IVA work

 I thought this weeks update was going to be a bit thin on the ground, but actually there's a load of IVA work done so I've titled it appropriately. On to the good stuff...

First was the VIN. The original idea of having it bent round three sides so the welds weren't on top went out the window when I realised the number needed to be on the drivers side not on the passenger side. Nowhere near enough space to get a welding torch round the back. So I trimmed it to be only two sides so it can be fully welded.

And on that note, since I was planning to make it pretty smooth I didn't want it to look like it was bonded rather than welded, so here's a suitable pic showing me halfway through welding it on;

It was lucky I did take a photo, because after it had been painted and clear coated it did look like it had been stuck on there! 

I'm happy with the result though, and it's got suitably straight lines and edges. 

Next the boot lock. Not strictly IVA, although having a loose boot wouldn't be good for the inspector. As mentioned before I had the original plastic piece printed with some slots in;

Then I filled the slots with an offcut of stainless steel (which is very rigid and perfect for this). Once the inserts were inserted I put it on the car and drilled two holes all the way through for some bolts. 

I think it looks really good yet simple, and should be strong enough to hold the boot down. Of course, with the inserts it's now stronger than the fibreglass it's attached to, but I can't have everything!

Next job, edge trim. This took a bit more work than I thought, mainly because the edges of the fibreglass weren't consistent. I've mentioned before that the layup wasn't perfect, but that's probably reflected in the price. That reminds me, I need to see if the bonnet is still transparent now it has paint on.

Anyway, I had to sand some areas down, which meant reapplying the paint and leaving it overnight. But eventually I got to the point where I could add edge trim to all the relevant places;

Even so, it was certainly a challenge and my thumbs are raw from having to press it in place. I'm not overly happy with the one across the bonnet, I may have to revise that one. I like the idea of edge trim, just not that particular one. Around the arches and inside the cabin it works well though. 

Another bit of edge protection was the rear view mirror. The mechanism was almost guaranteed to fail IVA, so I 3D printed a rear shell.

Not my finest design work, but definitely compliant. 

Last on the IVA list was the brake pedal switch. Where it's located on the brake pedal means that the wiring is basically under my heel. That's not just an IVA fail, that's a 'not going to survive' fail. So as well as extending the wiring I need to protect the connector. I went for a cover that redirects the wire back to the firewall, which can then be pinned to the firewall and routed correctly.

Again, not particularly attractive but definitely strong enough to protect the connectors. I'm using two spade connectors rather than the connector block purely to keep the size down. Of course, getting to the footwell now is literally painful, I'm not looking forward to putting that back in. 

So that's all the IVA successes, now for one fail. I can't get the self centring to work. I may have mentioned it before, but with a caster angle of 6 degrees I should have more self centring than I have. I do have a few things to try though. In my trials I've managed to have toe in where it should be neutral or maybe a fraction of a degree toe out. I think my tyre pressures are just letting the tyres be too squishy on the road, thereby increasing traction and reducing steering feel. And finally my camber settings also need adjusting, which will help the king pin inclination. So yeah, I have a plan, I just need to get in there on a dry day to tweak things. Just looking at the calendar it's not far off the end of BST which always makes things a bit more challenging. I did see an interesting test on my travels though. The idea of caster and KPI is that the car lifts as the steering is applied. Not much but enough to want the car to settle back where it was, IE straight ahead. So while I'm testing all the settings, rather than driving it to see whether my changes have helped I can measure the car right height change as I turn the wheel. I'll test the theory first though, I am expecting the car to not lift up at the moment. 

On a lighter note, the roundels for the side of the car have arrived, a bit creased but ready to go on the car. I did get three but I think the one on the bonnet won't look right so it's just the two doors for now. Then I need to make the small information plate, which needs the kerb weights so I need to get the scales out again.

Oh, and I also noticed all four hub nuts have not been secured, they all need the enthusiastic application of a chisel. I'll retorque them first just in case, then go to town. 

As well as the roundels, I'll be fitting the wing mirrors one evening this week. I do also need to replace the roll bar bolts, I keep forgetting they're technically too short for nylocs and need to be replaced with longer ones.