Fitting the Handbrake Cable Properly

With yesterday's reading it seemed a lot easier. It pays to do homework. To get correct access to all parts I started by jacking the car up, putting in axle stands on the rear and taking the wheels out. Mental note, next time undo the nuts prior to jacking the car up...

With the proper access to parts, moved the spinning part on the cable sleeve, that is the cable adjuster, way back. Passed only the cables (without sleeves) through the chassis bracket holes and then moved the sleeves over the holes. One has a rubber and plastic that stops against the bracket, on the other the sleeve passes through the hole and is the adjuster that blocks against the bracket. Spinning the adjuster, tension on the cable can later be built. After having it all loosely in place, it was time to fit the other extremities to the callipers.

The calliper has a hole through where the cable and rubber sleeve should pass. The metal sleeve has a tip that kind of slots in there. To get the cable to enter through that hole, it has to come from the rear and bellow. It makes a bit of an odd turn. Held the cable loosely in place with cable ties. I like the way it goes around because it doesn't hit the cv boots (could cut one) nor it gets in the way of suspension movement.

Tightened the adjuster and pulled the cable to test. It worked.

Since the wheels were off and the handbrake pulled, took some time to tighten the wheels' central nut. I'm sure it's not to 270nm, but it's a lot better than before and as much as I managed with the tools at hand.
Then I fit the wheels and jacked the car down. Felt very happy while I stored away the four wood beams I was using to prevent the car from sliding away.

A task that I expected to take 1 hour ended up taking 2h30m.

The bad news of the morning... On the left wheel I sheared one of the wheel stud threads. Was having a hard time undoing the nut and that was because both nut and stud had the thread all broken. I bet it was from when I attempted to pull the stud with washers and a nut... So much grief I've been having because of that early mistake of not hammering the studs down on the right moment... Eventually I guess all the wheel will have to be disassembled to take that stud out and put a new one. But since I just want to see it moving, I'll postpone that. The other three nuts will have to be enough for now. It seems on the right side there is also a stud thread starting to shear, but I didn't tight that nut completely, so it may be OK for now.

Another potential problem... Not sure if I should have pulled the handbrake without having the rear brakes perfectly bled. It seems the calliper pump is a bit "out" and the pads constantly rub the disk. But since with the wheel on I can't see this, it might have been like that before me using the handbrake for the first time.

Studying Brakes and Preparing Seats

Was a bit lazy today and didn't do much. Anyway, it's worth of note.

Spent some time looking for information on how to properly secure the handbrake cable on the tunnel. Also looked into securing the cable on the callipers. Went to the car to confirm what I was reading and take a thorough look on the parts. I'll have to take the rear wheels off to be able to properly fit the cable.

Made some markings on the back of the firewall and brought it back to the apartment to later on mark and drill where the rivets will go. But I'm not very much into this task since I'm afraid fitting the firewall will make it harder to properly adjust the suspension (when that time comes). So I may postpone this.

What I really want is to drive the car! So I worked on the seats. They have threaded holes where the bolts go. These bolts will hold the seats on the floor (for the drivers seat hold the rail and the rail bolts on the floor). But the holes are covered with the seat's trim, that has to be cut and pushed aside. What I thought would be a 10 minute task ended up taking more than one hour.

In the process, sheared of my "alan key" 6'' tool. It was a rubbish set bought on the Chinese shop. There are some tools that can be bought there because they don't get much usage (nor abuse). Others need to be proper tools. Tomorrow I'll have to look for better "alan keys". Also for 4 new bolts to pin down the driver's seat. When I bought the previous one measured thickness of rail, thickness of floor, nut size and decided on the bolt size. Failed to notice that, due to the sliding lever's pivot, the rails stay a bit above the floor, enough for me to need longer bolts.

Completing Tasks: Airbox, Dashboard...

First thing I did was to clean with some absorbent paper all the brake pipe joins. Then I tightened up a bit all those joints. My idea was to later on press the brake peddle a few times and go around the joints with clean paper to check if there is still any leaking.

Then I tried to fit the hand-brake cable. Since the rear brakes have been bled (even if not perfectly), I can now use the handbrake. That would provide me with some braking power I would have more confidence in and also allow me to take the wooden beams from under the wheels that prevent the car from sliding. Unfortunately, after some time mocking around with it, I guess there is something I don't understand. I can't fix the cable the way it seems to make sense, on the lever and tunnel. I should have looked to pictures before attempting the task. Left this one unfinished.

Two weeks ago I drilled a second hole on the throttle peddle because it was too sensitive. The new hole was "spongy". So I drilled a third hole, between the previous two. Also had tightened the peddle's pivot bolt and it was to tight, since it didn't "balance" naturally, so I undid the nut a turn or two to give it free movement. I'm sure now, between the three holes, one will be adequate.
For this hole I had bought 2 2mmØ HSS drill bits with cobalt tip (they have been great on other tasks) and used the driller instead of the dremel, since it can spin slower and thus save the drillbit from overheating damage. Managed to brake both drillbits making that hole...

Based on the electrical schematics, connected two cables from the car loom to the Digidash loom. Also tidied up a bit the cables, fuses and relays in the scuttle area. Then connected cables to the dash and fitted the dash on the car. It's covered with bubble-wrap to prevent damage and held on the car with masking tape and clamps, but it now allows driving around with the completed dashboard!

I have been modifying the original CBR airbox. There were a couple of reasons for this. First was that to reduce it's height I had to swap it around and the intake pipes where hitting the engine cradle beam. Second was me looking for a way to ensure cold air was taken to the intake pipes. Initially I hoped that the airbox swapped around would fit under the bonnet... So I fitted the nosecone and the bonnet. Without airbox, the bonnet is just one finger thickness away from the 1st carb intake...

OK, I'll have to cut the bonnet for sure. So I fitted the airbox (without the intake pipes) in the new swapped position and then the bonnet again. It really will protrude. I'll need an air scoop to cover the hole, probably from a Mitsubishi L200 or similar.

To finish this off, fitted the intake pipes on the airbox and stored away the nosecone and bonnet.

Last bit on the day was to pump the brake peddle a few times and then go around the pipes with the paper. Only three connections presented me with a small stain on the paper. I had stored the tools already so I didn't tighten those a bit more. Will get around to that later. But at least its reassuring that with proper tightening I can have a working brake circuit and I haven't messed up!

Things are looking like I can drive the car in the garage this week...

Testing the Brakes

The wife and kid went with me to the garage to test the brakes. Cutting to the point, the car brakes but I believe it is not perfect. It may work at very low speeds but I wouldn't trust it.

First test was her just pressing and depressing the peddle and me going around the car looking for oil leaks (since Thursday's oil was now dry). There seems to be a very slight oil leak on one of the front joins between the hard pipe and the flexible pipe, since the join was wet. But it could be old oil. I must clean it all with tissues and then retest. On the rear there was a "skushy" sound everytime the peddle was pressed, so I believe there is some air on the lines.

Second test was me spinning the back wheel (it was still in the air) and she would brake. It stopped, so even if it has air, it is working a bit.

Unpacked my shiny new hydraulic jack. Wonderful piece of kit, bought cheap at Lidl! It was the kid, 4 years old, that jacked the car up! I took the axle-stand out and he dropped the car down. I just had to tell him what to do. I think I'll be carrying that jack around on the tintop!

With the car on the floor, I pushed it a bit and she would brake to see if it stopped. Turns out it's a lot harder to push around than I thought and I don't believe this test was valid, even if it stopped. The tyres made lots of rubbing noises while I was pushing the car around. I believe it is due the the BIG amount of negative camber and toe-in on the rear wheels. It almost looks crippled. The front wheels were better, although it seems one has a bit more negative camber than the other. I really have to set up the suspension and I'm really happy I have the hydraulic jack to do it!

Just two pictures to celebrate the car out of it's "nest" and the amount of oil stains on the floor, under it. They are mostly stains I made while trying to fill the brake lines. Only two other stains are engine oil leaked from a badly tightened pickup pipe (for the oil pressure sensor) and engine oil from a previous car that we had parked there.

Bleeding Brakes - 2nd Attempt

Before going for my main task of the day, grabbed some Araldite and glued the small ally plates I previously made on the old holes of the airbox. It takes 12 hours to dry, so I placed some "crocodile"-style clamps pressing the plates and left it to dry. Took care to ensure the way the glue was distributed would seal off the holes.

Went to the car with the recently acquired tool to bleed without assistance. The packaging is bad (in French and the Portuguese translation is wrong - "Bleed only the brakes" instead of "Bleed the bakes alone"), it was cheap and that should have made me suspect it was bad quality.

It is very easy to use. Pass the black malleable pipe over the bleed nipple and then tighten it up passing the hard plastic restrainer. The restrainer broke on the 1st time I passed it over the nipple's bump... The other end is a valve that does not let air in. Place it inside a jar to hold lost oil and just pump the peddle.

What a mess this is!!! I placed pieces of cardboard under the master cylinders to catch some dripping. There was dripping! And also from the bleed nipple, since the restraining plastic was broken. And on the front some joints were not tight enough and leaked a bit too... In the end, the floor was a mess, my hands and jumpers suit a mess....

Anyway.... I first worked again the rear brakes. We tried doing them last time but the brakes were not working properly, so had to be redone. First the rear right wheel, then the rear left wheel. Was very careful always topping up the master cylinder reservoir.
Then I worked the front wheels, first the right one, then the left. In the beginning I was not getting any fluid on the "vizibleed". Had to pump several times with a fast pace (instead of slow peddle pumping I was using) to get the fluid on the bleeding nipple. Then could revert to slow pumping.
I was pumping the peddle with my hand (due to a small knee injury done earlier) and it became stiffer and stiffer, so it might have worked OK. But I can't test this alone, will have to wait for the weekend to go with the wife to the garage and get her driving and braking while I push the car around.

Dashboard Finished and Other Small Tasks

Today had to be the day! And ended up being the best day I had with the car so far in these vacations! Spent almost 6 hours working on it plus around 1 hour to go out fetch my prop catchers that were done ahead of schedule.

Working on the dash, added the missing hole for the high-beam switch. Then fitted the Digidash on the support I made. Turns out it wasn't bent as it should and the Digidash was "inside" the dashboard. Not pretty. Re-bent that and also adjusted some of the bolt holes that were slightly offset.
Then, positioned the dash on the scuttle and marked for bolts. Also marked inside for the bolts to hold the Digidash plate. Drilled it all and then bolted the parts together. Fitted the switches and all for the picture. The fan switch is not completely in since I had to take it to test the fan.

Now I need to either paint the bolts in black of find another way of making them less visible...

After this, I went to the car with just the ignition and fan switch. Took the fan out to "turn it around". I remember reading that it was possible to reassemble it to switch the direction of the blowing. But I misplaced the instructions. So, I took out the blade and turned it around. But that did nothing... So, and since after trial-fitting with the nosecone, it all fits, I moved the fan in front of the rad. (EDIT - 2012/09/16 - Switching it around just requires swapping the wires around. So on the 16th September I moved the fan behind the rad again)

Then I went around tightening the front brake fluid circuit. Since I had the spanners in my hand, also tightened the gear linkage, that was a bit wobbly.
Moved towards the rear of the car, spending a couple of minutes trial-fitting the firewall that I had trimmed. It now fits nicely and is ready to be drilled and riveted to the chassis. Although I'll only do that after I have the brakes correctly bled and the handbrake cable properly installed.

My final task of the day was to trial-fit the prop catchers so that I could see if any adjustments were needed. The parts are spot on. Just the holes they drilled (not on my drawings) are not where I need them to be, but no problem with that. The steel has a bit of surface rust, needs some scrubbing and paint. Couldn't properly trial-fit one of them (the one that loops around the prop) because I can't fit it under the floor without either disassembling the gear linkage (maybe) or dropping the prop. I'll worry about that sometime later...

Digidash Support and Airbox Hole-Covers

Some ally working today, so that I can tick off some tasks from my to-do list. Although none of the jobs was finished yet...

Cut out from some ally two squares to cover the old holes on the airbox. Also cut and bent a support to hold the Digidash inset into the dashboard.

Then created a template of the Digidash to drill holes and cut out for the plugs.

Marked the holes with a punch and a hammer then drilled with a 2mmØ on the dremel. With a cutting disk opened the big hole. Now I just need to drill two holes on the lips and equivalent holes on the dashboard to fix it with some bolts.

In the mean time, one of my fellow builders warned me that I probably am missing a cut in my dash for the dip switch. And he is right! The lights switch only has three positions (off, low, main). There is a rocket switch on the bag that I didn't know what it was for. Turns out it's to control high/dip. Thank you, Iain!

Dashboard All Cut

After several hours on the balcony, the dashboard is finally all cut up! Just need to fabricate an ally sheet to put on the back to bolt the Digidash to and drill the holes to fix it to the scuttle. And get the proper fixings for that.

The holes are, from left to right, for the steering column, the ignition key, 5 switches and the Digidash on top. The switches control fan, lights, hazards, handbrake warning and fog light. The indicators are on a stalk on the steering column and the horn is on the steering wheel.

On a side note, last week I ordered the prop catchers (should be ready this week) and also bought a kind of "easy bleeder" so that I can bleed the brakes without assistance. This means that it is up to me alone to get the car rolling before my vacations are over...

More Dashboard Cutting

Today spent two hours cutting away fibreglass on the dashboard. It was a glorious day so, instead of working on the garage store room 3 stories underground, I worked on the balcony.

Cut out the holes for the remaining 4 switches. Then used another dremel bit to trim them down so that the switches would actually fit. I believe that tip is to file away mosaics, but it works great on fibreglass.
Then I opened up the hole for the Digidash but had to suspend work midway trimming. To be completed later. The picture shows actual status and how nice the view was from the balcony.

Fan, Prop-catcher, Airbox and Dash

Steve from Aries had warn me that I should test the fan rotation before bolting it all final. It would probably be spinning the wrong direction. Took the fan switch and the ignition key with me. After connecting the battery and fitting the switch on the loom, switched the fan on. It is actually blowing towards the front instead of sucking towards the back. Will have to disassemble the fan and rotate the blade 180º, as per instructions on the box. Didn't do it because I had taken no tools with me to the car. (EDIT 2012/09/16 - Making the fan work the other way around just takes switching the wires over...)
Also offered the cut firewall to the car to see how it goes. It requires some trimming.

Next was sketch up time! I've always intended to have prop-catchers fitted for added security. But these have to be custom made by someone that can work steel sheets. So, I sketched up three catchers. The two smaller ones will old the bigger rear prop, one just before the diff and the other near the reverse box. The "inverted U" shaped "catcher" is to fit on the small front prop, near the reverse box, protecting feet and ankles. It took me ages to draw these up!

Back home, went to the balcony to do some cutting and trimming. With the glorious weather, it's a lot better to work there than underground.

Spent some time trimming the firewall. I believe now it's ready to be fit. Will need to offer it up again to validate.

Then cut the new holes on the airbox. These got right at first attempt! I was speechless! For the airbox to be ready to fit on the car, I just need to seal up the old holes and to assemble it all!

Next cutting was on fibreglass, to get the holes for instruments on the dash. Only cut one hole and was so afraid to cut it too big that made it too small and then spent ages with a file tip on the dremmel trimming the hole for the switch to fit. But I hope the following ones will be a lot easier to do.

The switch was not pressed down completely because it would be a pain to take out afterwards. Not much done but since first step is always the hardest one, I was happy with what I accomplished.

Marking Dash and Airbox for Cutting

Using the template for the steering column I taped a while back, I started to mark the dash for cutting. The idea is to have a rectangular cut for the steering column (instead of just a hole). It might not look as good, but it will make it a lot easier to adjust the column and to take out the dash. Then, to have the Digidash on the centre and the buttons bellow. The ignition key will go behind the wheel, to avoid problems with projections.

Except for the ignition key, all is now marked (the ignition barrel is on the car and I was working at home). I like to make big fails, so I'm considering cutting out the panel to have the Digidash inlaid, just like the buttons. That will require some holding plate on the back (will probably do it on ally) that will have to be riveted or glued on the dash. I believe it will look better than with the Digidash protruding in all it's 3cm height...

Next stop was the airbox. Due to the engine cradle, I can't turn the airbox around because the intake pipes hit a cradle's member. So I have to find another way. I saw a picture of a similar box that was changed to have the pipes in a different position to make it easier to get cold hair from a bonnet scoop.

So I dismantled the airbox and pulled out the pipes. They are just fit with some rubber seals. My box additionally had some product that might help the seal. Then I marked the box where the two pipes will be fitted. I'll also have to put some plastic or ally covering the old holes, being sure that it's an air-tight seal.

Next time, it's cutting time! Or maybe I'll just postpone it again and go work on something else...

Bleeding Brakes - 1st Attempt

Today I enlisted my father, that was visiting for a small lunch/dinner party, and got him to help me with bleeding the brakes. It was a good opportunity for us two talk a bit while I was trying to have brakes on the car.

Filled the rear reservoir with some DOT4 fluid. Then I opened the rear right (remember this is a LHD car) bleed nipple on the calliper and he pressed the peddle 4 times. While holding down I closed the nipple. Nothing happened and the fluid didn't go down much. After some more attempts, I asked him to press and release some 20 times in a row. Something started to happen...

I was told not to tighten the junctions on the copper pipes too tight otherwise there was the risk that the flared tips would get mangled and the pipes would drip oil. I just hand-tightened. Turns out that was not enough. There was oil dripping everywhere! I went around tightening all the rear junctions and filled the reservoir again. Now it started to work better. Fluid came out the pipe I had on the bleed nipple first with lots of air, then just small bubbles. Had to go fill up the reservoir loads of times. And I believe that sometimes it went empty and air went in again... 3 peddle presses seems to be enough between refills.

After doing the left rear wheel, I cleaned around and we packed to go home. I made a mess in the garage floor. Also, the breaks aren't OK yet. I can spin the rear wheels by hand (the car is jacked up) and when the peddle is pressed it offers resistance but I can still spin the wheels.

I'll have to tighten the front junctions and get a better funnel to fill the reservoirs (can't reach the front one with current funnel). Then will have to go around doing this all over again. Might also cut the hose I put on the bleed nipple shorter and get it inside a smaller jar with liquid, to prevent air re-entering through there.

On a final note, tried to start the car to show my father. Starter engine was going but the car would not start. Not sure but have a feeling my fiddling with the throttle cable made it too insensitive and now it does not work right. May have to drill an intermediate hole, between the other two...

Oil, Peddle and Markings

Almost a month went by since I managed to start the car! But I'll now be on vacations for a couple of weeks and expect to work on the car more frequently. I made a todo list that I hope to tick completely before vacations end.

Started today tightening the oil pressure pickup pipe. I hope next time I turn the engine on it will not drip oil.

Then drilled a new hole on the throttle peddle. The one I drilled months ago was almost on the top tip of the stalk. It made the peddle too sensitive! This time I drilled not too far from the pivot, thus making it a lot less sensitive. Had to adjust the cable so that the full peddle travel meant the full throttle without hitting the panel behind the peddles Took the time and also braced the throttle cable to the water pipes in two places. This made the cable look neater and "stay in place".

Then I marked the ally wall that stays behind the seats. It needs some cuts on the upper lip to slide in place. After that, I also marked the place where the steering column stays on the dash so that later on I can mark the dash and cut it. This was the only picture I took

Then did the cuts on the ally panel, using the dremmel, Next time I'll offer the panel on the car and mark where all rivet drills must be done. My idea it to drill the panel, offer it to the car, mark a couple of holes, drill them, hold the panel there with rivets and then use the other holes on the ally as template for where to drill on the chassis. Let's see how it goes. I still need to paint the panel also...