Build Diary - 3rd September 2005
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The Weber Alpha ECU needs to be kept out of the elements. I decided the easiest way to do this would to have it fitted behind the dashboard. I cut a hole in the scuttle and poked it through.... |
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I had to remove the master cylinder, clutch cable, and accelerator cable to enable me to fit the pedal box cover. There wasn't any way of joining it to the scuttle so I bent up a piece of ali and riveted it on. I then refitted the master cylinder and bled the brakes. This immediately reminded me that I hadn't tightened the rear pipe union by depositing a large puddle of brake fluid on the drive. |
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The cooling system needed finishing off which was a real pain. The mondeo thermostat housing has 2 different sized pipes for the heater circuit. As I am not bothering with a heater I had to plumb these into the cooling system somehow. Tiger supply an aluminium joiner pipe that is designed to be fitted to the bottom rad hose, and then the heater pipes are joined from there. I cut this pipe in 2 and fitted it to the large outlet pipe from the thermostat housing and joined the heater pipes there instead. (The picture makes more sense, honest!) |
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When I was fitting the side panels a drill bit snapped and launched itself through one of my nice new side panels. Today a nice man from Car Medic came and relieved me of £100 and in return made the hole disappear. I must admit I am pretty impressed with the result. |
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So, pedal box fitted, battery in place, coolant header tank mounted and system bled. Better nip down the petrol station and get a gallon of unleaded...... |
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Before I do here's a shot of my ingenious mounting method for the front nose cone. |
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Well I must admit, I thought the engine would have played up today, the electrics would have let me down, or the whole lot caught fire, but no, I turned they key and it started!!! Woo hoo! what a noise. I obviously had to rev it a few times and was reminded by a massive bang as the exhaust silencer shot off the end of the pipe, that I hadn't fitted the exhaust clamp. I had to reverse it down the drive and drive it back up (for safety reasons of course) my first thoughts??.. It's impossible to select gears, theres not enough clutch or brake travel, the brakes have little or no effect but I can't wait to get it on the road!!!! |
