Saturday 16 October 2010

Brake pipes fitted

Front and rear brake pipes fitted using 'p-clips' and rivets. Brake light switch and brake fluid reservoir also fitted to master cylinder. Bleed screw to be added to upper front hole later. The rear brake pipe is connected to the master cylinder via a compensator, which reduces the braking effort on the back wheels.


The front brake pipes will be cut to length once the exact position of the braided flexi hoses is established. After cutting the ends will need re-flaring with the appropriate tool.


Tuesday 5 October 2010

Floor mounted pedals mounted

I am fitting the Tiger floor mounted brake and clutch pedals. First to do is the brake. The brake master cylinder had been mounted previously so, after inserting the pushrod, it was relatively easy to establish where the floor bracket for the pedal would go and hence where the holes needed to be drilled. The pushrod seemed a little long, so in order to maximse leg room in the cockpit I decided to shorten it. In the end I only removed about 5mm. This was to ensure that the pedal still had it's full travel, i.e. the master cylinder bottomed out and the back of the pedal did not foul the bulkhead. Also as the pedal swings the pushrod does not move in a perfectly horizontal plane. It arcs slightly and as such the pushrod cannot be too short or it fouls on the slides of the master cylinder plunger.

The clutch pedal was mounted next. Before drilling the holes this was lined up with the hole in the bulkhead where the clutch cable passes through.



The chassis now needs to be turned over so that larger holes can be drilled in the aluminium floor to allow the nuts to be added to the pedal mounting bolts. Finallly the lock nut can be added to the brake pushrod connector and the stop can be fastened under the rearmost bolt on the brake pedal bracket. This prevent the pedal falling towards the driver and the pushrod falling out of the master cylinder. Not what you want whilst driving!

Monday 4 October 2010

Aluminium panelling (nearly) completed

All alluminium panels have now been cut to size, drilled and attached with Sikaflex and rivets. The only exceptions are the upper sides of the upper rear quarter panels, the transmission tunnel top, transmission tunnel passenger side as well as the battery tray. These will be attached later, only after access is no longer needed, e.g. to mount the gearbox, bodywork, etc.

The aluminium was cut using standard, new (sharp) tin snips, filed where necessary and then deburred using the pen style deburring tool. Rivets were spaced at 75mm intervals, or less where the distance was divided to provide an even spacing less than 75mm. Sikaflex sealant was used relatively sparingly, making sure the drilled holes were covered, prior to rivetting.

After fitting the panels I ran a bead of Sikaflex along the joints that needed it. Masking tape was applied about 5mm each side of the joint, a thin bead of Sikaflex was run along the joint, before smoothing out with a very sticky finger and finally removing the masking tape.

Overall I am quite pleased with the finish. There are few bits where I would do it differently if I were to do it again, but isn't that's always the way.