Nearing the end (water leak, paint finished)

Not much to go now, but I suppose enough for a blog post. Not many photos though, despite having the car out and about in it's final form I completely forgot to take pictures!!

Unfortunately the absence of pictures is due to a couple of distractions that have popped up. The first is the lack of self centering. I was wondering about this a while back after my first run, but a second (and third and fourth) runs confirmed it. The car stays travelling in whatever direction you point it. That would make it extremely tiring, and a little bit unsafe. I tried some toe in but it's made very little difference, I don't want to adjust it too much as I think it'll make other things worse. I'm going to need to figure out what to do there. It was well known that the front wishbones were designed with not much caster, I think the MX5 hubs have made it worse. I hope I don't have to replace/redo wishbones to fix it. 

As a side note though, the removal of the steering limiters has made a huge difference to the car, it can now get round corners and do a three point turn like a normal car. And I've been able to properly test the brakes, while they do need quite a shove due to no assistance I can confirm they will stop the car in an emergency. Whether they'll pass the brake test I'm not sure, I won't know that until the test. I didn't make the car skid, but then I only got it up to 20mph before I ran out of road. 

The body paint is now all done, I could probably get another layer of ceramic coat on it for good measure but it's a 'nice to have'. All the lights and bits are going back on, which brings me to my rear view mirror;

It appears to be double sided! I'm not sure why I didn't notice it before, but it is a little unexpected. I don't know whether it would be an IVA fail, but to be honest I'm a little unhappy about the clamp protrusions so I think a 3D printed back cover would be appropriate. I need to put the wing mirrors on as well but I've been looking at where the nut needs to go and it's not pleasant! I thought the seat bolts were going to be challenging, I think the wing mirrors might be harder. Unless I manage to find a nook or crevice to get my hand into. 

The second distraction was wet feet. Literally. Despite this never going out in the rain, as soon as I pulled away I got a nice puddle of water into the cabin. 

It seems like dirty/rusty water, and it's come in on the sides that are open. The spray pattern suggests coming from up above, and the flat area under the bonnet is the main location that got a bit of water when I was polishing the car. I've cleaned it up and no more has landed, so I'll keep an eye on it. It does raise a question on whether I should cap those two sides, particularly where the wiring comes in as well. I'll look into perhaps printing something that integrates some wiring support as well. It's mainly because there is a semi-direct route from front wheel debris to the inside of the cabin, it's going to be a fair weather car but it makes no sense to invite in-car water, mud etc.

(Quick distraction... I wonder if the dirt/rust is coming from inside one of the chassis tubes, via the holes I drilled for rivets. I have my inspection camera somewhere, I might have a look down the open tubes. If it does happen to be coming from those tubes I can use waxoil or similar to fill them up and coat the inside. I could then print some end caps to keep them sealed)

So what is left? The list is getting awfully short;

• Roundels for the side of the car. Ordered, to be stuck on now the paintwork is sorted.
• Wing mirrors. As above, can be fitted now the body is finished.
• Edging for the wheel arches and inside cabin edge.
• Edging round the bonnet? If I have enough left I might do this, partly for IVA but partly to stop the squeaks and bangs I was hearing while driving. The rubber bonnet catches will hopefully hold the bonnet down but I'm thinking some edging might make it particularly tight.
• Refit rubber catches. The fitting isn't too bad, what is an issue is the protruding screws on the outside. I need to cut the screws to an exact length then print an IVA compliant cover. 
• Brake pedal switch wiring extension and routing. It doesn't quite reach as it is so I need to extend it and correctly route it out of the way. Same with the handbrake switch wiring, it doesn't need extending but it could be routed better. Then one last check under the steering wheel to confirm no IVA unfriendly bits.
• Sort out the self centering. Really don't know about this one, not thinking about it just yet.
• Tighten seat belt bolts. They're all in place and the runners work, I just need to figure out how to get a spanner underneath the car while I tighten the nut on top.
• Split pins for the ball joints on the front.
• Corner weighting, and get the vehicle plates made up. 
• Brake fluid warning label. Already designed, just need to print on adhesive paper and get it stuck on. 

Oh, one more task that should have more of a paragraph than a bullet point. The boot lock. I think I talked about it last blog post, I printed a lock catch and striker for the boot. They worked quite well... until I applied some force, then the striker plate just broken in half. It just wasn't strong enough in the orientation I had. So the plan is to stay with the printed option, but remove a 'slot' in both halves where some thin sheet steel can be bonded in. That should provide enough resilience for it not to break instantly. It's still not 'Fort Knox' secure, but at least not breaking when I give it a strong stare will be an improvement. Edit: A quick update after checking my current metal stock, the 1.2mm stainless steel pieces will work really well. It's really strong and as long as it doesn't break elsewhere I think it'll be fine. 

Well, back to work for now, I'll spend my lunchtime redoing the lock. Oh, and a bit of research on No Mans Sky, as I got back into it last night and it's very different to the game I played a while back! 

Blog update (paint flattening and finishing)

I was thinking over the weekend that I'd not updated this blog, and judging by the post dates I was right!! I think it's because the last few weeks have just been the same thing, paint. I knew it would take a while, both to apply it and to finish it. 

Each weekend that passes by I do question my approach of coach painting. However this weekend I finally got to a point where I could see what it was going to be like. 

As with previous steps the boot lid was the first view of what will be. A nice matt surface ready for final compound and polish. It's not absolutely perfect but it's a load better than it was. This was 3000 grit, after having 600, 1000 and 2000 applied first.

This is midway through the process, with the right side of the seam up to 3000 grit and the left side still at 600. This photo also shows the main drawback to fibreglass bodies, they just don't get as flat as metal can. The wing is really flat as you might expect, but the ripples in the body are not going anywhere.

Taking a step back though, at 600 grit I had brought the car out and checked for issues. The main issues were bits I've missed, but thankfully by the time I'd taken the front through the various grades it all flattened off well. 

I guess I just need to carry on going, I've done from the bonnet edge forwards up to 3000 so I just need to work backwards now. With the 600 grit it was certainly easier, the bonnet is actually a decent percentage of surface so I'd estimate I'm passed halfway. Once it's all at 3000 I'll get the compound out and go all over it again. 

My neighbour asked me about waxing it, and it seemed like a sensible last step. However a quick check on the internet suggests wax is very old fashioned! The current gloss of choice is a ceramic coating. Given that I'd be buying some wax anyway I might as well embrace the future and get some of this posh new stuff. It's not overly expensive for the 'middle ground' stuff, I'll probably stay with Meguiars as it reviews quite well. Alternatively I do have some GTechniq left over from a previous task and while it's not enough to do the whole car I could give it a go and see if it still works.

I also made a boot lock and striker plate, a drawn and 3D printed mechanism that does the job. It wouldn't stop anyone from opening the boot and taking whatever was in there, but it at least keeps the boot shut and tight. I just need to fix it in place. I did find an interesting thing on the internet though, someone had put a lockbox in their car, chain locked to the chassis. That seems like a sensible thing to do, just to have somewhere secure. If I ever take the car to work it would be nice to have somewhere to stow my laptop.