28-12-2014, 10:36 PM
You can have a ride any time you want babe. 
None of it, Chris.
This is all work that's been done over the last couple of months, i just haven't gotten around to writing any of it up.
Paddy, I've given up putting a date on it because every time i do something comes along to mess it up or i realise there's a ton of fabrication to do that i'd forgotten about lol. Soon!
Back to the job in hand...
Not sure if i mentioned it before, but somewhere along the line Jonny got busy with the welder and chocked the top engine mount.
[attachment=20802]
[attachment=20803]
I've got a vibratechnics lower mount to match and will be looking into stiffening up the gearbox mount too, more on that at a later date. We also filled up the lambda port on the td05, finished the last section of manifold piping and permanently shut the internal wastegate on the gt17. I took the various bits of piping into work and pressure-tested them, then spent the next couple of evenings grinding out and re-welding all of the leaks.
At some point in the middle of this i decided to sort out the wiring. Haynes was invaluable for this, helped me confir exactly which wires lead where and what i could get away with chopping. Haven't taken much in the way of pictures as there's nothing to look at, but have spent some time cutting out redundant plugs and wires and extending the odd bit where necessary. Off the top of my head the only things i can remember that needed extending were the coolant pre-heater feed, coolant level sensor and engine loom power feed. Pre-heater was easy, it's just two big power feeds so they were duly extended. For the coolant level sensor i extended the power and signal wires and grounded to a new earth point. The main power feed was a bit more interesting, especially when i discovered auto-electrical suppliers want £15 or more for a sodding distribution post with insulated mount and £12/m for 35mm2 cable. A trip to the local welding suppliers (thanks again, Jim Davey) brought the cable down to less than half that per metre, and he crimped a 8mm terminal on one end for me. I quite like the quick-release terminals on the HDi, so a quick bit of work with the hacksaw and mole grips and i had half of it that crimped round the other end of the cable. The other half was combined with an old exhaust rubber, exhaust mani stud spacer and a jubilee clip to create a nice insulated distribution post that i can bolt to the slam panel.
[attachment=20804]
I've drilled yet another hole in the bulkhead to pass the power feed through and have made a rudimentary grommet out of some left-over oil drain hose. Speaking of which, the oil lines were a bit of a challenge. Lots of confusion on my part combined with some on the part of the supplier and lots of delays meant they took nearly six weeks to sort entirely. However, credit where credit is due, Pirtek Southampton were absolute stunners in the customer service stakes - they made several changes to the lines at my request without further charges, despite me and my order being a chronic pita. The end result is some very tidy oil feeds:
[attachment=20797]
[attachment=20796]
You can see the oil drain in that second picture too, this one's such a tight fit i've had to take chunks out of the gearbox webbing to keep it from rubbing everywhere.
[attachment=20798]
Fozzy dropped in again last weekend and installed the dash, dash loom and blower for me, just the steering column left to mess with in the cockpit now. This dash had a hacksaw taken to it back in spring, couldn't believe how much weight we managed to take out of it, although you can probably believe it to look at lol.
[attachment=20800]
I do believe that brings us to this weekend's work. I spent yesterday afternoon stripping out the rear of the car ready for making a battery tray and installing the flatbed. Which, incidentally, i've just remembered will need modifying to fit the three-door shell, yet another job to add to the list.
[attachment=20799]
I also took the wire-brush to the servo, it looked a mess and was letting the engine bay down after Fozzy's sterling work from a previous weekend. A few coats later and she's good as new.
[attachment=20801]
Today was spent generally tidying; making hose clips and protectors, trimming bits of the gearbox and turbo mount to help pipe routing, filing sharp edges off, replacing bungs and copper washers, etc. I also dismantled the exhaust piping for what will hopefully be the last time and started filing down the mating faces of the flanges - they all warped when we welded them up, some badly - another couple of hours needs spending on that yet before i'll be happy with it. We also need to cut out all the gaskets and find a few more suitable studs, nuts, bolts and washers before it can all go back together.
You never know, i might actually take pictures as i go, upload them and write about it in time for next weekend... I wouldn't bet on those odds though.
None of it, Chris.
This is all work that's been done over the last couple of months, i just haven't gotten around to writing any of it up.Paddy, I've given up putting a date on it because every time i do something comes along to mess it up or i realise there's a ton of fabrication to do that i'd forgotten about lol. Soon!
Back to the job in hand...
Not sure if i mentioned it before, but somewhere along the line Jonny got busy with the welder and chocked the top engine mount.
[attachment=20802]
[attachment=20803]
I've got a vibratechnics lower mount to match and will be looking into stiffening up the gearbox mount too, more on that at a later date. We also filled up the lambda port on the td05, finished the last section of manifold piping and permanently shut the internal wastegate on the gt17. I took the various bits of piping into work and pressure-tested them, then spent the next couple of evenings grinding out and re-welding all of the leaks.
At some point in the middle of this i decided to sort out the wiring. Haynes was invaluable for this, helped me confir exactly which wires lead where and what i could get away with chopping. Haven't taken much in the way of pictures as there's nothing to look at, but have spent some time cutting out redundant plugs and wires and extending the odd bit where necessary. Off the top of my head the only things i can remember that needed extending were the coolant pre-heater feed, coolant level sensor and engine loom power feed. Pre-heater was easy, it's just two big power feeds so they were duly extended. For the coolant level sensor i extended the power and signal wires and grounded to a new earth point. The main power feed was a bit more interesting, especially when i discovered auto-electrical suppliers want £15 or more for a sodding distribution post with insulated mount and £12/m for 35mm2 cable. A trip to the local welding suppliers (thanks again, Jim Davey) brought the cable down to less than half that per metre, and he crimped a 8mm terminal on one end for me. I quite like the quick-release terminals on the HDi, so a quick bit of work with the hacksaw and mole grips and i had half of it that crimped round the other end of the cable. The other half was combined with an old exhaust rubber, exhaust mani stud spacer and a jubilee clip to create a nice insulated distribution post that i can bolt to the slam panel.
[attachment=20804]
I've drilled yet another hole in the bulkhead to pass the power feed through and have made a rudimentary grommet out of some left-over oil drain hose. Speaking of which, the oil lines were a bit of a challenge. Lots of confusion on my part combined with some on the part of the supplier and lots of delays meant they took nearly six weeks to sort entirely. However, credit where credit is due, Pirtek Southampton were absolute stunners in the customer service stakes - they made several changes to the lines at my request without further charges, despite me and my order being a chronic pita. The end result is some very tidy oil feeds:
[attachment=20797]
[attachment=20796]
You can see the oil drain in that second picture too, this one's such a tight fit i've had to take chunks out of the gearbox webbing to keep it from rubbing everywhere.
[attachment=20798]
Fozzy dropped in again last weekend and installed the dash, dash loom and blower for me, just the steering column left to mess with in the cockpit now. This dash had a hacksaw taken to it back in spring, couldn't believe how much weight we managed to take out of it, although you can probably believe it to look at lol.
[attachment=20800]
I do believe that brings us to this weekend's work. I spent yesterday afternoon stripping out the rear of the car ready for making a battery tray and installing the flatbed. Which, incidentally, i've just remembered will need modifying to fit the three-door shell, yet another job to add to the list.
[attachment=20799]
I also took the wire-brush to the servo, it looked a mess and was letting the engine bay down after Fozzy's sterling work from a previous weekend. A few coats later and she's good as new.
[attachment=20801]
Today was spent generally tidying; making hose clips and protectors, trimming bits of the gearbox and turbo mount to help pipe routing, filing sharp edges off, replacing bungs and copper washers, etc. I also dismantled the exhaust piping for what will hopefully be the last time and started filing down the mating faces of the flanges - they all warped when we welded them up, some badly - another couple of hours needs spending on that yet before i'll be happy with it. We also need to cut out all the gaskets and find a few more suitable studs, nuts, bolts and washers before it can all go back together.
You never know, i might actually take pictures as i go, upload them and write about it in time for next weekend... I wouldn't bet on those odds though.