Gear Linkage

Drilled and applied the rivets I didn't do last weekend. This time besides eye protection and ear mufflers while drilling, also used gloves when using my big rivet pliers to avoid bleeding from knuckles when hitting the chassis. I should get some ISO certification for work safety!

After that I drilled to bolt the rotating arm that supports the gear changing mechanism. One if it's bolts goes through the chassis, the other bolts on the ally panel. Pretty straight forward. Spent some time fastening all the bolts on the linkage. It was my plan to do all the linkage and then sit on the car shifting gears. Unfortunately, had lunch arrangements and had to leave with just two holes to drill for the gear lever...

(Barely) Visible in the photo is the fact that I bolted with the bolt head inside the engine bay. Should have done it the other way around, for a better finish inside the passenger footwell. Sometimes it seems I'm not paying attention to detail. Will have to do those bolts again next weekend.

Last week swapped some emails with Steve from Aries about my current tasks at hand. He was not sure I would be able to fit the panel and linkage without taking the engine out, usually people only put the engine in later in the build. Thanks to my 90º drill extension, I managed to drill in tighter spots, so I got it without touching the engine. Was very happy with that.

I think that after doing the gear lever, I'll get the throttle peddle just for the kicks, and postpone pipes a bit more...