14th September 2002
Unfortunately the morning is lost fighting the traffic in town searching high and low for some suitable washers for use on the harness eyebolts, and some breather hose to use on the pulse air valve. I fail to find anything suitable for the latter, and after much searching end up finding some suitable nylon washers in B&Q.
So the first job is to sort out the harness eyebolts. Three of them are in place, including the problem one at the lower end of the diagonal on the roll bar. The further to the offside seems tight, but I've run a slotted bolt down the thread a few times, so I probably just need to try a bit harder.
The nylon washers allow some adjustment to ensure that the eyes are pointing in the desired direction, and still allow the bolt to be tight enough. For the outermost eyebolts I also had to fit a filed down steel washer, since the level of the bolt mount is just below the plate for the roll bar, which was preventing them from tightening properly. I tighten them just beyond as tight as I can get them by hand - using an extension bar through the eye.
I received a rather nice exhaust clamp in the post this morning. It was quite expensive, but it quite lovely, and should do a fine job of clamping as well as being particularly SVA friendly and looking neat. I spend some time trying to finish off fitting the exhaust but come to the conclusion that the exhaust strap I made () isn't quite right, it's a little too short and and not _quite_ the right shape (now that I've got the exhaust clamped tight onto the manifold).
A few smaller jobs I worked on. Firstly the extra unused wires, and the flasher and horn relays were taped onto the back of the dash, but had fallen off whilst the dash had been sitting in position on the car. So to resolve this once and for all, I Araldited some chassis loom saddles to the dash, which will allow me to tie wrap these in place.
Secondly, I undid the loom at the coil packs in preparation for the tacho wiring fix. This requires the signal to the tacho to be taken from the low tension side of one of the coil packs. So I splice into one of the wires, and prepare a length of wire to be patched in, but I'm awaiting someone who can solder better than me to come and help out with this bit.
Finally, I have tie wrapped some currently spare wiring onto the ECU plate. These are the wires for the ECU and immobiliser indicator LEDs, which I'll fit post SVA. Also I have secured the immobiliser sensor here, and will attach a key to it, again for SVA to be changed/sorted later.
Another small(ish) job which I decided would be good to sort now, while I have all the bodywork off the car again, is to cut down the brake pedal pushrod. It is clearly far too long, and leaves the brake pedal somewhere in the middle of the footwell. So I measure up and carefully cut 10mm off - though the pushrod is quite wobbly so this is a bit fiddly. With the pedal re-connected, the position of it is much better.
Also, I cut off the excess on the throttle cable, and bend the remainder away under pedal to keep it away from the bottom of the foot.
Next it seems like the best job I can do now is to sort out the other (drivers) seat. Having done the first seat, and tried it out on both sides of the car, I decide that I will be more comfortable with a little more rake on the seat and support under my right thigh. So I decide not to chop down the brackets for this seat.
This is a bit of a fiddly job with only two hands, but having the other seat for comparison was helpful. After a while the seat is fitted to the brackets. A tip I got from Westfield is to tie wrap the brackets together before removing from the wood - this will help hold them in a square position, once the seat is fitted they ties can be cut.
Via the gift of fluke, this seat seems to be a slightly different shape, and the back of the seat is about the same angle as the other seat whilst the base is slightly higher. This means the seats should visually match, and the shallower base is better suited to effectively longer passenger footwell (no pedals, so can sit more straight legged).
Finally, having both seats sitting in the car, and the harness eyebolts all fitted, I couldn't resist putting the harness shoulder straps on and through the seats to see how it looks. Not bad I think.

15th September 2002
First job of the day today was the extract the leaking fuel tank. My parents are heading over today with a small collection of bits which they have collected from the factory, including a replacement fuel tank.
After liberally depositing some petrol over the floor and myself, I soon have the tank drained (it's got pretty good flow on it even just under gravity!) and removed. It's a simple enough job, just disconnect the feed, return, breather, and filler pipes, undo the tank straps, and then it can just be lifted right out.
Once the replacement fuel tank has been fitted, I can get on with some other jobs. One of the parts I was missing was the second elbow joint for the airbox. I now have this, and it is fitted in the hole I already prepared in the airbox for it.
Now I can fit the lid onto the top part of the airbox. I notice that it hasn't been trimmed quite right at the front end, which all contributes to the problem of it fouling the bonnet (though isn't the answer). So I trim this off and adjust the hole for the fixing.
The coil pack feed wires which have been spliced to make a fix for the tacho double reading problem, have now been soldered together with the extra wire to feed a signal to the tacho. The wires can now be re-taped and put back in place, with the extra wire ready to run under the scuttle just behind the coil packs, to run across the back of the dash.
Also I fitted a chassis loom saddle to the end panel in the passenger footwell, in order to use a tie wrap to retain the flexible fuel hoses against the end of the footwell. A bit fiddly and it needed four hands, but a simple enough solution.
Finally time to get around to sticking the cycle wings on, since Jim brought round his adhesive stuff last night. First thing to do is to roughen the surfaces which are to be bonded. Both the bracket arms and the undersides of the wings themselves are roughened using a medium sand paper.
Then I put some paper over the top of the tyre under where the bonding will take place, and pack out the gap between the tyre and the bracket with some card. This will protect the tyre from any adhesive spillage, whilst the packing (and retaining the wheel in place) will mean that there is something to apply pressure against whilst the adhesive is setting.
With this done I apply the adhesive to the bracket (and not to the wing - apply to one surface only with the adhesive I used), and align and press the wing into position. To hold the wing tightly against the bracket whilst the bond is setting, I join some tie wraps together and thread them through the wheel and around the wing. Pulling these tight will maintain some pressure between the two surfaces.

16th September 2002
The adhesive on the cycle wings has now set. So I remove the tie wraps which were applying pressure to help adhere the wing to the bracket. In order to get the packing material out from between the wheel and the bracket, I decide it will probably be neatest if I do this by taking the wheel off first. However, I discover my dilemma, I can't get the jack under the chassis at the front, and I can't roll the car onto wood (my previous work around to this) because this defeats the point of removing the wheel before the the packing. So I'll have to wait until there are some extra hands to help lift the car to get jack under.
So I turn my attention to the fog light mount. I am intending to mount the fog light in the centre of the car, at the bottom of the spare wheel impression in the rear bodywork. However, there is a slightly crazy SVA rule which says that the fog light must be vertical. So to fit it and pass the rule, I need to cut the mount down so that it is angled sufficiently to leave the light vertical.
This is fairly straight forward but rather time consuming. I cut the first angle using the hacksaw, and then take to it with the file to tidy it up and ensure that it fits as flush as possible on the rear panel. After a while I have a pile of rather noxious plastic dust on the bench, and an angled mount. I've had to cut the whole of the back away and so will fix the light on by passing a bolt right through from the front of the light to the other side of the bodywork in the rear panel.

18th September 2002
Had a visit from Greg last night to look at fasteners for the tunnel access panels, so didn't really get much done. However, he was able to help get the front of the car onto the jack, so I removed the wheels, and the cycle wing packing. I decided to add a little more adhesive to any gaps and leave a neat bead around th edges of the brackets, and left it to set.
Before Greg arrived, I had taken a little more off the fog light mount, and removed the tape. However, during the course of the evening, Greg managed to convince me that I should consider changing the layout of the rear lights a bit. This will be easier to explain later when I actually fit the lights - meantime I have to order another mount for the fog light : /
Back to today, and the cycle wing brackets are looking well attached, however I soon discover that it is impossible to get the wheels back on single-handedly with the wings attached! I'll have to have a think to see if there is a better way, but for now I loosen the wing brackets to get the car back on the floor.
Having spoken to Westfield about the airbox fouling the bonnet, I discovered that there is a rubber bobbin which should be fitted to the bottom of the airbox to help hold it in position. However, in order to fit it, I need to adjust the angle of the oil cooler pipe connection to oil tank. It's on pretty solid, so I decide that this might be a bit easier if I warm it up.
So I need to get the engine started again, which I haven't done for a while. Before I can start the engine I may as well sort the tacho fix connection to check that this is working. I manage to extract the signal wire for the tacho from it's previous connector, and attach blade connectors to the new signal feed wire (from the coil pack).
Once this is done, I get the engine started, and warm things up a bit. It sounds a fair bit different with the airbox fitted, much less induction noise and therefore more noticeable exhaust note. Oh and the tacho fix works.
So I manage to undo the oil tank connector, and adjust the angle down as much as I can. Then I work on the airbox bobbin fitting. It attaches to the engine mount frame at the bottom, and then through the bottom of the lower part of the airbox. This is a bit of a time consuming task, but after a few putting-ons and taking-offs of the airbox, the job is sorted.
I'm unconvinced that it is actually having much effect on anything, but it's on now. The bonnet still fouls the airbox, so I think I'll just have to live with it for now and see what develops. If it is a problem, then I'll have to consider swapping to an open air filter and some ducting instead of the airbox (which must sap a bit of power anyway, so I don't know why Westfield fit it when they don't on the other bike engine options?).
Time is ticking (quite literally!) and I need to get on with getting some big jobs ticked off the list of remaining jobs, but this airbox fix is in a bid to get the bonnet positioned so I can fit the locks. This then frees up a chain of dependancies - the scuttle, the dash, the mirrors, the aeroscreen, etc.

19th September 2002
Well if I'm going to make this SVA date next Thursday, I need to throw some time at finishing the car. So more time off work today and tomorrow to have a good go at trying to get some ticks on the list. If I'm to make it, I want to get the car into a finished state by the end of Sunday, and I have booked it in for an MOT on Tuesday before the SVA on Thursday.
So first job I decided to tackle (having forgotten to print out the template for the bonnet locks) is to make a new bracket for the centre of the aeroscreen. This will serve two purposes, firstly to lower the angle of the screen a bit, and to provide a mount for a central rear view mirror which is required for SVA.
I've created what appears to be a strangely shaped bracket, but it's actually quite clever as provides a platform for the standard (Ford) mirror to be stuck to. It looks quite neat and will hopefully pass the test, and the mirror will stick to it!
I also adjusted the aeroscreen mounting holes at this point to allow the screen to sit a bit lower due to the more shallow angle - the result is much better. Only problem is that it has caused the gaps where the leading edge of the screen meets the scuttle to increase a little. I think this is solvable by reworking the holes in the scuttle, but they are already getting quite large, so would probably be better off having some more GRP put back into them first

The next job I decided to look at (still no bonnet templates) was the tunnel access panels. I decided that I might as well fit the side ones in the footwells, as this will be made much trickier to do once the scuttle is fixed in position.
The panels are fitted using self-tapping screws, and quite a few on them on each panel. Fortunately, all the holes in both panel and chassis are pre-drilled, but it's still quite hard work tapping the threads using the screws.
I'm not going to fit them now, but while I'm on, I may as well prepare the tunnel top cover panels. I want to run the car around the block with the panels off first, just so I can check that all is well, particularly with the speedo sensor (may need adjustment) and the reverse gearbox.
The top cover doesn't have the holes pre-cut for the gear sticks (plural), so I spend some time creating and fettling the holes for these, which is quite time-consuming as much trial and error is used to ensure sufficient clearance.
The hole for the handbrake is pre-cut, but it needs the holes drilling in the correct position for the handbrake lever gaitor. I'll probably have to make one for the gear lever for SVA sharp edge purposes.
Final job of the day (!) was to have a go at sorting out the rear number plate light mounting. I've decided to fit this at the bottom of the centre of the rear bodywork, shining upwards to provide the "sufficient illumination" required for the SVA. Once the SVA is passed, then I'll work a bit harder to try to find a better number plate lamp, and find somewhere better to fit it.
In order to mount it, I make some simple L-shaped brackets which the lamp unit with mount to, and (once I've jacked the car so I can drill it) will be attached to the return flange under bottom of the rear body panel.

20th September 2002
I spent the morning trying to make a mount for the new position of the rear fog lamp. I want to fit it at the bottom of the rear body panel directly below the fuel filler cap. However, as you may gather from use of the word "trying", it wasn't wholly successful. I nailed two of the lamp mount plinths and spent ages measuring, cutting, filing, trying, etc until my patience finally ran out. Toys out of the pram, I decided to give up on this for now, I've wasted enough precious time on it. : /

So it's the afternoon already, and I've now got the template for fitting the locks to the bonnet, so time to crack on with that. I start by marking the positions of the holes needed in the bonnet sides. The locks require the tops and sides of the hole are flat and parallel so that the lock can't rotate when the key is turned.
I start cutting by drilling using a large drill bit, then rest of the shape is then fettled out using a file until the locks are nice snug fit in the flat sides. With this done, the lock can be fitted through onto the bonnet, and then the return flange can be measured and cut to allow enough clearance for the lock and latch mechanism.

Given the rate of progress on the jobs on the checklist so far, I concede that I am going to have to delay my SVA again. It's taking much longer than I had hoped to do the detail on these finishing off jobs, but I'd rather take the required time and do a better job than rush it through. I'll stand a better chance of passing SVA first time if I pay careful attention to the detail.

21st September 2002
Time to continue with the bonnet lock fitting. The second part of this is to fit the retaining latches onto the car. These need to be carefully aligned with the fitted bonnet so that the lock can engage properly - a bit fiddly since it needs to be fairly precise.
Because the bonnet is being a held slightly squiffy by the airbox fouling it, the angle of the locks is different on both sides - the drivers side sits properly flat against the return flange of the side of the bodywork, whilst the passenger side needs to sit at a slight angle.
Eventually I am happy with the positioning and drill through the chassis plate where the latches will be mounted. I discover that the best method to fit them is again different on both sides. On the drivers side there is hardly any room below the hole as it is right next to a chassis tube, so I'll have to use a rivet. On the passenger side there is more room so I can use a nut and bolt (I can't use rivnuts without trying to cut away lots of the bodywork - fiddly, especially since I broke the dremel!).
The return flange on the main body sides is providing the right height for the latches to engage with the locks, but half of the latch overhangs the edge of this return flange. So I need to pack out the gap between chassis and latch to ensure it will tighten down properly. Also, on the passenger side, the latch needs to sit at a slight angle, so I spend some time making some shaped spacers which will hold the latch at the required angle and provide some support to allow it to be tightened.
Once this is done, and I've painted where the chassis has been drilled, and been to get some larger rivets to fit, the latches are fitted to the car. I fit the bonnet and they engage well, but they should do cos I've spent long enough getting the angles right!
Next up I have a look at drilling the floor for the drivers seat. I already did the passenger seat a couple of days ago, but thought I may as well get this one ready as well, then it's just a case of bolting the seats and harnesses in when I am ready.
It's a simple enough job, just some careful alignment, measuring, and marking with the seat in there for the holes, then just drill right through both the supports and the ali floor panel. Once the holes are made, I treat them with Hammerite to prevent any rusting.
In theory the next job should be to fix the scuttle into position, but I am a little loathed to do this until the last possible moment really, as it provides really good access into the footwells which I may need - not least to clean up any more muck I create along the way.
So I have a look at fitting some u-section rubber trim around the inside edge of the side of the bodywork. This is probably to sharp an edge for SVA, so I'm going to play it safe and fit some trim around it.
The trim I have seems like the right size, but doesn't really want to stay in position, so I put some double sided tape around it to hold it... which still doesn't work, so this will have to removed and I'll have to have a think of something else.
Finally I decide to look at fixing the dash into position. I figure I can do this without having the scuttle fixed, since it's position is fixed already, so if I remove it again I know it will still go back into the same place anyway.
The dash is attached by using button head screws straight through from the front of the dash into the return flange on the front edge of the scuttle. Rivnuts are fitted into the scuttle to allow the dash to be attached and removed. It is a straight forward enough job to clamp the dash in place, and drill the holes through at sensible postions, and fit the rivnuts.

22nd September 2002
Continuing with the dash fitting, it is also attach to the hoop which crosses the chassis just behind the dash. However, the small brackets which it is supposed to attach to don't reach the dash when it is in position, so I made some small ali extender brackets which will fix between the two. These are fitted into position on the brackets on the dash hoop first - with the drivers side one also providing a convenient place for an earth for the horn switch, so I fit the small flylead here also.
With the brackets in position, it's back with the dash, and again a simple case of drilling through from the front of the dash, through the brackets. In these cases, the button head screws will be nylocced rather than rivnutted due to the curve of the bottom of the dash

Next up I continued fitting the rear number plate light. To do this I need to jack the car up so that I can drill the return flange on the underside of the rear of the main body section. With this done, I attach the brackets on the light, and it is now mounted in position and just in need of connecting the wires.
Sounds easy, but the connections on this thing are somewhat strange. I have a go at securing wires into the connectors (which are like a curve of metal with a bullet pushed into them), but fail to get a satisfactory grip. So I try soldering them, but the solder won't take to the brass/plated connectors, so that fails too.
I fitted the connectors onto the front indicators and headlamps so that I could connect up and test all the lights. The fog light will have to wait, but I should be able to test the function of all the other lights and switches (by poking the wires onto the number plate light!).
This test was a success with everything seeming to work ok, although the wiring for the main beam switching isn't quite right. When I re-wired the switch according to the manual, the lights work properly, but I am unable to "flash" the main beam, so I'll have to chase this one up with Westfield to find out what is wrong.
Next, with inspiration from Craig, I spent time working on the plumbing for the pulse air valve. Craig suggested that I should use fuel pipe for this job since it is quite flexible, and we also decided to re-site the actual valve itself to sort out the clearance issue with the bonnet.
Finally, we looked at wiring the rear number plate light. After far too much time than seems sensbile in any way (I really hate this light unit now) we end having to crimp female blade connectors onto the wires and them pushing these onto the unfolded tabs on the light unit. I'm not sure why this is made so awkward...

23rd September 2002
Contacted the Norwich vehicle inspection centre to re-arrange my SVA test. Unfortunately, the first date they can offer after my existing one is Tuesday 15th October. Oh well, I don't have much choice, and at least it gives me plenty of time to get the car fully finished off well.

25th September 2002
Time to press on with a suitable task towards getting things done. So I set about sorting out the fixing for the pedal cover panel. Now that the bonnet locks are fitted, this panel needs a little trimming to clear the latch for the lock on this side. The panel is to be held on with a handful of rivnuts around it's edge, into both chassis and the GRP front of the scuttle.
Firstly, I cut the panel around the latch, then mark and drill holes in appropriate places where it will need fixings. These holes can then be transferred onto the car and the holes drilled, waxoyled, and rivnuts fitted. I have fitted some foam tape around two of the edges raise the level of the panel to match where the ali top panel is fitted on one side (where the fuse boxes are).
Soon enough, it's job done, though as with alot of things now on the car, it won't actually be fitted right now since the scuttle needs to be fixed down first.

27th September 2002
A quick and easy job for this evening, or so I thought, would be to invert the brake light switch. The switch is a pressure switch which is fitted in the rigid brake line to the rear circuit just after the master cylinder. It can trap an air bubble in it the way it has been installed, which can be simply avoided by inverting the switch.
This was a little fiddlier than I expected since the pipes required a little bending to re-align with the slightly moved switch. Also it required the wires to be extended since they don't quite reach with it inverted. I'm not sure why Westfield don't fit them like this in the first place, as it should mean there is no chance for air to settle in it.
Having spoken to Westfield about the pulse air valve remote location idea, it turns out that it isn't such a bright one after all, since the valve may not be efficient enough with longer lengths of pipe between it and the engine. So, it's back to square one on this.
Here are some pictures to highlight the problem. The first set of pipes are a little too short after I chopped them to try to get the valve closer to the cam cover, however this leaves the valve in contact with the bonnet since it is still not low enough and it right at the bottom of the cam cover (looking head on at it).
The second set of pipes are cut longer, which has pushed the valve higher up the cam cover (again from head on), but has also pushed the valve further away from the top of engine, so again isn't right.

28th September 2002
Plenty of distractions today, so apologies for a slight lack of pictures of things as they happened. Hoop came over to have a go at fixing his car in the other side of the garage, which he has lightly pranged at a track day. Added to that a host of visitors (I think there were about 10 people at the peak, with a steady 5 or 6 most of the day!), meant I quite easily didn't find time for taking pictures. Indeed, I didn't even get around to taking a picture of all the cars (3 caterhams, 2 daxes, and my Westfield).

Anyway, all these people are here on the premise that I am going to drive the car this weekend, so the first job to sort out is the exhaust strap. The first one I made was just a little too short, so I made a paper template this time to try and get the size and shape right. After a while I had the finished article, with longer tabs to attach to the mount which are needed to get the strap in the correct position on the can.
The next job which needs sorting is to get some fluid into the brakes. This was where the grand collection of people came in very handy... in fact, I hardly had to do anything other than answer a million questions at the same time!
Anyway, the procedure was to get the front of the car jacked up and the wheels off. This gave access to the bleed nipples on both the upper and lower, inner and outer of each of the front calipers - yep there are 4 bleed nipples on each front caliper. Then the fluid is poured into the reservoir on the master cylinder, and each bleed nipple opened in turn and fluid pumped through using the pedal.
This is repeated for each bleed nipple on the front. Then the rear end is jacked up and the rear calipers have the same treatment, though fortunately there is only one bleed nipple on each caliper.
Then the whole routine is repeated again to ensure that all the air is bled out of the system. The pedal is still a bit spongy, but the brakes seem to be working ok, and I'm fairly sure we got most of the air out. The rest should come good with some use, as the pads and discs bed-in, and a re-bleed a little later.
The other thing which I need to sort out in a permanent fashion is the steering column. I've had the upper column hanging around on the car for quite a while, but resisted the temptation to fit the lower one to maintain easy access to the engine bay.
So time to fit it now. It simple attaches to splined shafts at both the rack and the upper column ends. There is a single position where the bolt will fit through, which also holds the column on the spline should the nut loosen. When I fit the lower to the upper column I find that I have mounted the rectifier a little too close to column, and that it fouls the column as it rotates. I decide to file the corner off the rectifier, since it is just aluminium heatsink, and a few mm will give plenty of clearance.
Once this is done, then I fix the upper column in position, using the dash (and hence scuttle) to set the position through the hole. Then I fit the steering wheel to the boss, and then this just fits onto the top of the upper column with the nut just pinched up.
With these bits all done, it was time to get the car started and take it out for it's first run up the road! So I connect up the battery, push the pulse air valve onto the top of engine (I'll have to run without the bonnet until this is fitted properly), connect up the dash, and check the lights (it's dark now). With this all done, it's time to fire up the engine, get everyone to clear the path, and climb in...
First problem is that when I push the clutch pedal down, the unattached seat slides backwards, and as I let the clutch out, it moves around too. So someone shoves some rolls of carpet down the back of the seat to solve that one - however I'm now sitting far too close. So with the clutch down, I press the gear lever forwards to engage first gear with the normal clunk.
Next problem is that the reverse gearbox isn't in either forwards or reverse, it's inbetween, and as much as I try I can't get it into forwards. The usual trick here is to stick it in first and slip the clutch a little, which will rotate the front prop and help the dog gears to engage in the reverse box. However, I've no idea where the bite point is on the clutch and can't see the front prop to know when it is rotating. So I pop it back into neutral and get Tim to manually rotate the front prop and engage forwards.
This time I'm in business, first gear, let the clutch out slowly (with a definite nervous shaky leg, which hits the bottom of the dash at the bite point because of the seat!) and it moves. And I stall.
Restarted and I'm cautiously away. I trundle out to the end of the spur road, and press the brakes - they are _definitely_ spongy(!) and don't do much without a good prod. More focus and I pull away up to the top end of the road, grab second gear and all seems to be well. Now I have to do a three point turn. I engage first gear, slip the clutch and engage reverse. Stall again.
Restarted, I make my way back to the garage, and it's some relief to make it intact, but big smiles that I made it in one piece without too much drama. So that was two stalls from seven pull aways (forwards and backwards) which isn't at all bad considering. I know that the clutch is going to take a bit of getting used to though, since the difference between fully in and fully out feels like less than an inch of pedal travel right near the top. I don't remember much about the trip, I was concentrating so hard on the clutch control and not hitting things, that I completely didn't looks at any of the instruments along the way!
But I certainly look forward to my next drive, with less of an audience, and a seat fixed in the correct position. I'll have to get some bits sorted before I take it out again though, not least the seat, but also the pulse air valve so I can put the bonnet on.

29th September 2002
After the high excitement factor of yesterdays first drive, and lots of visitors, it was back to something more resembling normality today. Although I still had the pleasure of Hoop to continue fettling his (unfixable) car.
I started by wiring in the headlights properly. The connections are ok, although the nearside sidelight was slightly intermittent last night, so I tie-wrap them into position and tidy up the wires from the lights.
Also, to tidy up the front indicator wiring, I have glued some chassis loom saddles to the inside of the nosecone, which will retain the connectors and wires for these lights.
A job which is rapidly holding progress up now, is to sort out the trim which is required around the bottom edge of the inside edges of the bodywork in the cockpit. I had a go at these before, but the double-sided tape I used has not worked and the trim has peeled off. So I spend an age removing and cleaning off the tape. The factory said to use silicone sealant to attach this, which I try, but it too doesn't work out. I think the problem is that the GRP is too thick for the U-section rubber trim I have - so I'll have to try to find some more appropriate trim.

At this point I get side-tracked into helping Hoop get his car into a suitable state. It will have to go to have the chassis looked at by the Caterham chassis builders, so it needs to be readied to get onto a trailer. So the rest of the afternoon is spent re-fitting the steering rack, then realising it isn't very well, removing it, dismantling it, not fixing it, and re-fitting it all again!

30th September 2002
Following a lead from Mike on the list, I call into the local model shop to look for silicone hose to use on the pulse air valve system. They are most helpful, and I have ordered some half inch silicone hose which should do the job just right. The smaller bore stuff they had in the shop was surprisingly flexible, so hopefully this will allow suitable positioning of the valve on top of the cam cover, and connections to the pair valve ports on the engine.

©2002-2009 David Hackett UDM4