Engine Hoist

Heavy engines full of horsepower need hoisting, so now we have a tool to do it. Yay micro crane!

Cockpit Panels

Alan has been busy installing the floor and wall panels to make the cockpit.

Looking over the dashboard towards the back of the car

View over the engine bay towards the back of the car; you can see the passenger footbox is complete here, but the driver's side is waiting for other bits before it gets enclosed.

View from the back towards the front

Wide side view... Look at all those angles! The transmission tunnel in the middle remains uncovered for now. The slots in the top panel closest to the camera are for harness straps.

Here's a chair, just for seeing how it will look.

And of course it has to be tried out! The seats are quite comfy and snug. Insert your own 'Vroom, vroom' noises here ;-)

Steering rack and passenger side foot box

Alan has installed the steering mechanism. Looking at the front end of the car here, it is the silver bar that runs across in front of the 'X' of the frame.

Here's a close up of the passenger side. You can see the end of the steering arm attaches to the wheel assembly.

This is the driver side, showing the linkage made by universal joints and a worm drive, up to the steering wheel which will be mounted the other side of that silver panel. Alan tested it; it turns the wheels just dandy!

Next up should be the petrol/gas tank, but unfortunately we have been sent some wrong parts so that is on hold for a little bit. So Alan is getting on with the passenger side panels instead. Here is the front end of the passenger foot box.

And another look at it from the passenger's point of view, looking down into it. I hope to become very familiar with this view :-)

Panels, Rear Axle, Suspension and Pedals

This covers a couple of weeks' worth of work.

Here's the first panels installed back on the car. We have got the chassis lifted up on jack stands now, too. Makes for a better working height.

First bits of the front suspension installed.

Shock absorber and brake disc are in place.

Remember the rear axle? Alan had to take the cover off, to attach the rear brake mounting points on the ends of the axles. You can see all the gearing inside.

We manouvered and manhandled the axle underneath the back of the car to get it into place; this was a bit of a task since it weighs about 300 pounds! We shuffled it forward bit by bit, resting on axle stands, until it was close enough to attach all the suspension parts. At this point we were able to jack it up into position, and Lo! it stayed put :-)

Note to other builders: When the manual says to remove all the parts on the chassis before you start building, that includes this panhard frame, bolted on.... the axle has to go above this, OK?

Look, we have pedals! This is the clutch and the brake; the gas pedal comes in a little bit.

Unfortunately Wilwood (who make the pedals) have changed their design. While the new style is stronger, it also now fouls on the chassis. So Alan consulted the Interwebs, and found that folks either cut the chassis or doctor the pedals, to get enough travel. He figured it was less scary to cut the pedal, and easier to buy a new one if it got screwed up, so he took a Dremel to the side of it; you can see the silver cut mark on the lower part of this picture.

Here you can see the master cylinders for the brake pedals (front and rear brakes), and the clutch cable installed. Note to other builders again: See the panel here, in front of the pedals? This was contained in a box, it is not the one that was installed on the car for delivery! They are similar, but not the same. We think they may send ones for different models of car. Make sure you fit the right one...

Onwards!