The fuel tank is back in, and I've topped it back up to full. No whiff of petrol at the moment, although I'll do a sniff test in the morning after any fumes have spent the night building up. This time I've also kept some petrol in the jerry can in case I have to do any more work in there.
I also lifted the front of the car a bit. I'm very wary that the sump is less than 100mm off the ground. Any speed bumps (like the ones all round the village!) and I'm losing my engine. The front lip was also lower than 100mm, or at least it was. I've lifted the front so it will get over speed bumps, but the engine is still too low. I don't want to lift it too high because it'll upset the handling and geometry. So for the time being it's too low to get past speed humps.
The plan had also been to sort out the front camber as it wasn't quite right. But lifting the front actually made it a lot more even so I didn't have to tweak the camber in the end. The rear looks a bit cockeyed but I can sort that another time. A quick wheel alignment later gave me 1 degree negative camber and zero toe. What it did also give me was 'some evidence of self centring'...
Basically what I was doing was taking it up and down the road to get some heat into the brakes and see how they behave. On one of the turns I accelerated and saw the wheel turn back towards straight. Which means I'm finally in a position to have that 'evidence'. Lets hope it resurfaces on the test!
What else is there? Oh yeah, the brakes work well and consistently, although still feel a bit squishier than servo assisted brakes. However, I did get a front wheel to lock up which is mostly good. Of course it could have just been on gravel but it's better the front locked up compared to the rear. So again, that points to things behaving themselves. I didn't get the brakes hot, although they were the same temperature both sides so that again is a good sign.
A small digression, I did check the gearbox rear mount and it's secure so that's all sorted.
One last job for today was the front trim. It didn't seem as secure as it was before, that carpet tape seemed enough but not a long term choice. That's now been reattached using proper silicon so it won't come off.
Overall a very positive day. Everything points towards a pass which would be fantastic, but on the other hand a fail is so much more likely. As long as it doesn't catastrophically fail I'd be ok with driving it for the retest. Although at that point it would definitely have to pass otherwise I couldn't get home!
No garage tomorrow, or at least no time on the car. I might get in the garage and do some tidying, but given the car is basically 100% at this point I don't want to jinx it. Next weekend I'll charge the battery and maybe run it up to temperature for one last time before the test.
I did wonder about this blog and whether it would continue. Of course it will continue, isn't that the whole point of a kit car? Planning ahead the first task will be getting the car registered and driven for a decent distance. Then it'll be prep for the kit car show, the first time I go as an owner rather than a spectator. I wonder if I can get a boot liner sorted before the show so it becomes a functional storage area.
After that, who knows? Perhaps a move to a 6 cylinder something? A paintjob? Perhaps a rethink of an aluminium interior once I've burned myself on it when it gets sunny?
Oh, I do need a phone holder that is good for navigation. Getting to the Malvern showground is pretty simple, I used to work very close to it so I remember it quite distinctly. Problem is that's on the motorway, and this car is not a motorway car. I'd prefer to do the country route but I need navigation.
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