Odds'n'Sods

I'm taking the opportunity to get some small jobs that had previously fallen by the wayside done.

First up was to make up a bracket to support the heater hoses - nothing clever about this one - a bit of bent ali plate bolted to the end of the cylinder head:

Having spent the last few weeks kicking the handbrake cable every time I walked past I decided it was time to fit it through the rear bulkhead - straightforward other than ( as with most of the grommets) having to thin the GRP down in the inside as it is to thick for the grommet to thick - thanks to the trusty Dremel again:

I have also removed the bonnet scoop - fettled the edges of the cut-out and re-fitted the scoop as I wasn't 100% happy with it. No photo 'cos you can't tell the difference!

Finally I started producing some neoprene rubber grommets to fit the roll bar legs where they pass through the boot floor:

Unless you have ninja scissor skills get a pair of circle cutters off e-bay for a couple of quid as seen in the photo.

Yet More Plumbing!

More Plumbing Today.... Started off by fitting the valves and adaptors to the accusump and then permanently fixing the accusump into position.

Next job was to make up a hose to connect the accusump to the main oil circuit:

Even with the correct vice jaw protectors and being careful, it is still very easy to mark the anodising! Having fitted the hose ends the next step was to connect the accusump up:

So far so good...... tightened all the fittings up and moved onto the feed and return lines to the take off plate. This is where I needed to double and triple check - as there is a one way valve fitted before the accusump Tee it is important to get the feed and return lines the right way round - otherwise no flow!!

The above picture shows the take off plate placed below where it will fit. As the oil from the pump flows the to the outside of the filter and returns through the centre, it can be seen that the bottom hose is therefore the feed from the engine, and the top hose is the return to the filter.

So armed with this valuable information the GD supplied hoses were shortened and new 45 degree hose ends fitted.

So after a final tightening / checking of the connections it was job done:

This just leaves the oil cooler to be fitted (by temporarily hanging it from the radiator support frame) and filled with oil.

Fancy Bracket No. 2 Finished

After a bit more miscellaneous metalwork the oil stat bracket is now in place. Then the various bits of plumbing were fitted but not finally tightened as I still have to cut the oil hoses to length and fit the hose ends.So next I need to fit all the hoses and temporarily hang the oil cooler and that's the Oil System finished - apart filing the new stuff.

I started looking at fitting the fuel supply system - shown below is the fuel pressure regulator complete with pressure gauge:
The problem is that this needs to fit between the fuel inlet pipe and the carb - and the distributor and air cleaner are in the way. This needs a bit more thought - and possibly a third fancy bracket??

More Brackets and Plumbing

Continued with the trial assembly of the oil stat bracket and the associated plumbing - starting to take shape now:

The top line of plumbing is the feed from the engine and passes through:

• A 1/8 npt take off port for a secondary oil pressure cut out switch which will cut out the electric fuel pump in the case of a mishap.
• An oil temperature take off adaptor

Next is the oil thermostat which will divert oil to the oil cooler when the temperature rises, then coming back along the bottom row which is the feed back to the engine we have:

• A non-return flap valve to prevent the Accusump discharging back through the oil pump into the sump.
• A tee connection to the Accusump itself.

I need to change the hose ends on the lines to/from the oil cooler to the 45 degree ones shown to make the pipe routing more natural.

I've also clamped the Accusump bracket into position prior to permanently fixing it:

Engine bay is starting to fill up now!

Fancy Bracket Number One

Spent a short while fitting the bracket for the oil stat and associated plumbing. Slow progress but I only have one of them so it is measure 5 times and drill once. It still has its protective backing on and it probably still isn't that clear what is going on here ..... watch this space.

Done Something!!

Not much! - but I have done something!

Fitted the blanking plug to the nearside head, as the temperature sender will be going in the manifold, and also fitted the NPT to JIC adaptors for the heater pipes:

I have also got the handbrake working - there is a little bit of re-engineering required to get the cable clevis to fit properly. Tested it and it does seem to be pretty effective with no adjustment being required to the handbrake mechanism itself.

Hopefully next week there will be a bit more progress?

....... even slower progress

This is now perhaps the slowest period of the build to date! However, there are now plenty of bits on order that should be arriving some time next week:

• Accusump and Oil Stat Brackets
• Fuel Pump
• Fuel Filter and Pump Pre-Filter
• Fuel Pressure Gauge for Fuel Regulator
• Carb inlet fitting
• Braided Hose for fuel supply and assorted fittings
• Braided Hoses and assorted fittings to complete Accusump connection
• Clutch Slave Bracket (Getting Beyond a Joke now - but promised for next week!!)

So the plan would be:

• Replace Clutch Slave Bracket - fit slave hose.
• Finish the exhaust system.
• Fit Oil Stat, Accusump and associated plumbing.
• Install fuel supply to carb in engine bay.

This means we are now getting closer to engine start up! to get to this point I will need to do the following:

• Rig up a temporary fuel pump and filter arrangement.
• Rig up a temporary electrical system and dashboard - this means I'll need to order my gauges and senders - although I'll only be using the Rev Counter, Oil Pressure & Water Temperature initially.

The aim is to get the engine running, and the cam broken, before mid November - as this is when the body has been ordered for!!

Slow progress.........

Things are a bit slow in the garage at the minute but there is plenty happening behind the scenes:

• I've placed an order with Control Waterjet Cutting to get the two brackets made from mirror polished stainless steel - those should be here next week.
• I've sorted out the plumbing for the Accusump etc - just need the brackets!
• I've placed my body order with GD for 3rd week in November.
• I've half figured out the fuel supply in the engine bay - needs a bit more thought yet. I've ordered a Holley fuel pressure regulator to try things out as this will be key to getting everything to fit.
• Fitted a radiator cap.
• Scraped some more paint off the radiator!!

I'm still waiting for the replacement clutch slave bracket that should have been here this week. This is stopping me from completing the exhaust as access to the bottom of the slave bracket will be easier without the exhaust fitted.

Things won't progress significantly until I get either the replacement slave bracket or the accusump plumbing brackets - or both!

More Bits

Here's the Accusump, electric valve and assorted plumbing - including some adaptors and elbows for the heater pipes off the manifiold:

Having had a quick look I'm definitely going to have to aquire some bespoke brackets for all this!

Odds 'n Ends

Done some bits and pieces but nothing very productive?

I fitted the propshaft but only have temporary bolts in at the minute as GD were out of stock of the correct bolts. It was a bit of a Chinese puzzle with very little room for manoeuvre. It would be much easier if you hadn't fitted the T piece for the rear brakes - note for people who've not got this far yet!

I have also fitted the oil cooler take off plate - however the extension screw was about 4mm too long so the threads bottomed out before the take off plate and spacer were tight - out with the hacksaw and the files it was!

I was then able to start laying out the braided hose and oil stat to get an idea of where the pipework is going to run - hmmmm I wonder if I've put the header tank overflow in the wrong place?

I've ordered my Accusump and other associated plumbing today so that should be here in time for the weekend so hopefully I should be able to sort out the pipe runs then. I think I will have to trim the pipes from the take off to cooler and also probably fabricate a fancy bracket for the oil stat.

On the subject of parts expected shortly, there should be a new clutch slave bracket on its way from Repower - hopefully that'll be the clutch sorted once and for all then.

More Bits

Here we go then, some more bits to play with:

... Oil cooler kit - comprising cooler, pipework, oil thermostat and tak off plate. On the left is the braided clutch hose.

I also picked up the handbrake cable... and fitted it:

I had also taken my gearbox yoke down to get my propshaft made up. However, fortune would have it that Andy happened to have a propshaft of the exact length made up and sitting in the stores - it just needs a bit of cleaning up as it's been gathering dust for a while:

Off on hols for a week now so they'll have to wait!

Plugs and Overflow

Spent some time looking the spark plug boot / header problem - still not convinced that I can get away with doing nothing. The leads and boots are rated at 600F but I'm not comfortable with them being so close together:

Eventually I decided that it was time to do something constructive so I fitted the header tank expansion overflow piping:

Header Tank & More Hoses

More progress on the cooling system. I've now fitted the Header Tank and secured all the hoses with stainless hose clamps:
The header tank was fitted the top engine bay brace with two M6 rivet nuts and bolts. These do not take a great deal of load as the tank rests on the cross brace and is effectively held in place by the hoses.

Having fitted the headers it has become clear that another problem has surfaced. The spark plug boots under the outer two pipes on both sides are only about 10mm away from the pipes. This may be too close for comfort and may mean that I need to wrap the headers (this would also help with the oil cooler pipework which will also run close to the headers) - Looks like another question for Andy at GD.

Hoses

Got home today to find a package waiting - silicone hoses from PSH , and very nice they are too.

So nice I had to see what they looked like...... so I mocked them up! Now I can drill for the header tank fixings and then fit the hoses permanently.

Radiator

Strange one this.... but I spent more time trying to fit the Chinese puzzle of a radiator than I did the engine! In the end I had to "adjust" the top brackets... then it all went together nicely. Then I spent a couple of hours painting it - I don't know what they paint radiators with but it falls off as soon as you look at it! So after a couple of hours of trying to fit it, it looked a bit the worse for wear. Anyways, job done in the end:I also re-fitted the tremec shifter in the forward position. Bit of a pain scraping off the old silicone gasket though. New RTV silicone bead - 6 bolts - another job done:As I was on a roll this weekend I even filled the diff with the oil I've had since January!!

Exhaust system next. Hmmm.......

Radiator & Cooling Fans

Needing some odd jobs to do I thought I'd fit the cooling fans to the radiator - bit out of sequence but what the hell!. The Pacet fans come with through the rad fixings - however it is advised not to use these as they can knacker the rad capillaries if not frequently checked and adjusted. So as suggested by Craig at GD I decided to mount them on frames.

I used some 20x4 mild steel strip and cut four length the same as the overall height of the radiator and painted satin black. For the fan fixings I drilled 7mm holes for an M5 rivet nut, the holes were countersunk on the back so there would be no protrusions facing the radiator. The Pacet mounting blocks were reamed out from 6mm to 7mm to take the body of the rivet nut. This way the rivet nut forms a lug for the fan to sit on. The blocks were then secured t0 the frames with an M5x12 bolt, washer and spring washer. Below you can see the completed frames prior to fixing to the radiator:Following a similar method to that of GD the frames were riveted to the radiator frame. Instead of using 1 4mm rivet I used 2 1/8 (or 3.2mm) rivets. It's a bit nervy drilling into the radiator but trust me - there are no elements hidden behind! I know the frame looks too long and the rivets appear too high - but the picture was taken slightly upwards and doesn't show the curved edge to the radiator frame. The following picture shows the fans in place: The paint to the radiator on the front had been damaged by packing it when wet!! So seeing as it was a sunny day I rubbed down the frame and sprayed it - and here we have the finished article:The engine build starts week after next so in a little over 2 weeks it should be here. I've been compiling a list of the various bits and pieces I'll need to complete the install but I'm not going to order them until the engine is here - just so I can double check first!

Still haven't filled the diff with oil because I've been too lazy to go and get a flexible funnel!