Bodywork and wiring

It's been another busy weekend on the car, but for once there's not much to show for it; the car looks much the same as it did on Friday. Mostly I've been doing bodywork, fettling the nosecone to fit, and drilling the last two panels. Unfortunately I received these two after I'd attached the front suspension, which is a shame, as I need to remove the suspension to get the drill in to the front part of the panel. Hence, it took me an hour tonight to drill one panel. I'm leaving the other one until tomorrow.

After making holes in the nosecone, I was able to attach the headlight bracket. This took an awful lot of measuring, adjusting, marking, offering up, etc, but on the plus side once I'd drilled it, it ended up in exactly the right place to fit the holes I'd made in the nose cone, which was not entirely expected. And with that on, we were able to trial fit the lights, which look great:

Emily attaches what she likes to call "an eye".

The headlights in place.

Wiring progresses slowly; the front loom is basically done, although I haven't yet attached the engine loom. After much hassle trying to fit the engine loom in front of the battery, I eventually chopped off the big plastic box containing all the wires, and rewrapped it in electrical tape. Now it's a quarter of the size, so it fits neatly between engine and battery, giving me a nice tidy engine bay. Hopefully the wires won't melt... I might add some sort of heat shield here.

Wires wrapped and fitted behind the battery.

Figuring out which pin, and attaching connectors to all the wires will probably take a while. On the plus side, the quality of the GKD loom is really good, with all the plugs easy to attach and neatly labeled.

Other miscelanea: the rear panel is off again, so that it can be dropped off for painting. The tank is plumbed in, barring the filler cap which doesn't fit, although it will need to come out again to fit the rear lights. Some further fettling will be required to get the filler to attach properly. And Jason has kindly offered to swap my 328 dash for his spare M3 dash, which means that I'll get an oil temperature guage in the dash. This will be handy for track use.

I've also ordered an air filter, and started looking at steering wheel options. I'll probably go for the same size as the Elise (320mm diameter), but quick-release (for security, and getting in and out). Still looking for a Z3M gearstick (to shorten the gearstick throw).

I've noticed that the ignition barrel is a bit dodgy, and sometimes spins. Apparently this is a common fault, but basically means I might need to replace the barrel, which sounds like a huge pain. I'll leave that as plan B for now, and make sure I know how to hotwire it in case I ever get stuck, unable to start it.

Finally, I've made my mind up about engine bay cooling: there will be no bonnet scoop (I'm aiming for a very traditional looking Seven), but I am going to have small (15mm) vents at the rear of the engine bay to aid airflow:

Not very traditional looking, but I think they'll be reasonably subtle. They could be adjusted to be much bigger, anything from about 0-50mm, but this looks about right to me.

Brakes on at last

We went to pick up the Elise today, and while I was there, Gerald very kindly popped the wheel hub into his 36 ton press (mental note: a press capable of applying 36 tons of pressure looks like a useful thing to have around the garage; it's really a false economy not to have one), and pressed the wheel bearing in fully. Once fully seated, the play is gone, and the hub is now back on the car.

We also ground down the third set of calliper bolts, and this time, mainly through being a lot more careful, and going to the effort of trial fitting each bolt between each grinding, got the bolts to exactly the right length (this is tricky: too long and they touch the brake disc; too short and they don't visibly protrude out of the other side of the hub they bolt into, which I think is an IVA fail - you're supposed to be able to see one or two threads if forum rumours are to be believed).

Looking forward to picking up the rear banjo bolts on Saturday, which will enable me to put fluid into the brake and clutch lines, and actually have two out of three working pedals.

Starting to look like a Seven

After a few false starts, and drilling of holes in the wrong places, I finally got the radiator mounted so that the nosecone clears it properly. Here it is, looking a little more like a car:

Nose cone on... looking distinctly Seven-like.

I've also been doing research into painting methods. The current plan is to buy a compressor, then spray the panels (after wet sanding and primer). This should give a good finish, at the expense of, well, expense. Fortunately I've got a test panel, so I can make (some of) my mistakes on that before attacking the car proper.

Bits off, bits on

A weekend of fairly mixed progress. First stop was trying to sort out the rear brakes. The manual suggested that grinding down the bolts might be required to stop them contacting the brake disc, and indeed it was required, as they were much too long.

After a bit of experimentation, it turns out that the angle grinder is a bit of a blunt instrument for this task (and also gets the bolts properly red hot, which make me wonder if the heat cycle has implications for their future strength), and that the dremel is too feeble. Fortunately, the bench grinder is just right, if a little slow. Still, just four bolts to do. I ground them to the appropriate length, then double-checked the instructions and found I'd be using a spring washer, meaning my newly shortened bolts were too short. I cursed a bit, bought some more bolts, and ground them down again. However, I think they may be slightly too short as they don't visibly protrude, and I think IVA like to see at least one or two threads poking out the other end as evidence that the bolt goes all the way through. Might have to do a third set - fortunately I bought enough spares to do this.

Whilst messing around with attaching rear callipers, I also discovered that the garage I'd got to press in the wheel bearings had damaged one of the wheel bearings (and either not noticed or not told me). Fortunately, I've got a spare, so I will get a (different) garage to swap the wheel bearing over. Given the amount I've spent on servicing the Elise over the last two years, I think there's a good chance the Lotus garage will take pity on me and do it - I'll ask tomorrow when I pick the Elise up after its latest misbehaving.

Excessive play in the wheel bearing.

Next I started on the oil. This was all pretty straightforward, engine oil filter, engine and gearbox oil all changed without any mishap or even any significant spillage, which was unexpected. The pleasant surprise here was that the gearbox oil coming out looked about the same as the stuff going in, suggesting a recent change (consistent with the condition of the fill plugs, which looked recently used). Given that (I believe) BMW don't recommend ever changing the gearbox oil, this suggests that the car might have been looked after quite well. I didn't manage to do the diff as I couldn't locate a 14mm allen key, but Ebay will hopefully resolve that in the next day or two.

Finally, I mounted the battery, and attached the rear panel. The battery was fairly straightforward, although the Halfords "universal" battery clamp needed a spot of modification as the threads were much too short to actually clamp the battery.

Emily helps with a bit of rivetting.

The rear panel latter took a while, as it involved a fair amount of offering up, measuring, cutting, offering up, cursing, cutting some more, offering up again, clamping, drilling, riveting, and finally using a hammer and an angle grinder to make some final adjustments. In spite of all that, the final result looks pretty good, although it's not yet painted.

The rear panel in place, ready to be painted.

I can still see well enough to drive

Another weekend of good progress, only slightly marred by a trip to A&E (foreign readers: that's Accident and Emergency, aka ER). More on that in a bit.

It started well: I bolted in the rollbar, after dithering for a while about whether to upgrade to grade 12.9 bolts. In the end I decided that, although stronger under static load, they are more likely to snap (as opposed to bend) when overloaded, and that 8.8 would be the safer choice. This was straightforward, except for drilling through the steel plate where the roll bar mounted. This munched through several drill bits, and it didn't help that the local hardware store had run out of 8mm bits. (They helpfully put some 7.5mm bits on the 8mm rack, which obviously I didn't notice and so bought several the wrong size).

Next I put the radiator on. I think the brackets had been welded onto the chassis in the wrong place, as they required quite a bit of bending (I decided against using additional brackets in the end, as I didn't want to push the radiator further forwards). Trial fitting the nosecone revealed some contact at the sides, so I followed the Seven tradition of weight-saving by trimming the radiator down at the edges. I'm not sure but I think I may have mounted it 1-2mm too low, as when I fit the nosecone over it, it doesn't quite sit flush at the top of the chassis. A little further fettling may be required here.

The radiator looks very big here, but that's just the angle. It's not really the width of the car.

On Sunday, Emily ventured into the garage to help with fitting the fuel tank. We installed the pump and fuel guage without too much difficulty, and then started trying to fit it in the chassis. This was a fairly tight fit, and the chassis-adjustment tool (hammer) had to be deployed on several occasions. Finally, we got it in.

Fuel tank in. I will probably install some brackets at the sides as there's not much to prevent side-to-side movement at the moment.

Today didn't result in much visible progress, as I first spent an hour doing things (plugging the reverse light switch into the gearbox) that would have taken 10s with the gearbox out, but now requires removing panels that had been riveted in to get the plug onto the sensor. Next I started trying to identify the many wires and hoses coming off the engine. I made more progress here than expected, ending up with only a few unknown connections.

Engine with some additional bits in place.

I notice that it looks like everything will fit under the bonnet, without the need for the bonnet scoop. My hope is that I can avoid using the scoop - I'll talk to Peter about this. I guess it will mean higher engine temperatures, but on the other hand, it will look nicer (in my opinion - I suspect Jason would disagree), and the visibility will be better. I guess I can always try it and see how it goes.

While finishing up, I started wiping down the engine with some degreaser. Unfortunately, I got a drop splash off and hit me right in my eye. The degreaser is fairly nasty stuff (POR-15 Marine Clean) - it's acidic, and the sticker on the bottle says to wipe it off skin immediately to avoid burns. It doesn't mention eyes, presumably because no one would be so careless. This stung a bit, and after rinsing out with water, I noticed some haze and blurring in that eye, so off to A&E we went.

A&E were keen to take down my details, first on a form, and then on a computer, but less keen to actually do anything. It was two hours before anyone actually looked at my eye, and gave me a saline drip to rinse it out. (Hint: don't get acid in your eye, and with luck you won't have to experience this. It's unpleasant). Apparently the cornea is slightly burned (right in the centre, unfortunately), but it should heal and I should completely regain my vision in that eye in a day or two. Fingers crossed.

Bank holiday weekend = progess

Back from Peru, we'd been waiting about a month to make any progress - partly from being away for two weeks, partly waiting for Peter to be able to come and replace the chassis rail that I'd chopped out and to drop off some more parts - so I was itching to get started again. Fortunately, Peter was able to pick the chassis up and return it the next day in time for the bank holiday weekend. Big thanks to Ben & Catherine for helping push it up the drive. Peter replaced the chassis rail, modified the rear of the chassis slightly to adjust the angle of the panel that will form the back of the car, and also helpfully bolted in my gearbox mount for me.

Rich trial fits the nosecone and grille.

Peter also pointed out why the engine wouldn't sit properly in the chassis, which had been bugging me: turns out the donor car, which was sold to me as a standard 328, was not particularly standard. As well as having the rear axle from an M3 (i.e., limited slip diff, M3 brakes, hubs and driveshafts), and a modified steering column (more on this in a bit), it had a 5-series gearbox. (We think it's from a 5-series - it's larger than the M3 gearbox, so that's the obvious candidate, but we're not really certain). Not really sure why, as the engine appears (mostly) standard, so, sadly, it probably isn't because the engine is delivering more power than the standard box can take. That said, the engine (inevitably) isn't completely stock - it does appear to have a larger than standard throttle body, which should be good for a few more horsepower (I believe stock is 64mm diameter; mine appears to be around 68mm). I'm pretty sure the box does originate from the 328, as the gear linkage has been shortened to fit a 3-series... very odd. Peter suggests that maybe they wanted different ratios for race use... but who knows? I'd really like to know the history of the donor car - what was modified, and what, if anything, was standard...

So, Saturday's job was to trim the gearbox down to fit, since it had some extra flanges which were contacting the side of the gearbox tunnel, and also the side of the pedal box, and preventing the engine from sitting as it should. I hooked up the engine crane, hoisted the engine out a foot or so, ground off the flanges, and put the engine & gearbox back. They now sit nicely with about 5mm clearance where they were touching the panels before. Then I got the hoover out and had a go at hoovering up the vast amount of aluminium dust created, with partial success.

Sunday: Peter had also noticed that the clutch pedal had gone in the wrong way round - this is (a) not my fault, as it came like this, and (b) not as obvious as it sounds, as the pedal had been mounted on the opposite side. I removed the pedal box (lots of bolts, annoyingly) and swapped it round. While I was on the easy stuff I also bolted in the handbrake and compensator attachment.

Next I sorted out all the brake and clutch hoses while Peter's explanation of where they all went was still fresh in my mind. This was fairly painless, although the gearbox had some extra gubbins where the hose needed to attach, which I removed. I started to put the steering column in, but, after discussion with Peter, realised that it wouldn't fit, because, like everything else from the donor car, it's been modified. An extra clip had been welded on, which I removed with the angle grinder. We have no idea what this might have been for.

The chief technician inspects the mysterious clip (on top, centre, looks a bit like a bent fork running parallel to the shaft) welded onto the steering column.

After further investigation, I decided that it would need an extra pair of hands to get the steering column in, so I left that for Sunday, and instead took the steering rack off, and stuck the compression springs on. I experimented with putting the IVA shrouds on it, but couldn't figure out how to make this work. That can wait for now.

Monday: Rich came over to help, and we set about sorting out the steering column. Clearance was fairly slim at two points on either end of the column, so getting the position of the steering column support bracket exactly right was very important. Eventually we found a position that gave good clearance, and got the bracket in place. We also enlarged the hole in the bulkhead, so that the column could pass through it nicely. That done, we tightened everything up... to discover that everything was mysteriously locked up and wouldn't turn. Fortunately, after a brief panic, Rich remembered the steering lock. We turned the key and everything was fine again. The steering has turned out rather well - it's very smooth, with no slop at all.

Steering column support bracket - note enlarged bulkhead hole, and bolt in need of trimming which currently catches on the engine.

Rich disappeared at this point, leaving me on my own to install the fuel pipes. These went in easily, the second more so, having been sprayed with a bit of silicone lubricant to help the hose from the engine slide onto it. I stuck jubilee clips over the join and cable tied it all up.

Fuel pipes running down passenger side of centre tunnel.

Finally, I turned my attention to the alternator, which had been slightly damaged. The plastic part which was supposed to separate the two terminals and prevent any accidental contact had snapped off, along with some plastic around the edges of the terminals. Given the amount of current involved, I was keen to avoid any short circuits here, so managed to bodge some replacement bits out of an old flowerpot and some glue. It worked surprisingly well.

Bodged alternator terminal housing.

All in all, a fairly productive, if tiring, bank holiday weekend.

Engine in

The aim this weekend was to get the engine in. Before step 29, though, a few other steps needed doing. I didn't get the clutch hose in time, so I skipped that and moved on to the pedal box. Hopefully the clutch hose will go on with the gearbox in the car (this is not a given, but in the worst case I can probably remove an aluminium panel and put it on without too much extra hassle).

Andrew came down to assist with putting the engine in on Saturday, but unfortunately the pedal box turned out to be more fiddly than expected and took longer than it should have (more mistakes were made than strictly necessary). I suspect that if doing it again it would take less than an hour, but in the event it took all day. We started by cutting down some bolts to make them fit:

Andrew following all the relevant safety procedures. Loose clothing? Check. Face in path of high speed red hot shards of metal? Check. Wobbly bench held in place by foot? Check.

After that, it was a case of bolting in the pedal box (easy) and adjusting the master cylinders until the pedals had exactly the right amount of travel (fiddly).

On Sunday, Emily and I started faffing about with the engine. First, we put the chassis on wheels so we could roll it about more easily, and so there was no risk of it falling off its axle stands. Then we hoisted up the crane and started lowering the engine in. After a while it became clear that we'd need the arm of the crane fully extended, so we had to rest the engine down while we did that, and also raise the chassis slightly so the legs of the crane would go underneath, so we stuck the front wheels on some bits of wood. The engine slowly worked its way down into the engine bay, but with the gear lever the wrong side of a chassis rail. We backed out the engine, moved the gear lever and tried again. Then removed the gear lever and tried again. Finally, we were able to get the engine in place, hovering about an inch above its final destination, when Emily had to go rowing, leaving me on my own.

I had a bit of a poke around, and eventually concluded that the engine wasn't going to go in because a chassis rail was occupying a place where the engine needed to go:

The corner of the engine resting on top of the chassis rail. The engine needs to be lowered about 2" straight down... problem.

I gave Peter a call and sent him this photo, and we agreed that the chassis rail would have to move. Apparently the 328 was not one of the engines Peter measured when designing the Legend 6 chassis. Fortunately he was already planning to pick the chassis up to modify the rear of the car slightly, so this wasn't a big logistical issue, though it did leave me with an engine 90% in my car, i.e., not in. I suggested removing the offending rail, since Peter would have to adjust it anyway, which would enable me to finish off getting the engine in. So out comes the angle grinder again:

resulting in this:

Peter will remove the stubs and replace the rail at a more suitable angle when I get back from Peru. But, the engine is finally in, and it's starting to look a lot like a car. Also, I now have a lot more garage space, which is useful.

We celebrated by getting a seat out and sitting in the car making "brum brum" noises.

Plenty of rear camber