New Dashboard

After a disasterous attempt to colour-code the dashboard, I decided to put a carbon fibre skin over the fibre glass to hide the problem.  I bought a kit from Easy Composites and then followed their very useful video tutorial.  Before starting, I roughened the surface of the fibre glass to aid adhesion and then painted it black.  There will only be one skin of carbon, so any breaks in the carbon may reveal the background colour.  Having said that, Easy Composites supplies epoxy resin with black dye to reduce the likelihood of this problem.

Because 2 x 2 carbon twill has a directional weave, I split the dash in the centre and set the weave so that it eminates outwards from the centre point.  Here's the result:

There are some imperfections on close inspection, but overall I am pleased with my first attempt at skinning and think that there are many other parts which could be skinned for good effect.

Exhaust

Time to fit the exhaust and manifold (but not in that order).

Exhaust manifold is easy enough, however the dipstick holder needs to be removed and the coolant overflow needs loosening off to put the manifold in the correct position.  I couldn't get the manifold bolts to bite onto the manifold tightly enough, possibly because they are slightly too long, but adding an extra washer to each bolt solved the problem.

Next, the back end of the pipe needs trimming to allow the silencer to fit and allow it to be removed without having to remove the rear wing.  I measured 60mm back from the weld and cut there.  Once done, the silencer is offered up to determine the correct position for the exhaust mounting bracket.  The exhaust bracket is mounted with 2 x M10 bolts through the floor and one through the side of the lowered floor.

The front of the silencer needs a slot cutting to allow it to clamp round the manifold pipe.  After this, I stop-drilled the slot to relieve the root-bending stresses and prevent it from propagating any further (finally, 3 years studying engineering pays off!):

Once prepared, the whole lot was bolted together (without paste) and that's the exhaust done.

Rear Wings and Lights

Still waiting for the throttle bodies to arrive.  Time for fitting the rear wings and lights. 

The reverse and fog lights must have their reflectors perpendicular to the road surface.  In order to achieve this, about 10mm needs trimming from the bottom edge of the casing.  I used a hacksaw to get them roughly where they needed to be, then finished off with sandpaper on the floor to get a consistent edge all the way round.  I used some thin IVA trim around the edge of the light casing and then bolted them into place:

A caution here is that there are 2 negative terminals in each of the light casings and it is very easy to connect the wires incorrecly causing a short circuit.  


Next up, I cut the tadpole trim so that it would bend around the profile of the rear wing and then used contact adhesive to hold it in place.  Other builders have used the panel-bonding agent, but I really don't like it as I find it very difficult to be accurate and tidy when applying it.  Painting the adhesive is much easier.

Once the trim was attached, I bolted the wings into place:

I used masking tape to help line up the positions for the rear light clusters, noting that the suspension isn't quite level...  ...danger, danger!

I made a cardboard template using the backing plate from the light clusters:

And then used it to mark up the positions onto the wings, drilled holes and mounted the rear clusters:

I ran the cable through a support attached to one of the mounting bolts thus:

I have read some chat about putting the electrical connector inside the bodywork to protect it from water, dirt and other contamination thrown up by the wheel, but this would make it considerably more difficult to remove the wing in the future.  I am not sure how often wing removal would need to be done, but I will stick with this set up for now!

Oil Catch Tank

I have an oil catch tank to fit.  After some thought about mounting locations, I settled for the centre of the firewall.  However, before drilling any holes, I decided that the tank needed a coat of paint to help it blend in a little better!

Here it is post spraying:

It now sits on the firewall, photo to follow.  In order to get the rivnuts to fit, I had to pack out the ECU so that the back of it isn't flush with the firewall - 5 x penny washers on each bolt did the job.  I then mounted the catch tank as high as it would go with the breather filter fitted so that there is the maximum amount of room available at the bottom to assist emptying the oil from it.

Engine Loom Wiring

I took the time to continue with the engine loom wiring whilst I await the arrival of the throttle bodies.


The battery tray was fitted first using countersunk rivets and ensuring that it won't foul the bonnet when fitted.  This position determines the position of the holes in the firewall for the battery +ve and -ve connections:

I drilled the holes out to 10mm and then increased the diameter with my Dremel.  The rubber gromets were included with the battery cables.

The battery -ve connection runs straight to earth - I almost got the rivnut gun stuck between the rivnut and the chassis member.  Next time, I will put the earth rivnut a little further to the left!

The battery +ve connection runs to the fuse board.

Next, I marked up the position for the wiper motor and ECU - the idea being to minimise the angles out of the wiper motor whilst leaving enough room to get the electrical connectors onto each end of the ECU.  The flasher relay is attached via rivnut to the firewall near the steering column.  This is what I came up with:

After a bit more wire wiggling, I opted to run the battery +ve along the top of the scuttle to the fuse board.  I have zip-tied the wiper cable to the battery +ve and the +ve out to the starter motor runs down from the fuse board, forward along the right hand side of the tunnel.

Here's a close up of the fuse board connection.  The aux plug and dash lead are attached to keep them secure and out of the way:

From where the +ve lead exits the tunnel to the engine bay, I have fixed it to the chassis on its way to the starter motor using cable tie bridges and then cable-tied the rest of the loom to it: 

I used the +ve lead from where it runs down from the chassis to the starter motor to hold the starter solenoid and crank position sensor cables:

That's the left hand side of the engine loom pretty much complete.  I need to take delivery of the throttle bodies before I can start on the right hand side.

Accelerator and Clutch Cables

First, clutch cable.  There are a couple of options for securing the cable in the gearbox housing: notch a nut or notch the housing.  I opted to notch the gearbox mounting like this:

It only needs to be wide enough to get the cable through and then the nuts hold the adjustable section in place.  The cable runs like up to the pedal box.  The supporting bracket near the pedal box needed bending to allow the clutch cable housing to mate squarely:

There is a zip tie around the clutch release arm to stop the end of the clutch cable from disengaging itself it the cable goes slack for whatever reason - it doesn't hold the cable, just fills the hole.

Starter Motor

A quick note on the starter motor - I couldn't find any M10 bolts with a small head like this:

And a normal-sized bolt is impossible to get a socket over because of the tight space, so I got some Allen bolts and they fitted a treat.

The live supply cable runs along the chassis and down to the starter motor and has the starter solenoid and crank position sensor cables zip-tied to it, the lead to the alternator runs out to the side of the car and along the chassis with the light loom.  It has a bit of a kink to allow for engine movement without interfering with the header tank: