Build ~ June 2003

Footwell end panel fitted, clutch pipe p-clips attached by same rivets.

Sunday, starts with going to town for a replacement drill. Once back I drilled all the holes for panel attachment, before quitting to watch the Monaco grand prix over lunch. After the race, a bit of a nap and then some touring car action, I dragged myself back to the garage to fit the front footwell end panel. As you will notice from the photo I have also used the same rivets to fix the clutch pipe in place.

Fitted the blanking plug with instant gasket and a simple clamp.

I also fitted the new blanking plug to the gearbox speedo take-off with some instant gasket and a hastily designed clamp. When the gasket has had time to dry, I will take the clamp off and give it a coat of paint. It was then a case of tidying up the bomb site and call it quits for the evening.

Monday night was spent fitting the two triangular transmission tunnel panels. These were prepared a very long time ago, so 'simply' a case of adding sealant and fitting. The first one took a while but I wanted to be certain that it would not leak. I have used rivnuts and silicone sealant, so if I ever need access to the gearbox, it does not have to result in an engine out job (I hope). I then moved onto the drivers side.

Tonight's aim was to fit the steering column and battery shelf. However, the column proved trickier than I expected, no doubt due to the fact I have ended up with the later style column coupled with my desire for the seat, steering and pedals to be in a straight line. Despite being trial fitted a while ago, when I offered up the scuttle, dashboard, etc. the hazard button was not quite vertical so the mounts required further modification. Anyway, it is in now, battery shelf can wait until tomorrow.

Battery shelf and pedal box rivetted on, all cockpit panels are now on.

Battery shelf and pedal box cover successfully fitted, Black Death all over fingers again! I have also incorporated the fitting of the clutch pipe and throttle cable in with the same rivets, by including a small p-clip, hoping this will give a neat final effect. Found riveting up inside the foot tunnels (for turned down edge of battery shelf) rather difficult, but a bit of cursing and finally got the rivets to locate in their holes.

Fitted the pedal box and throttle pedal, complete with cable.

First job this evening was to fit the throttle pedal and connect its cable, this was a fiddle to say the least. Trying to poke the cable through the solder-less nipple whilst holding it in the pedal in a confined space. One of the strands of the cable frayed and refused to go through, in hindsight it would of been wise to attempt running solder into the strands to prevent it unravelling. However, I believe if I try to take it apart now I will only make it worse. Next came the main pedal box which dropped straight into its prepared holes. The difficult part of this is doing up the nuts on the underside. For starters it needs to be done with the left hand, but there is also three pedals and a steering column obstructing spanner access. If you have small children, this would be the time to teach them how to use the spanner, I on the other hand just persevered. When done it looked like this.

Fitted the Filter King Filter/Regulator.

I then moved onto the Filter King, cut a hole in the battery shelf for the braided fuel pipe to come through and protected it with a grommet. Fitted the pipe to the regulator and bolted the bracket down. The braiding has ridden up a little below the finisher, have to decide if it is worth taking apart and starting again. But the overall effect looks good IMHO.

Only a bit of garage time tonight, main aim was to check the brake pipes for length, so any could be re-made on Saturday morning. The front pipe went in fine, on my chosen route it is slightly over length (2") but that is easy to loose. The rear on the other hand is about 3" too short. I could route it down the diagonal but this would be harder and less neat, so I will have to find somebody to make a replacement.

After a morning chasing round for bolts and a new brake pipe, I got home and after lunch started work. Bending the brake pipe the second time was quicker as the route and fixings were all ready. However, the new pipe, supposedly 3" longer, was more like 15" longer. I am not taking it out, as that will delay fitting the engine, so I will have to borrow or buy a brake flaring tool. What a pain.

Also have fitted the fuel pipe, along the bottom rail. This is tightly p-clipped over the rail at the point it passes the gearbox lugs. Also bolted down the stainless battery tray and fitted various rivnuts into the chassis for fitting items such as ignition coil. The series of pictures should serve to illustrate the layout and routes I have elected to follow.

The gearbox has been filled with 2L of Castrol SMX (recommended by RPI). Although the 50mm hole in the fibreglass drivers footwell panel will allow checking of the level and re-filling.

Sunday started with a good tidy up to clear some workspace, we then fitted some earth points to the chassis for the front electrical components to connect to.

It was then time to put the engine in, Mum and Dad were both called into action. Despite there being much more in the way this time we still inched the beast in. The approximate sequence is to start with the chassis on a down angle, hoist the engine, so the weight of the gearbox causes a 30º down angle. Then edge this into the engine bay. Keep lowering and moving back, until bell housing meets the front of the battery shelf, then bring the chassis more level. Now bring the engine forward, so the front pulley is almost on the steering rack supports. This enables the gearbox to be jacked up with a trolley jack. When this has been carefully manoeuvred past the brake and fuel pipes, the engine and gearbox can be rolled back, this requires one person pushing the hoist and one person pulling the trolley jack. After that it is just a case of getting all the bolts in.

I have added an extra washer between the mounts and the chassis, so as to move the engine forward 1.5mm. This increases the clearance on the fibreglass panel, where the bulge is on the bell housing for the starter motor is.

DRB_0136_EngineFit1of6.jpg (87589 bytes)

	Lower front of chassis.
	Hoist combined engine and gearbox.
	With approx 30° degree down angle.

DRB_0137_EngineFit2of6.jpg (86776 bytes)

	Hoist engine over chassis.
	We had to hold garage door at angle to give room for hoist.

DRB_0138_EngineFit3of6.jpg (87787 bytes)

	Lower engine, allowing gearbox to go below the chassis.
	Then bring engine forward, so the front pulley and cover come under the diagonal cross members at the front.

DRB_0139_EngineFit4of6.jpg (85887 bytes)

	With the engine forward, use a trolley jack under the gearbox to raise it to the horizontal position.
	Whilst doing this, raise front of chassis in stages.
	Now run the engine hoist and trolley jack aft.
	Carefully help the gearbox mount into position, taking care not to crush fuel or brake pipes.

DRB_0140_EngineFit5of6.jpg (79426 bytes)

	Fit engine mounts to engine.
	Connect mounts to chassis.

DRB_0141_EngineFit6of6.jpg (84324 bytes)

	Job Done.
	Sit back with beer.

I am sure there are other ways, but the above works for us, and from start to finish took an hour and three quarters.

Starter motor, clutch slave cylinders, pipes and wires all fitted. Neat enough?

Connected the clutch slave cylinder and starter motor. The chassis is earthed to the engine via a short strap to the clutch bolt. In turn the engine is then earthed to the battery via one of the starter motor bolts. As the picture shows it is very snug in this little corner, although I am pleased that all the pipes and wires neatly intersect without touching.

Propshaft bolted home, which sort of completes the drive system.

Then fitted the prop shaft, at the gearbox end these require M8 1.0pitch nyloc nuts, whereas at the differential they are standard Ford bolts into the thread flange on the diff. Both ends were done up with a good measure of threadlock, they will not be coming undone in a hurry. I also attached the gearbox remote, although this is a little too far aft, the extra washer in the engine mounts and the thick carpet should allow the finisher to fit roughly central.

The fuel pipe which I started a few days ago, was now finally cut to length and p-clipped along beside the prop shaft and then through to the fuel pump.

Now with the engine in (hopefully permanent), I replaced the oil pressure sender that had been damaged in transit. I feel that real progress has been made this weekend, with some imagination it is starting to resemble a car.

Weekend has arrived and although I managed nothing during the week Friday evening I cut another hole in the transmission tunnel. This is for the recess that will allow the high back seats to fit. Further to that the holes for the harness eyes were drilled. I also decided the routing for the choke cable, this is via a small hole (with grommet) in the front of the tunnel, just below the handbrake. From here it can run under the battery shelf and up to the carb. Dad also cut the gear lever down, so the momo gear knob can be as low as reasonably practical.

First job for this weekend was to fit the other seat recess to the transmission tunnel. This was fibre glassed in place from the rear, with gel coat to smooth over at the front. This will all eventually be hidden by the carpet. All this needed to then set so it was left overnight.

Then prepared and connected the steering column extension. To do this I needed to cut about 1" off its length and file the flats for the bolts. I believe it is necessary to do the initial steering set-up at this point. Therefore I started with the steering wheel. I re-positioned the removalable boss so as the steering wheel was in the straight ahead position, whilst the indicator cancelling cam was at three o'clock. This will mean that the same amount of steering lock will cancel left or right indicators. (see first July entry for correction).

With this done I centralised the steering rack, by taping a ruler over one end of the rack and measuring the distance between full left and right lock. Then set the rack to the mid-point, connected in the column extension and tightened all the bolts.

With the extension bolted in, I could now fit the electric water pump. This is residing immediately above the rack UJ.

Tunnel services plate with rear wiring harness and handbrake cable routed.

I then started to make the rear wiring harness. By soldering and crimping on the wires to the multiplug, then bundling then together with heat shrink before they disappear into the plastic tubing. The hole lot passing through the tunnel services plate. This puts the wires through the tunnel, and completes the jobs necessary before the tunnel can be fitted. I will fit the rear connectors another day.

First job for Sunday was to paint the inside of the tunnel black, adding depth to the colour and sealing the fibreglass.

Whilst the paint was settting, I then added two speaker cables to the rear loom that I started yesterday (yes I forgot them). This is really a just in case option, but much easier to now than when all connected in.

Also fitted the earth points at the rear of the car, and connected up the wiring to the fuel pump. A very short test (no fuel), confirmed the electrics and chassis earthing are fine.

Plenty of visitors today, neighbours have been wondering what was going on in the garage. Top result of it all is the "jaguar gent" has a brake flare tool I can borrow, so I can now correct the poor measurement the local garage did last weekend. Also a chance to look five jags (2xMk2, 2xXK140, 1xE-Type).

Tunnel fitted, recess for seat works a treat.

With the brake pipe done, it was time to fit the tunnel. Plenty of sealant and do up the bolts. Except one bolt just will not tighten, Dad thinks the rivnut is turning in its hole. Also the sealant did not quite fill one of the gaps, this is the problem with cutting of the Dax flanges. Paused to decide best course of action.

With the tunnel in place, connected the handbrake cable to the lever and then front to rear cables. Sorted.

Hope to get the rear tub down from the garage roof this week as this will help finalise the positioning/lengths of all the rear wires.

My grandad is coming to stay for a few days, so to make it look a bit better, I put the scuttle back on, seats in, etc. Could not resist taking a picture.

Finally turned out a fibreglass tube, this is the first attempt at making some pods for the rear lights. The idea is to cut across this tube on an angle and use these pieces to bring the fog light surface vertical. Sadly it is a fraction small, so the outer rings will not quite fit inside. Will have to try again.

This is the only night I have made it into the garage this week. All we got done was to get the rear tub out of its storage in the roof and have an initial fit to help determine where trimming is required.

Carried on making the rear wiring loom this weekend. Basically cutting all the tails to length and fitting spade connectors ready for the lights. Almost forgot the number plate light so had to splice that one in.

Tuesday is here, spent an hour fettling and trial fitting rear tub. During one of these fittings had the masking tape on the inside edges were it will bolt up to the chassis beneath fuel tank. This meant I have marked up for the initial fixing holes in the tub. Hopefully I can now fit and get the exact position and drill through these pilot holes into the chassis. Fingers crossed for another evening.

Wednesday has come and I am still working on the rear tub, I always knew bodywork would be the hardest part. Mainly because it is the visible bit. Still ended the evening with a fairly certain position and the pilot holes marked for the attachment to the underside of the chassis. Know debating between, the self tapers Dax recommend, rivnuts or rivets. All of these have been used. I also trimmed the forward underside edge of the tub, this is where it does not meet the chassis rail, but at least know it is roughly straight and parallel.

Thursday, and I have decided to use M6 rivnuts into the aft rail, M8 bolts through the flat flanges at the outboard edges of the fuel tank supports and rivets on the 'ears'. To this end the first holes have been drilled and rivnuts fitted. Have ended the evening with the tub loosely bolted into position, with it fairly well down were it will butt to the side panels, the magic 410mm measurement achieved and I am reasonably happy if a little apprehensive. Next job will be to fit an aluminium strip to the underside leading edge so it can also be fixed to the front rail, this should serve to stop it waggling in the wind. Off sailing for the weekend so that's it for this week.