dashboard finished

Just pulled my first dash from the mould i made, its not perfect by any means but it will be okay after an hours worth of polishing. I think some dust must have got into the mould which has resulted in little indentations on the finished dash. Il probably do some more work to the mould and then make another

Just rescently iv had trouble trying to work out how to mount the engine so iv given up for now to do some more research. In the mean time iv been sorting the bodywork out. The scuttle, side panels, rear tub and nosecone are complete. I have cut them all to the correct dimensions to ensure a good fit and used rivnuts to secure them, so they can be removed with a screwdriver. I have also been playing with fibreglass and Iv made a plug to make my own dashboard, complete with 19mm radius on the bottom edges to please mr IVA man.

Update

Having not updated the blog for ages i thought id better get of by backside and write something!

The steering column is complete, all cowells are now fitted. The rollbar has also been made up and is in position.

Engine choice has now changed. Im now using a honda cbr1100 powerplant, but more on that later.

Mondeo steering column

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a bit of progress today,

I mocked and tacked the hanging bracket that will also form half of the shroud around the column( this is currently 1.5mm sheet but once ive got the dimensions correct il make one from 3mm plate cos its abit spongy). Iv decided to take the column over the top rail rather than through the bulkhead because it would be impossible to fit without cutting TR9. It would also make the steering wheel hight rediculous. This will mean losing some bulkhead space but the shroud will have a bit of space for attaching the fusebox. Iv addded a 25mm box tube between tr8 and tr9 to which a fixed flexible bearing is attached to plates welded onto this tube.





below is the other side of the shroud, im going to cut out around the column so that it buts up to the other bracket and sort of forms part of the bulkhead.



When i fitted the sierra column i was very worried about clearance between the lower column and U2. Moving the column over TR8 has solved this problem, but until fitted, i dont know by how much.

Fuel tank all finished....

Today i finshed the fuel tank for the roadster. It measures 500mm x 200mm x 200mm, meaning it will hold 20 litres. I dont really need a large capacity as the car is going to be used mainly for short blasts. The tank is made from 1mm mild steel sheet. Incorperated into the tank are three foam baffles, a 10mm pickup pipe on the bottom ( which will be fitted with an isolation valve) and a 10mm return pipe on the top. the filler neck will be trimmed down to the correct length when fitted to the car, then an aero style filler cap will be attached and fitted flush to the rear body work. I tested the tank for leaks by blocking up the inlet/ outlet pipes and wieghing it down under water in a bath. The tank was watched carefuly for bubbles and after an hour I took it out of the water to find it bone dry inside wth no signs of leaks.

just a bit of pottering about

Only had a couple of hours build time today so i made a thick steelm plate to for the drivers side footwell. This plate is to protect the drivers feet from a possible bellhousing/clutch failure. I also fitted the mushrooms to the front uprights and made a passenger side interior gear tunnel pannel....

All back together....

The build is now going back together after finishing and painting the chassis. Over the last few days iv welded in the engine mount plates. Rather than using the book spec mouts ive decided to gusset the two front chassis rails on each side to help rigidity with 6mm steel plate. This is at the expence of a few kilos, but a fair trade. All the suspension and steering components have been bolted back on, and are all torqed up to their final build state, just incase i forget something along the way.

Today i built the seat subframes. I welded two 3mm steel straps to the chasssis and bolted two 25mm square box tubes accross them, to which i bolted the seats. For what seems like a simple job it didnt half have me scraching my head! The seats will need to come out over the next few days while i make some interior panels, but these wont be fitted until the engine and gearbox are in their final positions.

Im going to source a steering column this week, aswell as a couple of scrappy front wheels, this will allow me to roll the car about once the engine/ gearbox are in as its starting to get heavy.