Carbon Fibre

Not been happy with the the standard scuttle panel since the powder coating was dulled when I cleaned off the masking tape adhesive. Rather than getting it coated I decided to make one out of Carbon Fibre. I got in contact with Carbon Mods in Stoke and bought a sheet of 2mm thick Wet Lay Carbon Fibre. As I'm only using one side this proved a lot cheaper than Pre-Preg Sheets. Unfortunately as the scuttle is wider than 1m I had to get a 2m sheet, I'm sure I can find a use for the rest....

I did also get an A4 sheet of 3mm Pre-Preg to make up some paddle shifters.

I used the old scuttle panel for a template, covered the carbon fibre with masking tape to protect it. Marked out and then cut with a Dremmel, then finished with a Permanent-Grit Sanding Block.

Marked out the hole for the dry sump oil tank and drilled holes around a smaller hole marked inside, then tidied up with the Dremmel and sanding bands, really pleased with the result.

Trial fitted and looks great, just need to clean off the a small amount of masking tape adhesive.

Air Box Thoughts

Been thinking about the air box I am going to use for some time, I would like to use the standard Hayabusa item to keep down induction noise, unfortunately it will not fit under the bonnet without modifications to the air box and the bonnet.

There is also a lot of debate about the velocity stacks and the best route to take, standard there are two long and two short. As my engine has been tuned by RPE with high comp JE pistons, Kent suz24 cams, cam sprockets, hd clutch and gas flowed head etc, there may be an option to move away from the standard setup to run shorter stacks. I need to do some research on this.

In the meantime I am looking in to air box options. I'm pretty much convinced that I need a bonnet intake to create a little more room. Removed the velocity stacks from the standard air box to check on how much room there is.

Rear Uprights #3

Fitted the offside rear upright and found that it fitted straight on without grinding. Seems that my near side was a different design.

Tidying Holes

Had difficulty in making the holes perfectly round with the Dremmel. Bought a circle template off eBay and used it as a guide for the Dremmel. Holes look far better now.

Rear Uprights #2

Contacted MNR about the uprights and they agreed to make a set of replacements, unfortunately they are having computer problems on their plasma cutter so a new set will be some time off.

Marc suggested that I grind the backs down and fit them to allow me to continue the build. I can the swap the over later when the new ones re made. Just need to paint before final assembly.

Rear Uprights

Assembled the rear suspension and tried to fit the rear uprights, seems that they don't fit properly. Will email MNR to get hem replaced.

Throttle Cables

Fitted a pair of 90' angled ends on the throttle bodies and connected the ends of the cables. Had a real difficult time finding 90' adaptor ends, managed to get some from a Lambretta specialist. Once fitted seemed to work pretty well. Just need to fit a stronger spring to the throttle body to get a more positive closure of the throttle butterflies.

Back Panel

Measured and cut the back panel, trial fitted in place, will seal and rivet after the rear suspension is installed.

Differential Breather

Partially removed the old breather pipe from the Diff, the plastic breather broke off and had to be drilled out. Removed the rear cover and while it was off checked the ratio, 3.14 is printed on side.

When removing the rear plate noticed that the brake pipes and t piece were too close to the diff, so moved the t piece to the other side of the fixing plate. Will order an alloy breather and fit later.

Side Panels

Decided to fit the side panel trim on the outside of the chassis rails so that can see the tubular construction from inside the car. Measured and drilled the panel then fixed with Tiger Seal and black rivets.

Exhaust Manifold

Spent some time yesterday with Leon on the car. Leon did some work with the Dremmel on the exhaust manifold cut out in the side panel. Good job well done.

Need to get the manifold polished and the finish tidied up.

Fuel Tank Fitted

Fitted the fuel tank in to position. Fitted Rivnuts to the chassis rails and fixed with M5 bolts to hold the clamps.

Nose Cone Fitting

Trial fitted the nose cone, aligned the main body panel and then drilled a hole through the chassis rain in-between the top front suspension mounts. Used an M8 bolt to hold in place either side. The bolt will pass through the chassis rail for fixing as I don't like the idea of Rivnuts in to a tubular chassis. Nose cone, bonnet and scuttle fitted for alignment, all fitted really well.

Differential

Fitted the differential, lifted in to position, fitted washer spacers and bolts. Fitment is tight against the rear brake t piece, considered moving the t piece due to how close it is against the diff oil fill plug. Need to replace the breather tube.

Fuel Level Sensor

Fitted the fuel level sensor by cutting a 40mm hole in the tank and then using M5 Rivnuts and stainless steel bolts for fixing. Also fitted a -6 fuel return next to the existing vent connections at the top of the tank.

To enable me to set up the Race Technology Dash 2 accurately for fuel level, I wired a multi meter reading resistance to the level sensor and then read the reading as I added a litre of water at a time. When empty the resistance was high and then reduced as the tank filled. Will use the readings to configure the Dash 2 later. Tank held 36 litres from empty.

Positioning Of Bodywork

Continuing on from last weekend, Leon gave me a hand with positioning the bodywork. We made templates for the exhaust and cut the main tub to fit around the roll cage and other mountings.