It was another good evening yesterday, with many jobs completed. I guess the first job was the brake bleeding. As expected when I took the rear calipers off and turned them upside down I got so much air out of the nipple. With both sides done the pedal has really stiffened up, I can't get it to the bulkhead anymore which is basically the aim of the pedal. I've yet to try it in anger basically because I wouldn't get the car moving to be able to stop it yet!
While I was there I also got the clutch pedal sorted. It didn't have the plunger installed initially, I'm not sure how I'd forgotten about it but there you go. One thing I did have to consider was the security of the plunger. On the brake pedal it's actually retained in the master cylinder, but the clutch is a simple push. I need not have worried though, given I had to have the pedal at full travel AND push the clutch cylinder in just to get the plunger to fit, I don't think it's coming out on it's own. With the plunger in place and the required pin and clip to secure it, I had to adjust it pretty much all the way out so the clutch cylinder actually closed with the pedal all the way back.
Once I'd finished inside, I added some fluid and used the Gunsons to push it round the loop. As I posted quite a long time ago, I retained the loops in the pipe that the MX5 uses, just so the engine can move without damaging the pipe. But of course that meant it wasn't going to easily bleed. The gunsons sorted it out very quickly though.
And then the interesting bit came up... This clutch had basically been sat for a decade without moving. So initially the pedal didn't move! It took a bit of pressure to get it to open, but once it started moving it was good. The only concern I've got now is similar to what I used to get on the bike, in that the clutch may be seized shut. Not permanently seized, but enough to cause an issue. Again I won't find out until I try and run the car with the full drivetrain. Essentially I need to have it in gear with the rear wheels in the air, get things moving (slowly at first) then with the clutch pedal in I need to stomp on the brake. That should cause the clutch to open, and assuming that's successful I can then start using it like a standard clutch.
As a side note, now that both pedals have resistance I can definitely tell why things are normally servo assisted. The car will definitely go and stop, it's just my leg muscles will get a workout doing it!
As a last job I also fitted some new rubbers to the pedals. The gas pedal didn't get anything, but then again it doesn't need it. Strictly speaking the clutch pedal doesn't need one, but as I bought the rubbers as a pair I put it on anyway. I can see why there has to be a non-slip surface though, even with the car not moving I can see it's so much easier to use the controls when your foot doesn't slip off.
Now that all three pedals do something, I moved back to the injectors. The seal kit had arrived so I removed the old o rings and filters, then set about cleaning them. After some thought on how I get the carb cleaner from the can to the injector, I came up with a contraption to manage it. Having a twelve volt source to open the injector on hand, I got started. And swiftly realised a can of carb cleaner can apply quite a bit of pressure in terms of the solvent released. After a few repeated attempts and patch repairs to the pipe, I managed to get a good stream from each of the injectors. To be fair I couldn't tell much difference between before and after, but I'm confident now things will be at their best. With new seals I could put them back on to the rail, and I could tell things were a lot more secure so I'm optimistic it'll help with fuelling. There may still be a leak on the inlet side causing things to run lean, but at least the fuel side will be good.
What's next? I think the drivetrain can be installed now, then I can bolt up the rear suspension. More paint of course (I got some thinners for the remaining paint to see if that improves how it flows). The battery isolator arrived so once that's installed I can then permanently install the battery and not have to worry about disconnecting it. I need to tidy up the wires behind the dash so they look good for IVA (and the brake pedal switch doesn't get bashed while I drive). Once that's done I can fit the cowl and permanently install the steering wheel.
Oh, the boot lock is required. That's a bit of design and some 3D printing no doubt. It's never going to be a properly secure boot (a bit of a pull and the fibreglass will bend enough for any lock to disengage) but at least I can get it tight shut while it's driving.
Then I'll cover VIN numbers and plates, but I'll need to do a proper corner weighing again. I'll try and do it with maybe half a tank of fuel but also add a few kilos as I want to err on the side of caution in case I don't weigh it right.
A quick check on the 'common IVA fails' I can see that wiring in conduit is favourable, I'll get some suitable conduit and get it covered. It's mainly around the engine which I was going to cover anyway.
Anyway, that's enough update for today, time for me to go draw a brake fluid warning sign.
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