After a frustrating time with the bonnet locaters, I decided to work on something different just to get some progress. The grille surround was ready to finish cutting and folding, and I'm really happy with the outcome;
Well, the plan I had to sort the bonnet failed. As soon as the second one went on, the forces involved meant it just snapped on one side and jammed on the other. I think I'd have to do something a bit more substantial to get it to work.
However, that's not the big issue anymore. I'm not convinced two rubber bungs is enough to pull the bonnet into shape. The whole corner curve needs supporting. So rather than try and open up the sides as the bonnet shuts, I'm going to engineer something to give the bonnet more rigidity and line up with the body.
So the first thing was a template...
A couple of topics for today. The first is the positioning of the bonnet. Up to now, whenever I open or close the bonnet, the edges get caught on the body. It's left a delightful scratch pattern down the side, and it makes one-person opening almost impossible. The plain is to make some deflectors to spread the bonnet sides as they come down on to the body.
This temporary piece of metal showed that the deflection works to push the edge out. There is a follow up problem in that the undercut corner of the bonnet still hooks on but at least this theory works.
3D printing a duplicate then got me here;
Yet another job that wasn't listed but had to be done, the engine service. The cambelt was questionable at best, I was honestly wondering whether it would just self combust as soon as I started the engine! For the money it just made sense to replace belt, tensioners and water pump.
The only problem was the crankshaft bolt. It needs a combination of being in top gear and a friendly friend stomping down on the brake pedal. That wouldn't work for me because I don't have a connected gearbox, a working brake system, or a friendly friend (or at least a family member that could get into the car!!). So I had to come up with a way of locking the crankshaft;
A quick bit of cutting and welding and I have a way of locking the crankshaft. It still took a mega amount of torque to undo though. After that it was really easy to swap everything over.
I did see a large amount of rust in the coolant jacket though;
I'm going to have to see what happens over time, but first thing I definitely need to do is get a hose pipe in there and just flush it through, then make sure the new coolant is a good mix.
After clearing things up, the last thing I did before closing up the engine was pour some fresh oil on to the cams and lobes. When I first opened up the engine I thought it looked really dry in there, a layer of oil wouldn't do any harm so half a cup got poured over. New gasket on the cam cover and new spark plugs and leads, the engine now just needs a regular oil and filter change.
Of course, I had planned on doing the oil change today, but having a tube of RTV sealant that was basically rubber rather than sealant kind of slowed me down a bit! A new tube and a family visit was a nice distraction, then finished the job soon after.
So yeah, another job done, a quick oil change in the morning then it's ready to run. Back to the radiator for the next job.
This will be done in multiple parts as it's going to take a few days. Before I get started though, a quick update on the injector loom. It went back on well and everything bolted together as expected. The plugs were a much tighter fit on the injectors so I'm happy with that. What I'm not so happy about is the main connector to the loom, it didn't clip back into it's retaining bracket. I think it's because it's so much more rigid now, it just didn't like being bent back on itself. That's good in a 'protection' kind of way, but I'm going to have to figure out how to better mount it. There is a second bracket very near to it that I think will go unused, I could enlarge that hole and fit it there but then it might cause an issue in the next part of the loom. I'm starting to see why builders dread wiring.
Back to the grille. The front mesh arrived;
One thing I've struggled with throughout this build is finishing tasks. It's quite clear from my to-do list that I have more than a dozen jobs that I've started and not finished. In a way it's a good thing, as I can test out theories and make sure I'm not going to get caught out. I'm working on them early enough that I can make changes if required. However, at some point I need to do jobs that I can finish. So I picked a couple of easy jobs to finish the weekend.
First was drilling the holes for the seats, no pictures as holes aren't exactly exciting! I did need to get them centred, and I am tempted to sleeve them. Not necessarily for strength (the bar they're sitting in already has a welded sleeve in it) but more to centre the bolt. It's another job where I've put things together well enough with the car in bits, but now the inside and the outside of the car are more than an arm width apart I'm starting to regret some of my ideas. At least the holes are drilled and are waiting for the seats. I want to do one more trial fit to make sure the runners move freely, then I can think about getting the seats covered. Oh, this is one case where starting a task early pays off, at least this way I can check the runners are good before I risk getting the leather dirty.
Job two was the injector wiring. I managed to snap a connector very early on, and put it aside for another day. Well, Sunday was 'another day' so sorting that became a job. First mission was getting the loom out, it's basically trapped by the fuel rail. I had to unbolt the fuel rail, but it's never that simple! When I unbolted it, it didn't move at all, the coolant supply for the air intake was blocking it. So that had to come off as well. I finally managed to get the short loom out and on the floor;
I laid the new connectors on top to check for length, and at this point I should have spotted something...
First job, radiator grille. Starting with this;
I put some temporary plates either side of the rad to see what they look like;
And some tape to mark the lines;
So that ticks off item 7, 11 and half of 13.
Well, the first attempt didn't go too badly;
The first stitch was the join, that worked well and was very straight. The second one was the green, there were a few hiccups but overall it's not too bad.
Then it went wrong. The purple is all over the place. It's because of the holes, they weren't big enough. The pricking iron has a slight angle to it, but I didn't drive it deep enough. Because of that, the thread didn't stay in a consistent position all the way along.
Compare that with the blue (top line). That is spot on, and it's because I drove the iron deep and made it as it should. Then with a consistent tension on the threads I was able to make the line about as perfect as I'll ever get it. I needed to figure out what to use as a backing, wood didn't let it go through and even a welding glove wasn't much. A folded jay cloth worked well.
I also don't think the soft leather helps, but overall I just need more practice. If I can make a new shift boot that'll be a good start. I'm not convinced seat trimming is on the cards just yet, but it was a fun distraction and a useful extra option.
I felt quite adventurous yesterday, so I went on a youtube hunt for some videos about sewing leather without a machine. Turns out it's not actually that complex (although on youtube and in reality are often very different!). I've bought a handful of tools for leather stitching, I'm going to give it a go one evening.
I've finally landed on a design for the grille though. I was 90% there before, with me wanting a centre grille with curved sections on the side. This was the first example I found;
But this one shows exactly how I can do it;
And an extra bit of planning ahead. I've just found out that the printer I have in the office can print on CD's. Now it did occur to me that if I had a clear CD, I could print out indicator lenses for the oil light, indicator light etc. Back to youtube, and I find a video showing how to peel the foil off a CD! I now have a clear CD to try printing on, to see if I can get suitable images that can then be cut out to use on the dash. If this works, I just need to 3D print some surrounds (similar to the gauge surrounds) then use decently large LED's of the right colour for the lighting. Who knows, maybe if the printing works ok I could use coloured ink to make sure they shine the right colour.
OK, experiment one failed, there's no adhesion of the ink to the plastic. The colours are blotchy and the black won't stay still. However I did remember I have some clear acetate that is printable, I'll give that a go.
Ten minutes with Fusion 360, and half hour printing got me here;
Looks like I was a bit cautious top and bottom, they can be made a decent amount thicker. it does look good though, just imagining it with the trimmed leather I think it'll work.
Back to the first question though, what material. This print took three attempts in PLA, just due to warping. I'm not going to get any level of success from an ABS version, so plastic is out. I do have some thick aluminium that could be used here, and if I also use it as the surround for the roll bar supports I think that would work nicely. The only thing I do need to do is round off the edge as it's most definitely not IVA friendly.
I did also have a passing thought that I could redo the gaiter out of seat leather... maybe an extra step some other time. I'd need to figure out how to stitch leather apart from anything!
Putting that aside for the moment, here's the pattern on the existing plastic frame on the aluminium I want to use;
Based on where the frame sits, I need to extend the top part upwards to make it thicker, and I also need to extend the bottom upwards to meet the existing frame.
Oh, and the circle in the middle? That's a trim for the roll bar supports, it seems like a good use of otherwise wasted material. I'll cut a second one out of the top section of metal.
So that's today's job, should be pleasant. This stuff is really strong aluminium, no idea what the alloy mix is but it's stronger than the floor. Given how thin these trims will be I think it'll be perfect.
On to the gear shift kmob. The shifter is made up of the central shaft, a rubber gaiter, a leather over cover and then the Nardi gear knob. The rubber gaiter is there for a reason on the MX5, but it just doesn't work on my car. It's too big apart from anything, and doesn't add anything. So that got the attention of some snips and is now gone.
I wanted to retain the leather if possible, it's a decent match for the new leather and would look good with the knob. It has a plastic surround to give it support, which is clipped in place. This surround may be under the tunnel on the MX5, but it's a great template for what I need.
Here's the leather in place with the surround behind it;
It does look like the leather will need trimming to look perfect, but if I can duplicate the surround I end up with something like this;
The only issue is what to make it from. I can either print it or cut it from aluminium. Printing would be a challenge, while the size isn't huge the use of ABS means that it would most likely warp before it was complete. Aluminium would cut fine and look nice (and be strong), but I'd have to do something on the edge to make it IVA friendly. Maybe a combination of both, an aluminium surround with a thin edge of rounded ABS.
Actually, I might go for that. If I have an aluminium/leather/aluminium sandwich, that'll be maybe 5mm thick. I then add a plastic rounded edge to finish. The only thing I need to consider is the width to the sides and the distance to the front edge. The whole surround needs to fit on that one panel. The width between the trim pieces is 130mm, with maybe 15mm to the front (with a slight overlap on to the front panel).
I'll print a few templates to see if they come out ok.
While the interior edge trim is gluing, I thought I'd take stock of what was left. I think there's only one full job that hasn't been started yet, the rest have been started. So this is what I have left;
Not much to add for this week, despite wanting to get into the garage a lot more it never really works out like that! Still, after Monday's bombshell of an unmaintainable design the last few days have been quite clear on what was required...
This is my pedal box now, with 3mm plate for the front and back of the seam. The welded nut side will go inside the car and just be glued in place. It doesn't need to be welded as it literally just needs to be held in position for when I tighten the bolts up.
The other plate is fully welded on to the pedal box, that goes in from the engine bay then it's bolted through to the inside. It is admittedly a bit tight, the joys of hot twisting metal while it's being welded has made sure there is no movement when it bolts together. It also feels significantly stronger, which kind of makes sense as I've tripled the thickness of metal!!.
The only thing I need to take care of is the top right screw hole in the picture. I think with the depth of metal plus the welded seem I've encroached on to the positioning for the clutch master cylinder. I will need to smooth it flat so things will bolt together, then touch up the paint. I'll do that tonight then it'll be ready to put back together tomorrow.
As for tomorrow... I'm back to wiring I think. Now I have my side indicators installed the wiring can be joined up, bound up and clipped up. Er, clipped in. I can get the end terminal on as well. I also need to service the engine, I sit here at my desk and I keep kicking the box of service items that I've got to fit. Getting the engine ready to start will help the engine and my legroom.
(five minutes later...)
I've just had a look at what I wrote and realised I might have an issue with gluing the plate in place. There is a good reason why the previous fixings were nuts and bolts, it's because the pedals themselves need to fit through the opening. If I fix the plate in place that is a much smaller gap to deal with, possibly too small to fit the pedals through. So I think I need to leave it as a floating plate. It's no less strong but it will fit easier. What I do want to do is look at access from the top, and at the same time I can check the access for the gas pedal. There is a side gap that allows access, but as always I tried to be clever and fold the surrounding metal to give it more strength. That fold is now a perfect cutting edge for my forearm. I might need to fold it all the way under to have it work better.
All I wanted to do tonight is drop the pedal box, peel back the aluminium protect plastic, and put the pedal limiters on. Someone up there had other plans.
The main issue is the fixings, in my case three of them. The smart person in me thought 'I know, I'll use a nut and bolt combination to make it strong, and three of them to make it three times as strong'. Problem is I put the nut and bolt in place when I could get to both sides at the same time...
Cue many minutes of locking pliers and bruised knuckles, and I've finally got them removed. So now I need to come up with a better solution that is nowhere near as much grief.
This is the hole in the chassis, and the pedal box as it goes in place. I need a better solution for those three bolt holes. To be honest, this really isn't a bad thing. I was never very happy with the three bolts, even with high tensile bolts and washers there is a danger that with overenthusiastic braking it would just push through. The bottom of the pedal box hooks on to the chassis so that isn't going anywhere.
What I'm thinking about is a plate on the inside with nuts welded one, that would take care of having to hold the nuts still when I tighten things up. But I can do the same on the pedal box, and make a 'sandwich' that will lock the box in place. I can also make the bolts one size larger at the same time.
So I need two plates of steel, as wide as the footwell and maybe a couple of inches tall from and back. One will get the nuts welded on, the other will probably at least get tacked to the pedal box.
Oh, and in the fun and games of getting the pedals off, I managed to catch my jeans repeatedly on the 'protective' corner trim that I fitted yesterday!! It would have been ok if it had been tight against the side, but it's not because fool as I am I did do the rivets first. So I think the corners need to be rounded off like I had done with the outside ones. It's only a pair each side where the rear panel meets the centre panel. At the rear it meets a right angle so cannot be caught, and I need to decide whether to do the front or not.
Of course I won't do any more tonight, apart from the noise of cutting metal it was quite hard work folding double to get under the steering wheel!
Oh, one bit of good news... I did check the pedal limiters, and there's nothing to do! The brake pedal is limited by the brake switch in one direction, and the piston itself in the other. The clutch pedal has a bracket to stop it coming too far out (it comes out roughly as far as the brake pedal), and once I find the pin that'll be limited by the master cylinder. I'll have to check the gas pedal though, it needs to hit the firewall before the cable is pulled tight. I do have some adjustment on the throttle though which helps.
A quick distraction... last night I measured and CAD'ed some nut/bolt covers. While I was working today I've had the 3D printer merrily chugging away, and I think they've come out really well;
Yes, I know they can be bought relatively cheaply, but I always find them a little too tall and bulky. These are as tight as they can be while still preserving the 2.5mm radius. They're quick to print, and I can customise the height to deal with the threaded portion of a fixing. These are just tall enough to cover the head of a bolt, they won't cover the customary '3 exposed threads' required for IVA.
The smallest size works well for the handbrake, so that's that sorted. I want to do a glue on portion for the roll bar brackets, they will fail the exterior projections test at the moment. I can also do the same for the seatbelt bracket, just a simple U channel. It's too tight a radius to use the small clip on stuff I have for the body panels.
No pics for today, mainly because there isn't anything worth taking a picture of. Not just yet anyway. I've finished all the edge trims for the sides and centre tunnel, they look great but they're held on with masking tape for now. I need to go over all of them with the proper glue.
I did have another look at the handbrake. While a full cover might be very IVA compliant, it is very overkill. Especially if I make it large enough to allow the handbrake to full open. Instead I'm going to leave it as is. According to IVA, anything below the wheel that contacts a 100mm sphere needs to be blunted. So no big radii or padding needed, I just need to make sure the edges are blunted. Which basically means a handful of plastic covers, so back to 3D printed parts.
I also won't be doing anything more with the dash, apart from covering it. It's strong enough as is and doesn't need to be 'human projectile' strong.
I did figure out that I need to remove the pedal box. I forgot I'd left the plastic cover in place and now the pedals are jammed against it. I need to take it out and pull back the plastic, then refit it. At the same time I'll fit the pedal travel limiters (if I remember how they were going to work). Oh, and the clutch clevis pin as that isn't in place at the moment.
I also need to pin the speedo cable to the transmission wall, now that I know where the speedo is. As expected the cable is a lot longer than is needed so I want to make sure I get enough of a gentle bend to get it from the gearbox to the gauge. And I have to do it without it getting in the way of the clutch pedal.
Then I can fit the fuel pump and filter behind the rear panel, and plumb it up with the fuel lines and tank. And electrics, and front grille, and seat covering, and so on.
Looks like I missed a few photos again, but this week has been filing, sanding, shaping and painting. Oh, and 3D printing and drilling and all sorts of stuff. So by lunchtime I had a dash;
I'm really happy with the shape, as well as the bolts along the top which I think has worked really well. Going for more rather than less has kept the same 'aircraft fixing' kind of design. The only doubt I have with this now is the bottom edge. Even if I make metal fixings to keep the fibreglass attached to the body, it won't actually be any stronger.
But the multiple fixings idea did give me an option, I could simply screw through the front to the back and add a nut. I think I'll need to consult the LCB collective now that I have it complete.
Well, I say complete... it still needs leather on it.
But on to other things, the centre console. I needed to trim the middle section of the centre console, an hour or so with a dremel, file and sandpaper got me a good line front and back. Then I could start work on the other sections. I think I got the join pretty good to be honest;
Although using a 123 block to hold things in place was really stupid because I now have two marks on the lid!! More on that later though.
Getting the two sides matching was just a test of patience, but the result is really good;
And since I had already removed more of the plastic, I carried on;
I need to do the front section but it is quite tiring so I finished up for tonight.
Oh, the scratches. I'm starting to think the raw aluminium is not going to last. Even with my best efforts I've picked up a few dings and scratches, and I'm not going to be able to reproduce the matt sheen of brand new aluminium. At some point I'm going to have to polish every panel to remove the marks, and it just won't be the same again. But then I do want a weathered look to the aluminium, so perhaps some oxidation and damage would tie in with the whole 'used rally' look.
So I'm not going to do anything with the metal yet, but then I'm also not going to throw spanners around in there.
Next job will be a shroud for the handbrake, it'll be an aluminium sheet bent into a very narrow U, then it can be bolted using the same fixings as the handbrake itself. I did notice the handbrake itself has an 'edge', so I might take it back off and fix that as well. Alternatively I could reuse the handbrake shroud if I still have it? In fact I will take a look for that now.
Roll on Sunday and another full day of mechanicing...
