BUILD ~ JANUARY 2004

The Year Of The Dax

01 to 02/01/2004

Spent most of New Years Day bringing this build diary up to date.  So I guess my resolution is to finish the Dax Rush and to provide weekly updates.  Will have to see how long that lasts.

After this I returned to making my radiator grill.  Fabricating brackets for the shape that was cut yesterday.  These comprise to small bits of angle that bolt to the grill and nudge bar, due to a slot in the bracket there is some adjustment here.  The lower brackets come off the base of the Kenlowe fan (Dad spotted some plastic housings to hold bolts captive), the brackets are simply bent ali strips that spring agains the bottom edge.  Anyway the following pictures might describe it better. 

Radiator grill cut to size and the cardboard template. You can just make out small angle brackets above the cut outs, these holt the grill to the nudge bar.     Fitted to the car, the bolts through the angle go into an M4 tapped thread in the nudge bar.     The finished effect, it is exactly what I wanted. Hides the fan and radiator, and I think it should be a better SVA soloution than the extra bar Dax stick in place.

 

Started today thinking about the steering cowl.  Plan A, was to make my own in fibreglass with gel coat colour to match the rest of the car.  However, this was proving harder than I first imagined, especially with the clearances for the stalks.  Therefore plan B came to the fore, slightly modify the Ford cowl (making easier handbrake access and no ignition key slot), cover in foam and vinyl to match the rest of the interior colour scheme.  

We chopped around for a bit, but the cutting and fixing of foam/vinyl escapes me slightly.  Need to figure a way of achieving a neat line where the vinyl on the upper and lower sections meet.

Windscreen stays and wing mirror brackets fitted.A trip into the attic brought out some more parcels.  The front cycle wings ready for another day and the windscreen parts.  When the side supports were first unwrapped there were quite a lot of marks and scratches on the surface.  So first job was to polish these up as best we could.  After that we had to fit the wing mirror brackets.  The build manual gives a useful height measurement but no mention of fore or aft.  I elected for quite well forward on the basis that this is more likely to clear the side screens when getting in and out.  

 

 

03 & 04/01/2004

Started today with a trip to Gloucester for some dome headed bolts (Dax windscreen bolts missing), sadly the usual emporium is shut until 5th January, and I could not find anybody else stocking them.  First job when Dad and I made it into the garage was the windscreen.  We quickly bolted the stays onto the screen and offered the whole assembly up to the scuttle.  We found that although the fit on the nearside was excellent, the offside had a large gap at the top of the triangle.  Either the screen is too wide, or the stay is not bent correctly.

Windscreen fitted, first garden table I have seen with a windscreen.Anyway the best we can do is subtly change the bend of the stay to better match the scuttle.  To do this we had to remove windscreen, un-bolt the stay, carefully adjust, and then refit and offer up again.  After repeating this cycle more than a dozen times it was becoming acceptable.  The screen was then fitted with silicone sealant in the channel and under the slight gaps in the stays.  All held in place with some temporary bolts.

Wiper blades fitted.Once the excess sealant was cleaned off, we fitted the wipers.  These needed 40mm cutting off the arms, otherwise it overlaps the edges of the screen.  This is simply a case of pulling the arm out of the main unit, cutting and shoving back in.  

Rear view mirror pedestal.I then fitted the rear view mirror base to the pre-fitted rivnuts (within demister ducting).  In order to make it easier to get the mirror on I put it near the fan heater for a while (v.cold in garage - snow outside).  Opps, left it a little to long and have melted the corner, this is a real shame as it is only temporary for SVA.  Stuck it on anyway, but will probably have to buy another one from Dax.

Then it was back onto carpet, gluing in the previously prepared nearside bell housing piece and started preparing the offside.  

 

Foam added to cowl.Much less achieved today, unwrapped and put some initial thought into the positioning of the front cycle wings.  Then stuck foam to the upper half of the steering cowl, as this gets hidden by vinyl it was a bit of a rough trim to fit.  However, when covering this with vinyl I will need to be a lot neater.

 

 

 

05 to 09/01/2004

Talked to Peter Walker today regarding my concerns of brake pipe length.  They are meant to be about 500mm from the CL of the banjo to the point they go through the side panels, this is apparently regardless of whether or not the Dax big brake upgrade is fitted.  After ringing home and getting Dad to check, mine are the right length.  Peter and I talked further and part of this is that the suspension was not under compression, and I am also going to check this evening that the callipers are on the correct side of the car.

Callipers corrected ~ bleed nipple should be to the top.A trip to the garage did show up that I have the callipers swapped round, the way to tell is obvious when you think about it.  The bleed nipple must exit from the top of the cylinder bore, otherwise it will not be possible to bleed fully.  So wheels off, callipers off (although the calliper carrier is fine) and swap them over.  With the suspension under some compression I can now achieve full lock, but not when the wheel is hanging free.  At least that is fixed.  I can now look towards filling and bleeding the hydraulics.

 

 

 

Chamfered collar and five shims added.10 & 11/01/2004

The chamfered collars for the front ball joints arrived on Friday, so first job for the weekend was to fit these and the five shims between the balljoint and the upper wishbone.  I have elected to put the spare shims on the inboard end to act as washers and to prevent me losing them.

With the suspension now all connected, we moved onto the steering extensions and ball joints (Dad having painted them during last week).  I have previously set the rack to be central whilst the steering wheel is straight ahead, so now all I had to do was put it in position.  Before you fit the track extensions etc you have to count the threads to ensure you achieve equal engagement on the track rod extensions and the steering ball joint.  Mine had 25 on each of the four threaded sections.  For an initial start we fitted everything to ten rotations onto the threads and lock them off with the half nuts.  

Steering rack, extensions and ball joints fitted and toe set to very roughly zero.As we are still on the axle stands we are only attempting to set the toe near zero, I will do a closer adjustment once the suspension has been set approximately right.  Therefore we used a very crude method of a long bar of ali across the outside edges of the rear tire, this extends to the front tire (but about 2" outboard), then simply measure from the bar to the wheel rim at the front and back.  From this we concluded there was too much toe in.  Therefore we disconnected the ball joint and undid the track rod extensions one turn, re-connected and measured again.  Still toe in, so repeated this time undoing the ball joint one rotation.  This brought it approximately right so called it quits.

Floor carpets and foam.

We then moved onto trimming.  For the floor carpets (forward of the seats) I have chosen to put them on 1" thick foam.  Therefore the carpet will be at the same height as the cross rails and will hopefully feel nice when I step in.  With the foam cut to size and test fitted we will need to stick the carpet on, but first we are just testing the glue on a few offcuts.

The last job of the day was to change the windscreen support bolts to the new longer bolts which will engage in the nyloc nuts.

 

12 to 16/01/2004

Monday: All I managed tonight was 15 minutes gluing carpet onto foam.  This has been left under slight compression and I aim to do another couple of pieces tomorrow night.

 

Seats bolted in and lower harness straps fitted.Wednesday: Went out to continue with carpet, the other night I glued the small section from in front of the seats but before the footwell panels.  Before this fits into the car I need to bolt the seats in place.  This is slightly fiddly and after a bit of progress had been made I realised that I should have clipped on the harnesses first (at least on the inboard side), but by the end of the evening the seats were bolted home and the lower parts of the harnesses installed.  Could not resist sitting in and dreaming of the forthcoming summer.

 

Friday: Yet more work on the carpets, will it ever end?  Well yes (I think), the floor carpets are now all cut to their foam bases, which only leaves the offside bellhousing carpet left to trim and fit.  This last one is going to be totally reliant on velcro, therefore giving easy access to my gearbox oil filler.  Most of the velcro is stuck to the carpet, later in the weekend I will need to stick the other half to the panel.

 

17 & 18/01/2004

Today was a case of a few hours work, but very little progress.  In the morning I trawled round some breakers trying to get a V5 from a late model Sierra (to give greatest choice of personal registration plate), but to no avail.  I also did a little work on carpets, steering wheel cowl and started profiling the end of the kick strips to get a closer fit with the rear tub.   Experimented with my alternative column stalks, but bending 8mm stainless rod with any degree of accuracy is proving difficult.  The final part of the evening was spent making a throttle pedal stop, hopefully will finish this tomorrow.

A very poorly focused picture of the throttle pedal stop. Basically it is a triangle of 2mm steel plate, the two holes on the right bolt to the chassis rail up and right of the throttle pedal. On the left is an M6 bolt which adjusts via a thread in the plate and a lock nut behind.Sunday: First job today was to finish the throttle pedal stop, which was simply a case of widening the pilot holes and persuading self tappers to fit into the chassis, then an M6 thread was tapped into end of the adjuster plate.  Now need to paint this before it is fitted.

All cockpit carpets are now fitted, especially pleased with the floor and its foam.I then finished the carpet, this was the offside bell housing carpet.  And all that was left was to put velcro on the correct parts of the fibreglass panel.  Then slipped floor carpets (complete) with foam into the car and it feels great.  

Next was to refit the scuttle, this time including windscreen.  It now takes two people to lift the scuttle on and off, but still perfectly possible.  With the wiring re-connected I tested the air horns along with their replacement compressor, they are working again, but the connections for the removable steering wheel also needed slight adjustment.  We then tested the wiper sweep, with the 130° wheel you could not get a better sweep without hitting the edges of the screen.  With hindsight a 120° wheel would probably be nearer to perfect.  The screen wash also needed adjustment, the first attempt having washed the garage ceiling.

Progress to date.Thought it was about time for another progress picture, so the bonnet was put in place (although this is not yet fixed) and Dad and I tried the car for size.

Dad and I then did some more work on mark II dashboard and the nearside kick strip.

 

 

19 to 23/01/2004

New lower rocker cover breather fitted, with a top hat reducer made from hard nylon.Monday: Fitted the new rocker cover breather tonight.  This is a Chrome 'Moroso' item from Rimmer Brothers (RB7432C).  However, instead of being a screw thread like the standard item this is a push fit and is designed for a smaller hole.  To solve this problem Nigel turned me a top hat reducer from a hard nylon block.  This was the absolute perfect size, needing a few gentle taps with the hammer to make it fit the rocker cover and the breather just gently pushes in.

Then we moved onto the nearside front wheel, this has been proving sticky to fit and positively stubborn to remove.  Following an email to Image a very prompt response suggested the cause was probably a slightly too thick layer of powder coat in the central hole which locates the wheel on the hub.  As per this recommendation a flapper wheel was whisked round this hole, and sure enough the wheel now fits a treat.  In order to prevent the powder coating from peeling if water were to get underneath some clear nail varnish was painted on the sanded area, as per the recommendation from Image.

The last part of the evening was then spent fine tuning the nearside kick strip.  With it now cut to length the front would not quite sit down low enough.  This is due to the side panel widening slightly as it changes from round to square top, so blocks of wood and a hammer subtly changed the profile.  I will have a final look another evening before gluing this in position.

 

24 & 25/01/2004

Saturday: First up, I prepared the offside kick strip in much the same way as the nearside.  With the forward end slightly widened to enable it to fit down fully onto the side panel we then cut a piece of scrap wood to length to hold both kick strips tight in position whilst the glue sets.

We then quickly fitted the throttle pedal stop that we made last weekend, before moving onto the front wings.  This was not part of this weekends plan but seeing as the alarm company have cancelled for the third time at least this is a move forward.  With a length of wood under the wheel to establish a road level, the rear lower edge of the wing was placed 7" above the simulated road.  To ensure an even circumference extra supports were added in the form of half a dozen thin strips of plywood, as these overhang the edges of the tyre they will also ensure there is enough room to get the tyre on and off.  With the stays and inside of wing roughened a generous amount of Wurth was applied and the wing placed in position.  The SVA requires the alloy wheel to be inside the plan form of the car, i.e. the wing must be placed far enough outboard to cover the outer edge of the alloy.  This was checked by placing a piece of timber across the wheel and checking it to the edge of the fibreglass.  Once position was established it was taped in place and cable ties added for extra security.  While the Wurth was open we also fitted the kick strips.

Preparation for front wing, lots of strips to keep the wing level and help achieve a uniform curve that matches the tire.     First front wing glued on, it is held in place by ½ a roll of masking tape down to the wheel and a load of cable ties.     Kick strips glued in place. One piece of wood is putting downward pressure, whilst the other is jambed between them to keep the flat side vertical.

 

Sunday: Spent some time on the steering column cowl today, I had previously stuck foam on, now it is time for the vinyl.  Mum has made some patterns so we cut these out and stuck them on with copydex.  It is not quite as simple as this, in that the shapes are uneven so it the vinyl must be stretched in places.  Also can on stick a small area at a time, so it can be weighted or clamped while the glue sets.

Stalks bent from stainless rod, after application of lots of heat.In between gluing I started the experimenting with some alternative indicator/wiper stalks.  These are being bent in 8mm stainless rod.  The reason for the bend is that the quick release steering wheel makes it difficult to reach the stalks, plus the added advantage that if this works it will get rid of the Ford stalks.  Once clamped up in the vice the metal was heated with a blow torch for about 15 minutes, before hammer and block of wood forced in a 45° bend (used another scrap of wood pre-cut to 45° to check angle).  Then had to leave it all to cool, before repeating the process on the other end, and so on.  In all it took more than two hours to get the two potential stalks.  The top one in the picture was just a test.  Now need to put a thread on one end and round of the other.

Half way through gluing the vinyl onto the cowl.Decided not to fit the other wing yet, as the temperature is going to spend much of its time below freezing and this may give the Wurth some problems.  However, all is prepared and ready to go for when the weather turns more mild.  Ended the day with some more gluing of vinyl onto the cowl.

 

 

 

 

26 to 30/01/2004

With the cold weather this week any evening work in the garage has been cancelled, so all I have done is a few bits of gluing the vinyl onto the cowl.  However, I did find this little summary of how the labour government are intending to increase the return from their revenue cameras.

Friday: With the weather slightly milder, I Wurthed on the other front wing this evening.  Took a while to fix in the position I am happy with.  After that I took some ali angle and fitted two brackets on the top of the forward section of tunnel, these will form supports for infill panels to go behind the dashboard, sort of above passengers knees/legs.  Vane attempt to hide all my wiring.

 

31/01/2004

The alarm was finally installed today, this was the fourth appointment, the previous three having been re-arranged/cancelled by the company.  This time they arrived, all be it 3hours later than arranged.  However, the two gents did a very neat job.  It is all contained securely within the scuttle.

Finished stalks.Whilst I was waiting, I continued work on my indicator and wiper stalks.  Firstly, I had to put a M8 thread on one end of each stalk, hard work in stainless!  After that the outer end was rounded off slightly then it was a simple case of polishing with Autosol.

Later on I started sticking wing piping to the first of the front wings.  I have found it best to cut the width down by half, as this allows the flat section adhere better to the inside profile of the wing.  

 

 

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Last Updated 01/02/2004