15th July 2002
Fresh from the weekends good progress withe bodywork and exhaust fitting, I contacted Westfield to check how tight the manifold should be done and ask about engine fixing.
Unfortunately this led me to discover that I should have some gaskets to seal the manifold to the head. I don't have these, and after having spent quite a while yesterday fiddling to fit the manifold, am a little disappointed that it will have to come off again.
The (sort of) silver lining to the could of having to remove it all again, is that when I do this I discover that I must have slightly crossed two of the nuts, which has damaged the thread on the studs. These will have to be replaced, but probably better that I found out now rather than later.

17th July 2002
No sign of the copper gaskets for the manifold in the post yet, so I spend some time looking at some other bits I can prepare for when I am working on the plumbing and wiring of the engine.
Just looking at the electric horn Westfield have supplied was enough to convince me that I need something a little better, so I've bought some air horns. I design and make a bracket which will allow me to mount these in some space in front of the engine.
Also, on a recommendation, I have made some small brackets which will allow the dry sump oil breather catch tank to stand a little taller than the Westfield fitment. This will mean I will be able to access the base mounted drain plug without needing to take the tank out.

18th July 2002
Again, no sign of any gaskets arriving, so it's get on with some other jobs which will usefully fill in some time.
Firstly I decide that I should change the routing of one of the fuel pipes at the rear of the car. It is a little too close to the diff for comfort, so will have to move a P-clip. Unfortunately this leaves a rogue hole in the chassis tube, but I can't think of any alternative, so I fill the existing hole with a rivet.

The other job to look at is fitting the oil pressure sensor. This fits into a plug at the bottom of the front of the engine. In order to fit the sender, an adapter must be fitted in to where the plug comes out, which will convert between the two threads.
The plug is a bit tricky to get out since it has been locktited in, and the sensor doesn't fit onto the adapter very well, so I have to leave this job until I have checked it out with someone who has done it before.

19th July 2002
A day off work to do some fettling today. But again, no sign of the gaskets for the manifold in the post : /
The first job is to finish off the oil pressure sensor. I have been told that I just need some courage with the threads, and that the sensor itself has a tapered thread so won't tighten all the way down. Simple enough.

Next thing to look at is fitted the fuel filler. I will need to have this done for engine startup (which is the next main target for the coming couple of weeks).
This needs a hole to be cut in the rear of the main body section in line with the neck on fuel tank. First bit is the mark the outline of the neck on the inside of the rear body. Then a hole can be drilled in the centre from the inside to the outside, this will allow the hole to then be marked accurately on the outside and cut.
Once the main hole has been cut, the filler cap can be used to mark the holes for the screws which are then drilled. Then the whole filler assembly can be attached - although I discover that I don't have the large jubilee clips required - more missing bits.
Next I finally get around to sorting out the pedals. I'm still short of a couple of plain nuts which are required for the clutch pedal, so a trip to the local engineering store resolves this, and the pedals are finally fitted.
Then I look at fitting the pulse air valve to the engine. This is held in place by the two elbows of rubber pipe which are connect to the exhaust ports. The valve will later be connected to the airbox.
Next I look at fitting the power supply the front of the drivers footwell. I measure and mark where is will be fitted, and drill the holes through. However, as I am short on M6 washers I can't fit this, and I realise it will be easier to deal with the engine mount if this is not attached to the car.
Another small job I can do while I am rummaging through the box of engine bits is to fit the hose adapter to the feed end of the fuel rail. This is an interesting arrangement, and I am not sure how critical the angle of the adapter will be, since it feeds into a hole in the side of the fuel rail.
Final small job of the day is to modify the coil packs so that they can be fitted onto the top of the passenger footwell. The coil packs are provided as they would be fitted to a motorbike, so the brackets need to be removed and the nuts inverted to allow surface mounting.

20th July 2002
Well I received some parts in the post from Westfield today, unfortunately the copper gaskets I need for the manifold are not some of them. This is really holding up my progress with the next main stage now, but there's not much I can do about it.
So it's another afternoon of fiddling with some little bits and bobs which will need doing at some point, and are still contributing towards getting the engine going.
First thing I work on is a plate which is fitted in the passenger footwell, to hold the ECU and relays. This is mounted on hinges which attach to the chassis rail under the scuttle, and the dash rail at the front. So I cut and fit the hinged end, but I'll have a think about how best to attach the other end, as the Westfield method of drilling and screwing into the round dash rail doesn't sound ideal.
Next job was to have a look at fitting some bits onto the top of the passenger footwell. These will be required for engine startup, so it's all adding to the progress, and they don't interfere or are dependant upon engine position (which is still dependant on and waiting for the exhaust fitting).
Firstly, the fuel filter is fitted next to the fuse boxes. I part fix the bracket because the front fixtures will be used for some P-clips to hold fuel pipes once they are plumbed.
Then I fit the coil packs to the top of the footwell. I'm not sure what order they should go in, and I suspect it doesn't matter because the leads on them are clearly designed for use on the bike. They are plenty too short, and will obviously have to be changed - fortunately I note the cylinders onto the packs so when I pull the leads out that info won't get lost!
Final jobs of the day are to rivet the VIN plate next to the fuel filter, rivet the brackets I made onto the oil breather catch tank (tricky, not much room for a rivetter), and work out the wiring I need for the horn (with some expert phone support from dad!).

24th July 2002
After a couple of days of twiddling thumbs, I finally received the copper gaskets for the manifold - and they only sent yesterday... hmmm...
Anyway, I duly spend almost 3 hours trying to get the manifold to fit, and still end up no further with the manifold sitting on the garage floor instead of being attached to the car!
The problem seems to be that the four header pipes don't line up quite well enough, which means they need some brute force and ignorance to bend them into line. I'd seen this when I fitted them up previously, but the gaskets have made the job much trickier. The gaskets are quite thick and will presumably compress once the manifold has been tightened. But this leaves little of the port 'sleeve' for the pipe to slide into, and since they are under tension due to being out of line, this is very tricky and fiddly given the restricted access.

25th July 2002
Well some consultation with Westfield doesn't really shed any light on the problem with getting the manifold to fit - I don't seem to be doing anything wrong or not doing something I should. Though a good tip was to use a little copper slip on the gaskets to 'stick' them into the ports - this removes some of the hassle of trying to do lots of things with only two hands.
So it's back to more fiddling and a dose of brute force and ignorance. After another hour or so of fighting it, I finally manage to get all the pipes into the ports - I think/hope! I ended up using a clamp to pull and hold the pipe against the block. It seems to have worked, but I guess I'll find out once I've started it.
Westfield said that once the gaskets have been heat cycled they should compress down and the manifold can be tightened some more. The only slightly worrying thing is that the manifold must be under some tension, and apparently stainless steel doesn't really like this, so it might stress and crack.

26th July 2002
Another day off work to try to catch up with some work on the car lost due to the problems with the missing parts and the manifold fitting.
First thing to sort out now that the manifold is in position, is to check the alignment of the exhaust and then drill the engine mounts. A trial fit of the exhaust onto the end of the manifold allows the engine to be tweaked to ensure everything is as straight as possible. Basically the engine is shoved as far over to the passenger side as possible - this gives the softest angle on the the front prop, and gives the best alignment of the exhaust also. So I drill the engine mounts.
Once this is done, I apply a good coat of Hammerite to the holes and into the engine mounts, which seem to have avoided some powder coating, for rust prevention. After this has dried the engine is simply bolted into position using socket cap screws and nyloc nuts. Also the rear nearside bracket is fitted - I had to slot the outer hole to allow a bolt to be put through easier (rather than half in the chassis!).
Now I can start work on the plumbing. Cooling system first. I drill the previously marked position for the expansion tank, and fit the rivnuts into the chassis. I had already modified the bracket for mounting the tank to allow it to sit a bit squarer and neater, but I soon discovered that this still wasn't quite right. Easiest thing to do now was to make an entirely new one out of aluminium. Once this is done the tank was mounted.
Next thing to sort out while I still have reasonable access is the battery and tray.
This sits on the floor between the front wheels in a tray which is rivetted through the floor. First job is to drill holes at sensible positions in the tray, then get it into a good position in the space (to give appropriate clearances and still be able to get it out if need be - though I'm going to buy a conditioner to try to avoid this!). From this postion, mark and drill the holes through the floor, then simply rivet the tray in place.
Once this is done, the battery can be fitted. It is held in the tray by an ali strap which is lined with foam tape on the inside to grip the battery.
The upper coolant pipe is next job. This is quite straight forward. There is an alloy tube which does most of the run, and is attached to the thermostat housing at one end, and the top of the radiator at the other, with a small section of flexible hose.
In the middle it should be attached to the chassis using a large P-clip. I have designed my air horn bracket to utilise this fixture, so a rivnut is inserted here. The horn bracket is then also rivetted either side of the central fixing. The P-clip will require a spacer to hold the pipe in best position, and hence a longer bolt which I don't have suitable of at the moment, that can be easily done later.
Finally, I had bought some large jubilee clips from Mackays earlier for the fuel filler pipe, so I fitted these and secured the filler cap to the bodywork using the small allen bolts which pass through into the bracket on the inside. Also I fitted the fuel filter to the bracket which I mounted last weekend.

27th July 2002
After some recent deliberation I thought it would probably be a good thing to put some heat reflective tape around the hole which I have cut for the exhaust manifold. OK so I know I should have done this before I put it on, but I wasn't going to bother, now I've decided I am and that manifold isn't coming off if I can help it!
So this takes pretty much all morning as it is a rather fiddly job, and I also spread some around a bit on the inside of the hole, the chassis brace which passes rather close to the manifold, and the top chassis rail just above it, for peace of mind.
Having done the heat reflection stuff, next job was to install the lower coolant pipe.
Similar to the upper one, the majority of the run is done using a rigid alloy pipe, which is then joined to the water pump beneath the engine, and the lower radiator connection. This one is slightly trickier to fit since it is going through restricted space around the suspension and down inside the bodywork, but it is fairly easy if a little fiddly.
At the water pump end I decided that to provide the best fit of the pipe where it is P-clipped to the chassis, I ideally needed a 45 degree joint rather than a straight one. Fortunately the local motor factors had just the right part.
The pipe is attached to the chassis just next to where the brake flexible tab is. Also just in front of this is a tee which is the feed from the expansion tank, connected by a flexible piece of pipe.
Once this is done I can plumb in the expansion tank. Firstly is the feed from the tank into the lower coolant pipe. This is a simple flexible which exits the tank, runs along one of the chassis tubes and then drops down into the tee on the lower rigid pipe.
Next is the connection of the breathers to the tank. There are two breathers which must be tee'd together and connected to the expansion tank, one comes from the thermostat housing and the other from the very top of the radiator. The pipe from the engine and the tee itself will be tie wrapped along the upper coolant pipe, and the pipe to the tank will be attached along the same route as the pipe from the tank.
The only problem I encounter is that I used some 5/16" petrol hose for the breathers but this doesn't allow any room for the jubilee clip to fit onto the top of the radiator. I may have to swap this bit of pipe for something a little slimmer.

28th July 2002
With the water plumbing all done, my attentions now turn to fuel plumbing.
The first thing I decide to do is more heat reflective lagging. The rigid fuel pipes run across the front of the passenger footwell, where the flexible then attaches and runs up the footwell through the filter and regulator and onto the rail. These flexibles will definitely be subject to some heat from the manifold, so I decide to lag as much of this as sensible/possible.
So firstly it's the rigid pipes running from the tunnel across to the outside of the passenger footwell. This is a bit fiddly because a) the engine is in the way (!) and b) Westfield have attached the fuel pipes very low down so it's awkward to get the wrap around the bottom of the pipes.
Now it's time to cut and attach all the flexible fuel hoses. There'll be some more work on protecting these from the heat of the manifold (where they drop down the footwell) once they are done.
This is all very straight forward. Careful to check which rigid pipe is the feed from the fuel tank and which is the return, I connect the feed from the rigid pipe into the filter, out of the filter into the regulator, and out of the regulator into the fuel rail. I am missing the lock nut for the bottom of the regulator (which sits on a small bracket attached to the engine mount), but I can get the pipe runs all sorted.
The return is routed simply from the other end of the fuel rail (there is a small Honda regulator here) around the end of the engine and onto the return rigid fuel pipe at the base of the footwell. Unfortunately I don't have enough fuel pipe left to reach, and I already had to buy some extra yesterday for the water breathers.
With the lack of sufficient fuel pipe, I turn my attentions to the oil plumbing.
This is a fairly straight forward job of just connecting all the bits together in the correct manner. First part of this job is to install the oil tank for the dry sump system. This is attached to the top chassis rail using a couple of rivnuts, and just hooks over the lower chassis rail with a welded on bracket (lined with foam to ensure a tight fit).
The feed from the tank to the sump is then attached to the bottom - though this is a close fit against the oil pressure sender, so I think the pipe will probably have to come off again to attach the wire to the sender!
Next is to plumb in the rest of the oil system by attaching the oil cooler connections. Firstly the oil cooler radiator needs some adapters fitting. These just screw in to convert from a threaded connector to a union type connector.
Now the oil cooler pipes can be connected. The nearside pipe runs from the dry sump scavenge pump outlet, through the front part of the chassis, around the end of the radiator and onto the oil cooler connection. The offside pipe runs from the oil cooler connection, through the front of the chassis and onto the connection at the top of the oil tank.
Final part of the oil system to be connected is the oil breather catch tank.
I had previously determined where I wanted to fit this, and made some brackets to attach to the tank which allow it to be mounted on the lower chassis rail and provide access to the drain plug on the bottom. However I since realised that I cannot mount it how I wanted to since it would be in the path of the lower steering column. So I have to make a new longer bracket for one side which will allow it to be fitted through the bodywork - and allow the tank to be clear of the column.
Once this is sorted, the tank is mounted and a flexible breather pipe attached between it and the oil tank.

30th July 2002
I'm waiting for some more parts to arrive before I get going on the wiring in earnest. In particular, I need a longer length of flexible fuel hose for the return from the fuel rail, and the nut for the bottom of fuel regulator. Once I have these I can finish this area off properly, and therefore do the wiring properly.
So I spend some more time sorting out some reflective heat wrap for fuel pipes, but I won't fit it all up until I have run the engine and am sure that the connections are fully sealed under pressure.

©2002-2009 David Hackett UDM4