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.

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.

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!

Stoneleigh 2010 Kit Car Show

I've decided its time for a real project. Something that will be a bit of a challenge and hopefully result in a weekend sports car. One that has decent performance and can be taken on the track occasionally. I've no previous experience of building a kit car. My most ambitious car maintenance to date has been '3 spanner' tasks in the Haynes manual!

Signing the cheque for the Avon deposit at the Tiger stand - a big moment.


Westfield Slalom Experience photos.