Week 13

Finally got round to cutting the hole in the drivers footwell panel for the lower steering column to go through and fitted it. So all the panels are on. Unfortunately, fixing the radiator on Sam's Pug is going to take up some of my building time this week. Looking forward to the weekend.....

Surprise visits and evenings out meant even less time. Did a fair bit of paint spraying, and went looking through skips on local industrial estates until I found some bits of steel long enough to work as tank straps. Cut them to size and bent the straps ready for painting before fitting. Need some strips of rubber for between tank and straps to prevent chafing. Oh, and made a cool bracket to mount the fuel pump on.

Week 14

Nothing to report, except doing a bit of spraying. Had a BBQ, and spent most of the time showing people round the garage....

Week 15

Made a complete hash of smoothing the fresh paint over, ended up with primer/metal showing through. Still, nice smooth base for the next 3 coats.... (using P1500 next time) As an aside, acrylic paint seems to cover much more evenly than cellulose. I've made up a final version of the fuel pump bracket and painted it now. Had a look at the fuel pump (Facet Red Top interruptor type), anyone have any idea what the liquid in there is or why it's there? I'm getting back into it, and I'll have a bit more time to spend on it over the coming few weeks than I have done for quite a while... However, my target of "on the road by Christmas" is looking less and less likely :-(

The bracket's drilled and fitted, looks good. The liquid in the pump appears to be some kind of light oil/paraffin. I'm assured it'll be fine to leave it in there. I'm not too sure, the first start of the engine will be rather interesting... Talking about engines, the one I've been after for a couple of months looks like it might actually happen. It's a 2.1l Pinto, originally an RS2000 lump, overbored, lightened & balanced with stage III head and 285/FR33 cam in there. It was completely rebuilt less than a few hundred miles ago. It's been sat unused due to the unfortunate personal circumstances surrounding it. I'm hoping to get my hands on it next weekend and get it along to the well respected engine builder who originally put it together for a quick check over. Then it'll just be a matter of new gaskets, seals and cambelt, then it's ready to run. You don't want to know how cheap it is, it'll just upset you (as it has Neil, since he had first refusal on it over a year ago.... sorry, mate - I'll let you drive it!!!)

Oh, got hold of a set of Golf steel wheels from the scrappy on Saturday afternoon (20 quid for the set, including good tyres) so I can get the car rolling. Fits the front fine, but not the back. The wheel centres are too small, the circular rim on the end of the halfshaft is 63mm, but VW only use 57mm, so it doesn't fit on. I'm surprised no-one's mentioned this before, it seems pretty fundamental. Neil's Six has spacers on the back to get around the problem. We'll see what Sue says.....

Southern area BBQ at Neil's house on Sunday was very pleasant. Unfortunately, I didn't go out on the tour of the area, not having a Tiger or a passenger seat booked(!) but I enjoyed anyway.

Week 16

Right, the wheels. Tiger say VW wheels won't fit (perhaps I should've checked first). Early BMW 3-series (E21/E30) are exactly the same as VW - despite what anyone tells you! The problem isn't really an issue with alloys, because they have larger centre holes which you fit with the correct sized ring to make it fit. My current chosen solution to the temporary problem of how to fit a set of steel wheel is: Use Ford wheels on the back. So this means I've fitted the wheel studs into the old holes in the halfshafts where they were on the Cortina - this shouldn't be a problem later, as Tiger's alloys are multi-fit and have holes in both VW (PCD 100-4) and Ford (108-4) positions. Swapped a pair of the VW wheels for Escort ones (all Ford wheels have identical fittings) and all is well again.

Got the helmet *at last*. A little late for the autotest, and a lot premature for having the car on the track, but never mind.... good, eh? (or perhaps sad....) And just a quick snap of how things are looking at the back end. Tank's not fixed down yet, but you can see the 3mm thick neoprene I got from a local rubber merchant to prevent chafing between tank and straps. The bracket on the rear panel is for the fuel pump. I could have fitted it, but without all the hoses it just leaks oil everywhere! I haven't got round to fixing the loom to the chassis yet, which is why it's all over the place. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to do that and fit the tank (checking clearance from the tub).

Well, perhaps fitting the tub was a bit optimistic. Still, I've got the straps completed (bent, holes drilled in straps and chassis to match and painted). The loom is fixed along the tunnel and around the whole of the rear end, tank sender's in and filler tube cut down so I might actually manage to get that rather inflexible piece of hose from the nozzle onto it (BTW, watch out for the wire ends sticking out of the hose - they're sharp.... :-(   )

Oh, and I got the engine. The head's off, so you can see down into the bores - all loverly and greasy (to stop them corroding). The bottom end turns over by hand, no serious lip at the end of piston travel, no rust, very nice.... The head's had a fair amount of work done on it, but more could be done time and cash willing. It's got an unidentified cam in, looks like pretty high lift, no wear. Looks like big valves (need to check), single springs. Carbs are Weber 40's the older 40DCOE 31's, rolling-road jetted for the engine I'm told (more to check). They've got the twin cable overhead linkage on, and are on a shortish manifold which has had a little work to take off casting marks and ensure the ports match those on the carbs and engine. As you can tell, it's all a little bit of an unknown quantity at the moment. Still, it's in such nice condition, and was so cheap it's a much better place to start from than a stock 2l. I'd post some pictures, but the digi camera's on the fritz so goodness knows when I'll get a chance...

Week 17

I've fitted the fuel tank - it took a while to get the tank straps fitted right, but got there in the end. It's so tight you can lift the car by the tank and there's no sideways movement either. My new recommendation for drill bits is Halfords titanium (I assume they're only plated, 'cos they cost less than 8 quid for a set of 6....) These seem to do whatever you ask of them, and don't snap quite as easily as the others (even the pretty good bullet point ones I mentioned a couple of months back - which I've since managed to snap a couple of. I'm not very good with drill bits, normally 'cos I try to do stupid things, like widening a hole by putting sideways pressure on it - DOH!) I Waxoyl'd the outer rear panel before I put the tank on just to reduce any corrosion from salt on the roads and that kinda thing. I also fixed a piece of ally sheet over the gap between the two double beam crossmembers the rollbars attach to, since Neil tells me that the carpets up here get soaked on a wet run.

What a nice weekend! Got a fair bit done. The whole of the back end is done, fuel pump + filter fixed on (had to use threadlock to seal the unions on the pump - a Facet Red Top competition jobbie). While I was around there, I noticed the connection between the axle brake line and the flexi hose from the front-rear line was free to vibrate in its bracket, so put a washer in there to tighten it all up. I also figured out where the brake lines run at the front (took me a while......) and bent them to shape. They're loosely held on by cable ties at the moment. I'd take a picture, but the camera looks like it might be out of action for some time to come.... Oh, and I sorted out my toolbox :-) The tub's back on, and the nearside front suspension's on too, complete with a wheel. The steering rack brackets have come off to be painted, and will be back on next week, at which time all of the steering will be permanently fixed on. Then once the offside front suspension's on, it can come down onto its wheels. <grin> can't wait....