Messing with my body

Well with progress being made on the chassis, and with a few jobs left to do like prop shaft and clutch line, it was time to start paying some attention to the body. With the way things are going i think I'll be trial fitting the body along with exhausts before i test fire the engine. not a perfect situation, but it also means i can pressure test my brakes and clutch with the pedal box being in suite.

First job was the heater box. This is from a mk2 VW Polo. I am doing things differently to the AK build manual here as it will make things easier... i think. Current IVA regulation states that air drawn in through the heater must not come from within the engine bay. So this will involve fitting some ducting to the intake of the heater back through into the cockpit of the car. As you can see in the picture above the heater is mounted, i had to cut a hole in the bulkhead to allow the air through the matrix and into the car.

The AK build manual advises to fit the heater opposite to how i have done it. (picture above the heater motor on the other side flipped over 180) This is because the heater is made with a angled lip which allows easy mounting to the angle of the bulk head. I took advice on clearance to the bell housing and have removed this lip  with my dremel (see picture left) for a few reasons. Main one being that the heater hoses are now on the same side as they are on the engine, so it will make for easier routing of the heater hoses when i get to that. And also because its advised to have the intake ducting fitted to the motor side, as so that the air is drawn past the motor and will help keep it cool. I may also take an air intake from the heater hose side also, most people just blank this off, but it is the bigger intake so will aid airflow if i use it.

On the cockpit side of the car you can now see the heater matrix. This is where the air is blown through and as the air passes through the fins it is heated by the hot engine water in the matrix and hey presto hot air blowing onto the screen to de-mist... should i ever need it?? On this side is fitted a fiberglass box section to seal the unit and rout the air flow to the relevant place. I intend to just lock the temp control valve to open (Hot) as it will very rarely be used as the car will be a spring/summer drive only. However if i change my mind i can easily sort out a control gauge wire.. this will clutter up the dashboard more so not interested at the moment.

I have also trial fitted the pedal box, checking for a good fit with no clearance issues. All seems to be ok, but i will need to get longer bolts for the clutch master cylinder, as the bulk head is fairly thick.

And on the engine side of the body the brake servo and clutch master cylinder are mounted neatly. All will need to be removed again to make hose connections and to peel off the protective film of the stainless steel engine bay cladding, but they fit as they should do and can now stay until a trial fit of the body which i hope to be fairly soon!!!

Its getting HOT in here!!!

Well i haven't really got a massive amount of stuff to do on the chassis, until the pick up of my exhausts etc... and i am still awaiting delivery of my fuel pump from Roadcraft (ordered 6 weeks ago) they advertise the item on line as being in stock (and still are doing) yet they apparently have non and are waiting for them to be delivered from the USA. Starting to get a little miffed now!!!

Anyway i received my radiator and cooling hoses so i set about doing a quick trial fit and checking for any potential issues. All seems to be fairly straight forward allowing me to mark up the position for the header tank and fix into place on the chassis cross member using a couple of good old rivnuts.

The initial fit looks ok, however the little overflow hose from the header to the top of the radiator has a massive internal diameter and IMO will never be able to compress the amount it needs to in order to create a seal. So i think this i will have to change this. Also the bottom hose to the water pump is very close to the front brake pipe T piece, this will touch with the engine vibration, and road bumps, so some more playing there to allow a better fit.

I've spent most of today basically ticking off the snagging list. eg. my rear hubs were ABS hubs and because ABS is for homosexuals and i have removed the ABS toothed ring and sensor it has left a hole in the side of the hub where the sensor would have gone. So I've made up a couple of alloy sheet plugs that screw nicely into place and with a little instant gasket to seal them they should now stop any water ingress into the hub and mixing with my bearings.

Other little jobs i have done is wire lock the bolts for the inner pivot rear wishbone carrier, this is one of those jobs that i wish i had have done when it was first put on and torqued up. i had to take off the protective plate from under the diff and fiddle about trying to get the lock wire through the holes and twisted up... fiddly but glad I've done it.
 I've also checked the camber again of my rear wheels and lock tight the drive shaft nuts to final drive studs. I'm still uneasy about how many shim's i have had to use to achieve the required tolerance however job done. This is another job that took time because it basically involved stripping the rear shocks/springs and getting everything level, removing wheels and just bloody tedious really.

Coming next will hopefully be the prop shaft, which i will need to get shortened and balanced. and also i still need to order and fit my clucth line and unions.