exhaust (still watching the pennies) but the individual bits (pipes/elbows, mid box, backbox, hangers, clamps, joins etc) cost a fortune! So I have bought this eBay special “bomb” exhaust: Before you judge too harshly, it’s £100 for all the bits of pipe I need to make an exhaust. If it turns out too loud (and it will!) I’ll either install a DB killer or buy a quieter back box. Having said that, it might be ok, it’s a glass pack straight through pipe but still only 2” going to 2.5” in the tailpipe. I’ll also have enough bits to make a swap-able straight pipe to de-cat & re-cat at will. Looks ok, I think...
Oooohhhh.. exhaust looks like it might be a great option for me too!. Don't want to spend a fortune as might be going turbo route, and my donor exhaust is a pile of scrap.
Manchester, Uk . 2003 Mk 2.5 1.8 donor. Skate stripped and rebuilt. Nearly back together. Kit due to be picked up mid October. Yellow frame, grey bodywork (think I’m the first for this colour combo)
Interested to hear how loud this is with 2 silencers. I was hoping to get away with just the middle silencer and no back box !
Manchester, Uk . 2003 Mk 2.5 1.8 donor. Skate stripped and rebuilt. Nearly back together. Kit due to be picked up mid October. Yellow frame, grey bodywork (think I’m the first for this colour combo)
Spot welded it together... looking at it off the car, there won’t be much “silencing” done! My neighbour does a few track days etc and has a decibel meter. Should be interesting (once it’s running) to see just how loud it is!
Does that p-clip give it enough strength to not wobble about? I'd be worried about the copper brake pipe fatiguing if that bracket isn't sturdy enough.
The p-clip is pretty solid, not sure if there will be some movement if it gets wet etc. I might be better off welding a steel bracket to the chassis tube or tapping it and bolting to it. I don’t want to drill too many holes in the chassis tubes in case they are weakened.
Fitted a small expansion tank and secured with 75mm p-clips to the radiator mounting.
I’ve also been experimenting with a good place to mount the front brake hose brackets. I think I’m going to p-clip to the MeV chassis.
Hi, just noticed that your expansion tank is very low. I was always thought that the expansion tank should be the highest point of the cooling systems, as they are in every car, otherwise you will get air locks in the head ( now being the highest point). I am not a mechanic, but I am pretty sure that this is the case, so it may be worth you looking into it.
Net build cost so far £7500 1996 1.8 abs delete & power steering Latest purchase: Dominator 2 projector headlamps, lighting kit, fuel filler hose & mirrors.
