Once again, work gets in the way of the build, so it's been a couple of weeks since I've been able to get anything done on the car.
The last installment ended with me having a quick test of the dash electricals. Most elements functinoned as they should (after all, I tested them enough!), but I did stumble across an unexpected issue. Basically, when putting the lights on main beam, the ingition circuit would become live! So despite not having a key inserted, you could fire up the ignition circuit just by turning the lights on! :) Not the most secure setup! I didn't have any time to fix it previously, but having been away, I'd had the opportunity to ponder the likely cause. I approached the wiring with some trepidation today though, as it's either something that takes 5 minutes to fix, or you spend the whole day tracking down the problem! As it was, luckily it was the former :) Basically, of the connections that go into the stalks, you have a permanent live (so that you can operate the sidelights) and a couple of ignition lives (not sure of their original function). I had thought that the ignition live on the lighting side of the stalks was an ignition 'in', but as it was, it had effectively become an 'out' - hence the ignition circuit going live then the main beam was switched. The fix was a simple one. I just disconnected the wire and picked up another ignition live to drive the heater solenoid relay (which was what the original connection was doing from the stalks). Sounds complex? That's because it is :) The benefit of wiring all this yourself is that you know how it all works..... in theory ;) Anyway, it seems to have done the trick! Whilst I was fiddling with the wiring I also decided that I prefered the ally switches (rad fan, A/C and fog lights) to be flush mounted. So some hole redrilling and leather trimming was required to enlarge the holes for the switches enabling them to be remounted. Much better.
Another little job was sorted at the rear, that was to fit the pulse reader (required by the Navi head unit for accurate speed measurement) in a watertight box. This is simply velcroed to the top of the fuel tank to keep the worst of the weather off, whilst being nice and close to the rear wheel which will later me magnetised in order for the rotational speed to be detected by the sender.
So, with the dash wiring issues addressed (fingers crossed), I just needed to check them with the lights connected. Which leads me neatly on to the headlight fitting.
First up was some more preparation to the front clip. Whilst it had been painted black on the inside, I wasn't happy with the matt finish. Duly masked up, a coat of Sperex Tough Black gave a finish that I was happy with. That done, I could turn my attention to the light pods themselves.
Firstly, I bonded into place the two threaded rods which are used to secure the light pod inner covers. The shorter of the two rods is placed at the 'bottom' of the light pod, although, I ended up trimming the longer one to be almost the same length once I'd trial fitted the covers. Anyways, fitting the lamps themselves required the usual fettling, both to the mounting plate holes and the apetures in the GRP. The former was done with a drill and file, whilst the latter was achieved with a Dremel tool which allows you to open up the holes in a fairly even manner, by using a drum sanding attachment. The main beam units and driving lamps went in with no drama and were secured using the button head machine screws and rubber spacers.
The indicators need to be mounted to the backing plates before being fitted. The indicators are of a different design than those I had on the GTR, namely because these are clear lenses with a coloured bulb. Much nicer aesthetically. Upon examination of the lens, there didn't seems to be a 'top' which implied that they could be fitted without worrying too much about them being level. However, being a stickler for detail, I decided it was safer to make sure they went in level anyway (using the screws in the lens as a datum). To achieve this, I first fitted the indicator into the pod and set it level using a small spirit level (after making sure the the front clip was also level). Then, I wrapped the rubber 'boot' of the indicator with some masking tape, slid the mounting plate on to the connection cable, oriented it suitably on the rear of the light pod and marked a datum on both the tape and the plate. The indicator was then removed, the lens taken off, the datum points on the mounting plate and rubber boot re-aligned, which allowed me to mark, from the lens side, the position of mounting holes onto the mounting plate. Hopefully the pictures will help explain this better than the copy! The mounting plate was then rivetted to the indicator and the lens put back on. The combined unit was then refitted to the light pod, checked for level ready for pilot holes to be drilled through into the pod housing. These holes were then enlarged and tapped for M5 button head bolts which were used to secure the assembly to the light pod.
With both sides in place, the front loom section could be fitted. The headlight sub-loom runs between the light clusters through the strengthening brace which is bonded to the underside of the bonnet clip. There are a pair of holes pre-drilled in the brace which allow the sub-loom to pass through, connecting both sets of lights together. Orient the loom so that the weatherproof connectors are on the correct side of the brace (left for a RHD car). Select a suitably sized grommet and, after checking that it's the right way round, slide it onto the loom (cue much swearing). Thread some stiff wire through the brace holes to allow you to pull the loom through. Now pass the loom through the hole in the brace from the right side to the left. Now that you've fed it through, slide a second grommet onto the loom and secure in the brace holes. Now you can wire the lights according to the manual instructions. The revised indicator really improves the looks of the headlamp clusters. Just the perspex pod covers to fit and the headlights are done.
But that's a job for another day. First I wanted to get the front clip back on the car to both check the fit and to make sure I had clearance for the washer bottle and brake fluid reservoir - both of which are in non-standard locations due to my brake light switch modification (moved from rear to front circuit).
Getting the front clip on the car alone is a bit of a handful, but somehow I managed it without damaging the paintwork! Duly bolted into place, I re-fitted the rubber buffers which I'd removed prior to it being painted along with the latch strikers. I'd carefully marked all the pieces before removal (after the factory pre-fit) along with noting the number of spacer washers on the front clip mounting rose-joints, so once refitted, the clip fitted like a charm :) With the headlights fitted, the familiar face of the Ultima was reborn. It's really looking like a car again now!
So that just left me to define positions for the reservoirs. I taped them to the bulkhead and closed the clip. After a couple of attempts, I found a position which cleared the clip (just) as well as the steering column and brake light switch. This also meant that the brake fluid reservoir was almost directly above the master cylinders, reducing the risk of leaking feed pipes (they also need jubilee clips for a decent seal, those these are not supplied as standard - belt and braces and all that). The feed pipes were connected to the aluminiun adaptors supplied, which were in turn screwed into the master cylinders. Once in place, they were cut to length to suit the reservoir position. The washer bottle mount was fitted to the bulkhead with 4 rivets and the brake fluid reservoir was secured with the supplied M6 button head bolts. I just drilled and tapped the appropriate holes for the bolts into the bulkhead - taking care not to drill through into the loom behind!!
So another day gone! However, it's definitely more car like now. Bar a few bits and pieces left to do on the front end, it's time to get the engine in! Maybe next week.... ;)
So, next target engine eh. Well, not quite :)
Firstly those bits and pieces I'd mentioned last week. Simple stuff really, but all take time. The final job required on the reservoirs was to run the wiring in as well as the washer jet feed pipe. Not problem here, just a 19mm hole in the bulkhead to take a suitably sized grommet and feed the wires through. These connections went to the brake fluid reservoir (for low level warning), washer bottle motor and finally, to the brake line switch which as you recall, I'd moved to the front circuit for more sensitive operation. The washer jet feed pipe was run through a seperate 6mm hole, just above the wiring. Take care if drilling these holes with the bodywork in place especially if you have wiring on the other side that you can drill into!
Second quick job was to install the wiper motor. Other than contorting yourself into the footwells, it's easy to do, though I'd recommend having someone on the outside to attach the nuts or you do risk it dropping down onto your head as you lay there inverted in the footwell!
So with these bits in place, I thought it wise to test the various electrical switches to see if all was still working as it should. - which is where the problems started! :(
Two problems became apparent. Firstly, the intermittent wipe function wasn't working and secondly (and worse) the headlights were behaving very oddly! The intermittent wipe was simply fixed by refitting the rotary switch. The back-plate had come adrift so the connections were half broken. The two halves of the switch were clipped back together and it worked fine. The lights however, took 3 hours of testing and head scratching! AARRRGGHHH!! How I hate electrics! The frustrating thing was that these were all working fine before and I couldn't see how anything that I'd done since would have upset things. I now faced the problem of tracing a fault with the bodywork on, so you end up trying to work through the gaps in the dash :( Anyway, the best bet here is to be methodical, which doesn't explain why I ignored my own advice and tried to trace the fault in a more haphazard fashion!
The problem turned out to be related to the issue I had the other week, where putting the lights on dip (without the ignition on) would drive the ignition circuit. For some reason, I'd picked up a live 'out' (so I thought) from the stalk loom thinking that I needed it to drive the illumincation circuit. The thing is, I didn't. The illumination (dial backlighting etc.) is taken from elsewhere on the original loom, so what I'd effectively done, was to backfeed a live into the the loom when the lights were switched on! The nett effect of this was that when you put sidelights on, the sidelights AND the main lamps came on? Putting the lights on 'dip' had no effect whatsoever and whilst the hi-beam function (driving lamps) worked, it would only do so with the light switch in the dip position (no use as you need a 'flash' function' at all times). I can't tell you how frustrating this was, especially when we found that the solution was simply to remove the illumination circuit connection that I'd made! After 3 hours of tracking down the problem, disconnecting 1 wire solved it all!!! Still, at least it's all now working as it should and the stalks now function exactly as they should, with lights, indicators, hazards, wipers and washer all working :)
So having had enough of electricals, I moved onto the rear bulkhead. Two jobs here, first, to cut the holes for the rear set of speakers and second, to trim it in carpet. However, upon removing the speakers from their box, it became clear that they would be a VERY tight fit, if indeed they would fit at all? The footwell set are 16cm whilst these are 13cm. Both use a crossover with seperate tweeters. So, not only did I need to fit the woofer/mid range cone in, I also needed room for the tweeter (and crossover unit). I very nearly decided not to bother fitting these at all. The 13cm speaker would just fit in the triangular area just inside the door returns (which is the usual place to fit the speakers), but that left no room for the tweeter which should really be fitted about 30cm away for the best audio. Fitting them into the main bulkhead area wasn't an option as I'd have needed to fit heat shields on the engine bay side (woks perhaps? ;) Anyway, inspiration came when I fitted the bulkhead top 'cap'. It appeared that I would have enough room inside this cap to fit the tweeter and, that way I could fit the tweeters directly behind the seat headrests. Considering the wind noise etc. I reckoned logically that the closer the tweeter was to your head, the more audible the sound would be - especially important for the Sat-Nav voice directions. I decided to leave the positioning of the tweeters until the seats were in the car to make sure they were centred behind the headrests, so that left the job of cutting the holes for the woofer/mid-range unit.
These holes, which run perilously close to the door return shut, are best cut with a Dremel type tool and finished with a file (or drum sanding bit on the Dremel). As it was, I needed to fit the speaker and rotate it so that one of the mounting lugs slid under the GRP return of the door shut. WIth the holes drilled, I moved onto the carpet fitment. Thae carpet comes pre-cut, but I found that it still needed trimming a bit. I slid the carpet behind the door shuts on the left and right for a neat finish. Leave a 5-10mm gap along the lower edge of the carpet to the bottom of the bulkhead GRP, as this will be the part that seals against the chassis rail and you don't want whisps of stray carpet showing through in the engine bay along the lower edge of the GRP. On the sidecill area, I leave about 10-15mm which is folder back under the bulkhead. This makes for a neater finish when fitted. So, glueing it place was a job for contact adhesive. The cold weather makes this a pain to use as it takes and age to go off enough for the 'bonding'. I used the same method as with the dash, start at the centre and glue a 10cm vertical strip, then glue down the sides.
So what with all the messing around with the electricals, time ran out for today. I hate build days like this where you seem to spend hours and hours achieving nothing. Still, it's part of the process and all those little jobs need doing. Hope to see more tangible progress (like engine going in) next week. The good news is that I've got 2 weeks off over the Christmas break, so hopefully I can get to the final stages of the build by the new Year. Cheers!
So, following on from last week's nightmare, I was hoping for some plain sailing today!
The first objective of the day was to get the rear bulkhead finally fitted. Having drilled the holes ready for the rivets, upon removing the bulkhead, I realised that I needed to trim the carpet back another 10mm or so. This ensured that there was not carpet between the GRP and ally, so the sika would seal the two properly, whilst ensuring that the carpet went all the way down to the chassis rail on the cockpit side.
That done, I decided that it would probably be simpler to install the a/c radiator before fitting the bulkhead as I'd have more room to work. I'm glad that I did! What should have been a 10 minute job, proved rather more demanding. First stage was to fit insulation material to the upper tank face. Whilst this is not strictly necessary, given that the a/c rad fan draws air over a hot core and onto the tank, It seemed prudent to do so (as I did with the GTR). Besides, it finishes the tank off nicely. With a piece of insulated matting cut to shape and edges tapes, I bonded it to the tank face with impact adhesive.
Next, came the fitting of the a/c radiator, fan assembly and brackets. This comes pre-assembled from the factory. First job was to slightly loosen the plastic caps on the radiator. These are tightly installed and it makes life a bit easier when it comes to attaching the pipework later on. You'll probably hear a hiss as gas escapes from the rad. I can only assume that this is used to pressure test them during manufacture? Anyway, the idea is that the lower bracket of the assembly fits in between the sidepod foam and the outer edge of the fuel tank. The foam can be a bit of a pig to compress, so I lever it up a bit where it sits against the tank, so that it drops into its correct position when you drop the radiator assembly in. Or at least, it would if the damn thing would actually go in! I'd fitted the fuel tank so that the inner edge was flush with the chassis upright (you'd think that this was logical so that the tank sits level. However, this didn't leave enough space between the tank and the upped edge of the sidepod to fit the assembly in. It was only about 1-2mm out, but it might as well be 20mm as it just wouldn't go in :( I ended up having to lower the outer edge of the tank a little, sounds simple, but this meant breaking the foam seal on the trailing edge of the tank, removing the threaded rod that holds the front and then re-fitting the securing bolts at the rear. A bit of a pain, but nothing too drastic. Anyway, with the tank re-fitted to sit about 2mm lower, the radiator assembly was squeezed in. The top bracket was secured with a button head M5 bolt and nyloc taking care to position it so that it didn't interfere with the rear canopy GRP (when the canopy is clipped down into place on the car).
That done, for reasons best known to myself, I moved onto fitting the fuel lines! Whilst not strictly necessary to be able to fit the bulkhead, it did reduce the possibility of scratching the paintwork.
Now, a quick word about making up the braided line connections. As explained in detail on my GTR site, the best method I found was to bind the point of the pipe to be cut with PVC tape - keeping it under tension so it's nice and tight, then cut using a Dremel type tool to minimise the braid 'splaying'. Next, remove the red portion of the -6 connector and clamp firmly in a vice (protect the jaws to save damage to the ally connector though). Lubricate with a bit of washing up liquid and push the braided hose into the fitting, twisting as you go. Take care not to let the braid splay out, you may want to bind the end with another bit of PVC tape before you start, but don't have more than about one and a half turns of the stuff on the braid otherwise it will be too wide to fit into the connector. Push home, until it meets the thread inside. Then, clamp the connector vertically in the vice and screw in the blue part, leaving about 1-2mm between the two. Use either ally spanners or protect the jaws of a steel spanner.
For reference, the links from the fuel tank to the pump input are 270mm long and the pump outlet to the flapper valve are 900mm long. Take care to orient the flapper valves correctly, with the washer end being on the pump side of the hose (you can test that it's right by blowing down the hose. Blowing back to the pump - flapper valve end - should be blocked).
The hoses were fitted to the tank and pump using the blue adaptor connections supplied. I use PTFE tape on all the connections to ensure a good seal. Dunno if petrol affects PTFE, but it worked OK on the GTR :)
So, finally I could install the rear bulkhead, almost the last bit of rivetting required on the car - hurrah! The bulkhead is also help in place by button head bolts on the side diagonals and behind the roll bar and nylocs under sides. I found it best to temp fit all the bolts first, then tighten down the side nylocs, then the button heads. That all done, long shank rivets with washers were used to final fix the bulkhead to the upper cockpit chassis rail, using the obligatory bead of sika first to create a fluid/fume seal.
Bit by bit, it's looking more and more like an Ultima Can-Am!
With the excitement of this done, I moved onto the fitment of the bulkhead speakers. I needed to get these in before fitting the fuel filler caps and hoses as it would be alot harder to access once they were in. With the holes pre-cut, it was a simple job to install them. Rather than using self-tapping screws to secure them, I drilled and tapped for M5 button heads which where more in keeping with the style of the speakers, which have silver kevlar cones with an aluminium centre piece. Very nice! I had been thinking a potential position for the crossovers and with the speakers in place, found that they would fit on the inside of the bulkhead, behind the fuel fillers. They'll be out of the elements here and I can access the wiring should they need attention in the future. To fix them, I used M5 countersunk machine screws which pass through the GRP in the area of the door latch pin. This way they won't foul the door when closed. Nice and neat.
With the crossovers in place, I could fit the fuel fillers. As per the factory CD instructions, I used a straight edge to align the Ultima logos to derive the mounting hole positions. The holes were then drilled ready for the countersunk machine screws.
But that was as far as I got, as it was time to go home and bath my son :) Christmas holiday beckons and with a whole 2 weeks off work, I hope to get most of the remaining build done by the New Year. Still, as I've seen in the past, the best laid plans etc!
What's this? A Mid-week update :-o Well, thankfully, the festive season is upon us and given that my employer doesn't allow us to carry outstanding holiday over to the New Year, it means that I've got a few days off before the Christmas break. What better way to spend it than on the Can-Am! :) Actually, Hels probably has a list as long as your arm of better ways, but I'm going down the workshop anyway ;)
WIth the crossovers in place last week, the final part of the stereo 'install' was to fit the tweeters. I was going to wait until the seats were in, but realised that I could use the mounting points for the harnesses to define the centre point of the headrests! So, with the bulkhead cap temporarily installed (a very tight fit now that the carpet was in), I marked out the position of the tweeters. I had to take great care to ensure that the vertical placement allowed for enough of a gap behind the cap to allow the tweeter to fit. I needed 52mm diameter clearance and it's a VERY close fit. So with some trepidation, I got out the hole saw and set to work. With the holes cut, the tweeters were installed and trial fitted to the bulkhead. A big sigh of relief when I found that they fitted perfectly :) Patience measuring pays dividends once again.
The bulkhead cap also conveniently hides the cable run to the tweeters, which drops into the void by the filler caps, conveniently just where the crossovers are :) The tweeters were duly wired up to the crossovers and the assembly capped off. Given the tight space around here I'm very pleased with the result. I especially like the tweeter positioning which is another 'CJ' first as far as I know? No doubt you'll see it on other Ultimas soon though I guess ;)
So with the speakers and crossovers all done, I could final fit the fuel fillers. I'd already pre-drilled the holes for the filler caps last week, so it was really an assembly job. First, I attached the breather hoses to the funnel which were also secured with a cable clip to be safe. The factory now recommend trimming off 20mm from the filler hoses (why they aren't made 20mm shorter Before I got too carried away, is anyones guess!). Like all hose trimming, this is best done with a jubilee clip temporarily put in place on the cut line, then just use a sharp knife (watch those fingers) and saw around the clip. The result was a lot neater hose fit with almost no kinking which helps when filling the tanks.
Given that I was working in the area :) I also installed the latches to the bulkhead along with the cable mounts and mouting plates for the canopy warning system microswitches. The microswitch mounting plates are secured with a pair of M4 bolts and nylocs through the original latch assembly holes. Don't overtighten the nylocs or you may interfere with the latch operation. The latches were then secured to the chassis using the M5 button head bols and nylocs. The release cable end mounts were marked for position and holes drilled for the two countersunk M5 bolts. You should note that the mounting plates are installed behind the GRP, not in front as shown in the pic. That's just to correctly position the holes. The plates are positioned such that the end is aligned with the latch operating arm.
Amazing how those small jobs can soak up so much time! Talking of which, that leads me nicely on to heat soak!
Whilst installing the bulkhead cap, I realised just how little material there is between the cockpit and engine bay. Basically, you've just got the carpet and the GRP of the bulkhead between you and all that heat and noise. So, in keeping with the ethos of the 'luxury' supercar, I decide to insulate it. I ordered another sheet of the triple-function mat that I used in the floor and cockpit sides (not to mention the 2 layers in the lower cockpit bulkhead which is sandwiched between the ally panelling). This stuff insulates against noise, heat and fire and as a bonus, is self adhesive :) A template of the bulkhead was made and the heat mat cut to fit. Rather than leaving it rough edged, I trimmed it with ally tape too. Once ready, the paper backing was stripped off to reveal the self-adhesive surface and the whole lot was carefully centred and bonded to the bulkhead. It seemed a bit of a shame to cover up the paintwork, but it also looks good as well being functional.
That done, I moved onto the swirl pot and expansion tank. I was a little disappointed to find that these items were no longer supplied polished, they are matt finish. A call to the factory told me that they were 'all like that now' - but I'm not sure whether I'm entirely convinced and have just ended up with a cheap pair ;). Anyway, whilst I'd been on the phone about the dryer position, Dave in the factory had also given me their measurements for the swirl pot and expansion tank brackets. The expansion tank bracket is placed 22" up from the bottom chassis rail (to the top of the bracket) and 51/4" in from the side. I opted to place it a bit nearer the dryer unit, but at the same height. After drilling the expansion tank and bracket for the M6 bolts and nylocs, the bracket was mounted to the bulkhead (after stripping the insulation again) using a dozen or so 3.2mm rivets. Then, when I moved onto the swirl pot bracket, I found that the bracket placed the swirl pot quite close to the bulkhead? I checked this against the factory CD and it looked as if my bracket was too shallow - probably from the GTR. Again, I called the factory to check and they confirmed that the brackets were indeed different and kindly offered to make me one up there and then which they duly posted off to me. Still, that meant nothing more could be done to fit it for the time being.
Now, the objective of these few days of holiday has really been to get the engine and transmission installed in the car - and it actually looked as if I could do just that! :)
With the time rapidly running out, the engine crane was brought in and I set to work getting the engine ready to drop in. I decided to bolt up the headers as this meant that we (that is, Martin and I, thanks for helping buddy) had something that we could wrap the lifting strop around. Besides, it's a LOT easier to bolt them up nice and tight with the engine out of the car. I may end up getting these ceramically coated to reduce engine bay temperatures, but for the time being, they're too gorgeous to touch :). So, with the headers on, the engine could be lifted and the transport cradle removed, alowing the mounts to be fitted. I'd advise leaving the top two bolts a little loose to allow 'some' movement when trying to get the long mounting bolts in on the car. So with the crane manouvered into position, after a bit of tweaking - the mounts dropped home! So that's it!! No fuss, no drama (like the GTR which involved a lot of cutting and fiddling), just drop it in and bolt it down. A great end to the day and a Can-Am with an engine :)
Not a lot of pics I'm afraid as I was in such a hurry to get it done before Martin had to go off on holiday - have a great time matey
So with the engine in, I felt surprisingly relaxed as I made my way to the workshop. It was if another major milestone had been reached. Still, there's plently more still to do!
So with the engine in, I decided to try and get the transmission on. SO first job was to fit the adaptor plate, starter motor, flywheel and clutch. Now it has to be said that getting these on is far easier with the engine out of the car, but due to the lack of time yesterday, it looks as if I'm in for a grazed knuckle or two.
First job was to dry fit the flywheel. From experience of the GTR, these tend to be supplied a little too tight, so it wasn't a surprise to find that this one was the same. Fortunately, my experience of building the GTR also gave the solution, so out came the Dremel which was used to grind away literally a thousandth or so of material from the flywheel. After a couple of re-fit checks and more grinding, it would 'just' go on. This is far easier to do with the adaptor plate off, so now that it's done, I could fit the plate to the engine.
Due to the restricted access between the adaptor plate and the sump, I installed the starter to the adaptor plate before mounting the plate to the engine. To do this, you need to insert the supplied stud to the rear of the adaptor plate which is achieved using a double-nut. Wind two nuts onto the stud, tighten them against each other and then use the nut on the end to wind the stud in. Then slacken the nuts from each other and remove, replacing with the nyloc and washer supplied. IMPORTANT NOTE: It is wise to grind off about 2mm from the starter motor hot post so that the nut can be removed when fitted (not that you woudl want to). There is very little space between it and the wing of the sump. Attach the battery feed and loom cables now as it's almost impossible to do it with the adaptor plate bolted to the engine. If you don't you'll have to remove the entire transmission, clutch, flywheel and adaptor plate again to get at it.
With the starter motor installed, the adaptor plate could be bolted to the engine, which fortunately is a striaghtforward affair. The bolts were all torqued up, ready for the flywheel to be fitted. Having dry fitted it, it slipped on a treat with a bit of copper grease to aid future removal. The flywheel bolts were carefully wound into their threads (you do NOT want to bugger the threads up!) and torqued up to 60ft/lbs. Getting a socket in is TIGHT and I ended up borrowing a long reack one with a thinner wall as mine were too big to fit in the channel made for the bolts in the flyheel.
With the flywheel on, the clutch could be fitted. I made a quick check of the friction plate to make sure it fitted onto the transaxle input shaft (otherwise no amount of pushing will get that 'box on!), then made up the right combination on my clutch fitting tool to suit the friction plate and crankshaft spigot bearing so that the clutch plate could be accurately centred. The pressure plate was then fitted and torqued up. I sometimes leave these bolts loose and fit the transmission twice, once to test fit with the loose bolts allowing some movement of the friction plate and then again to final fit with the bolts torqued. With the clutch pack fitted, a new release bearing was fitted to the input shaft of the transaxle ready to fit to the engine.
A first try, highlighted a problem. The bellhousing would get to about 20mm of the motor, but was then fouling on something? It didn't take a second to see the problem. The starter motor drive gear was fouling the inner casting flange of the bellhousing! I'm sure glad I fitted the starter motor first!! Anyway, the solution was simply to cut away the offending section of the bellhousing with an angle grinder and a Dremel. The casting is pretty soft so cutting it away was easy enough. With the section trimmed out, a second trial fit saw the tranny pushed all the way home :) The bolts were installed and torqued up to spec. Nice one!
With the transmission bolted up to the engine, the rear mount could be fitted. I used the engine crane to lift the back of the trans slightly to get everything aligned. I found the best method to install the mount was to fit the lower chassis rail bolt first, then the upper bolts, then the long bolts that pass through the rubber mount in the transmission housing. Some took a bit of 'persuarsion' of the 2lb hammer kind ;) but nothing too dramatic. All were torqued up and the job was done. Really pleased with this progress as I'd anticipated the transmission install taking far longer.
With the engine and tranmission in place, it seemed a good idea to link up the gearchange cables to check that all was working. First, I replaced the standard Porsche cable mount with the factory supplied version. Then, I could move onto the installation of the cables themselves - however, this is where I hit another snag. The factory supplied a couple of rose-joints for the cable ends, which are mounted to an M5 bolt which is secure with a couple of locking nuts. However, the original selector arms on the transmission have a rivetted stud which holds the cable on with a circlip.
After a bit of headscratching (again), the solution was to get out the angle grinder again, grind off the studs, drill for the M5 bolts and install with the rosejoints. With the cables now attached to the selector arms, I checked to make sure that the shift lever was in the neutral position (using the plastic bracket supplied for this purpose) as well as the transmission. With the pair in neutral, I altered the cable length using the rosejoints and cable mount until I was happy with the position of the cable ends in the shift housing. Then, they were simply clipped down into the slots and the sprung shrouds released back over them. The shift lever bracket was then removed allowing me to test the gearbox. And what do you know, all 7 gears seem to be present and correct :)
Things were going far too well by this stage, so I thought I'd better start thinking about calling it a day in readiness for the Christmas festivities ahead.
But this close, I thought it a good idea to do one last job - fitting the driveshafts. One of the simplest jobs on the car, especially as they line up a lot better than the GTR ones did (as the GTR engine was offset forward by 20mm). It was just a case of installing the cap-headed M10 and M8 bolts with anti-slip washers and torque up to spec. I took care to mark each bolt as I torqued it up. A quick tip to stop the shafts from spinning as you nip up the bolts is to drop a screwdriver into the cooling vanes of the brake rotors where it meets the caliper. The speedo drive plate was installed on the nearside of the transmission so that the sender could be easily bolted to the transmission housing.
So it was finally time to call it a day. I'm having my first Saturday off tomorrow since goodness knows when to spend with the family. Then an excess of booze, turkey and presents await. Still, I'll be back in the workshop after Boxing day (that's the 27th) to carry on and who knows, she may even be running by the New Year! It seems fitting (and somewhat depressing!) that the engine and box should have gone in a year after I took delivery of the chassis.
Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays if you're from the US or just a PC nutter) from CJ, Hels and Charlie :)
Well, this has got to be the least interesting update ever. Spent the whole day p-clipping the loom, cables and bits and bobs to the chassis. Not even worth of a picture! :)
Now for the second most, least interesting update! The factory kindly sent me a replacement bracket for the coolant swirl pot. You can see from the image the difference in depth. This is so that the filler sits far enough away from the bulkhead cap. The bulkhead insulation was trimmed out and the bracket fitted ready for the swirl pot. Spent the rest of the day fiddling about clipping more bits to the chassis including making up the fuel filter feed hoses and fitting it. The cable tidying seems to be taking forever!
This is where I encountered a problem. Having patted myself on the back for remembering to fit the starter motor to the adaptor plate before fitting it to the engine, I'd neglected to attach the hot post cables. I managed to undo the nut on the starter, but there wasn't enough clearance between it and the sump wing to withdraw it! That said, looking at the thick battery cable and loom live, there was no way on earth I was going to be able to attach the cables and get the nut back on. After about 30 mins of trying, I gave in and removed the entire transmission, clutch, flywheel and adaptor plate, attached the cables to the starter and refitted the whole lot :( I ground a bit off the end of the mounting stud on the starter motor so that the nut could be removed, but I sincerely hope I'll never have to. It's pretty safe to say that any servicing required for the starter motor will mean taking the whole lot off again. Never mind!
So with the shennanigans out of the way with the starter motor, the cabling clipped to the chassis, I could move onto finishing the plumbing. The heater hoses were finally cut and routed to the manifold and water pump outlets where they were secured with jubilee clips.
As I was working in the area, I thought it a good time to fit the air-con compressor. Not a hugely difficult job, once you figure out how the mounting plate goes together. I pre-assembled the pump with the associated bracketry, removed the fuel pump cover plate and fitted the complete unit. Take care to orient the bracket on the pump so that the hose outlets are oriented correctly. The bracket uses a curved slot on the rear which is clamped by a bolt to the block (there is a small arm also supplied, but you don't need it. I think it's for a dry-sump setup). Then just attach the hoses ensuring that you fit the rubber O-rings to them first.
More cable and hose clipping saw the rest of the day disappear, with the latch cables, canopy warning microswitches etc. all being finally tied to the chassis.
Blimey, almost the end of another year in the workshop! Let's make it a good one then :)
With the heater and air-con hoses plumbed-in, I could move onto the coolant pipes. However, first up I needed to do something with the swirl pot and expansion tank. I had been a bit disappointed when unpacking these to find that they were now supplied in a matt aluminium finish, as the ones the facotory used to supply were ready polished. Still, cost saving versus inflation i guess. Anyway, luckily I have a polishing kit in the workshop, so out it came and with the two tanks screwed to the bench, I set about getting a mirror finish. Surprisingly, they came up well with very little work. Only about an hour or so :) Once done, the could be fitted to the car.
However, before you start, it's a good idea to prep the hoses first. The problem is that the 5/16ths hose from the radiator overflow is a VERY tight fit. I soak the hose end in almost boiling water for a few minutes and smear washing up liquid on the tank intakes to get them on, but it's a lot easier to do it out of the car. Obviously you can't do this with the link from the radiator to the swirl pot (as the hose is fitted to the car), but you can with the swirl pot overflow hose to the expansion tank bottom feed and also with the expansion tank overflow. So basically, the radiator overflow goes to the swirl pot feed (lower connector), then a hose runs from the swirl pot overflow (top connector) to the bottom of the expansion tank and finally, a bleed hose runs from the expansion tank cap outlet onto the road (hopefully you'll never have that happen!). So, with hot pipes, washing up liquid and a lot of swearing, I got them all on and jubilee clipped up - phew!
The water pump is connected via a sleeve down connector, into an elbowed aluminium pipe, into an elbowed silicon hose. That concluded the engine plumbing bar filling with coolant - hurrah!
So, good progress so far. With the plumbing done, I could fit some other ancilliaries to the engine, starting with the coil. The factory had supplied a neat MSD blaster coil, all that was required was a plate to fit it. I made up a template from card and used it to fabricate a mount from 3mm ally plate which was bolted to the engine via the adaptor plate. It's very satisfying making these little neat touches of fabrication.
I would have moved onto the fitting of the MSD ignition unit, were it not for the fact that I haven't yet received one from the factory! They're shut until next week I guess, so it will have to wait for now. A shame that I can't fire the old girl up this year :(
Next up, the O2 sensor required by the fuel air guage which is going in the cockpit. Jsut a simple case of removing the blanking plug in the header and replacing with the sensor. Regardless of whether you're fitting a sensor or not, it's a good idea to nip these plugs up as they are supplied quite loose. I lost one (found it again) on the GTR.
A good day of progress, but time to call it a night. The last day of the year beckons and there's still lots to be done :)
So, how to end the year? With most of the engine bits and bobs complete, I had a grand old clear up. This also gave me the opportunity to go through all the remaining boxes (and old empty ones) to check I hadn't missed anything. With only a few left with bits in them, I set about emptying them! :)
First job was to prep the rear canopy and fit the lights. As with all the other bodywork, I re-sprayed it using Sperex Tough Black as I wasn't happy with the finish left by the paintshop. The usual laborious masking prep ensued, but is well worth it for a good finish. The rear lights were fitted into their pods and masked up for paint. They went in amazingly easily this time (the holes can be a bity of a bugger to line up with the mounting studs) and were secured with nylocs supplied.
The canopy was then sprayed and whilst it was drying, I turned my attention back to the engine as there are still a few odds and ends to finish.
The speedo sender needed a mounting bracket fabricating to hold it the 1.5mm away from the lugs of the sender plate which was sandwiched by the driveshaft against the transmission. No great story here, just measure, cut, file and fit. Another neat little job done :) A slightly more annoying job was re-routing the cable through the sidepod conduit as it wouldn't reach. Fortunatly I had a spare Stack loom extension which gave me the extra length I needed to get the sender to the transmission take off. The reason it was short was that the sender plate had to be fitted to the near side of the gearbox, whereas I had it running to the offside originally. With some fairy liquid for lubricant and some persuasion, the cable came through! Phew! :)
Still waiting for the paint to dry, I thought it a good time to finally fit the Intrax suspension! These are gorgeous items. Take care to get the fronts and rears on the right end ;), but it's just a simple bolt on job. For the rears, you need to install the lower bolt first. Elevate the hub until you can get it in, then lower to fit the top bolt. You can only do it this way round as the handbrake caliper spring gets in the way otherwise. Orient the shocks so that you can easily access the adjustment screw too. Outboard facing on the front and inboard on the rear.
With the paint now dry, I started to fit the rear lighting loom. Trouble was, I ran out of grommets, so this will have to wait until I can get some.
So the final job of the day turned out to be fitting the silencers. These gorgeous polished stainless steel units are a snap to install when the engine is in the 'standard' position! The Mikalor clips were slip onto the headers and the silencers 'twisted' on. I made up the rear mounting bracket with the rubber support bobbins and dry fitted it to check the position for the two 90 degree brackets. Once marked up, holes were drilled for a pair of rivnuts to take the M6 cap head bolts. The bracket and exhausts were then all bolted up and the Mikalor clamps tightened. I'd forgotted how stunning the whole lot looked and I'm loath to have it Cermakromed this time.
So that's it. With the MSD ignition unit installed and the carb feed hose connected, we're ready to fire her up. Once the canopy is on, it's a short list of jobs before the car will be ready for SVA. I've decided to wait until March to register the car so there's plenty of time (for now) to finish what will be a stunning Can-Am.
Which just leaves me to wish you all a very Happy New year! Roll on 2006 where a new Can-Am will be on the road :)