Cutting the Nose Cone

Got home from work, kid is away, wife celebrating something at work... Got myself on car-clothes and went to the balcony with the nosecone and the dremmel. Cut loosely the big air opening on the front. Then 2 small cuts on the back of the cone, where it meets the engine cover, so that the chassis supports can fit through. These supports are where the cone bolts to, once in place.

Very happy that last weekend I bought a professional air mask from 3M, certified to work with small dust particles. There was lots of fiber glass powder flying around and I bet it wouldn't have been good for my lungs to get a share of it.

Only after having cut the big opening I thought how will the grill bolt on it all. I hope I haven't cut too much or too near the "edge"...

In the end, it took me a bit over one hour to cut it all and almost 30m to clean afterwards.

Fuel Tank and Level Gauge

Since the work I had planned for today didn't have to be done in the car, I took tools and parts to a balcony. Fresh air, sun... It was a good decision. Better photos too, due to better lighting.

Spent some time reading an email Steve from Aries had sent me with instructions regarding the fuel level gauge and the tank. He mentioned ETB's manual (Digidash company where all these parts come from) so I also read it. Since the level gauge was too big, I finally grabbed the dremmel and cut the wire in two, shortened it and used (as recommended) an electric connection thing. Used the larger ones (5A?) and used lots of the Pattex Nural (threadlocking stuff) on the bolts.

Then I used my new contraption on the driller to cut a circular hole with 40mmØ on the fuel tank. With some cutting oil and patience, it was done with great results.

I still have to drill 6 holes to fix the level gauge on the tank, but it was lunch time. Still have to figure out how to bolt the gauge in place since I have no way to hold the bold inside. Should I use something different than bolts?

Radiator trial fitting

Had to do a couple of small tasks first. Small tasks end up taking a bit of time and also got to talk a bit about the car to the building caretaker. But in the end, besides talking, I attached the braided hoses on the rear brakes and to the pipes and put some ptfc tape on the oil pressure sensor (for the brake lights).

The big task was holding the radiator in place and trial fitting the nose cone to see if all was OK. It took some time and several tries, since there is not that much space under there. The car looks wonderful with the nose cone attached.

Stored the nose cone again. The radiator is in place held by 2 clamps. I'll drill for that later.

Water Pipes and Bulkhead

Found by accident a store that sells braces for the water pipes. Bought a couple and replaced the ones that were a pain and made me "suffer" last week. It wasn't as easy as I would expect since I bought a size too small and had to struggle to make them fit, but 45m later both were in place!

A friend borrowed me a dremel-like tool and I prepared the bulkhead to have a hole cut for the steering column to go through. I had never used such a tool. It was great but cutting the ally was a long task. After a hour I had the hole cut and could trial fit the bulkhead. I think that the hole is not big enough to cover all the steering column travel course since it's quite adjustable. I'll probably have to enlarge it later, but for now it serves it's purpose.

Next I'll have to take the nosecone, scuttle and bonnet to trial fit them all and figure out the final location for the bulkhead. And were to cut for the throttle peddle. And also where to drill for the radiator.
And it seems I'll not be able to run away much longer from the electrics...

Rear Brake Calipers and More Pipes

After a weekend without car-time, today I had the whole morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that well, so not much accomplished.

Started by finishing off the rear brake assembly. After spending some time trying to understand how to connect the pads with the calipers, I swapped some emails with Steve, from Aries. He really is a great person! I had some difficulties understanding what he was saying but still he kept trying and I finally understood how to assemble the breaks. Fitted the pads on the caliper carrier, placed the caliper on top and bolted the caliper to the sliding pins (with the rubber gaitors). Notice the fact that the oil pipe and bleed nipple are at the top and the handbrake lever is at the bottom.

I noticed after taking the photo that the springs on the pads were out of the caliper, so I had to undo it all and redo with the springs inside. Then did the same operations on the other side. Just didn't connect the flexy brake pipes from the chassis connection point to the calipers because I left the flexies at home.

By the way, after some trial and error trying to assemble the things, I understood that the slots on the caliper piston need to be "straight" so that they slot correctly on the pads. Using pliers, I rotated the pistons slightly.

Went back to the cooling circuit. Finished connecting the pipe to the Y piece near the oil filter. Then did the connections from that hose to the header tank and from the carbs T piece to the header tank. These were easier since I figured out applying some spit on the hose and the connection point helps it slide. But lost over two hours struggling with the braces to hold the pipes in place. The big braces were very easy to use, the small ones are a pain. Left both on the header tank undone and considering buying different ones, like those on the big pipes. Very nice looking header tank, by the way!

(2011/10/08) EDIT: It would have been easier to drill the four holes on the header tank attachment tabs (6mmØ) prior to fitting the water pipes, since they are stiff and limit movement.

Beginning the Pipework

Started by doing other small jobs like bolting down the steering column and trying to figure out how the wing stays bolt on the hubs to see about putting the last pieces of copper pipe for the break circuit. Also some tidy up on the storage room.

During the week a friend that is also building an Aries Locoblade offered me detailed instructions (with pictures) on how to connect the pipes. Printed them out and took the needed parts and papers with me to the car. Then, with instructions at hand and looking at the labels done by Steve, made my first steps with the pipes.

First one was a small that was labeled by Steve as "Water hose - Header tank to water pump Y piece". And based on Iains' instructions, tried to fix the hose. It is such a tight fit on the Y piece that I ended up hurting my finger and not being able to put it to the end. Left it for later.
Then I grabbed the piece that had a T section. The smaller piece was labeled by Steve "Water hose to thermostat housing". Based on Iains' photos and instructions I identified what was the thermostat housing and fitted the pipe (with some resistance). Bolted the brace to hold it in place.
Grabbed the small larger pipe labeled "Thermostat to radiator via temperature sensor (remote)" and got it in place on the thermostat.
Then the longer large pipe labeled "Y piece from water pump to radiator lower", that was easy to get on the Y piece. Also braced in place.

Spend some more time forcing the smaller pipe on the Y piece, with no success. I'm sure I can't use lithium grease there, but sure there must be an easier way!

Didn't connect the smaller pipes to the header tank because I still don't have the bulkhead in place to hold the header tank to. Was going to put the radiator in place but then understood that it hangs on the outside of some supports and not the inside. So, I didn't have any tools to hold it in place. Couldn't bolt it to the chassis because I need the nose cone to see where to fit it without fouling the bodywork. It will have to be done later. I'll also have to cut a bit of the top hose (that came with 4 instead of 2 braces) to fit the thermostat sensor (remote), for the radiator fan. It was a good start but there is lots more to be done.

A final note of thanks to Iain for his excellent help with today's task!

Roll Bar Done

Two other builders told me they also had the problem with the nut not fitting because the hole was too near to the corner. Each one found his own solution to the problem. I'm not sure what I'll do but, for now, decided to finish off the remaining 9 bolts. So, spent some time with the driller and the 90º angle fixing the holes and then bolting down the roll bar. Spent over one hour trying to "make a hole" for the nut to fit in and move the bolt hole a bit to the inside, but ended up leaving that one bolt behind for now.

Moved to the bulkhead. Used the electric saw to cut the ally and also the driller to help "making corners". But it's looking butchered as I don't have enough precision with either tool. I guess I can't postpone any more buying a dremmel.

Anyway, decided to cut in a way that allows adjusting the steering column to it's maximum height. I think I also figured out how to cover the hole being cut so that I don't get fluids nor a cold draft from that area onto my legs. Pictures of this all will come after I get it all properly done.

With the roll bar on, the silhouette of the car (it's usually under a cover) looks completely different and it is odd to look at it now. But the build is definitely moving along! And with the 10 hours I put on it in these two days, I caught up a bit on due tasks. A special public thank you to the wife, that arranged things so that I could have all this time to myself and the car. <3