February 2006
| I had the first
inspection by the engineer. He picked up on the headers being to close to
the chassis. He said it needs to be 15mm otherwise it will hit. Personally,
I can't see that, as the headers are on the same plane as the engine mounts.
At that point, they will move in an arc, not sideways. In any case, I bit
the bullet and got stuck into my newly ceramic coated headers with a pry bar
and other objects and bent the headers in slightly. In the process I pinched
the main front brake line. . I will get some more bundy line and replace it.
Then bleed the front again. Not impressed I can tell you. All I could manage is 10mm. I will prove that's enough when I get the engine running. If I go any further I will either have the steering shaft to close, or brake something. Even so, I did take a lot of paint off the rails. Luckily, the ceramic coating seems to have held up OK. I have plenty of black paint left to touch up the damage. He also asked for a tin plate cover to protect the brake master and booster from rocks and debris. That's no problem, I'll knock something up. Everything else, like the front end mods, the diff saddles and all my other work has been given the nod, so all in all it is fairly positive. |
| I have been busy, and have done quite a bit
since the last update. A lot was re doing some work, like making a new
front brake line. Remember I pinched it trying to create some room for the
headers. I also had a little accident in the garage. I went for a tumble
from my step ladder putting the hood bows away. I'm a bit sore and sorry,
but OK now. Anyway, here is the brake booster and master cylinder cover I
made up out of some old shelving. It also acts as a heat shield as the
exhaust runs fairly close, so it's not a total waste of time in my opinion. It use 2 bolts on the transmission plate and I made another anchoring point with an exhaust hanger I welded off the rail. |
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| This is the underside view. The bolts are
accessible from under the car so it can be easily removed. It should look OK
once I paint it. The next pic shows the exhaust route I have chosen. This required the transmission cooler to be relocated further back. I bent up some copper pipe and have measured all the angles to take to the exhaust shop for some mandrel bent sections to be made. I plan on making all the exhaust up to the mufflers. I will then make short dump sections to finish just before the diff. Once the car is finished, I will drive it to an exhaust shop for them to do the complicated section over the diff. |
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| I am making the pipe run through the chassis
to get it up higher and less likely to scrape. This takes a bit more
figuring out, but well worth the trouble I think. The next pic shows the Holley carb arrived. It fits in well with all the other shiny stuff. I am now plumbing in all the loose pipes and hoses. |
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| Fuel line run from the rear to the pump. I
was trying to get some hard line to go up to the carby, but it's hard stuff
to get. I might just use hose. Next pic is shows the cover now painted and installed. It blends in OK. |
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| Here it is from the top. There is about 10mm clearance between the cover and exhaust. I welded on a slip joint onto the exhaust pipes and cut a couple of slots for the clamps. I am still waiting on the mandrel bent sections so I can finish off up to the mufflers. I plan on a trip to Robbos to get some form of hangers and clamps. Hopefully, next week end I might get to swap the body and chassis over so I can get the body prepped for paint. |
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| Its swap time. That was easier said than done. I had to drag the chassis up my driveway and move it as close as possible to my fence so the body can get past. I had the trolley jack and my son to help it along. Also a good excuse to have a clean up around the place. |
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| The body now sits ready for attention. I will start to do some rubbing down through the week. Hopefully, by next weekend, I will be spraying some stone guard and paint under the body and firewall. |
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