Dashboard and air intake

 I wasn't able to get in the garage today, but that didn't stop me thinking about a few tasks. First is the air intake, or 'how to get a round peg in a square hole'. In this case, the round peg is the air filter, and the square hole is the airflow meter. I was going to 3d print something, but to be honest I think I'm just going to use some 1mm plate and a circular strip, weld them together and call it a day. Much less messing about, and hopefully won't go wibbly wobbly in the engine bay.

But on to the bigger thought of the day, the dashboard;

Gauges first. I've got a speedo and a rev counter from the MX5, they need to be rehoused. Rev counter gets a digital signal from the ignitor (on a yellow blue wire). It also gets a ground and 12 volts off the meter fuse for lighting. The speedo is one less wire, with a ground and 12 volts for lighting but the drive itself is mechanical. I guess I ought to keep the temperature gauge (black blue off the temp sensor and ground/12v) and maybe the oil pressure gauge (yellow red off the pressure sensor and ground/12v). That's five wires total. 

Now lights. I would need an alternator light (white black), a brake warning light (blue yellow), left indicator (green black), right indicator (green white). I believe I also need hi beam light (red white) and fog light (red and red black). The fog light indicator is usually with the switch so I need to figure out how to rewire it to a separate bulb. That's 6 maybe 7 wires.

Lastly, switches. On the steering wheel I've got indicators and lights on a stalk, so I can leave those. There's also a horn switch on the dash that I can just reattach. The fog light switch needs to be restored (green yellow, red black). I need a hazard light switch (orange to hazard flasher). That seems to be it, just two extra switches. 

That seems a bit too easy to be honest. 4 gauges, 6 lights, 2 switches. Hmm... although that would probably explain why I've been able to remove half of the loom! 

(Later that week)

I need to take some measurements of the gauges, mainly to see how to mount them and sort out things like bezels, front glass etc. They are mounted in a shell on the MX5, so I'm going to similarly mount them on a back board first, then bring them into the dash from behind. Then some sort of bezel/surround per gauge with some glass/plastic in the middle. The back board will also serve as a mounting point for the gauge illumination bulbs. 

Anyhow, measurements;

• Rev counter. 96mm diameter on the face. 29mm from the back to the gauge face. 40mm from the back to the front of the needle (might need a bit more for clearance). 
• Speedo. 96mm diameter on the face. 40mm from electrical connectors to the gauge face. 49mm from the back to the front of the needle (again, maybe more for clearance).
• Temperature. 47mm diameter on the face. 29mm from the connectors to the gauge face. 40mm if I include the stand off (end of stand off to face). 38 from connectors to the front of the needle.
• Oil pressure is the same as temperature. 

Kind of expected really, the speedo needs more clearance as it's got a mechanism sat behind it. Should be easy to compensate with the stand offs for the other three though. The speedo also has a bigger mechanical fixing, I assume to deal with the potential twisting forces. So again it makes sense to build the base to the speedo height and get the other three to match. In theory I could mount them all separately, but then I'm making the wiring stage harder. 

I'm still stuck on material, it needs to be rigid but non-conductive, and also not brittle. I'm thinking a plastic rather than a wood? I think a visit to Wickes and Ikea is on the cards. 

Change of plan number 3

 Actually,  I have no ide how many plans I've had to change, and it definitely won't be the last!!

So the handbrake... the original place I wanted to put it would have been absolutely hideous to look at, to mount and to use. It's basically the wrong way round. If I wanted to have the good side of the handbrake visible, the action would have been wrong and the passenger would have been the better person to apply it. Not good at all.

So back to the other option, put it under the steering column. And to be honest, that's worked out quite well;

From a functional point of view it's pretty good, it can be operated from the drivers seat. It's just IVA now. The handle itself is not high enough to be in the exempted area behind the steering wheel (horizontal plane from the bottom of the steering wheel). It is 'blunted' but that may not be enough.

What is definitely not enough is the brackets, I need to cover them or round them off as they're just not suitable as is. That's not an issue though.

Next job is to route the cable into the transmission tunnel and down to the handbrake. I don't know if I can do it with only one pulley, it'll most likely be two to get to the back. 

Short day

 It was a non-garage job today, re-terminating the lights. The bullet connectors on the lights were just asking for trouble, and the wires were way too long for their anticipated location. I chopped all the wires down to six inch lengths (still look a bit too long but should be fine clipped in I think), and put them on motorcycle type lighting connectors. 2 way for most of them, 3 way for the stop/brake lights. In theory lights should only need 1 wire as the body is grounded, but that's not an option with a fibreglass body so I need earths on all lights. I've got plenty of earth wire though, there were multiple connectors for earth on the Mx5 so I can do the same here. I also have spare slots on the loom connector so I might add a few earths to avoid 'Ford Escort disco lights'. 

Next job is the handbrake. I have an idea on where it can be mounted, but I need to reverse the cable action. The ratchet is designed to pull the cables forward when the handbrake is vertical and pointed forward. I'm putting it horizontal and sideways. I might fit some brake pipe to smoothly route the cable, although I think steel tube might be stronger considering the cable has got to be able to hold the car still and pass the brake efficiency test. But that comes after the handbrake itself. That will need a welded bracket to come through the tunnel panel. 

(Update). Having a look at where the cable has got to go, not only has it got to reverse itself, but it's got to get past the gear shift turret. Some sort of guide would be the ideal method, and as luck would have it there are many production cars that use a handbrake cable guide. For example there is https://www.autocrafteng.co.uk/shop/split-screen-van_60/panels-and-body-parts_1/chassis-panels_12/handbrake-cable-guide-tube-type-2-55-67_350/ that is a 12mm wide, 1mm diameter steel tube. So I'll just follow their lead. I will keep it as straight as possible, probably weld the pipe in place maybe? 

I also found that the standard MX5 handbrake includes a return spring, and it makes sense to reuse it. 

Wiring

 Right, time to start this one with a digression. Remember that comment about finding right angle trim? Turns out we have some left over from our bathroom refit, a right angle aluminium trim that will work perfectly. So that's that.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, wiring. Now that I know what I'm using (or more importantly not using) I had another go at the wiring loom. I wanted to separate out lighting and engine, as well as bin audio wires, excessive earths, that sort of thing. After a full weekend I managed to trim it down by about half, as well as have separate wires ready for the lights. I've also ordered some connectors for the individual lights so I can remove the wiring from the body.

However I did find some wires that couldn't be traced or identified, so this will be a list of all the wires along with comments and (hopefully) an identifier. So straight on with the photos;

white blue comes from the headlight connector

red green to stop fuse for horn and brakes

red white to headlight switch

green black and green white are indicators left/right. These wires are for the telltale on the dash

back of flasher relay, same green white right and green black left

Rear loom indicators, again green white right, green black left

These two connectors are door connectors, speaker and window winder. Both removed.

red black for side lights going to the dashboard loom

red black for side lights going to fuse box

white yellow going to a power feed, but not connected so not sure what it's powering

Shopping list

 Time to get this written down, I've taken so many notes and contradicted myself so many times, if I get a master list down then I can remember what I need to get. Hopefully this will all be from car builder solutions so one big order and avoid postage costs!

1. Japanese battery terminals. BTERS, £9.60.
2. 16mm link water pipe for heater matrix. HTHO15 £6.00 per metre (1 metre)
3. 16mm T joint for connecting to expansion tank. TEE15. £4.20
4. 32mm water pipe from rad to engine x 2. HOS32A £15.60 per metre (2 metres)
5. 32mm 90 degree bend. HSH9032 £4.50.
6. 32mm joiner SJ7 £6.60.
7. 8mm pipe from overflow to expansion tank return. RPVC8BK. £2.40 per metre (2 metres)
8. Air filter. SSFIL2 £14.40.
9. Breather filter for cam cover. BFIL15 £10.80.
10. Reverse light REVL3 £9.60.
11. Fog light FL3F £16.80.
12. Reducer for the air intake. SJ3 £4.80.
13. Two 9 pin connectors for front and back. RPMUL9 £4.80 each (2 needed). 
14. Chrome wing mirrors M23F £29.40. (A bit expensive but a decent match for real ones)
15. Rear reflectors. RR29 £2.40.

The '32mm with 8mm T piece for overflow tap. TEE328 £24.00. ' has been replaced by an Ebay part for £15.50, it's got an angled T piece and just under a tenner cheaper so can't go wrong really. They haven't got an equivalent 16mm T joint, but I doubt I could find cheaper than the above anyway.

Lights appear to be cheaper on Ebay too, a set of Landrover Defender lights (four indicator, two side and two stop/tail) are £31.80, rather than £50 from CBS. They're now on their way. 

For air intake, I have a Tee silicone hose; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203279942439. 70mm both ends to go into the throttle body and AFM, with a 25mm tap. I need to get down from 25mm to 18mm. There is a reducer for 16/19 through to 25/22 which should do the job (added to the shopping list). 

The hoses are quite common on Ebay but none are cheaper than here. Fog and reverse lights could probably be found but the IVA marks are important so I don't want to mess around with possible IVA failures. Several hundred pounds for a retest, vs a few pounds saving for an 'Ebay special'. 

Now for jubilee clips. For the air filter I'll use a banding kit off Ebay, £4.50. For the others I need;

• 6 22mm clamps for the heater matrix and T piece.
• 6 39mm clamps for the radiator pipes (including the joiner). 
• 2 13.5mm clamps for the overflow pipe. 
• 27mm and 31mm for the idle air bypass.

Turns out that screwfix have a box of 60 hose clips that will cover all the options above, as well as the air filter requirements so that banding kit may not actually get used!! 

I also need two multipin connectors. Assuming one single ground for them all, on the front there are;

• BLK ground.
• RED-WHT and RED-BLK to both headlights.
• GRN-BLK for right indicator
• GRN-WHT for left indicator
•  RED-BLK to both sidelights. 

That's six pins total. Side indicators will loop off the main indicators so don't need a separate connector. 

On the rear, again assuming one ground;

• BLK ground. 
• RED-BLK to both tail lights and licence plate light.
• RED-GRN Reverse light
• ??? for fog light (fog lights aren't OEM, so while I know there is a wire, I don't know the colour)
• GRN for stop lights
• GRN-BLK for right indicator
• GRN-WHT for left indicator

So seven pins at the back. Looks like I'm back to my original choice of nine pin lockable from CBS. That gives me the option of running the headlights on different wires, just in case they're a bit much for the wiring. 

I still need edge trim for along the doors and transmission tunnel. 

Fuel, exhaust and more gas pedal

 I had a remarkably productive weekend with lots of box ticking done. First the fuel lines, they have been separated on the engine end and the flexi lines added;

They'll get a couple of clamps added per line, and there's at least 3 inches of copper inside the rubber pipe so it's not going anywhere. I didn't do the rear as the space is a bit tight back there, and I also wanted to plumb in the fuel pump and filter at the same time. 

Next, the exhaust;

Yes, that is the catalytic convertor that I've painted, and yes I know I'm not under any illusion that even VHT paint will survive Cat temperatures, but at least it's protected for now. And it looks great on the car;

It's probably a bit disappointing that the whole thing will be inside the body, as I think it looks really tidy. 

Now on to the main event, the gas pedal. I posted a few days back that the gas pedal hinge and the steering column were not happy, and that I needed to redo the pedal to get it to work. After a fair few hours of cutting, measuring and welding, I finally have a working pedal in the right place;

This also resolved the cable mounting itself, so I have an L shaped bracket bolted to two places on the chassis, that provides a hinge for the gas pedal and a suitable socket for the cable. It's all spring loaded and sits really well, as you can see I've also pushed the gas pedal over to the right. This gives a bit more clearance for the most important pedal, the brakes. I did also tweak the clutch pedal home position as the gas pedal doesn't have as much travel. The brake pedal is slightly ahead of the gas pedal, so if panic sets in the first pedal to be pressed is the brake!

After all that, it was a simple case of cutting and reshaping the firewall;

I added a side panel so it's all boxed in from inside and still isolating the engine from the occupants. I'll need to glue or rivet that small panel to finish it off, but this is as far as I need to go for this.

All of that work was to prepare me for mounting these three;

The coolant bottle needs to be teed into the heater matrix loop, with the overflow back to the radiator. The ECU just needs to be mounted on a flat surface, I've made up some tabs so it can just be riveted in place. The battery then needs to be secure, so some sort of metal strap or other fixing.

Ah yes, the battery... So I went for a cheap battery because I have no other electrics to supply, and wanted to keep things small. That has created two issues. First, the battery on an MX5 is kept in the boot, so the power connectors are about 8 feet too long!! That's a good thing though, shorter cables mean better starting. I remember that from my wife's Mini. The second issue is that the battery terminals on the MX5 were from a bigger battery, so they don't actually work on this one. I need to order new battery terminals. That's also a good thing though, rather than having to re-terminate the existing connectors I can start from new with everything. 

So it looks like I'm going shopping for my next job. I need;

• Lights front and back with suitable multipin connectors so the bodywork can be removed. 
• Water pipe for the cooling circuit.
• Air pipe for the intake. 

Once those are in place I can add the wiring loom, and maybe even start the car! 

Clutch pipe and gas pedal

 First of the new jobs, the clutch pipe. This would be a fairly simple job, but it turned out a bit more awkward than I thought. First issue was the Wilwood master cylinder is based on a DIN connector, but everything else on the car is SAE. Fortunately I had accidentally bought some DIN brake pipe nuts, but I didn't have a DIN flaring tool.

A quick google suggests that since kunifer is softer than steel, if an SAE flare is tightened down on to a DIN fitting, it will make a sufficient seal. While I wouldn't have done that on the brake lines, the clutch line is at far less pressure so I gave it a go. As it turns out, yes it does work, so now I have a clutch line;

By the way, the loop is based on the original MX5 fitting, and I believe it's to allow the engine to move without affecting the pipe too much. It also makes fitting the pipe a lot easier, as both ends are slightly flexible. Had I used the exact length I think it would have been so much harder to fit. 

Now on to more frustrating times. Well, not frustrating, as I did expect at least a few occasions. Basically everything I've built has been done as a single item, then taken back off the car. At some point, all these single items have to live together. The first conflict I expected was actually the steering rack and the starter motor bracket, apparently that is a very common one but I managed to avoid that one due to me putting an angle into the steering column. It does pass very close to the chassis tube but 'close' isn't 'touching'.

What it does touch is the gas pedal bracket. I had preserved the hinge on the gas pedal to work the same as it did in the MX5, unfortunately when I put the steering column and the gas pedal on to the car they want to occupy the same space. Since I can't do anything more with the steering column, it means I have to modify the gas pedal. 

However this is one of those 'two birds one stone' occasions. The gas pedal cable requires a bracket to pull against, and I'd not budgeted for that anywhere. So as I move the pedal I can also incorporate a bracket. It's got to be tough though, it's got the force of my foot and the force of the throttle springs acting against it. I'm thinking a length of 19mm tube with a suitable end is required, and possibly even triangulated against something.

Back to the pedal though. The original is cranked to the right, so moving the pedal away from the steering column puts the pedal into the side of the footwell. What I need to do is create a left cranked version. This picture shows the crank as well as my solution;

The cut metal is actually perpendicular to the hinge, but the pedal is at least a couple of inches off the surface. What I'll do here is weld the upper part of the plate to the original (thereby preserving the cable hook), then cut off the lower part of the original (below the hinge). I'll then transplant the pedal on to the new plate, and that should give me the clearance I need to move the hinge over. The plate is a similar thickness to the other two pedals which get much more force so I'm not expecting any issues.

Then the plan will be to create the hinge for the pedal, at the bottom of the bracket where the cable will attach. The top just needs to be a hole, and the tension of the cable on the pedal will keep it in place. I'll use a nut and bolt as a back stop to limit the travel when the pedal is released. 

And there I was thinking the gas pedal had been the easiest one to deal with. I still need to figure out what to do with the scuttle though, all this was driven by the need to put a hole through the scuttle for things to work properly. The gap for the steering column is fairly clear to see but it's only when I added the gas pedal that I realised things no longer work.

To do list February 2024

 Hopefully this will be a lot more items ticked off this time, but lets see what to be done;

• Tube capping. There's not as many as there were but there will be at least some. Along the same lines I remember seeing some welds that need tidying up or redoing, then I'll go back over it with primer.
• Handbrake. Now the panels are finished I can get this done, it will still need some ironwork but hopefully not much. 
• Pedals. The clutch needs to be plumbed in, with the engine it's pretty straightforward to create the line. I did check the clutch arm though, for some reason mine is clear but I do know other MX5 builds there's been problems. And staying with the pedals, they still need their limit stops.
• Seat belts. All done, fully tested and ready to be bolted in once the panels are rivetted in.
• Radiator. Radiator and fan mount in place and ready to go. It now needs the coolant bottle fitted, then the handful of pipes to plumb it all together. In terms of pipes I think it will be;
• Radiator (32mm) to water pump at the front of the engine (31mm).
• Other radiator end (32mm) to the far end of the engine coolant loop (31mm).
• Heater matrix loop (17.5mm) with a T piece off to the coolant tank (16mm). 
• Overflow feed (8mm) to 'somewhere'. Really it should go to the highest point to allow air out. I suspect it's going to need to come off the top of the front hose. I can see a fair few 32mm/8mm tee pieces on Ebay though so I'll grab one of them.
• Roll cage. All done.
• Exhaust. Mostly done. The brackets need a final weld, and I need to weld on the 90 degree end piece so it exits out the side of the body.
• Propshaft resize. I'm going to get this sent off and machined down, the prices were very similar but I'd have preferred to be able to take it myself rather than post it somewhere. 
• Fuel tank mounting brackets. Done.
• Fuel lines. Done. Er, actually, not quite. The hard lines are done but I still need to mount the fuel pump and filler, then connect them up with the flexi hoses. Then the same at the engine end. 
• Scuttle panel. Done.
• Windscreen. Not doing.
• Brake pipes. Done.
• Wiring loom. Hmm, next big job?
• Engine ECU. I think this will mount on the scuttle, although the MK HSR has it mounted on one of the chassis tubes. It'll depend on the wiring.
• Battery mount. Yes I can do this now.
• Dashboard. I need the body in place for this. 
• Engine servicing. This will be almost a pleasant job after all the work I've done so far!
• Bolting up. I need to audit my fixings, I think I'm short of a few long bolts which I'll need to order. 

So the next jobs will be battery mount, coolant bottle mount and clutch pipe. I also need to order coolant pipes and the lighting set that I found a while back. 

Interior finished

 I managed to get the last couple of panels done this weekend, so now the entire interior is made of aluminium. 

I'm really happy with how it's come out, it just needs some angle trim on the sharpest edges to finish it off. Once it's all rivetted and glued in place, and the backing sheets have been removed, I'll be left with an all aluminium interior which will look amazing. Of course, it's going to be red hot after a few hours in the sun, but I'll deal with that if we ever see that much sun in the UK again!!

I do need to check my rivet stock though. I'm 99% sure I don't have enough of the original rivets to do all these panels, and I'm fairly sure some of the overlapped panels are going to need longer rivets. I think I also need some more rivnuts for removable panels, as well as the domed head screws to use with the rivnuts. Still, I have a hardware audit planned in the near future so I'll see how many rivets/rivnuts/screws I'm short of.

This was a big block of work and I'm glad it's finished. It also means that I can finalise the fibreglass bodywork, as well as mounting the battery and the coolant bottle in the engine bay.