Tank surgery

 At the last car show in Newark, I bought myself a short length of fuel filler hose, just to finish off that particular job. Shouldn't be too much a problem I thought... then I got home and remembered how things sit;

Unfortunately the distance from the fuel cap location to the tank is longer than I remembered. It's also way too sharp an angle. And finally the roll bar support is in the way. Here's a better view of the issues;

Last night I had a thought about making a steel pipe to get from the tank to the filler location, but even that is not possible. So unfortunately it's going to be open surgery on the tank. Quite extensive open surgery in fact. What I did spot was a gap on the side;

There's a sufficiently large gap between the corner of the tank and the roll bar support. If I move the end piece to the side of the tank, it then becomes a shorter distance for the fuel filler pipe to travel. It's also a less severe angle to get to the filler, which means I can use the length of flexi filler pipe that I have bought.

The downside to that is I need to remove the end cap and the existing filler hole, and replace the lot with a repositioned hole. It's not going to come off without a fight so it's going to have to be a fresh piece of metal. And of course it's only thin steel to start with so that's going to be a fun task again. My wife described the tank as 'home made', and that's purely because of all the extra welds that had to be added to solve the pinprick holes! Still, I don't think any of that is a bad thing, I've got a lot more experience with welding so I might do a better job this time round. 

The last thing that is a worry is that I open up the end plate and find the tank is rusted to hell inside. This has been sat for many years, and in theory it's been sealed but water seems to find a way. Fingers crossed it's not too bad, but if not it'll be a whole new tank. I still have steel so it wouldn't cost anything other than time. I've got some 2 inch tube left over from my exhaust, it's not seamless but there's no requirement for seamless for a fuel tank. 

(Follow up from Wednesday)

So I got it cut open, and actually it's not too bad inside;

The surface corrosion is limited to the heat affected zone of the welds, and it is just surface corrosion. A wipe with a cloth gets rid of it. The edges are all rippled, but that's partly where it's welded and partly where I've taken the end cap off.

It looks really good after cleanup, the edges are pretty straight and I was able to make a template;

The lower half is the end plate with marks for folding into shape, then the top will cover the cutout section. It's marked up but more for riveting and welding.

Oh yeah, that's one thing. The metal seems to be 'pinging', IE it's going from one position to the next due to either tension or compression. That means that it's only straight in one state. So I'll need to hold it in place while I weld it. I'm thinking a series of temporary rivets will do the trick, then as I weld things into shape they will hold the surfaces together. 

I do need to insert the tube, which is the whole point of this exercise, but I also don't want to make things awkward when fitting the end plate. If I fit the tube before putting the cap on, I can get the weld done well but have a chance of warping the metal. Whereas if I cap it first then put the tube in, I can get things straighter than they were but the tube insert might then warp things. 

Either way I've got to be very careful here, I'd rather not have to go on the hunt for microscopic holes again. But I also don't want to blow through the metal as it's really thin. I might do some practice runs on spare tin just to see what I can drop the settings down to. 

Wiring change of plan

 Ooh, a change of plan, I've not done that before... anyhow, I tried fitting the fuse boxes, but in the right location and using the existing brackets they end up looking like they're stuck in mid air. 

So I'm going to abandon the tabs and print some proper brackets. They'll get bonded on to the side and then they can be screwed down properly. 

A couple of other jobs have been done. First, the rear number place mount, looking massively overkill but really secure so no chance of failing IVA for it;

It looks good with the donor plate. I've also fitted the coolant bottle, although it needs a couple of nuts added inside the car;

And that's the last of the protective film too, whether that's good or bad I don't know. Perhaps after the second tube of metal polish I might rethink the whole aluminium look!!

Engine wiring part 2

 Rather unsurprisingly the engine wiring is still going on. It's really tough going, but if I get it wrong it's either a dead car before I start, or an AA callout on the way back from Malvern 2025.

The engine sensors are now cut to length, with the ECU mounted on the back of the firewall and nicely protected from the elements. I did think about putting it flat but it seemed like a waste of space. Then again, even sat on the firewall I can't put anything in front of it because I need to maintain access!!

The wires will all come across the bulkhead to the engine via a single location, so that will bind up quite well. The sensor wiring has been substantially shortened for the most part, the only one that is still factory length is the airflow sensor and that's because it's right out at front.

I've also picked up a few other sensors as I've gone. For example the cooling fan sensor is situated underneath the connector for the fuel injectors, so that got trimmed.

The next big job is actually what I thought would be the first, which is the 'big' wiring. I've got the alternator and starter motor already wired up as expected, because I didn't take them apart. But on the other end is the engine fuse box, and on the end of the other loom is the interior fuse box. Both mounted on to the chassis in the original car, so they've got mounting lugs. Problem is I can't seem to find a location where I can reuse the lugs. I don't want to use a different fuse box at the moment as it will just be that one extra complexity and cost. So I need to mount the two fuse boxes somehow.

The logical place would be above the steering column on the platform of the bulkhead, here's an earlier view with the body not in place;

However I wouldn't call it majorly structural, given that it's basically the same aluminium sheet bent out of the way and reformed, rather than having anything substantial added to it. I think to mount the two boxes I'm going to need some vertical mounting structure as well as some platform reinforcement. It does need to be off the surface, mainly because the wiring comes out the back of both. 

Putting them in place it actually looks like horizontal is better. The engine one can be horizontal, pointing out towards the engine. Then the interior one can be behind it, pointing to the left. That also means the wires to the ignition switch have a fairly short distance to travel, as does the main power feeds (blue and white/red). 

However the first job is to figure out the fuse layout. The engine sticker looks like it had fallen off as it was upside down compared to the box, and the interior fuse box has no lid! That's kind of expected, it would have been a dashboard panel rather than a lid. I wonder if I could design and print a lid, that would be ideal. 

Anyway, some random pictures;

The first picture of spaghetti would make any Italian cry, and the fact that it's a car loom in the midst of being chopped up would make any electrician cry! The second is the back of the front plug, with indicators, sidelights, dipped beam and main beam. 

Engine wiring

 There's no two ways about it, this is probably the biggest job remaining. The main loom is about two inches thick, and I reckon maybe half of it is redundant. More importantly it's designed to go down both sides of the engine bay, whereas I think I only need maybe one or two wires to go down the passenger side. In fact it may just be the O2 sensor on the manifold.

So the plan will be to take out each sensor individually, route them as required, shorten the wire if needed, then bundle them back up. I'm planning on doing this in stages, and I'll tick them off as I go;

Stage 1: High current

This includes;

• Starter motor. Partly complete as I left it in place.
• Alternator. Similarly partly complete.
• Ground to chassis. Big wire to be connected.
• Ignition switch. Done. 
• Fuse box. This is more about physically locating it in the right place.
• Battery. As above, getting it physically located and connected.

Stage 2: Engine sensors

This will include all of the following, traced out individually and then taped up once they're all complete. I'll need to put the ECU in place before I start here, as basically all of this connects to the ECU. Depending on what is required I might also need to put the fuse boxes in the relevant locations as well. 

• Igniter (C4) Now extracted. 
• White (to ignition coil)
• Brown/Yellow (to ECU)
• Blue (Ignition switch)
• Yellow/Blue (to ECU and to rev counter)
• Black/White (to ECU)
• Black (Ground)
• Brown (to ECU)
• Red (to ignition coil)
• Ignition coil (D4)
• Spark plug leads
• Red (to igniter)
• White (to igniter)
• Blue (to ignition switch and capacitor to ground)
• Main relay (E4)
• White/Green (Relay and main fuse block)
• White/Red (to ECU)
• Black (Ground)
• Black/White (Engine Fuse)
• Black/White (Cooling fan relay)
• Crank Angle Sensor (D7)
• Black/Light Green (Ground)
• White/Red (to ECU)
• White (to ECU)
• Yellow/Blue (to ECU)
• Throttle sensor (D7)
• Light Green/White (to ECU)
• Black/Light Green (Ground)
• Red (to ECU)
• Airflow meter (C7)
• Light Green/Red (to ECU)
• Red (to ECU)
• Black/Light Green (Shield/Ground) x 2?
• Red/Green (to ECU)
• Light Green (to fuel pump relay)
• Black (ground)
• Coolant temp sensor (B7)
• Blue/White (to ECU)
• Black/Light Green (Shield/Ground)
• Fuel injectors (B7)
• Yellow/Black (to ECU)
• Yellow (to ECU)
• White/Red (to ECU)
• Idle speed control valve (A7)
• Blue/Orange (to ECU)
• White/Red (to ECU)
• Purge solenoid valve (A7) I think this has been deleted?

Stage 3: Non-engine sensors and switches

• Fuel pump relay (C4)
• Blue/Red (to Fuel tank)
• Light Green (to AFM)
• White/Red (to ECU)
• Violet (ST SIGN FUSE?)
• Black (Ground)
• O2 sensor on exhaust (B7)
• Red/Blue (to ECU)
• Clutch Switch on pedal (E7)
• Brown/White (to ECU)
• Neutral switch on gearbox (E7)
• Brown/White (to ECU)
• Cooling fan via relay (E10)
• Yellow (to relay)
• Black (to Ground)
• Coolant thermostat (E9)
• Black/Green (to ECU and relay)
• Black (Ground)
• Horn and relay (C17)
• Green/Orange (to horn switch inside combination switch)
• White/Green (STOP FUSE)
• Green/Red (Horn)

Stage 3: Connection to steering column switch gear

Mainly lights and indicators, as the ignition switch will have already been wired in stage 1.

Stage 4: Connection to gauges and tell-tales

Once things have been wired from the controls and sensors it'll be fairly straightforward to wire them back to the dash. 

My circuit diagram

 This is going to be my reference for wiring, rather than a blog update. However it may be useful for some. 

I've split the wiring into parts, so I'll reference each part below.

Front lights

To be added...

Rear lights

Brake (Green)

Position/tail (Red/Black)

Reverse (Red/green)

Fog (Green/Yellow)

Left indicator (Green/Black)

Right indicator (Green/White)

Fuel pump (Blue/Red)

Black is earth going to two chassis points.

Gauges

1. Illumination positive (red).

2. Temperature gauge signal (blue/black).

3. Common ground to chassis (black).

4. Gauge positive (black/yellow).

5. Oil pressure signal (yellow/red).

6. Rev counter signal (yellow/blue). 

Tell tales

1. Side lights. (red)

2. Main beam. (Red/white)

3. Left indicator. (Green/black)

4. Common ground to chassis. (black)

5. Right indicator. (Green/white)

6. Fog light. (Green/yellow)

1. Battery positive. (Black/Yellow)

2. Brake fluid positive. (Black/Yellow)

3. Battery negative. (White/blue)

4. Brake fluid negative. (Blue/yellow)

Fuel plumbing

Another productive week/weekend, and I still have most of Sunday to do more. The first job done was to get the front wiring completed, so now the front is all wrapped and terminated in a nine pin block. It was a bit of a headache, but thankfully I was able to find a 12 volt power supply and buzz things out as I went. Two of the lights didn't work, the first was a badly fitted bulb which just needed turning round and reseating. The other was a blown bulb. The things weren't even fitted and I have a blown bulb! Anyway, a quick Ebay later and I have a ten pack of Lucas bulbs. I suspect at least one other will have failed so I might as well have spares. 

Moving on to the rear I realised the loom still needs to include the fuel pump supply. And that's not got a permanent home yet. After many hours of head scratching and planning, I figured that bolting it to the fuel tank strap would be very effective;

I did wonder about putting the filter more accessible than the pump, but the pump looks prettier! The aluminium strap didn't fit tightly enough initially;

You can see the middle fixing is bent out of shape and not holding things tight enough. I added another layer of aluminium to all three fixings, and it sits much better. On the tank it looks spot on;

The fuel pipes here are mostly cut. There's a loop between the out of the filter and the in of the pump, then the pump outlet (green cap) should go off to the engine (more on that later). The filter inlet comes from underneath (the lower connector here);

The upper pipe is the return from the engine. The engine connection is made to two hard lines;

That run down the transmission tunnel. This photo shows a couple of issues I need to deal with. First, at the top edge the two pipes are in contact with the edge of the tank, so I need some sort of fixing to stop them from being worn through and also to keep them in place. I'll be 3D printing a bracket that then gets glued on to the tank, which the pipes will clip into. 

The other issue is the fuel and return pipes pointing downwards follow a very similar path, and again they'll wear each other away with constant movement. So again, another bracket is needed to clamp them in place. 

Now that the pump is in place, I can measure the wiring along the car and get it connected. 

However, there is one issue. The outlet of the pump is 12mm, and the whole fuel system is 8mm. No problem, I was able to find a brass reducer to get from 12mm to 8mm. But as I type this, I realised I have no way of connecting the two 12mm ends! Obviously it's got to be proper fuel hose as well. I've got the fuel clamps (once I find them, I've put them 'safe'), but I need maybe four inches of 12mm hose. I'll have a check on Ebay, alternatively the Newark kit car show is next weekend so I can hopefully get some there. 

Finished two jobs

 First a quick one, the dashboard lights;

These look really good, can't wait to get them wired up and lit. I do need to get the facing plastic for all gauges and lights, to protect them. 

Now on to the bigger job, the radiator grille. This is what I'm covering;

This is where I was last weekend;

The next step was to do the two curved sides. A wooden mould was required to get the two arcs converted to a curved section;

Temporarily fixed and put in place shows that it works well;

Then I cut the mesh to suit;

That was evil, getting through stainless steel mesh is probably the worst job I've ever had. I started with a hacksaw, then melted a jigsaw blade, in the end it was angry grinder!

Putting it all together;

And a trial fit;

Some rivets and glue;

And then bolted in place;

I am so happy with the result, it's worked exactly as expected. A quick comparison with what I was aiming for;

And it works for me. Of course, as I was taking pictures I did wonder whether I need to open that bonnet nostril and use more of the grille!! Not yet though, that's just overcomplicating things. And I've never done that before...

So, next job? Fuel plumbing I think, so filter and pump, with wiring and pipes.