Spent a couple of days rewiring the side/indicator lights so that I can make an easy break with suitable connectors if the body needs to come off again. Wiring diagram consulted again to ensure I made the correct connections. Burtons idea of printing a unique number on each wire would be a better one if I could read them without a magnifying glass! Cables were stuck with Gorilla glue to ensure that they are not fouled by the wheels within the wings.
Friday saw Roy, Ed and me at the garage gingerly taking the body from its storage and placing it on the chassis. A bit of wriggling and we got it on, over the rocker covers and locating it with the previously bored holes fixing to the rest of the body. That involved Roy and I – independently – going headfirst into the footwell to tighten the bolts. Regular readers will know that I have done this before and have been able to get in and out fairly easily. However the combination of advancing years, a healing broken elbow and sharp neck pains meant that I really found it difficult to get myself out again. If I am allowed a personal comment I have to confess that on the rare occasions when I have a bath (as opposed to a shower!) I am finding it very difficult to get in and out of said vessel!
With Ed and I crawling around in the dirt locating and screwing bolts under the car as well, we got to a point where the body was on successfully, and requiring little more to finalise its fixing; The original holes all linked up to make the bolting through easy – apart from one at the base of the offside wing which required some extra time, eating dust, drilling and refixing. The main thing now being the bar that holds the coil and the headlights.
On that point, certain worries pushed into the back of my memory are now coming to the fore. The Burton supplied headlamp lenses are for a LHD car and therefore the beams set incorrectly. As per a previous blog entry I have acquired new (old) RHD lenses to refit. I understand the the removal of the old (new) lenses requires baking in an oven to loosen the adhesive. I need to wait for a suitable opportunity when Mrs N is out of the kitchen for some hours! [update] Have now purchased a heat gun and seen how one can make a suitable oven in a cardboard box – Hmm!
Other jobs still to do under the bonnet include; fixing the vents from the heat exchangers so the heat discharges into the wheel arches, and now the full weight of the body is on as well – checking the tracking again and tightening up the fastenings on the track rods. I also need to reassure myself that on full lock the wheels do not foul the wheel arches – certainly the wheels go over at an alarming angle, as well as making the steering harder (caster effect?)
I keep thinking of more jobs to do but I do want to try the car out under slightly more realistic road conditions. I propose speaking to the manager of Horsley Towers (a stones throw from the garage) to see if I can use their relatively extensive metalled road network. That should inform as to the accuracy of the speedo (still needing to be converted to imperial) as well as acceleration and braking performance.
Once that is done I will finalise the outstanding work and put in for the IVA test.
More to come shortly