Exhaust Welding Completed

Got the welded exhaust parts back from Tiger.  Looks like a good job and after a trial fit the alignment still seems to be correct.  Will fabricate a bracket for the silencer next and get the exhaust fitted.

Cooling System - Mark 3

When previously installing the Tiger alloy radiator I re-used the 'puller' fan that I had bought for the Polo radiator.  This meant that the radiator could not be angled back fully all the way to the upper horizontal chassis rail.  Now that I'm able to trial fit the nose cone I can see that the top of the radiator is not low enough.  Time to replace the 'puller' type fan with a 'pusher' type.

With the radiator angled all the way back to the chassis rail the nose cone now fits properly.

The water rail was attached to the side chassis rail.  A dab of Sikaflex and a rivet at each end have made a strong mounting.

Fuel Filler and Tank Vent Valve

To comply with IVA requirements the cap needs to be tethered to the fuel filler itself.  I copied the idea from the Carbuilder Solutions Catalogue, i.e. brass picture frame wire and cut down crimp terminals.

The cap did need dismantling first, but at least there are two holes available to take the wire and a handy recess to hide the crimp connector in.

With the cap reassembled ready for installation on the car.

Fuel filler hose connected up and all mounting bolts tightened.

I was a bit worried that the two bends required might be too tight or that the pipe might foul on the boot box molding altogether.  In the end it does not seem too bad and all being well the fuel will flow easily down the filler pipe and the air back up.

Next, time to fit the (not cheap at all) fuel tank vent valve.  This allows air in to the tank as fuel is used.  It also allows air in or out of the tank for expansion/contraction due to temperature changes.  Most importantly it does not let fuel flow out when inverted, i.e. when the car is upside down after an accident.  I think this is all done by a clever arrangement of two ball bearings and probably a spring or two.  The valve has to be fitted with the rubber o-ring uppermost.

That's the fuel system complete and ready for service.  Just need to complete the exhaust before the first engine start can be attempted.

Cutting the Exhaust Pipes to Fit

Before getting started on this I realised that the lamda sensor boss was missing from my Webcon Alpha Pro4 kit.  I called Webcon, and as before, they were extremely helpful.  A replacement was posted first class and with me the following morning.

The various exhaust components were fitted together.

Problem was that the curved pipe between the cat and the silencer would not have enough metal showing.  This is a problem as where the bend is in the pipe the profile changes from round to oval(ish).  This is okay where the pipe is to be welded to the cat, but would not be okay where it is to be push fitted into the silencer.  To attempt to solve this the silencer was moved back a little, but there is not much room to play with as it is already near to the rear wheel arch.  In the end I removed about 25mm from the end of each exhaust header and this allowed just enough of the curved pipe to be showing.  The curved pipe was cut to the final dimensions and everything assembled.

All permanent joints were marked up for alignment ready to post to Tiger for them to weld, including the installation of the boss for the lamda sensor.

Cutting the Hole for the Exhaust Headers

Before the body work was fitted a template was created out of pieces of card.

Copied to card a larger piece single.  Reference point was marked to ensure it would be in the right location on the chassis (measured from the upper wishbone bolt and top of the upper chassis rail.)

Checked on the chassis with the exhaust headers in place.

Used as a template after the body work was fitted.

Marked out using a chinagraph pencil (already learnt that even wipe clean whiteboard markers will not come of white fibreglass!).

First whole cut (actually drilled and filed).

And exhaust headers trial fitted.

The pipes were a tight fit and so the hole was opened up some more, whilst trying to ensure an equal spacing all round.

After removing the headers, refitting and tightening fully, the pipes were lower than before so a little more had to be cut off the bottom and rear.  Hopefully the gap above the pipes is now not too wide.  Maybe later on I'll make a metal trim to hide any sins.

Fitting the Main Body Tub

Before the main body tub will sit down on the chassis a hole needs cutting for the steering column and the unused Sierra pedal box mounting brackets need to be cut off.  Some Hammerite was applied to the bare metal to prevent rusting later.

The lower part of the dash (only used during lay up of the fibreglass) needed to be trimmed off. The front edge of the front body sides were trimmed equal and vertical.  The body would now sit down on the chassis.  It is a very tight fit.  It seemed easiest to 'hook' the body under the rear chassis and then pull it down forwards.  There was a lot of creaking from the fibreglass, but it seems I got away with it, without any permanent damage.  Large head rivets were then added under the chassis rear and sides, as well as the top rails under the bonnet.

Couldn't resist cutting a hole for the shiny aero fuel filler and trialing the steering wheel.

Collection of Body Work from Tiger

It has been a quiet month or so on the build.  Partly due to holidays and partly due to all tasks being completed, those that needed to be done before fitting of the body work.  Here is the car the night before collecting the body work from Tiger.

Tiger had only moved into its new premises just two days previously.  Despite that they were happy to accomodate me, albeit while in the middle of unpacking, cutting concrete for floor rollers, etc.  The new single site set up is really smart and it should be good to have everything on the one site.

I was going to hire a large van to collect the body work, but the rental is quite expensive and the fuel consumption is generally poor.  Instead I rented a small flat bed car trailer.  The only problem with this was lashing the load securely.  Pipe insulation was used to protect the body work from the trailer as well as the lashings.  Frequent stops were needed early on in the journey to tighten the lashings, but after a while the load had settled and the remainder of the journey passed without event. Phew!
Back home, here is the body work resting on the chassis.  First job will be to start cutting to clear the steering column, etc.  More on that next time.

By the way, the car will be white!