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2 October
For all those people who reckon I write too much - HA! You're in for it tonight!
I haven't updated the site for a few days because I've been too damn busy. As planned, we fitted the water bottle and Sam tested it. I was at the front making sure there was nothing to go wrong and Sam was stood by the steering wheel. But he's not as green as he's cabbage looking, our Sam, and he pointed out that he was likely to get wet. However, not wishing to disappoint his old Dad, he pressed the switch anyway and sprayed himself and the back door with water. Smashing!
It occurred to us that the ignition control unit would be a likely candidate for a soaking whenever we filled the water bottle as it was right underneath the filler cap. So we moved it down, round and the other way up to avoid the worst of it.
We bolted the heater pod to the shelf panel, attached the wires and switched on. There was a feeble draught from the scuttle vents, but a howling gale from the underside of the heater. I tried the wires the other way round, but it just made it worse. It seems the fan is so strong that the pressure builds up in the pod. Not enough can get down the Hoover pipe to the windscreen, so most of the air goes down the inside of the pod and out of the bottom. Sucking and blowing down the same hole. Digeridoo stuff. The solution was to cut a piece of thick polythene that just fitted the top of the heater matrix with a circular hole that was just smaller that the fan. This was then siliconed to the top of the matrix so the fan can pull the air up, but the air can't escape back down the sides. It has only one way out - through the Hoover pipe. This made a big difference. It won't blow candles out, but it should pass SVA.
Sam smoothed the edges off the expansion tank clamp and painted it gold. Then we tried to fasten it down, trapping the edge of the battery.
However, as the clamp tightens down, the battery simply moved back out of the way. So I made a Z shaped bit of ally and pop-riveted it under the edge of the scuttle. This traps the other battery clamping point and stops it lifting. It also jams in between the battery and the scuttle stopping the battery from moving back. It works very well.
Tried to fit the radiator, but it's not obvious where the fan sits. I thought it sat at the back, but the shroud round it pushed the radiator too far forward so it stops the nose cone fitting properly. With the fan on the front, the brackets stick out through the grille on the nose cone. A phone call to Richard at Tiger confirms it goes on the front, but the rad needs to be fitted much tighter to the chassis than I had it. Also, by fitting the fan the other way up, the big bit of bracket is at the top and so doesn't stick through the grille. I'd got some thick sticky backed foam from Woolies and that cushions the rad in place on the bottom bracket. To hold it firmly we took two huge washers with M8 holes and bent them up at the side like an Australian's hat. These were bolted to the bottom rad brackets to stop the rad slipping backwards and to provide the fastenings for the nose cone. We'll see if that works when we fit the nose later.
I'd also bought some fancy braid to cover the pipes with. Waste of money! The braid is uneven, even before I started to push the pipes onto the connectors. It looked completely knackered by the time I'd finished. I'll persevere with the braid round the petrol pipes to the carbs, but the rest of the pipes can stay as black rubber.
It occurred to me that the wipers weren't self parking. I checked the connections and they looked right, so I groped around under the dash and popped the connector block off the wiper motor. I know the self-park bit works off a switch in this connector. The switch is turned on and off by a little cam on the main gear wheel in the motor. It took a few hours, but I finally worked out the wiring for the various phases of process - when the wipers are on, when they are off, but not parked and when they are parked. It's easy when you see it, but working it out from the Tiger manual, the Haynes manual and using the circuit tester on the switches, it proved a real challenge.
The Tiger newsgroup contained several postings about wipers not parking, and one I remember said something about diodes going wonky. There are no diodes! For anyone having trouble with the self-parking wipers, who wants to work through it, I've put a page of description here .
I took the wiper motor connector switch to pieces and it was all corroded inside. It cleaned up and with a bit of bending of the contacts, I got it to make and break the right connections when the switch was pushed. However I couldn't get the damn thing back on the motor (which was hidden away inside the scuttle). Dad, who had popped round to see how things were progressing, beat a hasty retreat as my frustration began to grow to bursting point. In the end I had to drill out the mountings and ease the whole motor/worm assembly out of the scuttle. Then I could replace the switch connector and test it. It still didn't work. Hours later, and after prodding every connection I could find with the multimeter, I worked out I must have a wrong connection in the steering column switch. I did. That sorted, the wipers self parked. But not before blowing the main fuse. See the explanation here.
All I had to do then was get the wiper motor and worm gear back into the scuttle. It went easier that I expected and Pat helped me rivet the mounting bracket back in place. I tested everything again and it all worked with the exception of the indicators. Piggin' things. I must have dislodged a connection. Nope! Nothing there. It turned out that I had
forgotten I was charging the battery. With the charger connected there wasn't enough current to energise the little relay that allows the indicators to work only when the ignition is on. Phew!
Adrian at work had said I could borrow his timing light gun and he brought that in today. There you are Adrian - a credit on the web site. Fame at last.
With nothing to do for half an hour, I set about fastening the carbs to the inlet manifold. Matt had lent me some info from the Haynes Weber manual which pointed out I shouldn't over tighten the nuts that hold the carbs on. The spring washers should have a little bit of play between the coils. I put the throttle linkage bracket underneath and cut the nipple off (ouch) a bicycle brake cable to use that as the throttle cable. A test pull on the cable makes the arm on the carbs swivel, but I found that the lock-nut that holds the cable into the arm can catch on a bit of carb casting, stopping the throttle from closing. I'm glad I found that now, rather than when I was doing 80mph and heading for the garage back wall.
Once the radiator had been bolted in and the fan siliconed to the front, I used three long thin cable ties to fasten the fan a bit more securely. Then using bits of the donor water hose and some new bits, I got all the pipes to connect to the pump, the thermostat housing and the heater connections. I just need some slightly wider bore pipe to finish the connections to the expansion tank and that is another job to tick off.
Updated the pop-rivet counter, re-tied various bits of loom and re-made the mini loom from the ignition control unit. This wasn't necessary, but I'd used brown tape the first time and it looked the colour of dog poo. So it had to be re-done in black.
All in all, I'm now feeling a bit smug. It's bed time and there's nothing that won't work, won't fit or won't make sense. But then, tomorrow is another day!
5 October
The wider bore pipe fits a lot better and so the pipe-work all got finished. I attached the inlet manifold which seems to sit a bit nearer the chassis rail than I would have hoped, but a little sticky foam keeps it off the paintwork.
The heater hose that goes to the inlet manifold takes a bit of a sharp turn to get there, but I can hold it out of the way of the throttle cable with another cable tie. They are useful! I've also got one holding the expansion tank down as the hose from there to the radiator keeps popping it out of the clamp when I turn my back.
Having unexpectedly made the engine turn while the dizzy was out having that earth wire sorted, I needed to get number one pot to the top of compression and get the dizzy to sit in roughly the right place. A big spanner on the crank pulley sorted that out.
Sue at Tiger had sent me a dizzy clamp along with a new set of pigs ears which fit perfectly once I'd put in another little panel to seal them to. Dad was given the task of producing that particular template and he didn't do a bad job.
While Dad was so employed, Sam was fitting the imobiliser. This is simply a computer keylock switch set into the tunnel. I can take the key out with it locked or unlocked, and now it's screwed in place, it should make starting the car a tricky problem for anyone without the key. Another good job done.
I've decided that 14:00 on Sunday, 8 October is when Kitkat starts to purr. That's the time I'll try and start her up for the first time. I've told Phil and Dad and I'll let Bob know. If anyone else wants to come and witness either a triumph or a disaster, you'll be welcome.
In fact, if there was oil, petrol and water in now, she is ready, but without exhaust pipes, I think the neighbours would sue. Before Sunday I need to get a vacuum pipe and the connector that fits to the top of the inlet manifold, and the valve and pipe that goes to the engine breather hole. A trip to the scrappies should do it.
Oh, the earlier decision to persevere with the braid on the petrol pipes has been recinded. That braid too has gone in the bin. Also the fancy gold coil cover bought at the Kit Car Show doesn't fit anywhere and the fancy handbrake lever cover needed the handbrake to be filed down to fit. So all in all, the pretty stuff was a complete waste of cash. Ah, well, never mind.
8 October
The other headlight suffered the same problems as the first one - the indicators really cocked up the dipped beam. So rather than make the same mistake twice, I cut out the dipped beam wire this time and laid in a new one from the switch to the lights. Sorted.
On Friday night we fitted the throttle cable which was actually a cycle brake cable. I worked out that I needed to be able to pull two inches to get the full travel on the carb linkage. So with me in the car working the pedal with my foot, Pat worked out how far the top of the pedal moved. It was then easy to see where the cable needed to be attached. A couple of holes and it all went together quite well. However, the spring on the carbs didn't pull the pedal back fast enough, so I butchered the spring off the throttle cable supplied in the kit and used that to pull the pedal back. Sam made a stop out of a long M8 bolt and the whole thing has a nice positive feel under my right go faster boot.
Sam re-fitted the edging strip that we'd taken off before we painted the side panels, and Pat and I went to the scrappies to try and get the breather pipe for the engine. The scrappies had an old 2ltr Pinto engine lying in a mud pool, with the requistite breather, but I didn't have the tools to get it off, and it was raining so hard you couldn't open you mouth to breathe withough drowning, and I was getting filthy just looking at the wretched thing. So we decided to come back the next day.
I bought a can of unleaded and popped that in Kitkat's tank, but the petrol gauge didn't register anything. Testing it revealed the sender unit was broken, so I took it apart and re-soldered it. Then I adjusted it to read between empty and a quarter full when it had five litres in - which is about a sixth of the capacity. So now I have a better idea how much fuel is in the tank when I'm running low.
Ed Needham phoned to ask if they could come over for the starting ceremony - no problem, except for the map to get them from Glossop to our house. Dad was lined up to come, I phoned Bob and told him. I'd lost Matt's phone number, but hoped he'd see the invite on the web page. Paul Ward - a build diary reader from work - wanted to bring his wife along, and promised to arrive in his Lotus Elise (a different type of sportscar fun). Jim and Abi, brother in law John, and Phil and Pauline were also expected. So Pat decided to do some baking and we got in a new box of Kitkat Chunkies.
I had tested the spark plugs and they sparked - but not very well. Then I took the plugs out and turned the engine over on the starter motor to pump some fuel through. I flattened the battery trying, but no sign of any juice. I charged the battery and tried another three times, but still no juice. So I took the hose off the bottom of the fuel pump and there was no petrol there. I sucked - and heard it start to fill the filter before I managed to drink any. I re-attached the hose to the bottom of the pump and tried the starter motor again. Still no petrol at the carb end. I phoned Halfords and managed to get a replacement pump, but as I was fitting it, it ocurred to me that there was no way the cam in the engine could operate the springy bit in the pump - they just didn't connect. Reading the Haynes manual again, it became clear I needed a push rod, which I simply didn't have. This is a recurring theme - not being a mechanic, I don't know what I don't have, only what I do. So if something is missing from the kit of parts, I'll never know until it's too late. And the ceremony was still scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday at 14:00!
Early Sunday morning, Sam and I went back to the scrappies, this time armed with a box of tools. We took the pump off the scrap engine and removed the push rod, and also picked up the timing belt cover, the engine hoist brackets and the breather pipe gadget. Got them home and cleaned them up. Fitted the petrol pump push rod and re-attached the old pump. Switched the ignition on and splut, splut, splut, out came dollops of petrol. Great!
Sam put the wheels back on and we lowered the car off the axel stands. Pat 'drove' and we pushed her up the street for a three point turn, then she parked it on the drive.
The garage got a clean and we waited for two o'clock and the dignitaries to arrive.
Not everyone was there for the start, but as it turned out, that didn't really matter. Just after two, we all stood round and I turned the key. A few starter motor type noises, but no engine type ones.
To cut a very long story short, everyone contributed their five penn'orth and we cleaned the dizzy head, made a better engine earth connection, checked the spark plug lead order, charged the battery, checked the coil connections - but nothing seemed to work. It was as if the starter motor was draining so much power, there was nothing left for the spark.
Paul Ward had turned up in his Elise and while my car battery was charging, in return for Matt giving him a ride in his Cat, Paul took Sam for a go in the Elise. Sam came back with his usual grin declaring the experience to be like a 'comfy Cat'. Paul came back from his expressing surprise at just how smooth and easy it was. There could be another Tiger customer right there. Paul had to go then, so he missed the next bit.
Ed decided to G clamp some thick jump leads to the battery of my Rover and then to Kitkat. Dad held the choke levers on the carbs open and Ed turned the key. The starter made it's usual noise, but then there was a loud cough from the engine. One more turn and it burst into life, roaring like a Spitfire (I hadn't got the silencer on!). It ticked over really well to say that I'd guessed the timing.
We all hugged each other and danced round like idiots. Ed and Sue cracked open a case of Tiger beer and John handed over a box of Celebrations after which we had more coffee, cake and Kitkats. The photo shows Dad, Sue's back, Abi's elbow, the top of Pauline's head and me looking like Po out of the Teletubbies. The jack is being used to lift the offside of the car to move the alternator fan blades away from the suspension rocker arm. The fan makes a horrible noise as it spins and bashes against the suspension - something to sort out.
Photos were taken, phone numbers swapped and the party broke up.
Just one sad bit - we'd been using my 'one million candle power' spot lamp to look at various bits of the car, and it had been put face down on one of the seats. Unfortunately it was still switched on and the halogen bulb quickly burnt through the vinyl seat, cracking the lens in the lamp at the same time. I need to phone Tiger tomorrow and order a new seat. However, compared to the experience of hearing Kitkat in full song, this is a minor iritation.
I am a happy man.
Matt's sent me a couple of photos of the party and this is an extract from one which shows people's faces. There's Sam in the garage, Jim and Abi in the garage doorway, Sue with her camera, Pauline hiding behind the Rover, Phil working the choke, Ed having just let go of the ignition keys, Dad apparently blessing the whole contraption, and of course, Po with a smirk on his face.
15 October
So what been happening this week after such an eventful last weekend? Well, last weekend proved to be a bit of a watershed. Before then I was working away, getting the engine into a state that would run. Now it has, the urgency has gone and a more peaceful, serene feeling has taken over. Now I can see the end of the project. I know what's still to be done, but I don't feel the urge to rush off and try and do it all in one go. It's a comfortable feeling - one that encourages me to take my time.
So I've spent the week working on the exhausts. They come from the factory with tarnish, felt tip, identification numbers and general crud all over them. The welds on the silencer and the four pipes into one junction box have burn marks all over them. Generally, it all looks a bit shabby. So I've been polishing it all.
I'd read somewhere that someone had spent four nights polishing the exhausts and I didn't believe it would take that long. But it did. I'd bought polishing wheels and compound from one of the shows and I had a nice new tube of AutoSol. Now the polishing wheels are dirty, the AutoSol is half gone and my finger end is really sore. But it was worth .JPGit.
I've also got an adaptor for where the vacuum advance fastens to the inlet manifold. I got it from a scrapyard and it was broken, but it was the only one they had. So I cleaned it all carefully and Araldite'd a piece of brake pipe in to fix the broken end. It seems to work fine, even if it looks a bit Heath Robinson.
I bought a new battery - one designed for a 2.0ltr Sierra (a diesel Transit, actually) rather than the one for the 1.3ltr Escort I seemed to have acquired before. There's no wonder it wouldn't start the engine, it was underpowered by about half. The new battery had required a bit of remodelling of the battery shelf as it has to fit sideways, so the heater pod has moved and I've designed a new clip. I don't like the new one, though, so it will get done again - and better.
Having attached the new battery I had to start the car again, didn't I? It took a couple of goes before it started, which included blasting jets of flame out of the carbs (timing problem there, I think), but eventually it went, idling at about 3,500rpm. The noise shook the tools off the tool rack and blew the silencer off the exhaust pipe (it was only resting on - I didn't have any nuts to fasten it to the support bracket).
I contemplated adjusting the idle screws, but decided to check everything else first before I meddle with such a complicated pair of devices as the Webers. I solved it - it was the fancy stop bolt that prevents the throttle pedal moving back too far - it was holding the throttle open. A quick re-design job (turn the bolt round) and everything is much more relaxed.
The clutch cable has to pass between exhausts three and four without touching either, or it melts. So I made a big P clip out of scrap ally and used that to fasten it to the engine mount. Now there's a good inch between it and the pipes, so we should be ok.
In a little while, now the silencer is properly fastened on, I hope to start the car and make it move under its own steam. I want to back it out of the garage and drive it back in. After all, that's all I can legally do for now, but it's another milestone.
On Thursday I went with Sam and Phil to fetch Phil's Phantom GTR chassis and box of bits. We safely delivered them to Phil's factory unit and, once he gets started I'll be doing a build diary for him, should anyone be interested. It won't be anything like this one - much briefer and probably updated far less often, but there'll by lots of photos, as usual.
18 October
To quote my mate Phil - 'What's been happening in your life?' Well since the 15th Sam had another go at making a clip out of aluminium to fasten the battery down. Not a success, so I fetched a piece of L shaped angle iron (Ok, all angle iron is L shaped. What I mean is one edge is wider then the other, like a capital L.) I used a couple of M8 bolts to fasten it down to the chassis rails so that the L pivots on its short edge and traps the lug on the battery underneath. It can't go backwards because of the bolts and it can't bend out of the way because it is too meaty. I grabbed the battery and tried to wrench it off the panel. It didn't budge but the whole car moved on the suspension. Given the stiffness of the suspension, I was quite impressed.
It is also strong enough to make the battery hold down the right hand edge of the heater pod, which had to move when the new battery went in. Sam fastened the left hand edge with a couple of bolts and a pop rivet, so that's all done now.
I had hoped to start the car and drive it out of the garage on Sunday. Sadly, when I tried to start it all the starter motor would do was klunk. We tried all the usual fixes for a starter motor that is stuck, but it made no difference. So I removed the thing, cleaned all the contacts, checked that it looked as if it could work, then refitted it. Turned the key. Klunk.
On Monday I called Halfords, they had a replacement. Five minutes to fit and turn the key again. ROAR! Triffic!
Tonight Sam and I set about adjusting the timing. Adrian's timing light worked fine and showed the timing to be about twenty degrees out. A bit of trial and error twisting the dizzy round and eventually I got it set to 6 degress BTDC which is what I think it should be. I'm posting a note on the newsgroup tonight just to check, but it seems to idle ok.
And, having got it to idle, I popped it into gear and drove it out of the garage, into the road, a three point turn and back into the garage. Another milestone!
Next up in my mind was to fit the carpets, but I realised I couldn't do that until the rear GRP was on as the inside panels needs to fit snuggly up to it. So on it went. We marked where it naturally sat on the spare wheel carrier, removed it and bolted another piece of the angle iron across the carrier. This will give the spare wheel something to rest against apart from the GRP which is unsupported at that point.
Then we took a look at the petrol filler cap. This was something I'd been worried about, because the tank is so close to the back of the car that there isn't enough room for the spout and the brass plate that the cap fits to. I trimmed a centimter off each bit and shaped the brass bit a little to make it fit better. Eyed up where the hole needed to be and cut it with a big hole saw. To be honest, I could have got away with a smaller hole, but I didn't want to cut one, find it was too small and then have to try and make it bigger. Anyway, the brass bit covers the hole and there was enough overlap to allow me to fasten it down with three small countersunk bolts. Silicone sealant made sure there should be no leaks and two big jubilee clips complete the job. I knew it was going to be tricky and it was, but the end result looks and should work fine.
20 October
Tried to rivet the rear panel to the ally sides, but the rivets were too small.. Halfords only had slightly longer ones which still weren't up to the job, so I had to wait until Friday before I could finish it.
Dad called round, but we didn't do anything to the car. However, he did get chance to sit in it and start it - without the choke - somthing he didn't believe we could do. The timing is still a bit out, but I can adjust that by ear sometime. It needs retarding just a bit.
Friday and Pat fetched me some really meaty pop rivets. I drilled out the old ones that I'd left in temporarily and tried to pop the new ones on. (Pop rivet counter update!) But they are so strong I nearly break my wrist squeezing the pop rivet gun. However, the cartoon boxing glove gun does the job without fuss, so in no time the rear end is anchored to the side panels. I only hope I never have to take it off!
Next we fitted the roll bar - four M8 bolts and the job was done.
Finally a bit of U shaped trim to cover the edge of the roll bar anchor plate to please the SVA man (sorry about the flare on the photos - the chrome is a bit impressive!).
22 October
On Saturday, Phill had volunteered a lift to the Lotus show at Newark. A bit of a let down - not much there. But I bought some more trim/rubber piping and a new brake warning light with the brake symbol printed on. This allows me to use the light supplied in the kit as the fog lamp warning light.
For one reason or another, I didn't do anything to the car.
On Sunday I set about filing the rear light cluster GRP boxes so they fitted against the wheel arches. My plan was to use some of the trim I got yesterday to fit between the box and the wheel arch to hide any bad bits of filing. However, it is really hard to get the rubber piping to fit tightly round the box. I tried super glue, but that dries white and looked a mess, so in the end I simply fastened the boxes to the wheel arches with three countersunk bolts and the fit was damn close. So close I've decided to leave it.
I'd read a couple of newsgroup postings that said cars fail SVA if the fog lamp isn't vertical. The regulations say it must face backwards, so I guess this is interpreted as 'not upwards'. So I made a small bracket out of scrap ally and fastened the foggy to that. It now faces backwards.
That's taken most of the day, but rather than veg in front of the telly for the last hour, I cut the carpet up. Tiger have certainly got the planning of the carpet down to a fine art. There's nothing left out of the square they provide once all the bits are cut out. I've laid them temporarily in place and there seems to be enough at the edges to get them to fit tightly. I got the glue the other day, so tomorrow is carpet fitting day.
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