June 2001
Mostly a week off. Finally got round to sending off the SVA booking form, asked for the afternoon of 14th August 2001 at the Gillingham centre. I should get it, it's a week or so after their current booking date of 6th August. I've been investigating the new number plates which come in on 1st September - I heard the Q plate was being replaced by a new style plate of the form "AB12 ABC", but alas 'tisn't true. They're sticking with the old Q plate, the only cars it affects is ones registered on new plates. Ah well, best start looking to get it registered on an old age-related plate then....
What little time I spent on the car was spent in misery, sanding the scuttle smooth, then bringing the surface back up with rubbing compound and t-cut. 3 hours on one moulding..... Why can't Tiger get their GRP supplier sorted, so they supply good quality pieces, with no odd bulges, scratches, brushmarks, chips or cracks, air between gelcoat and glass, and a nice even thickness of glass.....? I've still got the bonnet, nose and most of the tub to do the same to.
I also put rivnuts into the battery tray to hold the fuse box down (and also the fire extinguisher - post-SVA). The tunnel top is in place (but not fixed). I had to cut a piece out of the front end, as it met the loom where it comes through from the outside. I split a piece of radiator hose and cable tied it around the loom to make sure it doesn't chafe where the tunnel top and loom meet. I also put the wheel studs back in the Ford holes so I can temporarily put the steel wheels on to move the car around.
Fitted the dash to the scuttle, bolted in behind and wired up. Copious cable ties holding the loom to the upright by the steering column support and the rod I put between the front and back of the scuttle in the centre to stiffen the dash up around the switch (which are a bit clunky). Everything looks neat behind the dash, and a quick check shows all seems to be well with the wiring.
Rivnuts in place to hold the tunnel top GRP in place, held by large button-headed M6 bolts. Tried out the carpets and all that interior stuff - needs a little trimming but I reckon it'll look good....
It was Le Mans weekend - saw plenty on telly, wish I could've been there, but at least I get a year to plan, get the car settled in and in a fit state for the trip....
Car back down on the ground for the first time in ages. To celebrate I took it for her inaugural flight to the end of the road and back. First impressions, well, the clutch and gearbox work fine, the brakes are pants (due to a combination of new discs, pads, shoes etc, incompletely bled hydraulics and badly adjusted rear brakes - well, they're Ford, aren't they....) and the carbs are way out. Oh, but the handbrake works fine (just as well really!!!!!). A fair bit of work needed yet...
Still, I've now rebled the brakes which has improved pedal feel, and once I've adjusted the self-adjusting (sic) mechanism in the rear brakes I reckon it'll feel fine. Then it's just a matter of bedding the new friction materials in. As for the carbs, started her the next day and she felt much better, so I suspect it was mostly fouled spark plugs and the fact she hadn't been run for a good few weeks. Still definitely need to do a bit of rejetting before she can go for SVA though. Speaking of which, after hassling the man at the Vehicle Inspectorate and the woman at the Gillingham test centre, I now have an SVA date. 1pm on Tuesday 21st August 2001.... 9 weeks......
Sorted the rear adjusters out manually, though no doubt I'll have to revisit them later. Reset the height of the brake pedal so it doesn't feel like it's hitting the bottom of the footwell, and took her out for a go. I managed to lock a couple of the wheels up without trying too hard, so it must be pretty close now - they'll be even better once everything's bedded in. Chopped 6mm off the track rod ends, as the locknuts were hitting the end of the thread on the track rods before even approaching zero toe. Then had to chop a few mm off the end of the track rods, as they were hitting the end of the thread inside the rod ends..... Still, I now have something approximating zero toe (which will do until I can get it set up properly). Camber's still a way out, but that's easy to adjust.
Had a look at the pre-shaped side panels, they don't fit too well - too many bits already cut out. So I've added a few little extra bits here and there, chopped the odd bit off, shaped it a bit better and given them the same single layer of foam + vinyl covering the dash got. And they look lovely. Also drained and refilled the cooling system, using antifreeze this time, since it seems to be pretty watertight (oops, I've gone and said it now.....) Sorry for the lack of pics at the minute - haven't had much to take pics of, and not got round to bringing in what I do have....