A roof over my head

Softbits FINALLY delivered my roof (on Dec 22nd), a mere 5 months after I ordered it. However, they still managed to screw up by sending only 8 poppers (the first roof had 10) although I've measured for 11 anyway, so I'll need to ask them to send me a few more - it will be interesting to see if they charge me for that.

I couldn't find any other blog that explained how they fitted a roof so this was my technique (not necessarily the best).

First, I decided to do the central popper, so lots of measuring and re-measuring to ensure I found the centre of the screen frame and the centre of the roof. Then, the scariest bit, drilling very slowly into my frame and hoping to not shatter the glass underneath. Fortunately, the glass seems to be more resilient than I was led to believe because, even though I definitely did briefly hit it, it's still in one piece. Riveted the first popper in screen and roof:

The yellow dots are the locations for the other poppers - with the central popper on, I drilled a hole through each yellow dot and onto the frame. I then took the roof off and drilled through the pilot holes in the frame, very slowly as before. I used a 2mm drill bit to start with and then the 3.2mm bit for the rivets afterwards.

I then riveted on the 8 half-poppers to the screen frame - I can't do the rest until Softbits send me a few more and gawd knows how long that will take.

Note that there is a special technique needed for riveting poppers. The problem is that a normal rivet gun cannot get to the head of the rivet inside the popper body. You either buy a special, narrow head rivet gun or you use a couple of small washers that do fit inside the popper body. You put the rivet in as normal and then run the washers down the rivet pin. Then fit the rivet gun and rivet as normal. The washers act as an extension to the rivet gun head and ensure you get tight-fitting poppers. I didn't know about this technique when doing my boot cover and all the poppers there rotate freely - I plan to drill them all out and re-do them using the washers.

At the rear, there are 2 side straps that need to share the same popper as the boot cover uses. Softbits provide a special type of double popper for this, so I've drilled out the existing popper in readiness. Unfortunately, I need longer rivets for these holes as they go through side panel and frame at this point - on order.

So not far off having a roof at last and then I can start on the doors.

Happy New Year to you all...

Fame at last

Volunteered Zedster for display at our town Christmas market:

A huge, 2 car display, not counting the ambulance :-)

Zedster got lots of attention, especially from the kids:

... although I'll think twice about letting the kids get in if I do this again - they all made a beeline for my bright green indicator stalk! Fortunately, everything survived...

Dangers of the carwash

Now, I'm not much of a washer and polisher - my bike hasn't been washed in about 2 years (and I commute most days on it in all weathers) and our family car still sports the mud splatters from our October camping trip.

But after changing the banner photo of this blog, I realised Zedster was looking a bit of a state. So out with bucket and sponge and he was soon looking sparkling again (there's not actually much to clean). Now, this is where I went wrong - years ago, in a fit of madness, I washed my bike and it refused to start. I must have got water in a connector somewhere and, fortunately, it dried out by the next day and started OK. However, since then, I've got into the habit of going for a drive after a wash, to ensure everything's still OK and to speed up any drying out needed. Today was no different and so after the wash, I popped out for a refreshing blast.

But, disaster, despite the roads being dry and clear, my route down some back roads went past a farm and the tractor had obviously been out - I got splattered:

So, after no wash for 3 months, Zedster got 2 in a day (even I couldn't leave it like that). Next time, I'll stick to main roads only for my post-wash drive.

Softbits have finally admitted they made a mistake with my roof, so the correct one is under construction.

A couple of cold commutes to work made me re-think my outfit. I've got a new, down-filled jacket which is amazingly light and warm but my head is frozen. However, while following my daughter round Primark, I spotted a deerstalker and it felt amazingly warm, although it looks a bit stupid, to be honest. But for £5, it's amazing and my first trip out in it today was a revelation - toasty and warm - genius!

Despite the mud splatter, my short drive out was great fun and I'm not sure why, but Zedster is sounding great at the moment. I don't know if something has actually changed (and I might do a check for exhaust leaks) or if I've just not noticed before but there's a lovely bass note to the exhaust which sounds great at anything above idle.

Hoping this isn't the kiss of death but kit car life is good right now...

Return of the Growler

Sadly, no chance of getting the alternator replaced under the warranty - the fact that it had only been used for 2 months cut no ice with the manufacturer. I looked around for a secondhand one but nothing showed up. I decided to just clench my behind and buy a new Denso - GBS swapped the pulley off the broken one so that I could buy the slightly cheaper V-belt Denso they now sell and they let me off the postage, so I saved £25, I guess. Still annoying...

So back on the road and went out for a brief run this morning to check all OK. Finally found a car almost as low as Zedster:

A Lotus owners club meet:

I'm not sure why but Zedster is sounding more growly and feels quicker than ever - must be a bit more run in, I guess.

Finally found a straight bit of quiet road to try out a 0-60 time but only managed 7.2 seconds because it was a bit damp and the wheels basically spun for the first second or 2. When I tried mashing the throttle a bit more, I spun the wheels for even longer - great fun but not conducive to a fast time. I'll probably have to wait for spring and the roads to dry out. 

The spark has gone

It's name-and-shame time - this has been a very bad boy:

Go on,  tell everyone what you've done...

The fact that the alternator is on my bench and not bolted to the car should give you a clue - the damn thing has died. Coming back from a drive last weekend,  I noticed my voltmeter gauge was showing 11v rather than its usual 13v and revving the engine made no difference. A few more tests (with the advice of Simon) and it is a non-working alternator. It's only been used for,  what,  2 months!

I'm just hoping GBS will honour the warranty which is probably only 1 year and I think I actually bought it over a year ago but it hasn't been used for long.

I've sent the roof back to Softbits - there was no way it was the right size. I hope I don't have to wait another 9 weeks!

So,  I'm off the road,  although with the cold weather and no roof,  that's not the end of the world.

Alive and kicking

Just in case my hundreds (?) of fans are missing me,  a brief update.

Zedster is still going well although  my oil leak is back and I think it's from the sump/block join. I'm guessing I should have used more instant gasket. The leak is very small and only occurs after a high-revving run - my daily commute doesn't seem to bring it on. I'll keep an eye on it and I guess I may have to take the sump off and redo the seal,  although I'm not looking forward to that (not a difficult job but awkward without a ramp to get the car up in the air).

After 9 weeks,  I finally got the roof delivered from Softbits BUT it doesn't seem to be the right size to me. The rear straps should line up with the rollbar supports but don't:

... and the front just doesn't look long enough - I'm sure it should go an inch or so further down the frame:

Now,  obviously, it's not under tension yet but it is not stretchy fabric so I can't see it fitting.  However,  Softbits reckon it will fit,  so I'll give it a go, hopefully this weekend.

I took a friend for a test drive and his reaction was hilarious. He is not a car person but he was quite enjoying it,  saying how fast it felt. At that point,  I finally got to a clear bit of road and caned it - the poor guy almost wet himself! Over 5500 revs,  Zedster has a real banshee wail which is really quite freaky and a bit scary,  even to me.

So,  quick then.  Oh yeah,  and I can spin the rear wheels - in SECOND gear! OK,  not a Top Gear style tyre shredder,  just a squeak but I've never had a car with anything like that ability. Awesome....!

Also,  I've found an app for my phone which can record 0-60 times - that's my weekend sorted :-)

The adventures keep 'a comin...

A work go-karting  evening gave me an excuse for another drive but the weather report wasn't promising - rain at about the time we were due to finish. I decided to risk it - bad move....

The go-karting started late and the rain started early. Luckily,  I had put my emergency roof (a piece of tarp and some bungees) on before the event but the rain was hammering down and the tarp is only small,  so it didn't stop rain coming in the sides.

The journey back was.... er....  interesting. When I said in a previous post that the rain just gets blown over the car,  that's true if the rain is light but in heavy stuff,  nope - you get wet. Actually,  the rain wasn't as bad as the huge puddles on the road - I need doors.

So I got soaked but there were some positives;

1. My wipers rock,  although they couldn't do anything about the rain on the inside of the screen.

2. My headlights are pretty darn good,  especially on high beam.

3. Zedster got properly soaked including a couple of tidal waves over the bonnet and didn't miss a beat,  although maybe I should hold off on saying that until I try go out on my next trip.

A funny thing happened...

... on the way to work (not the Forum).

I keep forgetting to mention that the Park function on my wipers never worked. I spent ages trying to work out the wiring needed on my switch but when I got the wiper motor in and wired up,  it just didn't work. Up to now,  I've been busy with other stuff,  so I've forgotten about it.

Today,  on the way to work,  I went through a pothole and,  suddenly,  the wipers moved into the middle of the screen. Switching them on and they still worked but the Park now also works! The thump from the pothole must have knocked a contact on the wiper switch,  or something.

Only problem is that the motor parks in front of the driver and I bought left-hand parking wipers (because I thought it wouldn't matter as the Park didn't work anyway). There is a procedure for swapping a cam inside the motor to make it park on the other side but that means taking it all apart -  too much effort.

New wiper arms on order...

I can see clearly now

.... because I have working wipers!

My problem was of my own making; when I first fitted the wipers, I was supposed to make a bend in the tube that goes from the motor to the first gearbox. However,  in my usual ham-fisted way,  I kept bending too much and creating a kink which prevented the wire moving through the tube.

Where I went VERY wrong was thinking that the tube was just to protect the wire and so wasn't critical,  so I kept cutting out the kinked bits of tube and eventually I was left with this:

So when the motor switched on,  instead of pushing the wire straight through  the gearboxes,  it just bent in half. The tube is there to keep the wire in shape so the pushing force of the motor gets through to the gearboxes.

So GBS kindly sold me a small piece of the tube and Simon once again came to my rescue by explaining the technique for bending it; basically lots of tiny bends every few mm,  using a loose vice (don't tighten it otherwise it will crush the tube).

All this took over 2 hours because I had to also take the dash off to get to the gearboxes etc. but it worked perfectly and incredibly satisfying to see the cute little wipers flipping away.

Next problem is the windscreen washer which doesn't work but I think is just a wiring issue.

Should also hopefully have my roof in a week or 2...

Also,  my wind deflectors do help although they aren't a miracle cure and,  for reference,  my Gaz shock settings are:

Rear -  5 clicks up from softest.
Front -  6 clicks from softest.

The adjustment has 20 clicks but how anyone has it anywhere near that high,  I don't know.  I tried it on 10 clicks and the ride was rock hard.

Treasure hunt

First off,  I think I've fixed the leak - it was coming from my oil filter. Presumably, after the oil change,  I didn't have enough access to get the leverage to hand-tighten the filter,  so I used the filter removal tool to tighten it slightly and the leak seems to have stopped but I'll keep an eye on it.

Reading my oil level is a bit of an effort; get the dipstick  out of my other car (because Zedster's has snapped off at the end),  remove the dipstick tube,  apply masking tape to mark where I need to measure from and then wiggle the dipstick  to get it past the windage tray.

Had a great day today doing Harpers Hunt which is basically a rally where you're given a list of directions and clues to things to look out for on the route. Also,  the main theme was phone boxes so we had a list of 23 to locate. Only 12 cars involved (they do 3 other heats on other weekends)  - this was an old Chevette with a Pinto engine!

Unfortunately, his clutch cable snapped halfway round. Also a superbly restored Spitfire:

A lovely,  noisy,  smokey TVR also participated and it was even lower than Zedster!

And us:

I enjoyed myself too much and flew round the course too quickly,  finishing 20 minutes before anyone else BUT there were no points for that and the wiser heads had spotted more phone boxes and answers to clues - we came equal last!

But it was a great run and Zedster is really performing well at the moment- the idle seems to have settled down to a steady 1000 rpm,  the temperature stays nice and constant and the suspension seems to be a good compromise between comfort and adequate ground clearance.

We've got a bleeder!

Aarrrgghh,  got a leak of... er... something. Worryingly,  it looks like it might be from the sump but,  strangely,  it seems to be pink,  which is the colour of my coolant. However, I can't seem to find where it's leaking from the cooling system and the level isn't going down in the header tank.

I'll keep an eye on it - no knee jerk remedial work until I've identified the source.

I hope it wasn't from my trip on Sunday with the SKCC forum. A 10 hour,  325 mile day out to Haynes car museum in Somerset,  with a detour to Cheddar Gorge.

A great day and I was particularly proud of the fact that my car didn't break down  or fall apart (until today!).

For the first time,  I had to drive in the rain. Having no roof was actually not a problem as long as I didn't have enough to stop. However,  my wipers not working was a problem - very difficult to see.

Finished the other wind deflector:

Will test them out next time I get out (leak permitting).

Pleasantly surprised by the damper settings on the Gaz shocks as they actually make a difference. I turned it up to one click off maximum which stopped the suspension hitting it's limit but made the ride teeth-clatteringly hard. I've dialled it back a couple of clicks and hopefully that will be better.

Zedster makes friends

Got my new video camera,  just in time for a planned trip to the Bentley car museum in East Sussex.

A great drive out,  with about 25 cars including a glorious 800 bhp Ultima which looked and sounded amazing.

I've recently raised the suspension on Zedster to try stop the seat bolts hitting the floor so often but I've now gone the other way; no seat bolt grazing but I've reduced the travel in the shocks and my weight is forcing them to hit the end of their travel. You'll hear the regular 'clonk' in the video:

But a great day out and I'm  impressed with the camera (only cost £40).

Next up is to twiddle with the damper settings on the shocks to see if I can cut down on the clonking (technical term).

Such fun

A 2 week family holiday has got in the way of driving my car but I've managed a few more runs and several commutes to work,  bringing the mileage up to 680 and so time for a first oil change.

Got oil pretty much everywhere, slightly damaged the drain plug (new one ordered) and discovered that my dipstick has snapped off at the max mark,  making it tricky to see how much oil is in my engine.

I've not heard back from Softbits yet about my roof and it's been 4 weeks - I'll chase them tomorrow. I've lowered the drivers seat in  preparation:

I might do the passenger seat but I'm not going to have a regular passenger and none of my family are tall enough to be a problem.

Other issues:

1. Wipers still not working.
2. Windscreen glass has moved a bit and come out of the frame by a few mm on one edge.  I need to get some more gunk and seal it back in.
3. Slight design flaw with my light switches; high beam rocker switch right next to the dipped beam so when driving at night on dark roads, I keep missing the high beam switch and turning off ALL my lights! So I spend a frantic few seconds in pitch black,  trying desperately to find my light switch again! Cars coming the other way must think I've gone into stealth mode :-)

Also added a bit more bling to the bonnet:

I've got runs planned for the next 4 Sundays in a row (weather permitting) - cashing in all my brownie points with the wife! New video camera on order so I'll try get some videos up...

Zedster has been skiing

I had a great drive out tonight - I met up with a few of the guys from the SKCC forum and Matt kindly brought his laser tracking kit,  to try help with the tyre squeal.

A few minutes work showed that I had a HUGE amount of toe-in,  despite it looking perfectly straight to the naked eye. Effectively,  Zedster has been snow-ploughing along,  hence the tyre squeal.

A few more minutes with a spanner and I had a slight amount of toe-out instead.  Ideally,  I want a bit of toe-in but I didn't want to delay the others with more adjusting - it's 300% better than it was.

And,  man is it good; no more tyre squeal,  much less kick-back when going through potholes and I've got self-centering of the steering! After all those other things I tried to get that!

As is always the danger of driving in groups,  I didn't want to slow the others,  so my good intentions of running the engine in went out the window a bit. But Zedster sounds awesome at higher revs and quick,  very quick!

Getting better every drive...

Fun for all the family

Took the wife and dog out today for a short test trip - went well although the sunshine helped (and the wife needs something to keep her hair under control).

In the afternoon,  it was my son's turn and after managing to drag him away from his xbox,  he really enjoyed it. His first time in a convertible and,  ominously,  he asked when he would be able to drive. Despite keeping below 4000 rpm,  the noise and theatre of the car is intoxicating... loving it.

A short, fairly rubbish video:

Evening light

Popped out for a short run yesterday evening:

Another first - used my headlights for the first time,  sort of (drove through a foresty bit which was very dark).

Ordered a small clock for the dash and an LED strip for a high level brake light,  which also can do indicators. However,  literally on a slow boat from China so it will take a month or so.

The road ahead

Another first yesterday - first drive to work. Zedster looks tiny in a car park next to those huge Ford Fiestas...

Long-term, I am considering commuting to work in Zedster instead of my motorbike, partly because I know I won't get enough free time at weekends for drives out (the wife just won't be happy) and partly because I'm not sure I can justify owning the bike and car, paying 2 lots of insurance and tax etc.

I love my bike but as I get older, I'm getting more conscious of the dangers and the hassle of getting changed at work every day is beginning to get irksome. The advantage of Zedster is that at least my wife will be a passenger (unlike my bike) which may get her to come out with me. Having said that, the drive home from work was crap - trouble on the M25 meant all the local roads were clogged and it took me 40 minutes to get home instead of the 20 minutes it would have been on the bike.

So with a few drives under my belt, a few concerns to be checked/fixed:

1. Wipers - I had a spit of rain yesterday but they wouldn't move correctly. Need to try and sort this at some point.

2. Suspension setup - my tyres squeal like a 70s American cop show at any speed in a corner. I don't know if this is just because they are so new or that all cars do that and you don't normally hear it but I could do with a pro going over my setup. Comfort-wise, Zedster is great, much more so than I expected, except when going through potholes - then you feel it and the car gets knocked off-line (although not sure much can be done about that).

3. Tighten up the windscreen screws - they do look crud from the drivers seat - big gaps between frame and bracket.

And then there is the list of upgrades (in order of importance):

1. Roof (on order). Need to lower seats (maybe just the drivers side?) for this as well.

2. A clock - amazing how annoying it is not knowing the time.

3. Doors - I have a cunning plan/design in mind. Not sure if it's feasible but I'll keep you posted.

4. Decals, graphics, badges - ok, I've ruled out flames but I want some decals on the car, maybe a stripe down the bonnet? But I am artistically-challenged so it could easily come out a mess - I need to get expert advice (wife, probably). I have a vague design for a rear badge but I need to get to grips with 3D software.

5. High level rear brake light.

6. Glove box - storage is a problem and there is a large open space on the dashboard which could have a small, traditional glove box built into it.

That should keep me going for a while...

Road trip!

Despite a bout of food poisoning that made me feel a bit yuck, the plates arrived this morning and nothing was going to stop that first legal road  trip.

I stuck the plates on - I was planning on bolting the front plate on but I just didn't feel up to the effort of getting holes drilled correctly. I just about managed to adjust the suspension a little as the car seemed to have settled on the N/S.

With that done,  it was time to hit the road:

Apologies but I couldn't work out a way to attach my camera to the car,  so no video - I'll try another time.

A short,  80 mile trip around some beautiful English roads in a 2 seater convertible with the sun shining - it doesn't get any better.

Zedster (for that is his newly-annointed name) performed flawlessly - temperature stayed below 100 degC the whole time, nothing fell off or leaked and despite trying to remember that it's a new engine and needs running in,  there were some enjoyable bursts of acceleration,  hinting at the fun to come.

Tracks of my Tears

Continuing the body theme, tear ducts added:

OK,  windscreen washer bottle - it doesn't seem to be working at the moment but that may be that,  like the horn,  it doesn't work until the ignition is on all the way ie. engine running,  so I'll try that next time out.

Added a storage net:

It looked a bit bigger on the website when I ordered it but actually fits quite neatly. I noticed on my trip to IVA that I needed something - my mobile phone was all over the place if you just leave it on  the seat. This net is only stuck on with sticky pads which might well drop off - it came with screws if that happens.

So,  with the V5 in the post,  I've ordered some plates which should arrive on Tuesday - first drive video coming up!!

Eyelashes

So,  I've had eyes,  ears and now,  eyelashes:

I did have to trim the arms a little in the end but they are adjustable so I just trimmed the adjustable end so they could adjust smaller (if that makes sense). I also had to twist them slightly to make the blades sit perpendicular to the screen. Despite all this and even with some water on the screen,  I can't get both wipers to move (it worked with one).

I've also contacted Softbits to order a hood,  which is going to take 4 weeks or so. For the hood to work,  however,  I'm going to have to lower my seat by removing that extra bar I added a few weeks ago to get through IVA because my head is just above the rollbar and will be up against the roof when on. Softbits tell me it vibrates at speed and will drive me nuts if it's vibrating against my head. Sounds bad so seats to be lowered....

The Light - I see it....

...but I just can't touch it!!!

I must have annoyed some minor deity because the Cosmos is playing with me - I sent off my updated documents last Saturday, 1st class. When does it get to the DVLA? Wednesday!! First class?! A carrier pigeon would have been quicker...

But I called the DVLA today and good and bad news. The good news? It's done - I have a registration - woohooo...

Bad news? They've given me a Q plate! And they only posted the V5 today, so could be middle of next week before I get it and can get some plates made up!!!! (Yes, I can get them done online but not much quicker).

This is the MOST frustrating part of the whole build!!

(sorry for all the exclamation marks - I'm calmer now....)

I don't mind too much about the Q plate apart from the fact I did want to get a personalised plate at some point. However, I'm told I can send the V5 back (after I get the plates done, obviously), send another letter from GBS to confirm the parts were all new, wait another 4 weeks and then get a current age plate, hopefully.

It seems I was too honest on my V267 form and I wrote that the parts were 'refurbished' rather than writing 'new', which is what GBS do.

Not long now...patience, patience...

Too sexy for the drive

A spurious post just to show the pretty much completed car:

Just need those darn plates! I got all excited when I saw an envelope from the DVLA but they had just sent me back all my documentation,  rejecting the application! It was rejected because of water damage to some of the sheets (not my damn fault and it was still readable),  photocopies of invoices aren't allowed (they weren't photocopies; GBS only have online invoices so I just printed them out) and I hadn't sent a Certificate of Newness, a document I'd never heard of and isn't obviously on the list of docs I needed to send. And the V55 doc has to be a proper form with a carbon copy,  not printed off the Internet.

I phoned the DVLA in a right mood and had a real go at the poor sod who picked up - I've phoned them 3 times and EVERY time they said they had taken a look at the docs and said they looked ok.  Could they not have seen the water damage and the supposed photocopies and the wrong V55 and told me 3 weeks ago?! And GBS didn't help - turns out the certificate of newness is just a headed letter from them to say I had bought the kit new from them - why had they not told me about that when I rang up to ask some questions about the forms?

Fortunately,  GBS managed to email the 'certificate' promptly and the DVLA person gave me her direct address so I've posted everything back and she promised it should only take a couple of days from when she gets it. Damn well better be or I'll drive to Swansea and camp outside the building...!!

I started on the wipers and by sheer fluke (I had a 50/50 chance but normally I'm not lucky),  I've got the motor parking on the left as I wanted,  so no mod needed. Even better,  the wiper blade fits the screen without needing any trimming,  as most people seem to need to do. I think this is maybe because I've put the bottom cross bar underneath the frame rather than inside the frame,  so my screen is an inch higher (the wiper is about 5mm off the top of the screen - perfect).

Having said that, after all the mucking about with my switch to get the park,  it isn't working! Switch off and the wipers just stop dead! Annoying but not the end of the world. The wipers aren't on yet because I think I'll need to bend the arm slightly to make the blade perpendicular to the screen - at the moment,  it's at an angle which isn't allowing the motor to move them properly.

All clear ahead

Surprisingly,  the windscreen wasn't too tricky to do,  although I've not done a great job.

First off,  I polished the scuttle as I'm about to cover half of it and it will be difficult to get to in future.

I'm not a big polisher and this took me 30 minutes - I won't be doing this often!

I removed the glass and re-drilled bigger holes in the side pieces - it's really difficult to get the self-tappers in,  I found out with the 2 side screws, so I needed the holes bigger. Glass back in,  gaffer tape to pull the arms in,  son holding the frame in place and slowly screwed in 8 screws. A Stanley knife to trim the rubber and done:

Now, bad stuff - the screws are VERY difficult to get in so none are all the way in. The screen feels rock solid so I don't think it's a problem but close inspection will show up gaps between frame and supports. Worse is the fact that the windscreen guy seems to have cut the glass a tiny bit too small so it doesn't go in far enough on one side. Not horrendous - if it causes a problem I'll use some bond on it.

I went for a short drive up the road and all good - it didn't drop off,  no vibrations,  seemed very solid. Best of all,  it makes the driving experience so much better when your head isn't getting blown off.

Through the looking glass

Finally sorted the wiper switch wiring with the help of Les off the RHOCAR forum (schematic is on the electrics page ) but it took me ages to get the motor connected through the wiper gearboxes.

The problem was the metal pipe that the wiper wire runs through - I had to bend the first piece slightly but I kept getting a tiny kink in the pipe which stopped the wire going through. I had to trim and redo that pipe several times,  ending up with hardly anything left! It's in now but it's not the smoothest motion,  making a bit of a rasping noise. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable on the move.

UPDATE: Nope, horribly, horribly wrong - see here for how to do it properly.

Attached the mirrors to the windscreen brackets:

Next up is the windscreen - I didn't have a great idea of how hard this would be,  so I decided to try it out despite it getting a bit late. I used some washing up liquid on the rubber trim that comes with the kit from GBS and it was actually quite simple,  with help from my son to hold the frame upside down - the glass slipped into the frame easily:

The hard bit now is to get a self-tapping screw through the side  and into the cross member (this is how the factory do it, it seems). Doesn't seem the greatest method but I can't think of a better way. Next time...

I called the DVLA and I'm starting to get hacked off with them.  They've had my paperwork almost 4 weeks now and,  yes,  they officially quote 6 weeks but they keep promising me one week from now - and they've done it again! I'm just glad the car isn't ready anyway,  otherwise I'd be tearing my hair out.

Look back in style

When I were a lad,  I loved Cary Grant films and one scene in one of them,  To Catch A Thief,  always stayed in the back of my mind. Cary Grant and Grace Kelley in a very fake car scene:

And what I always was fascinated by is that little rear view mirror.  I do not really understand why but I just knew I always wanted one. So today,  a mini-dream came true (that black one for IVA never counted) :

It may not give much of a view back but I don't care - looks great.

I have wired up the new wiper switch but it blows the fuse so I've not done it right - question asked on forum to work out what I've done wrong.

Wiper gearboxes are loosely in place:

I put the motor roughly in place and marked on the flexible cable where it meets the gearboxes.  I then used that to cut the tube into 3 pieces - I need to slightly bend the first piece. Can't fit it yet until I've fixed the wiring...

Used a company called National Windscreens to measure and cut my windscreen glass:

Finally,  I've prepped the nose for the number plate:

I spoke to the DVLA again today - they hope to get my application complete by this time next week...

Framed

Not much done all week; GBS sent me the wrong windscreen frame (I've got a GT chassis and they sent the narrow-body frame) so I've been waiting for that to arrive. It finally came on Friday and I first bolted the pillars to the scuttle.

Others seem to have trimmed and put the crossbar of the frame inside the main frame. I'm hoping to get a little more height to my screen by attaching the crossbar below the main frame,  if that makes sense. Less than an inch difference but every little helps...

This is it loosely in place:

Spent ages trying to work out how to use my existing wiper switch to work with the wiper motor but,  without a couple of relays,  it wasn't going to work.  I couldn't be sure which Carling circuit would work but eventually a quick call to Carling sorted it. Best of all,  they're sending me a switch for free,  which is very good of them.

I called the DVLA and,  in theory I should get my V5 by this Wednesday.... fingers crossed.

Shark gills

So the bunting has been put away,  the dancing girls have left,  time to return to work.

I found someone local to cut louvres in my bonnet and it looks epic - I love the look of them:

I connected up the wiper motor and immediately blew the fuse - I've got the wiper switch on my dash wired wrong,  as I expected because I didn't put a huge amount of thought into it (wasn't needed for IVA).

The Carling switches are great but trying to understand the technical data sheet about them requires a degree in electronics - which I have but it's not helping me ☺.  Need some quality time with a multimeter.

Bought the windscreen frame and mounts from GBS and I've found a local company who will cut me the glass.

I decided to sort out the issues of getting my car in and out the garage (I've got a 2 inch lip that keeps catching the seat bolts) .  I've been using some simple wooden ramps I made but they're rubbish and have mostly fallen apart. So,  out with the concrete... I've never done a decent amount of concrete before (built a brick BBQ years ago) so I thought the 4 bags of ready-mixed concrete would be enough - oh no! Sixteen bags (!)  later....

I am in SO much pain - mixing all that concrete by hand almost killed me. I hope this works OK,  it's a bit thin in places... we'll see in a few days.

By the skin of my teeth

... But a PASS 

So,  last night I tightened up the handbrake and used a cable tie and pipe to hold the brake cable away from the rear wishbone.

This morning,  I went to a local garage to do a brake test - handbrake came up at 26% efficient (needs to be 18%) and brakes seemed OK but they don't do the test the same as IVA,  so I couldn't be sure. They also wouldn't let me just run on the rollers for a while to try bed the pads in - they were worried about damaging their stuff. So,  I had to hope it would work out...

Journey from Hell again to get to West London - if my car can survive doing 30 miles in an hour and 40 minutes,  it can survive anything! Poor thing has had a baptism of fire for its first 150 miles of its life.

I would highly recommend going for your test on a Friday - my tester was demob-happy and it really helped. He glanced at the brake line fixes and gaiter clearances - no problem. Up on the ramp,  he was very impressed with the way I had done the fix for the rear brake line and he was also very impressed with my build overall - he gave me a few horror stories of other kit cars he had had to test. He was strangely pleased to see I had put yellow paint marks on my bolts as well.... all this helped immensely with the next stage.

The brake test didn't seem to go much better than last time - I could see the figures he was writing down and they seemed similar to last time but he seemed happy. However,  the handbrake didn't come up to scratch - better but still too low,  he said,  despite my earlier MOT test at the garage. He then asked if I wanted to do any adjustment - I didn't really know what to do as I had adjusted it to the limit I could the night before but he obviously wanted me to pass,  so I simply tightened the handbrake as far as I could - so far,  in fact,  that I couldn't move the car by hand with the handbrake off. But he redid the test,  pronounced it a pass and then also very kindly allowed the 2mm of travel as enough of a reserve (I didn't even realise that was a requirement - it hadn't been mentioned in my first test). He went off to do the paperwork and I loosened the handbrake back to 'normal'.

So,  a pass but I feel a tad lucky - if I had caught the tester on a bad day,  it may have been another fail.

Took a slightly better route home and felt great - you can't be too shy in a kit car,  loads of people stare at you,  other drivers strike up conversations as you're sitting in traffic, no-one hoots at you when you do something illegal (I twice had to do a dodgy turn) and people wave you out all the time.

So, the main task is done - build a functioning,  road-legal car. The next steps are:

Bonnet louvres to help keep the engine cool.
Windscreen.
Roof (canvas).
Doors.

I could also do with calming the idle - it's at about 1050 rpm at the moment - could do with being 950.

In true awards ceremony style,  I'd like to thank some people for getting me to this stage:

1. Simon from GBS (well,  not any more) - I am the top poster on the GBS owners forum because I asked so many questions and Simon answered them all - his help was essential. No chance I would have finished without him.

2. Bob Tucker from the RHOCAR forum for welding my VIN plate on.

3. Colin from the same forum for loan of his brake pipe flaring tool and Jon for loan of the engine crane.

4. Several other builders blogs but mostly Richard Lincoln's - much clearer than my rambling.

It has been a great 2 years and I've thoroughly enjoyed the build,  in fact a little sad it's mostly over. But this should be a great summer!

Did I mention I passed? :-)

Sweat shop

Hottest day of the year and I spent 3.5 hours in my garage last night - 32 degC, too much body fat and light exercise don't make a pretty sight.

But a good session; the issues with the steering rack gaiters touching the suspension was because, early in the build, I added a spacer under the O/S end of the rack to add some clearance from the wishbone. However, I didn't put a matching one on the other side, which is why one end is up in the air, the other down low, almost touching the wishbone mount. So, I made up another spacer and fitted it to the N/S end of the rack to level it up and it's much better now - decent clearance all round. That also might improve my self-centering....?

I adjusted the O/S brake line to the caliper to remove the pig-tail that the tester picked up on and that forced a brake bleed (which I wanted to do anyway).

The tester also failed me on a brake line into the master cylinder but at the end of the test, I think he was having second thoughts. He was concerned that a graze on the side of the pipe (caused by the brake flaring tool I used) might fail but he admitted it might take years before that happened, if at all. He suggested I just cover the line so the next tester can't see it and it would be fine :-) So, I bought some special tape which is designed to repair cracked pipes and covered the offending pipe in that - hopefully that will be ok.

My biggest worry is how to sort out the brake strength - I failed because, at slow speed, my front brakes are slightly weaker than the rears (fine at higher speeds). I've booked into a local garage tomorrow morning and I'm hoping to simply put the car on their rollers and just brake on and off, to try bed the brakes in and make them stronger that way.

Just have the wayward rear brake line to tie up out of the way of the wishbone and the handbrake to adjust to try make it stronger. There is an adjuster built into the system and I remember I did have a small amount of adjustment left to make the handbrake stronger - just have to hope that's enough.

No pressure, then

So, yesterday I phone up DVSA to book a re-test date. My options? This Friday or July 31st!!! 3 days or 40 days! Nothing in between!

I just can't wait until the end of July for what should be a 30 minute re-test, so I've gone for Friday - some long evenings coming up...I've got tonight, tomorrow and a bit of Friday morning as the test isn't until 2pm.

This could get messy...

Close but no cigar

Sadly,  IVA was a fail but for minor stuff so one more test should do it.

I had hoped for a dry day and I got that OK,  as well as 32 degC,  hottest day of the year so far. With hindsight,  a test centre in West London was not the best choice when you need to get there by 8am through rush hour. Well,  I'd hoped leaving at 6am would mean missing rush hour but I didn't  realise how early rush hour starts these days. The heat was the main problem and I had images of me breaking down before I even got there.  The gauge hovered just below the 100 mark the whole time,  with the fan going pretty constantly but no leaks,  which was good.

For the first 28 miles,  everything was fine and then,  2 miles from the centre,  my throttle started sticking on. I managed to struggle the last 2 miles but I couldn't work out what the problem was - everything looked fine. The test bloke was very good about it and started the test anyway while I had a think. While he was doing his stuff,  I called GBS and Richard suggested it must be the cable or pedal - I had been concentrating on the throttle body. With the pedal box open,  I realised the heat must have expanded the bolt that the throttle pedal pivoted on,  making it very stiff. A quarter turn to loosen it and all OK.

Not the impression I wanted to make 5 minutes after arrival:

Waiting in the torture chamber:

While the box was off,  the tester checked inside and wasn't happy with one of my brake lines into the master cylinder - it had a slight kink and some damage; a small graze on the side. So,  10 minutes in,  I knew I was going to fail, which was very depressing.

In total,  he found a few other faults;

1. Front brake line to caliper of twisted at full lock.
2. Rear brake line touching wishbone.
3. Steering rack gaiter touching wishbone at full lock and too close to the panel on the other side. I had checked this early on in my build but I recently lowered the front suspension to help with self-centering and I think that is what has caused that.
4. Handbrake not strong enough.
5. Rear brakes slightly stronger than the front brakes.

So a pretty simple list to fix except for the brakes - how do you make brakes weaker?

He said the self-centering was pretty minimal but he let me off and he didn't even check the front indicator height,  so that wasn't an issue.

Unbelievably, the emissions test sailed through - it took him longer to get the gas analyser working! Huge thanks to Simon (ex-GBS) for his emissions map and instructions on how to adjust it - worked a charm and promising for future MOTs.

Interestingly, he didn't seem to do a noise test or check the side mirror views and he made no comment about the edge trim on my steering wheel spokes.

I was very impressed with how the car handled the heat and traffic; I did have nightmares about breaking down in the middle of rush hour.

So,  a slightly disappointing day but,  with hindsight, it could have been much worse and most of those failures I couldn't have foreseen.

On with the fixes...