Business commitments prevented me from getting to the workshop last week, so I aimed to get as much done as possible this weekend. However, with the imminent arrival of our firstborn (due tomorrow!), the mobile was very much on standby, as a call could mean down-tools and a dash to the hospital :-o Best get cracking then!
Whilst the majority of the panelling was complete, I still needed had a couple of bits to do before I could start bolting some bits on. First up was the front bulkhead. Whilst I'd drilled this ready for rivetting and fitting of the master cylinders, I still needed to put the steering column hole in. The factory provide dimensions on the build CD, but there's a pic below which also shows where the hole goes (28mm dia. in this case). A good set of bimetal hole saws is an extremely useful addition to any workshop, so I'd recommend getting a set for holes like this. Fitting the panel was a simple task, however you only want to rivet along the sides and the bottom as the top line of rivets will go through the cockpit section of the bodywork (which overlaps this panel). In a moment of distraction, I managed to drill the top line of rivet holes (doh! how many times have I told myself not to do this), but it's no big deal to match the positions when the bodywork goes on and drill through into them. It will take some fiddling/working out which would be saved if you leave it undrilled, but there you go - practice obviously doesn't make perfect :)
With the front bulkhead in place, I made templates for the insulation material to be fitted to cockpit side of the panel. You can get some heat wash from the radiator, that makes for toasty warm feet in cold weather, but can be uncomfortable when it's hot. This insulation will help control this factor. This done, I set about insulating the rest of the cockpit in the dense heat/sound/fire insulation material. This was SO much easier this time around compared to the GTR, where had to cut, trim, edge tape and then glue each bit on. Using this stuff (which is more effective too), you just cut to fit, remove the backing and stick on. The adhesive is monster strong too, so hopefully it will stay in place. The usual rule of applying anything sticky applies, make sure the surface is degreased and clean, then stick the bugger on! The whole cockpit only took about half an hour to do!!!
After this brief respite, it's back to good old rivetting! Namely, the battery tray. No rocket science here, but quite a bit of fitting, checking and re-fitting. If you only make one cardboard template up for the panelling, do it here! The tray comes with a supporting bracket that fits at the rear of the tray (under the battery itself). Be careful that this clears the lower line of rivets on the front bulkhead panel as they are almost coincidental.
Using the template as a guide, trim the tray until you get a nice, tight fit. Note where you will and, more importantly, won't be able to rivet and mark/drill for rivets. Once you're happy with the fit, drill the tray, run a bead of sikaflex around the edges that sit on the chassis rails and uner the bent flange on the right of the tray (where it sits on the floor) and set in place. Rivetting is made a lot easier with a new addition to my workshop - a right angled head hand rivetter. This allows access to very tight spaces like under the diagonal chassis cross member behind the steering rack (or at least, where the steering rack will end up).
With the tray fitted, the battery can be positioned. It's not a critical positioning, but placing it centrally looks neat. The battery design changes quite regularly on Ultimas, so sit the battery in place and position the lateral support brackets. These stop the battery from sliding sideways.
Mark the bracket positions, drill and fit. Next, fit the rubber pads on the tray so that you get the correct height for the battery strap. Mark the bulkhead and the tray for the holes where the rivnuts which hold the strap will go, drill and insert the rivnuts. If you haven't got a rivnut tool err... beg/borrow/buy one - you'll need it.
Well, at this stage I thought I'd treat myself and try to bolt something to the chassis. It makes a nice change from rivetting I can tell you! So onto the pedal box. Once the necessary components were removed from the packing boxes (pedals, mounting bolts and master cylinder bags), it's a pretty straightforward case to fit them - provided you remembered to ream out the mounting holes like I told you earlier. You DID remember to do that didn't you? ;) Anyway, couple of points regarding the fitment of the pedals and master cylinders.
Firstly, the brake pedal bias tube (the one that passes through the pedal stem and holds the bias bar) is offset. The longer side of this should be on the LEFT side of the pedal box, so in this case (RHD car), on the clutch side of the pedal box. Secondly, the master cylinders are different for the front/rear brake circuits. The 3/4" (stamped .75) cylinder is for the FRONT circuit and the 5/8" (stamped .625) is for the REAR circuit. So, from right to left (right being the right as if you were sitting in the car), it's 3/4" (.75), then 5/8" (.625) then the clutch master cylinder. Follow the sketch in the build manual and you should be fine ;)
Before fitting the pedals, you'll need to prepare them a little. For the accelerator pedal, grind the powdercoat off from around the hole on the cable actuating arm and make sure that the hole in it is large enough to take the accelerator cable mounting pin. This will ensure that the cable runs freely where it attaches to the pedal.
For the brake pedal, check that the bias bar sleeve is clean and free from debris/weld spatter/powdercoat lumps to ensure the bar runs smoothly.
For the clutch, you'll need to cut down the bolt that holds the actuating sleeve (the bit that screws onto the end of the master cylinder actuating bar). Make sure you allow for the washers and the nyloc. Now attach the sleeve.
Now to fit the pedals. Insert the sleeves into the pedal mounts and grease (with copper grease) thoroughly. Squeaking pedals will drive you mad! Whilst the pedal positions are adjustable (to an extent), to stop the accelerator cable from fouling the chassis rail, it will need to be mounted in the rearmost (toward rear of car) hole. The brake pedal goes in the frontmost hole and the clutch pedal in the middle. Given that the pedal pads are adjustable you should easily find a position that's comfortable and allows you to heel-and-toe etc. Now let's look at the specifics for each pedal.
Next up, the master cylinders. First, pull back the rubber bellows on each m/c (master cylinder) and put a little grease on the actuating bar. This will make screwing them in a lot easier. If you haven't already done so, dry fit each one to make sure it fits well and that the mounting lug threads are clean. Now run a bead of silicon sealant around the mounting flange of the m/c (around the edge of the rubber bellows) and fit using the nylocs supplied. Once in place, with a bit of fiddling you can screw the actuating arms into the brake bias bar and the clutch pedal actuating sleeve. Don't worry too much about finalising the positions of the pedals at this stage, until you know how much clutch/brake travel you need, just wind them right in, then back them off a few turns. Job done.
With the pedals and m/cs fitted, I could fit the accelerator cable. I had problems on the GTR with high idle, which I partly attributed to the throttle cable sticking. It actually turned out to be a combination of things, but whilst looking for a solution I found a supplier of teflon lined cables which I prefer to use over the factory item. Not only is the cable action much smoother, the stranded cable is much more flexible which helps given the rather tortuous route it has back to the carb. It's clear from the picture (replacement cable is at the top) just how much more flexible the cable is. These cables are now available from the factory.
Anyway, onto fitment. Two parts to this. Firstly, a hole needs drilling through the top chassis rail of the front bulkhead. In this instance, it's 13mm to allow for the cable end to pass through. A pair of grommets are fitted to the chassis rail (top/bottom) to stop the cable from chafing. Next, the factory supplied bracked needs to be fitted above the accelerator cable. The objective here is to get as straight a run as possible for the cable, again, facilitating smooth action of the throttle and to avoid the risk of it sticking. The right angle headed rivetting tool again proved its worth as it's pretty tight to get the rivets in. A right angled drill or flexible shaft will also be required to get the holes drilled for them in the middle chassis rail. Once in place, the cable was fitted to the pedal actuating arm and checked to make sure it doesn't bind throughout throttle travel. As I'd checked this earlier when grinding off the powder coat, no such problem arose.
Next up, brake/clutch lines and battery cables. The braided stainless brake line kit comes in 6 pieces. A short link pipe connects to the 3/4" (.75) m/c, then up to a T-piece which splits between the two front brake calipers. The 5/8" (.625) m.c connects to the longest pipe, which connects to a T-piece in the engine bay that 'usually' holds the brake light sensor (but not in this case ;) This then splits to feed both rear calipers. The rear T-piece is mounted to the rear of the lower wishbone mount. This is drilled and tapped for the M6 allen headed bolt supplied.
Again, not exactly rocket science to fit all these braided lines, but care needs to be taken not to overtighten the mounting nuts. The lines will tend to twist as you tighten, so just before they 'nip up', countertwist them to compensate. Whilst it's possible to adjust them using the secondary nut, you run the risk of shearing the end nipple off. Right, back to the brake light sensor position. Now, the AP Racing brake setup on an Ultima is frankly, superb. But, because it's so good at scrubbing off speed, you'll find that very little pedal pressure is required to get the car to stop, during 'normal' road driving. This factor, allied to the fact that the brake light sensor is mounted on the rear circuit (which under less braking pressure), means that it's the brake lights on an Ultima can be somewhat 'insensitive' when it comes to light touch operation. Consequently, I've decided to mount the sensor on the front circuit which endures somewhat higher pressures in the brake lines with which to activate the switch. It's an easy modification, just requiring a modification to the loom (as the pickup for the sensor is positioned at the rear as standard) and reversal of the front/rear T-pieces. That said, to allow me to mount the rear T-piece (which was originally the front), required the purchase of another T-piece which has a mounting lug on it. More of this to come....
With the brake/clutch lines roughly in place, the +ve battery cable was positioned so that it could reach the appropriate battery terminal. I also mounted the battery earth strap after grinding the powder coat from the chassis bracket to ensure a good earth connection.
That done, the clutch and rear brake circuit link-line were p-clipped along the left chassis side at intervals of about 100mm. The clutch pipe was run down the right hand side and similarly, p-clipped in place using the clips supplied. For the moment, I haven't clipped them in place in the engine bay, as experience has shown that it's easier to wait and see what else needs to be attached, before committing to the clip positions.
Well, before you kow it, another day has flown by. An anxious weekend awaits as we standby for a trip to the hospital for our new arrival!
Not a build update, but a family one! Charlie Anthony Michael James (or 'Cam' for short ;) was born today after a pretty arduous labour. Weighing in at a healthy 7lb 10oz, it's only a matter of time before he gets his hands on a 1/2" ratchet :) Mother, son and proud father very tired and happy!
So, after a week of nappy changes, feeding, sleeping and crying (and that's just the father!), I managed to sneak off to the workshop for a few hours. After a few minutes head scratching over what to tackle next, I decided to get the Getrag gear shift mechanism and handbrake in. The 6-speed cable operated Getrag is a great piece of engineering and Ultima have done a superb job of adapting it to the car. The mechanism comes in 5 parts. The shifter mechanism iteslf, a mounting plate, the cables, a GRP cockpit 'shroud' and a linkage for the gearbox itself.
First job was to fit the mounting plate. The holes are all thankfully pre-drilled, meaning that it's a simple case of aligning it on the central chassis rail in the designated position (460mm from the cockpit rear bulkhead) and drilling/rivetting. Small point, but due to the thickness of the mounting plate, I used rivets with a longer shank on them as it's too easy to 'pull' the factory supplied ones. I took the precaution of test fitting the GRP shroud. It became obvious that this needs trimming a bit to fit. At first, I thought that the hole cut in the shroud for the gearshift lever was a bit too far back, but having checked the build manual pictures, it looks as if it's in the right place!
So, With the mounting plate in position, the shifter mechanism can be screwed into place using the cap headed allen bolts supplied. The mounting plate is drilled and tapped for these, but nylocs are also screwed on from below as a 'belt-and-braces' fixing. Cue 'it just came off in my hand' smutty jokes ;) The cables were stripped of their nuts (oi - I said NO smutty jokes) and threaded through the rear bulkhead taking care that the 'blue' cable went to the blue mounting collar in the shifter mechanism and same for the 'black' cable. Also, make sure that you have the cable end with the threaded 'stub' at the shifter end. A grommet was also threaded onto each of the cables, ready to take the handbrake lines. The threaded ends were laid on top of the plastic mounting collars as described in the manual and left ready for final fitting.
Next up, the handbrake cables. The cables were similarly threaded through the rear bulkhead, taking care to orient them the right way round, that is, with the nipple in the engine bay (STOP sniggering at the back!! ;) Passing through the grommets on the Getrag gear linkage cables, they were left ready to be attached to the handbrake itself. The grommets were slid back up the cables and fitted snugly in the bulkhead panels. I'm glad I checked the cables fitted snugly in the holes with the grommet before fixing the bulkhead panels in place! As you can see, the results were worth it.
The handbrake itself needs first to be fitted with the bar that holds the cables. This is held in place with a pair of split pins. Due to the design of the handbrake, check that the bar doesn't bind in the hole as it may need easing a little with a rat-tailed file. Once the bar is fitted, the handbrake can be mounted to the chassis brackets using the bolts and 13mm nylocs supplied. Finally, pass the threaded handbrake cable ends through the mounting bar and secure on either side with the appropriate nuts. Other than fitting the shroud and gear lever, it's another job done.
Next up, the steering column. First job is to fit the plastic bushes into the steering column mounts on the chassis. Rub some washing up liquid into the mounts and onto the bushes to stop them tearing, then align the raised nipple on the bush with the hole in the chassis mount. A quick'clamp or G-clamp is ideal to push the bushes in squarely.
That done, it's time to loosely fit the rack. Take the rear halves of the mounting brackets and temporarily cable tie in position on the chassis. Before you offer up the rack, take a deep 13mm socket and fill it with spare nuts so that the nyloc that's used for the rack mounting bolts sits right at the end. As you fix the rack mounting nuts through holes in the vertical chassis rails, it's easy to drop the nuts into the chassis rail cavity.
This tip should make life alot easier. Get the other half of the mounting blocks along with the mounting bolts ready to hand and offer the rack up into position. Put each block into position and pass through the bolts and secure loosely with the nylocs through the holes in the chassis rails. Once all 4 are on, ensure the rack sits dead-centre with the clamps butting up to the thicker section of the rack. You can tighten up the mounting bolts a bit, but make sure that you can still rotate the rack around its horizontal axis for the next step.
The steering column UJs can be a really tight fit, so before you start cursing, take the top section of the steering column (with the mounting flange for the steering wheel hub) and carefully hammer home into each end of the two UJs. This will help them seperate a bit making life easier when it comes to putting in the splined shafts of the steering column. The UJ bolts will need cutting down by about 15mm otherwise the UJs will bind on them. Once done, carefully fit the first UJ to the steering rack and the second to the lower steering column shaft (it's easier to get one end of the UJ onto this shaft before fitting to the chassis). Pass the lower shaft through the front bulkhead hole and, taking care to match the orientation of both the lower and upper UJs, push the splined end home into the steering rack UJ. Fix with the cut-down bolts and nylocs. Next, pass the upper steering column shaft through the chassis mounts/bushes and into the UJ that connects to the lower steering column shaft. Before you move on, rotate the steering column to both extremes of rack travel, to check that the shaft clears the front bulkhead hole as well as not binding. To change the position of the eccentric rotation of the lower steering column shaft, just rotate the steering rack about its horizontal axis. Once you're happy that it clears the hole well enough, carefully tighten the steering rack mountnig bolts. Make sure you do not overtighten these or you risk binding the rack in its mounting tube.
The last job is mark the upper section of the steering column where is passes through the mounting bushes, remove and polish with wet/dry paper, wire wool and then metal polish. The better the polishing, the smoother the steering will be. Last job is to put the steering rack gaiters on and then screw on the toe links. Screw them right on for the time being until you're ready for the initial suspension/steering alignment (which is tricky to do with no wishbones or hubs ;)
Steering done, it was time to fit the wishbones. A straightforward procedure. Lay out all the parts taking care to make note of the position of each part on the chassis. The suspension bushes are supplied in two types. The harder 'black' bushes are for the lower rear wishbones and the red bushes are for the rest of them. To fit the bushes thoroughly grease each one with the silicon grease supplied, place one half of the bush into the wishbone mount and slide in the metal sleeve. Then, carefully push the other half of the bush into place using your hands initially, then press fully home with a quick-clamp or G-clamp. Before you mount the wishbones to the chassis, smear a little of the silicon grease onto the inner faces of each of the wishbone pickup points, this will help avoid any creaking/squeaking from the bushes.
Finally, it's a simple question of fixing each wishbone in place using the bolts, washers and nylocs supplied. You may need to ease the mounts open a little using a rubber mallet or similar to allow the wishbone to be fitted, but once in place and torqued up (35ft/lbs), the mounts should reset allowing smooth, free movement of wishbone. Note, to ensure correct orientation, all wishbones should look 'swept back'.
Well, that's me done for the day. Got to get home and teach Charlie about the joys of power oversteer...well, he's a week old after all ;)
