The Mistrale Build Site

First Start

2011-08-23T16:24:00.003Z

The new fuel regulator arrived in the post yesterday. Fitted today....Result!!! The engine ran a little rough at first until I noticed that my temporary bung had fallen out of the servo pipe - a thumb over that and the engine ran as sweet as a nut!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQgKJUhNg7A

Starting to start!

2011-08-14T21:18:00.002Z

Well, all was set for the big day! Oil changed, new filter and fuel pump temporarily set up in a plastic tub. I pinched the battery from my C1 and connected it to the loom and turned the key - nothing happened! A quick search showed a almost no fuses in the 'small' fusebox. A week passed and a trip to halfords produced a box of assorted fuses - replaced the lot just to be sure! Turned key - at least this time some of the dashboard lights lit up! Having consulted the Gurus of Locostbuilders (thanks everyone!) I began to go through the loom carefully. By consulting the ECU pinout diagram, I discovered that one of the ECU earths was not made. Once that was found, the starter relay clicked. No noise from the fuel pump though. A further search revealed another missing earth. Finally the engine turned, but no sparks. A check revealed 12v at the coil pack so I began to check the crank and cam sensors. Whilst doing this, I found a connector that was not quite 'clicked' together - HURRAY, sparks!!!!!!

For a while, I had been worried about the vacuum connections from the throttle body - there are 4 - 1 to the servo, 1 to the EGR. One had no attachment to it whilst the other had a red cloth pipe attached. A check on a friends car showed that this should go to the fuel pressure regulator - this already had a pipe from it though. The 2 could be pushed together with difficulty though. So, fuel in plastic pot, time to turn the engine. No joy, several times!!! Then the team of keen observers and cameraman (wife and son!!) spotted the puddle under the engine!!! Fuel was coming out of the pipe from the fuel regulator. Opinion was that the diaphragm could be split, thus sucking fuel through. A picture was posted on Locostbuilders to help. I was slightly concerned that I was actually looking at the regulator, especially as it had sytec fuel spec hose attached to it and it looked different to the photos. I removed the regulator to even more confusion as I could not see how it functioned! A google image search gave all the answers!!! What I have is an adaptor that allows the fitment of an external (variable pressure) regulator - hence the fuel spec hose, the 'extra' red cloth hose and the fuel being delivered into the inlet!!!!! Problem solved - all I need now is a fuel regulator and I should be in business!!!

Little by little...

2011-06-26T07:50:00.002Z

Another report on a succession of little jobs!!! Work has been keeping me out of the country recently (!) so there have been no big sessions of work done, rather an hour here and there! I have now been able to determine what 'most' of the loom does! Once this was done, I looked at how it would fit in the car. My plan is to start the car with the entire loom in place and then carefully thin it out - experience from building an off-road buggy tells me that is the way to do it! I decided that the main relay/junction box could be installed on the left hand side of the engine bay. This allows part of the loom to go forward through the bulkhead to connect to the instruments and switches, and the engine loom to connect up easily. I will have to add in some extensions to the lighting, but that should be about it! I then looked were to mount the ECU and decided that it would sit nicely on the top of the chassis bar that mounts the left side of the engine, the added bonus being that it will be fairly easy to waterproof this! I added a small bulkhead along this mount to fix the ECU to, and also will mount the expansion tank on the other side. I have also cut short sections of aluminium tube to extend the cooling pipes, thus avoiding too many alterations to the cooling circuit. Finally, I have mounted the cooling fan onto the back of the radiator. Most of this work is not very photogenic, particularly as I had to leave in a hurry to go abroad again and didn't have time to tidy my workspace............
Back home in a couple of weeks so hopefully some photos will follow...!

Slowly coming together!

2011-03-02T21:14:00.003Z

A combined report of the results of a couple of days off work. Well, weeks actually but that translated into a couple of days of garage time! First up was the handbrake. An Audi cable was sourced from fleabay which, after a little modification, fitted the VAG calipers a treat. In order to make the most of the space between the seats, I decided to mount the handbrake lever to the right of the driver. It was only after deciding this that I noticed exactly the same set up on the Ariel Atom! An MGF handbrake lever is being used. The final part is a short cable of indeterminate origin for the caliper on the drivers side. The balance bar caused a few headaches but in the end one was put together using 2 Rover balance bars. A picture paints a thousand words and will follow soon!. I then made some short tubes to guide the cables through the rear bulkhead using some unused poly bushes from the front suspension!

Next was the thorny issue of the brake/clutch fluid reservoir. This had already been mounted once but the pipes fouled on the steering column so it had to come off! After a lot of head scratching, I found another reservoir in my box of bits, probably from the original Rover. This has been combined with hoses from a Fiat Punto which clip neatly into the Mini master cylinder and can be adapted to fit the clutch cylinder.

Then came the radiator fan mount. This got partially finished with only the bottom mount being made, and this is not yet welded on. I then got diverted by the wiring loom as the position of items like the fuse box will have a bearing on other items in the engine compartment. BIG thanks here have to go to the www.madinventions.co.uk website. This charts the build of a Sylva Mojo powered by the same engine as I am using. On this site was a photo of the engine wiring loom with all of the items labelled. An absolute life saver as many of the masking tape labels that I applied when stripping the fiesta have gone crispy and fallen off! The result was that after an hour or so, all items on the engine loom were plugged in. That just left the car loom. This had very few labels left and so it was a case of laying it out and imagining where in the car each wire was. I then had to think what components were in those locations before referring to the appropriate diagram in the haynes manual. After a morning of solid octupuss wrestling, I now have 75% of the loom labelled.

The final step was a visit to a local scrappy. I knew that I was missing the inlet manifold when I got the car and also needed a new radiator fan (the terminal tree impact had cracked the old one!) and a few extra hoses. Much to my delight, after an hour of rummaging, East Road Salvage in Sleaford provided everything I needed!

Photos of all of this progress will follow shortly.....

Bodywork!!

2010-11-19T15:39:00.002Z

So, after a long break, there has been some progress this week. A new cutting disc meant that several months of work related frustration could be taken out on various innocent pieces of steel! First up was the rear bulkhead which was trimmed to fit - a laborious process! It now fits neatly but will not be welded in place until all the connections that need to go through it are finalised. Next up was the former VW engine cover. Various pieces of it needed trimming so some excess aggression sorted them out! I next cut a strip of steel and formed it to fit around the inside of the cover. This was tack welded onto the VW piece - a fun job due to the extreme thinness of the production car steel! Finally, a curved sheet was cut to fit inside and bent to shape with more muscle power and using the front wheel as a template! The end result, which clearly needs trimming and finishing, looks about right! Today I cut a number of small aluminium panels to trial them as infill for the various gaps along the nose. These will eventually be bolted in position with some nice looking Hex bolts I hope. Here are a few photos so you can see what I've been up to!

Small update

2010-10-03T20:56:00.003Z

Just a quick update to let anyone who reads this know that I am still here! Another trip 'abroad' and a new puppy have limited progress recently but with today being a wet, miserable sunday, I managed an hour or so of work, mainly cutting out the rear bulkhead. It needs little trimming to fit, but typically I now need a new large cutting disk to finish it off!!! More soon I hope!

Passenger Bulkhead

2010-06-06T19:55:00.003Z

Progress has been continuing at a slow but steady rate of late. An amount of thinking time was necessary in order to work out exactly the best way to attach the passenger footwell bulkhead. The problem was that it had to be removable to allow the fuel tank to be removed should the need arise. At stoneleigh I saw the stand from Memfast and realised that rivnuts would be the answer, however, it seemed an expensive way of doing it if I had to buy a rivnut insertion tool. A trawl of the internet led me to develop my own do it yourself solution involving a nut, 2 bolts and a washer, along with 3 spanners! One of the nuts was drilled through to remove the thread. First, the 'good' nut was threaded onto the bolt, then the washer, then the drilled through nut. finally the rivnut was threaded onto the bolt and inserted into the hole. A flat ring spanner was fitted to the drilled through nut and I clamed this in place to stop the rivnut rotating in its hole. Then, holding the bolt still with one spanner, I tightened the nut against the washer which pulled the bolt and rivnut tight and fastened it in position - 3 or 4 turns was more than enough. The end result was a neat, solid bolted bulkhead. To finish off, I put the fuel tank in postion at the front of the car. This leaves the fuel filter and the master cylinder reservoir to mount before the front is finished......ish!

Bulkhead

2010-04-18T20:14:00.003Z

The last month has seen lots of small steps towards completion of the front bulkhead. As usual, I started with a cardboard template - the bulkhead has to allow the steering column, clutch and brake master cylinder through it. I had a small panic when reading the latest IVA rules which stated that the fuel tank should be separated from the passenger compartment by a bulkhead which should not have any holes in it. This is difficult as there must be some sort of hole to allow the fuel pipes out! I phoned VOSA and spoke to a very helpful expert who said that what the rule wanted was to ensure that the fuel had a path of escape that would not cause it to flow into the cabin. Sorted!!! Anyway, the cardboard template wasn't a good as usual as the first attempt at making it out of steel wasn't very good! The bulkhead had to have a recess to allow the clutch pedal full travel, whilst also leaving room for brake and clutch pipes behind it. I went through lots of variations before I settled on the final, and simplest design. The recess for the clutch was made by cutting a piece of 50x50 box (and hitting it with a hammer) and welding it onto the sheet. The sheet was then trimmed to fit, re-trimmed, trimmed a bit more until it finally slotted in nicely. To finish off, I gave it a quick coat of weld-through primer so that it will stay in good condition! Next, I have to make a removable bulkhead for the passenger side that will allow removal of the fuel tank should it be necessary.

More fuel tank progress

2010-03-04T20:24:00.003Z

Over the last week, the fuel tank has moved on further. First I made 2 further holes in the top of the tank; one for the filler and one for the vent/roll over valve. The latter was taken from the Fiesta tank whilst the filler came from the Rover. It bolts in from the inside and had a nice gasket to make a good seal. Then I moved onto the sides. Without access to a sheet folder any more, I had to bend these by hand, using the same angle iron again. The results weren't great at first but a little 'adjustment' with a hammer produced a much more acceptable fit. There were still odd places where the gap was a little bigger than ideal. Today I took the big step of welding them in. Overall it went quite well. I had a few problems with the wire feed from the welder - at times it was none too smooth. Quite frustrating as otherwise, the welding went well! I inspected some joints for pin holes and ground the welds back to check them - the results seem good enough! I need to get a new gasket for the pump and the vent valve and then I'll be able to test the joints with a foot pump and some soapy water!!!!!

More floor and fuel!

2010-02-24T21:14:00.002Z

Well, as promised, a CD with the photos of our weekends work arrived in the post today. I've also included a couple of shots taken before we stripped the car. Today I welded yesterdays work on the fuel tank. The weld on the first seam went really well until just over half way when it began to distort and pull apart. I stopped and re clamped it then tried again - pity because it was looking good until then! The result will hopefully hold fuel but if it doesn't, I'll try a tank sealant!!! I then cut a hole in the top and let in the mount for the fuel pump. This was (carefully!) cut from the top of the Fiesta tank. It welded quite nicely onto the tank - 2 bits were a bit awkward and had to be patched up. The photos look worse than the reality! More soon I hope!

Pedals, floor and fuel tank

2010-02-23T20:43:00.004Z

Well, for once lots to report since my last entry. I finished the clutch pedal and went to work on the throttle pedal. A cable of unknown origin proved to be the perfect length. The end was trimmed off and the end from the Fiat coupe cable used instead. The pedal end was welded onto the transverse shaft and the result was a working pedal linked to the engine! That took much longer to actually do than it seems when it is typed, partly because the position of the clutch pedal had to be adjusted so that there will be room for a left foot rest next to the pedal. Next was a visit from John and family for the weekend. The aim was simple - fit the floor! Saturday went well. The chassis was stripped in very short order and flipped over. The tedious process of cleaning the surface rust off the chassis began, followed by priming with weld through primer- I'm still not sure where some brackets will be going as yet. The floor was then cut from 18g steel. The sheet I had wasn't quite wide enough to fit in one piee so a join had to be made down one of the tubes. Fortunately it worked out just right and only 1 long cut of the sheet was necessary. I was using my 'big' angle grinder with a metal cutting disc, which seemed to work well! By sunday, we were on to the business of drilling pilot holes - I decided to bond and rivet the floor rather than weld, risking distortion! The floor was treated to several coats of etch primer before it was bonded into positon using sikaflex 221 and rivetted. The end results were very pleasing - no 'boing' from the floor. no photos as yet as the hard drive on my laptop gave up and I was unable to get the photos off Johns camera - they're on the way to me as I type! Today I movev on to the fuel tank. Firstly I made a mount for the master cylinder reservoir, which allowed me to work out how much space is available. I then made a prototype tank out of cardboard. I intend to have a removable bulkhead in the passenger footwell as this is the only way to get the tank in and out! I then cut a strip of the steel that I used for the floor and bent it into the required shap. In the absence of a sheet folder, I used some conveniently sized angle iron and g clamps - the result isn't perfect, but should suffice. Now I have to pluck up the courage to weld it.....

Clutch!

2010-01-07T19:45:00.002Z

Another snowy day, a little more progress. Today I continued with the clutch pedal. I am using the shaft from the original Rover pedal box and mounting a bespoke pedal onto it using nylon suspension bushes. I wanted to use a coiled spring as a return spring and spent a little time today making this arangement work. When I finally did, it projected above the bodywork so it had to be modified again! Once this was sorted, I spent ages making sure that the pedal was in the correct place before tacking it in. Finally, I made a beacket to hold the tunnel end of the throttle transverse bar (not shown on photos). The end result was very satisfying as it meant that I could sit in the car and operate all three pedals for the first time (the brake pedal looks a bit strange, it works well) I didn't make Brrrrmmm noises, honest!

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T19:30:00.002Z

Happy New Year to all readers of this Blog! Today it snowed! Allowed home at lunchtime as the snow was looking bad - the Lincolnshire Alps can be treacherous at this time of year! I managed to finish the brake master cylinder bracket at last, although it was hard work as the fan heater and extension leads from the garage have been donated to keep an elderly guinea pig warm! That meant no power tools (except the welder which has a lead long enough to reach the only plugs in the garage!). The results can be seen here, along with the throttle pedal . The positions have yet to be fully finalised but won't be too dissimilar to what is shown here. More soon I hope!

Slowly, slowly

2009-12-03T15:24:00.002Z

At last a little progress to report, if no photos to show for it! The last few weeks have brought more time away with work, however, I have managed to get a few hours in the garage. The pedal box has been exercising my thoughts for a while now - even with the brake pedal bracket I was so pleased with. i mocked everything up in the car and wasn't at all happy with the positions of the pedal pivots. Also, I was never happy with the ration of the clutch pedal. I decided to remake the clutch pedal, this time as a pendulum pedal, rather than floor mounted. This enabled me to retain almost the original pedal size and ration - a much better state of affairs. I then reused the floor mounted clutch pedal as a throttle and made a transverse rod so that the cable only has to travel to the centre 'tunnel', and not loop around into the footwell - photos will make this clear! Finally, I cut up my precious brake pedal bracket and remounted it in a better position. The overall effect is that there is now a little extra leg room on the drivers side and scope to move the pedals back if required. I would have taken photos but I want to wait until there are a few less clamps holding everything in!!!

Still alive, honest!

2009-10-10T19:34:00.000Z

Well, it's been a frustrating 6 months with little meaningful progress to report. Once back from my 'holiday', spare time was taken up with a major kitchen refit. This had the effect of not only taking up any time thay have been available for car building, but also resulted in the garage filling up with non-car related DIY items. Once the kitchen was finished, it was a necessity to clear the garage before any work could commence. It was decided that some of the panels/doors from the old kitchen could be usefuly employed as boarding for the loft in the garage which had been partly boarded by the previous owner. I ascended into the loft to complete the task but at some stage, trod on a board that was insecure at one end! All I remember was feeling like I was in a Harry Potter flu-tube and ended up on my backside on the garage floor. On my way, I landed on the front of the car. Fortunately, the suspension cushioned my fall, however, some damage was done to the front - the nose panel was damaged ant the light broken off. I was very lucky though as I landed a few feet away from a box of off cuts that, had I landed on them, would have taked a core sample from my torso!!! Resultant injuries meant a few more weeks off followed by a (careful) concerted effort to re-sort the garage. Now that task is complete, I once again find myself on 'holiday' in the same sandy, dusty place as before. Oh well, I'll keep at it I guess although some sort of miracle where the car gets finished for me in some sort of 'Overhauling' scenario!!!!!

Progress recently has been a little minor tampering with some trial bodywork - photos to follow!!!

Keep watching - hopefully progress soon.....

Back again

2009-04-26T20:30:00.003Z

Finally back in the country following a couple of months in the desert! Re-introduced to wife and kids and managed a short while in the garage today. Just before I went, John and I drilled through the rear upper chassis rail for the harness mounts. Inevitably one of the chassis tubes was in the way - a result of not knowing which seats were being used when the chassis was made. There was no other choice, within the constraints of the SVA mount heights, other than to cut open the tube and re-weld it. The mounts themselves are thich wall threaded bushes. At the rear end, I welded thick washer to the tubes. These were fed through the chassis rails from behind then welded in. Another washer was slipped over on the front side, then welded up. This is what I got on with today. The welding went OK, although I was probably over-zealous trying to make sure of good penetration. As a result, some of the welds don't look as neat as they might but I am sure that they are secure!

Now with lights

2009-01-02T17:13:00.003Z

Today I spent a little more time adjusting the clutch pedal. The ratio is still less than I would like but it is not easy to improve it - it will involve a new pedal. I've decided to stick with it for now and accept that when the car first rune, I might need a different pedal. I also made the light mounts as I felt that I couldn't make a proper decision about the bodywork without them. what do you think?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T16:34:00.004Z

Happy New Year to you all! Today was hangover free, due entirely to my wife being ill which has restricted social activities. However, it meant a couple of useful hours in the garage today. I worked on the clutch pedal - I am worried that it will not have enough travel and think that it might need a redesign. Meanwhile, my 'little helper' cleaned all of the paint from the edges of the Beetle engine cover ready to join them. I joggled the edge (thank you John!) and welded the 2 together. I forgot how thin production car metal is and blew some decent holes in it, before getting the welder set up correctly on the minimum setting. I now have a dilemma, do I continue the bodywork all the way to the back of the car, as per the original concept, or do I just fit a nose cone? If it is the latter, I will probably modify the shape a little - you may be able to see the felt tip lines on the left of the nose. The area back to the 'cockpit' will be panelled with flat aluminium - any thoughts?

Brake Pedal

2008-12-15T17:42:00.002Z

Finally got round to making the brake pedal bracket. After much cardboard prototyping, the parts were cut from 3mm steel. These will be welded onto a base plate which will bolt onto the floor plan - the aim being to provide some adjustment for differing driver sizes. However, the current setup causes the master cylinder to hit the front chassis rail, meaning drivers taller than me won't fit! The cause appears to be a mis-interpretation of the plans causing an inside measurement to be built as an outside one! Doh! There are several ways to improve this however for now I am going with what I've got in the name of progress!
Next is the mount for the clutch pedal, which shouldn't take long, before moving on to the accelerator.

It's home!

2008-12-05T16:35:00.002Z

I've spent the last few weeks moving the car into the garage at home. A neighbour was kind enough to help with the loan of his trailer although it was only just wide enough - he uses it for an old 1900and something Vauxhall which is very narrow. I've been gradually shipping the smaller parts as I find room to store them - it's amazing the amount of stuff you accumulate, I'll have to have a clearance sale/giveaway soon (anyone for some Metro uprights and driveshafts?).

Last week I took 2 days off, one for christmas shopping and one to work on the car. However, as expected really, the shoppng spilled into the second day! Today though I got home early and finally made a little progress. I made the bottom 2 radiator mounts. One is attached to the removable lower frame and the other bolts to a bracket on the side tube. For this one I was able to re-use a suspension bracket made years ago but never used. It was quite satisfying cutting through one of the welds on it and seeing positive evidence of their solidity!

Hopefully the next item to progress will be the handbrake mount - I am trying to work from back to front finishing the areas already started (centre tunnel, pedals) before turning to the battery box, fuel tank and expansion tank.

Fingers crossed......!

Standing on 4 wheels!!

2008-10-26T20:43:00.002Z

Spent this afternoon preparing the car for its 'big' day - I spoke to my neighbour earlier today and have arranged use of his trailer to bring the car home on wednesday! That meant a small panic to ensure that all was ready. I assembled the front hubs fully and torqued them up, then fitted the shock absorbers. That meant drilling out the mounts on the lower wishbones as they were too small (I got the pre-made from e-bay) - I think that they are made from titanium as they were a *** to drill. Job done now though! Ended up lowering the car onto its own 2 wheels for the first time. My 'little helper' immediately leapt in and had the privilege of the first journey - albeit 3 yards pushed backwards! It feels like real progress, just to get it onto 4 wheels at last, and it felt great to sit in it at the 'proper' height! Well, now it is coming home, there should be a few more regular updates so keep looking!!!

Back again!

2008-09-05T13:18:00.002Z

I see that it is very nearly 2 months since my last update. Yes, there really has been that little progress - a combination of a busy July/early august at work followed by kids sumer holidays! Anyway, took a day off today in an attempt to make some progress. Firstly I managed to get the springs onto the rear shocks. The compressors that I bought were really only suitable for normal macpherson struts - the hooks on the inside fouled on the shock body if I used them as intended. However, I managed to hook the bottom end around the mini strut body and compress the springs enough to get the top mounts on. I'm not convinced how safe this was and made sure that I kept away from the 'line of fire' in case it went wrong!! I then turned my attention to the bolt in frame that sits under the engine. Some time ago I got 2 of the brackets for this made and today I made the other 2. They now need welding up. This meant that I could tack the radiator mounts in place - the bottom one will go onto the bolt in frame. Finally, for a bit of morale, I cut a slice from the middle of the beetle engine cover that I plan to use as a nose template. As I was running out of time, I clamped this quickly to give a (very) rough impression of what the front will look like. I hope that it is not so long until I post again!

Quick update

2008-07-07T18:09:00.002Z

In between work, over the last few days, I've managed to get a little bit done to the rear calipers. The one on the left has been lightly cleaned to remove mud whilst the other then had corrosion removed with a dremel-a-like and wet and dry paper, then acid etched, then sprayed. Don't know if I'll get much more done before going away this week.

More brakes and pedals

2008-06-29T16:03:00.002Z

Over the last few weeks I've spent a few hours, on and off cleaning the VW rear calipers. My conclusion from this is that I might as well have brought the brand new version from GSF or Rally Designs - twice the cost and would have needed new pads but for the effort in cleaning the old ones, plus the cost of paint, worth the effort!! Today I finally finished the clutch pedal, with just the bracket to mount the master cylinder to make now. I also did a check of the mini master cylinder with the Fiat remote reservoir and was very pleased with the results. Regrettably I have to take a few weeks off now because of work commitments - hope to be back in the workshop in August!!!

Rear brakes

2008-06-15T20:57:00.002Z

Bought some rear calipers from a crashed Passat this weekend. Spent fathers day in the garage cleaning one of them up - quite satisfying but time consuming. Used a little wire brush attachment for my cheap dremel copy which seemed to do the business, unlike the Halfords brake cleaner which certainly didn't do what it says on the tin! Photos to follow....

Clutch pedal progress

2008-06-12T19:47:00.002Z

Today I made further progress with the clutch pedal. I began by welding some washers to the rough pedals that I made a few weeks ago - this was to make them fit the TR7 stub better - I have run out of 16g off cuts and awaiting more so I had to make do! I then drilled the holes in the sides before attaching them to the TR7 stub. The welds needed a little fettling to ensure that the return spring - the sole reason for using the TR7 stub - fitted properly. The last time I was in the workshop, a passer by offered some welding advice and suggested that I turned down the gas flow. The difference that this has made has been amazing! Anyway, I welded both sides to the stub, which needed further trimming. I also trimmed the bracket so that the pedal could be set at a reasonable angle. Once it was all assembled, I checked the action - I am slightly concerned that the travel might be a bit short, but I guess time will tell on that one!!!

I have also made a few decisions on the braking. A fellow Locostbuilder is sending me a Mini master cylinder. It is a 'type 3' which has a stepped bore, designed to limit rear braking on the Mini. I am going to reverse the plumbing in order to account for the lack of weight at the front of my car. I have also decided VW/Audi rear calipers are the best bet - they are readily available secondhand at reasonable prices and in good condition. This will avoid having to fork out for reconditioned Sierra calipers, including postage!!! We'll see if it works!

More pedals and brake woes

2008-05-31T11:10:00.003Z

This week I made some progress with the clutch pedal. I had to revise my original plan - on closer inspection of the Ford clutch master cylinder, it became clear that a return spring would be necessary. A look at the Sylva Riot build manual confirmed this. In order to do this, I modified the TR7 throttle that I had lying about by cutting it and then incorporating the remaining stub into the pedal. I also began to look at the brake master cylinder carefully. I found that the reservoir fouled on the steering column. I have a Fiat remote reservoir lying around so looked to see if this could be used. I also found the 'brakemath' excel spreadsheet on the internet and used it to ascertain if I would need the pressure reducers used by the Fiesta. Finally, as a result of the results from this spreadsheet, I got round to seeing if the Rover Calipers would fit at the back of the car - unfortunately they don't. This leaves me with a few unanswered questions. Whether to persevere with the Fiesta master cylinder and modify it for a remote reservoir - bearing in mind that it has a bore of .87" and might result in a high pedal force, or whether to search for one from a suitable donor (any suggestions - remote reservoir, .7"ish bore). The final option is to go for a balance bar set up which would probably mean remaking the pedal. Finally I need rear calipers - Sierra are the obvious choice but something from the VW/SEAT/Audi range should fit!!!

Gearchange finally sorted...ish

2008-05-20T19:27:00.002Z

Today I finally managed to get all the components of the gear change tacked into position. The action is generally fine although I was finding it difficult to get 2nd, 4th and reverse. Investigation revealed that the end of the shift rod was fouling on the joint at the bottom of the gear lever - a few seconds with a file soon sorted that. Once I had fettled that piece, the change was much better although going across the gat is a little sloppy -caused by a little twisting where the rod bolts into the old steering UJ and also by the joint that holds the gear lever rotating - that will be solved with a lock nut or some thread lock. I then resumed work on the pedals. I decided to try cutting down one of the original Rover pedals and using the stub from that to operate the master cylinders. All went well although I should perhaps have drilled a new hole for the clevis before tacking it together!! incidentally, the lightening holes drilled in the pedals are largely for visual effect - about 22p in change in your pocket would counteract any benefit!!!

Stoneleigh shopping

2008-05-15T20:15:00.003Z

Went on the annual pilgrimage to the National Kit Car show at Stoneleigh over the bank holiday weekend (we REALLY will have something to take next year......). There wasn't a whole lot new there although a MR2 based car caught our eye. However, shopped well - bought some Robin Hood 'economy' cycle wings - not the greatest quality but at £40 for 4 I can cope with a bit of trimming and sanding. Also got some SVC headlamps and some mirrors from Tifosi. Really hope to have time to fit these all soon....

A little more...

2008-04-16T20:39:00.002Z

Went and gave the springs a little more paint today. Also fitted the suspension spacers, shown here. Didn't take long!!! Been busy buying small things again - finally bought the threaded bushes to mount the upper seat belt mounts. I bought them from shorttrack motorsport - I can thoroughly recommend them. www.shorttrack.co.uk/

Progress - on E-Bay

2008-04-06T19:37:00.002Z

Not much 'real' progress to report except for a few purchases! Firstly I was lucky and bagged an airflow meter for my Zetec SE engine - this was missing when I got the donor car so I had been keeping my eye on the 'bay for a while - got lucky and £1.99 well spent! I've also been keeping my eyes open for some springs for the rear struts. I went to the Newark autojumble a few weeks ago and just missed a chap selling loads of springs for pence each! Instead I got a pair from E bay that were the right size but the at the highest rate I wanted - £10 including postage. A bit of elbow grease (free) and some paint and they are looking better - they still need another coat though! I also bought the bearing for the gear change from McGill motorsports - £3.60 including postage! OK, you wouldn't want it in your suspension but for what I want, it's ideal! I also was quite hopeful when I saw a 'Smart' fuel tank on E-bay. The seller very kindly provided dimensions for me but it was 2cm too big to fit where I wanted! Oh well, back to plan A!!!

A little bit of CAD modeling......

2008-03-17T22:53:00.003Z

Cardboard aided design that is!!! I spent a few mornings last week fiddling with various bits of the car. Firstly I trimmed the gearchange bracket that bolts onto the transmission - it was fouling the bolt in frame. I also added some 3/4 tube to strengthen it as it was flexing. Although this has improved things, I may well re-make it from thicker steel. I also fettled and welded the 2 tubes that hold the gear lever at the front. I haven't quite finished the gearchange though - the sideforces on the change rod were causing it to bind on the nylon block I was using. This will be replaced with a cheap rose joint. I then turned my mind to the pedals. I made a pedal box fro cardboard using the Chris Gibbs book as a pattern. I slightly altered some of the dimensions to suit my feet. However, as the pedals are going to be in full view, I want them to look good as well so I made a model from cardboard that I think looks OK. I then made one side of it from steel before running out of time. I have acquired an old TR7 pedal box and hope to use the fescalised(shiny!!!!) rod from that to mount the pedals on, and possibly salvage the bearings from the bottom of the pedals themselves. More to come soon. I hope!!

Changing gear, cooling and cardboard body!!!

2008-02-25T21:33:00.003Z

Well, quite a lot of progress to report for once as John and I spent all day Friday and Saturday and Sunday mornings working on the Mistrale. The most significant thing was the final decision about the location of the radiator. Ideally I wanted this at the front of the car but wanted to avoid the situation that apparently occurs on cars like the MGF and Elise, where the extra volume of cold water in the system causes problems with shock cooling. Although this may be unique to the K series engine, when coupled with the limited space available in the centre tunnel, it made the front look less attractive. The possibly controversial decision to put the radiator behind the rear bulkhead was taken, although the rear bulkhead may have perforations to aid flow. The advantage of this location is chiefly that the Fiesta radiator, fan, thermostat etc. can all be used - a great benefit I feel. In order to mount the radiator, it was necessary to get on with the mounting of the removable lower frame that sits below the engine. After some swearing at the pillar drill, the rear mounts for this were made although a little needs to be trimmed off the gearghange mount before the front ones can be made. There was also progress on the gearchange and transmission tunnel, both of which are nearly finished - the photos should give you some idea of how it works! Finally, a scrap TR7 yielded what looks like a nice, compact handbrake which will be easier to incorporate than the Rover item, although a VW Camper van handle might be promising. At the end of the weekend, I mocked up the rear panel in cardboard - hope you like it!!

Slowly slowly....

2008-02-12T20:39:00.000Z

At last a little progress! Spent a few hours this morning during which time I pressed the bearings in for both front wheels and had a play with the gear change. The linkage coming forward from the gearbox was too long and was fouling on the rear bulkhead so I removed this, shortened it and put it back. I also tried a new piece of nylon block for the rod to run in, which seemed to work well, if a little stiff. hopefully with the leverage of a gear stick, this will amount to nothing - time will tell I guess! i have this week off for the kids half term so I hope to get more done later in the week. The garage has been cleared in preparation of the big move.......

Three Wheels...

2007-12-30T08:56:00.000Z

The last few months have seen slow progress once more! I have managed a few short visits to the workshop, but despite this I've made some progress. The universal joint that transfers the gearchange action to the correct location has been fabricated using an old steering linkage. The plan had then been to use some nylon bushing to ensure that the shaft in the tunnel moved smoothly, however, this didn't work very well so I am now using more rose joints which should make for a solid feel to the shift. Finally, as a pre-christmas morale boost, I assembled one of the front hubs and fitted it which now gives a good impression of what the finished chassis will look like - my 'little helper' couldn't resist his first test drive! Best wishes to everyone for the new year and here's hoping that it brings me more days in the week so I can get the car to a state where it can come home quickly!

Plug

2007-09-25T22:53:00.000Z

I'added a plug for a fellow builders site to the sidebar. If you would like me to do the same for you, just leave a message!!

TTFN

JC

Back to it at last.

2007-09-23T19:26:00.000Z

At last some progress to report. Saturday began with John and I spending time aligning the brackets for the rear tie bars. These were adjusted carefully and the change in toe angle checked by using a laser pointer projecting onto a cardboard box 4m away. It was actually quite satisfying when the ‘sweet spot’ was found with no change discernible between full bump and full droop. I then set to work on the gearchange whilst john re-mounted the seats. I was never very happy with the previous mounts so they were replaced with threaded bar which now goes through floor rails. The gear change was prototyped in card first to ensure that the bracket fitted. It bolts onto the block using 2 of the transmission bolts. The lever is brought under the engine and now slides back/forth in a bearing. This will attach to a section of the steering column from the fiesta that has 2 UJs and a short shaft, before going along the centre tunnel. All in all, a satisfying weekend. At the end of it we couldn’t resist putting the back wheels on to see how it looked, and only lack of time stopped us assembling the front hubs!

I'm still here!!

2007-09-03T19:23:00.000Z

Well, what a frustrating summer that has been - and I'm not just talking about the weather. last time i posted, I was looking forward to getting quite a bit done on the car. As you can tell from the lack of updates, this idea was foiled! I broke my shoulder 12 years ago whilst playing football and it chose this time to flare up again - I couldn't lift my arm, let alone do any cutting, filing etc. Unlike other times when it has caused problems, it took several weeks to settle this time and by the time it was usable it was school holidays and also time for a visit to canada with work! However, it is not all doom and gloom. Over the summer I sold the much loved MX5 - a bit of a girly car I know, but great fun nonetheless. This means that space has been created in the garage so the plan is for the mistrale to 'come home'. There is hopefully about a weekends work to get it temporarily onto 4 wheels so that it will go on a trailer - stay posted for more news!!!

2007-06-10T19:40:00.000Z

Finally taken photos of the gear linkage. At the top right is the piece that slips over the input shaft on the gearbox. I now have to carefully make the vertical and horizontal pieces that will be mounted at the ‘front’ of the engine to hopefully give a smooth action. Hopefully I will get a fair bit done over the next few weeks as I should be able to get to the workshop in my lunch break for once - keep watching! P.S. Congrats to Lewis Hamilton!!!!

Changing gear...

2007-05-25T19:31:00.000Z

Just a quick update on a couple of hours work today (forgot camera again – sorry!) – although looking back I think ‘why the hell did that take so long’! Having decided that the radiator will be at the back of the car (probably), the natural follow on from that is that the fuel tank will go at the front (I think). This means (still with me?) that there should be room for the gear linkage to come under the engine, removing the need for the cable shift. So I spent time today making the new link bar. First was to find a suitable piece of tube to fit over the gear selector shaft. As it happens, an off cut of the tube that I used for the suspension was nearly perfect. I cut this to size and drilled it so that a 6mm bolt will go through the hole in the selector and clamp the tube firmly in place. To this tube I carefully cut and shaped a piece that drops vertically down. For this and the fore/aft link I used the selector rod left from the original Rover donor. I could have used the Fiesta rod but the Rover version is a bit meatier! Now all I have to fathom is how to attach the rod on the other side of the engine – the Sylva Riot links to the bellhousing bolts – if anyone out there has any photos I’d be really grateful! Bye for now!

May bank holiday update.

2007-05-07T18:57:00.000Z

It’s the May bank holiday weekend and that can only mean one thing - the annual pilgrimage to Stoneleigh for the kit car show. Next year we really will have something to show.! To my mind, the show was notable for several prominent empty spaces in the exhibition halls as well as the debut of two cars very similar to the Mistrale - the SDR and the Rocket. There was also a reappearance of the Quantum Sunrunner. I particularly liked the Dax powered by a Bell Jet Ranger turbo-shaft engine - more on that one another time.

As John et al came down for the show, there was a busy weekends work on the car. first job involved grinding off the remnants of the bent engine mount and grinding off a weld on the other mount that I was less then satisfied with. Unfortunately, i was having a ‘Bad Weld Day’ and it took several attempts to produce a replacement that I was happy with! Next step was to get the engine back in position so that the new mount could be tacked in. Once the engine was in, John made the support struts whilst I busied myself with the gearchange. Originally I intended to use a shaft based system inspired by that on the superb Sylva Riot. However, with space at a premium I felt unable to position all the joins correctly so I am currently working on a combination of rods and cables. Fortunately in my ‘Steptoe’ box, I found an old bell crank that came off a motorbike at some stage in the past and this proved perfect to mate with the Fiat coupe cable I acquired! The fore/aft will be by a rod and I spent some time experimenting with an old Audi gear lever mated to Fiesta remnants to get a smooth action - unfortunately the Fiesta lever is a bit too butchered to use! I would love to use a shift like the one I saw on an Ultima at the weekend. dream on!
Meanwhile, John had the mount tacked in so it was out with the engine whilst he welded it fully. Finally it was back in with the engine to finish a busy, but very satisfying few days work! Whilst at Stoneleigh I bought a new radiator to replace the Fiesta one which wasn’t the prettiest! The princely sum of £10 each for rad and fan was paid. On our return to the workshop, we looked at various options for its positioning. We have (probably) decided to rear mount it above the gearbox - the prospect of long hot water pipes running through the tunnel with all the hydraulics and electrics seems worse that the extra weight at the rear of the car! This means that the fuel tank will now go at the front. Probably!

More soon!

Latest progress

2007-04-26T18:54:00.000Z

Apologies to all you mistrale watchers out there for the lack of recent updates. For me it has been a very busy time at work, which coupled with an Easter break in Cornwall has meant precious little time for car building. However, I finally managed a few hours today. The first task was to mount the passenger seat. The ‘Triton’ seats that I am using have threaded inserts built into the base. At first I thought that it would be a simple matter to bolt them onto fore/aft chassis rails, however, the profile of the seat base precludes this. Instead I have had to use lateral bars and bolt these onto the fore/aft chassis rails. This is not an easy task but it does mean that the harness cut outs are perfectly positioned with the rear cross member. The other task started today was to re-make one of the engine mounts to replace the one that bent the last time I removed the Zetec lump. The new one has ribs and a section of box that will prevent the same happening again.
Although I haven’t done mush actual work on the car, I have been expending a lot of mental energy trying to anticipate future problems. One of these is the fairly tight centre ‘tunnel’. The current plan is to mount the radiator at the front, which would of course mean that cooling pipes have to run the length of the car. An alternative is to have a side mounted radiator at the rear of the car. This would hopefully get enough airflow and would greatly simplify the plumbing. It would of course put more weight rearwards..... I’ll let you know how it goes!

The simple things...

2007-01-18T18:18:00.000Z

Why is it that whenever you think that you have a simple little job to do, it always ends up being far more difficult than you envisaged? Today I had the simple task of tacking in the tubes that support the seat. Unfortunately the first time I did it, the holes to mount the seat did not quite line up so I had to cut them off and start again. Having got it wrong once, I then spent a lot of time getting the alignment perfect for the second attempt - which worked eventually. Unfortunately this delay meant I used up all the time I had hoped to use to ponder pedal and gearchanges - I have this to look forward to next time!! I must confess to having spent a little time sat in the newly placed seat...! The only snag appears to be that the brake pedal may just catch the steering bottom bracket - however, I did have a large pair of boots on and it might look a bit different in trainers!

Steering at last

2007-01-12T18:32:00.000Z

Another couple of days of good progress this week. Earlier I cut and tacked in the two diagonals from the shock mounts to the scuttle tube (which I also tacked in). Today I fabricated the mounts for the steering. The lower on used an exhaust clamp to hold the Sierra rubber bush. The clamp was than bolted to a bracket welded to the front tube. it took several attempts to get it correct as the clamp that joins the lower column was fouling the bracket. The upper bracket was made to bolt to the adjustable mount from the Sierra. At first I thought that a simple plate would flex but once everything was bolted in, it seemed immovable! The last thing I did before leaving was to cycle the front suspension through its rang of movement and was delighted to see that there was no bumpsteer whatsoever - the time spent with the laser over the new year was obviously well spent!

New Year News

2007-01-03T20:31:00.000Z

Happy New Year t o you all! A lot to update today. First new purchases. From Rally Designs, I bought Caterham steering rack extensions, which extend the rack by 100mm. This means that the Escort Mk2 rack can be used otherwise unmodified. I also bought a pair of their aluminium rack clamps- a bit ‘bling’ but as the rack I have had no mounts, necessary. I have also addressed the steering column ‘problem’ by buying a Sierra column from the Cortina/Sierra on the A17 near Boston. It is just about the perfect length and at £17, much cheaper than having an adaptor machined for the Fiesta column. Finally Father Christmas (AKA Wife) bought me a pair of Sabelt Harnesses - these have yet to arrive though!
Anyway, before christmas, I made the mounts for the seats and tacked the rear bulkhead bracing - not as easy as it sounds as they slant in two directions! Over the new year, John and I made the rack mounts. First we clamped the rack in position and attached a laser pointer to one of the uprights. John then moved the suspension through its range of movement whilst I marked the bump-steer on a piece of cardboard 4m away - you probably can’t see the laser spot on this photo. We then progressively lowered the rack until we found the position where there was virtually no bump-steer at all.Typically this proved a pig to make mounts to hold the rack in this position but we eventually succeeded! Finally we mocked the steering column into position and decided how to attach it!
The next few weeks should see some rapid progress I hope! The hits counter has reached 5000 - they can’t all be John and I so how about leaving a message so that we know who is watching!? Cheers!

A Good weekends work

2006-11-26T19:47:00.000Z

Had a good weekend of work. John and his family visited so while our brave wives dealt with 5 kids, we went to the workshop! While I welded up all the tacked joints, John fabricated the mount for the steering column, which I later welded up. John then made the cross piece for the top of the chassis. The mount will bolt to additional cross pieces not yet made.
I have been agonising for ages about what to do for the floor. I had been given a large sheet of 18g steel to use, but I was worried about it flexing as I got in and out. Aluminium was my preferred option, mainly for the weight, but the current prices are very high and it seemed silly to spend £50 or £60 when I had perfectly good steel. I then noticed a Fiesta back seat in the scrap bin. The back of this is thin steel but it has ribs pressed into it and supporting bars. I have now cut this down to use at the front of the footwell and I’ll use the this steel under the seat where you don’t stand, as you can see form these photos.

2006-11-09T19:59:00.000Z

Had a much more successful time today. Managed to cut and drill 2 sets of seat rails, the lower portion on the centre tunnel and cross member and the ‘verticals’ for the front and rear bulkheads. Doesn’t sound much when it is listed like that but it was a good 2 to 3 hours of solid work this afternoon. It is getting quite exciting now that the prospect of finishing all the metal cutting is looming nearer!
Time to get the welder out and join this lot together!

No steps forward, two back

2006-11-08T20:19:00.000Z

Had a very simple goal today. 1. Remove Engine 2. Begin fabrication of tunnel. Time allocated: Task 1 - 10 mins, task 2, rest of morning. Oh that it were so simple! Began by positioning hoist to support engine so that once the mounts were undone, the chassis could be lifted a few cms to clear them before manoeuvering it clear past the exhaust stub, which will be going soon! However, for some reason, the engine didn't come out level and the right engine mount remained not only firmly attached, but also skewed so that no motion either wasy was possible. 2 hours of fruitless effort followed during which time I was unable to budge anything. At least the integrity of the welding was proven as the entire engine/gearbox were suspended from one mount while I 'tapped' it to free it. Unfortunately I caught a glancing blow on a couple of pieces loosly tacked in place, which fell off! Eventually I was forced to admit defeat as the mount had begun to bend. I had to cut it off the chassis. Time was then up for the day so I returned home for lunch a very unhappy bunny! Maybe tomorrow when I have chilled a bit I will start task 2 on my list!

Reminder to self: Supposed to be enjoying this!!!!

2006-10-17T19:02:00.000Z

I finished the front end, as predicted, a week or so ago but forgot the camera so here are the photos. Meanwhile I have been sorting the rear track control arms. I cut the arms off the Fiesta steering rack - fortunately they were not hardened. I then had the inner ends turned down to 12mm and cut a thread onto them so that they will take the bearings that I am no longer using for the rear struts. All this took time as I had to get them turned at work and then await for delivery of an M12 fine die to cut the threads. All I need now are 2 new track rod ends.

Front end

2006-10-03T19:06:00.000Z

Got around to sorting out the front end today. First I spent some time repositioning the front tubes that had skewed - cutting them off and re-aligning them. It was only about 7mm but well worth the effort to get it all sorted. I then started tacking the front suspension brackets. I had some on but when I touched them, they fell off. I cleaned them up, made sure the metal was really clean and tried again, with the same result. Then I noticed that the welder had been knocked and the switch had gone from ‘A’ to ‘1’, meaning I was using minimum power! Changed settings - sorted. It took a long time to get the brackets on all square. By the end of the afternoon I had one side done and couldn’t resist gently putting it all together! Hopefully the other side should be much easier and be completed in the next day or so.

Rear suspension - second half

2006-09-20T19:06:00.000Z

A good mornings work today with the other side of the rear suspension tacked in place. Not without trauma though as no amount of persuasion would make the ball joint engage in the bottom of the hub - it's even an official Ford part, bought from e-bay so despite appearing identical to the others, it may be from a slightly different model. Fortunately I had the scabby remains of one of the donor lower arms and was able to retrieve the joint from that, at least until I can find a replacement. Once this was all done, I re-checked the front frame for squareness, only to discover that it had skewed during tacking, on one side, so that will have to be re-done next.

Back at last!

2006-09-10T20:33:00.000Z

We finally got back in the workshop this weekend now that summer holidays are over! It took a while to sort out what was what and find everything we needed, not helped by the usual invasion of leaves that had to be cleared away before work could commence. John continued at the front. First he had to remove a lower frame that had previously been tacked into position - somehow it was 5mm off centre. Once this had been re-fitted and re-levelled, the vertical pieces that will support the wishbones had to be cut and tacked into place. At the back we expended a lot of mental energy deciding the best way to attach the lower wishbone, following the latest modifications at the rear. In the end it was a relatively simple solution that proved the best (isn’t it always?) and I got on sorting this out. Once the front was tacked up, for the first time we were able to accurately mock up the relative positions of the wishbones and steering rack, as shown here. It all looks like it should go together without too many problems.......
At the back, with one side sorted, I couldn’t resist putting a wheel on and seeing how it looked! I also got on and ground off the remainder of the old rear tubes, and fabricated the components for the other side. Unfortunately progress was halted at that point as the suspension brackets made for me in a local workshop have the wrong size bolt holes, so no further progress was possible until I have re-drilled these!

Out of Country!!

2006-06-28T19:48:00.000Z

Sorry folks, I'm out of the country with work now until the end of July so there will be no progress to report on! Hoping for a big push in August when I'm back though!

Week off - part two

2006-06-15T13:21:00.000Z

Spent another morning in the workshop today finishing off the brackets for the struts. All went quite well with one exception. I wanted to weld the round diagonal to the new bracket on the bench, rather then try to weld a difficult joint on the car. no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get even a decent tack though - I think it was an earth problem. In the end I gave up and tacked the bracket to the car and then the round tube to the bracket/car. They will be fully welded when the engine comes out prior to the floor going in. Then offered the wheel up to check clearance on my planned exhaust routing - which was fine. However, the rim of the wheel just fouls the spring seat of my new shocks - looks like a spacer will sort that though. Next up is to tack on the brackets for the lower arm.

It's been hot!

2006-06-13T14:02:00.000Z

Well, the weather over the last few days has prevented the inclination to get into the workshop, however, today was much cooler. As I have a week off work I managed not only to negotiate a morning off domestic duties, but also persuaded my better half to assist! Whilst she primed and sprayed the front wishbones (e bay purchases some months ago!) I set about making two new mounts for the new mini-struts. There purpose will become clearer later this week when I hope to get them onto the car! Here is a shot of todays progress - considerably more artistic than my usual efforts - guess who took it?!

Rear mock up

2006-06-05T19:26:00.000Z

It's been a quiet month - the aftermath of moving house with the inevitable trips to Ikea and subsequent domestic DIY have meant little progress. however, a trip to Wiltshire for a wedding and a visit to John afforded me the opportunity to collect my latest e bay acquisition on the way home - a pair of mini-struts, adjustable for rate and ride height. Although a little shorter than ideal, I will adapt the rear of the car accordingly - shouldn't be too much work and much easier than the Fiesta struts, and much cheaper than the alternatives. I have also been talking to Wunoff exhausts, top people who I won a silencer from in a competition. This is why I have mocked up the rear of the car, to ensure my prize will fit! Don't worry, the tape will be replaced with more permanent fixings and the silencer and pipe will be stainless! Although the rear of the car is pretty much as I envisaged it 8 years ago, a few lotus 340R influences have crept in, resulting in the removal of the panel upon which the lights and number plate were to be mounted. With a bit of luck the spacing should prevent Mr SVA and his radius tool from getting at too much of the rear! Let me know what you think!

John is back - more photos

2006-05-04T19:13:00.000Z

Couldn't get these to display on my last post!!

John is back!!!

2006-05-02T19:44:00.000Z

Finally got back in the workshop this weekend. John and his family came to stay and John and I spent most of Saturday working on the car, with high hopes of actually getting it onto 2 wheels. I set to work finishing suspension brackets and re-doing some welds on the wishbones, while John began to fabricate the structure at the front where the front suspension will attach. The front progressed well and finished up with about half of it tacked into place. At the rear however, things were a bit difficult. Having attached the lower wishbone on one side, it became apparent that the intended location of the top mount was not feasible. After much thought, the difficult decision to remove one of the chassis tubes was made.
We were always aware when we changed from Rover mechanicals to the Ford engine, that we would probably have to move something, however, it was still difficult cutting away what was actually quite a tricky tube to cut to size. Once this was done, the top mount was tacked on and the strut bolted into place temporarily. When we tried to compress the strut, it didn’t move and the whole car lifted.

Again, much head scratching ensued with the conclusion that as the strut has been at full extension on the stops oaf a while, maybe it has a bit of ‘stiction’ and may need a technical tap to free it. Unfortunately we had to call it quits at this point and return to 2 wives and five kids........Can’t wait to get back in the workshop again!

I'm supposed to be enjoying this!

2006-03-29T18:23:00.000Z

Finally got back in the workshop last night. The reason for the delay? Partly grotty cold, the rest see here http://www.totalkitcar.com/tested.php#1136

Anyway, finished the second suspension bracket last night and went to weld up the first. First weld went OK, but was disturbed during the second. Re-welded it but it had a few pin holes in it, so ground it back to check it - didn't look too bad. Then went to weld the other side of the joints. First the wire got stuck to the tip. Freed it, then the wire stuck again and tripped the power. Removed the tip and tried to replace it but couldn't get the new tip on. Also, the welder is now not operating, so I must have blown a fuse somewhere. I hope it is not worse! I won't be getting much done for a while now as I am moving house this weekend. By the time I've finished that, John will be back in the country and I can look forward to a weekend of mechanical mayhem while respective other halves and kids get together!

A Car is Born............NOT

2006-03-07T19:45:00.000Z

For those of you in the UK, one of the Discovery Channels is repeating the' A Race Car is Born' Series in which TV Vet Mark Evans makes a Westfield. In last nights episode, we were treated to Mark 'Smug Git' Evans opening the next box of brand new bits to assemble another part of his car, followed by him saying to camera 'and look what we've achieved in just four days'. Full of inspiration I went to the workshop determined to make real progress. 2 hours later I had made 1 sodding bracket. Ok, it was a particularly tricky shape, but I didn't even get time to weld it! And I've got to make one for the other side as well. With a house move looming, my glacial progress doesn't bode well, although for now the 'car' will remain in the workshop where it is. Still, Birthday approaches and offers of money to buy bits mean that I can treat myself to a couple of M12 fine pitch female rose joints!!!

Las week I ground off all the bird s*** welds on the wishbone and re-did it using advice from the ever helpful Locostbuilders. Much better, but still a little inconsistent - but someone more experienced than I said that they looked 'plenty strong enough'. Both bottom wishbones are now made, hance the work above on the brackets. When these are made, and I have my birthday 'treat', the car will be sort of on two wheels at least!!!

More rear suspension

2006-02-23T21:36:00.000Z

Drilled the second set of arms tonight, then welded in the inserts. These were then welded to the plates - hurray, one wishbone complete. The welding isn't the neatest - some bits went really well, others look messy, but there is excellent penetration and they seem v.strong!

More rear suspension

2006-02-15T19:41:00.001Z

Spent Monday evening cutting and drilling another plate for the other side of the suspension, and cutting another two suspension arms. Next will be to weld the rod-ends into these arms, then it'll be time to assemble the two wishbones. Unsuprisingly, Tuesday being Valentines day, I thought it prudent to spend the evening at home! Would be bitter irony to have anniversary of divorce on Valentines! It is now Wednesday, divorce succesfully avoided, I hope to do some more work tomorrow as I'm away at the weekend again. I have noticed that the site visitor count has hit 2000!! Thanks for looking everyone and keep watching!

More rear suspension

2006-02-15T19:41:00.000Z

Back suspension Jig

2006-02-05T19:32:00.000Z

Spent a bit of time today making the jig for the rear suspension. I also made the second arm of one side. I ran out of time with a little fettling still to do, but the photo should give an idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

Work on rear suspension

2006-01-29T13:47:00.000Z

I've decided that while the car is up on stands and level, I will sort as much of the rear as possible - when I come to finish the front, the engine will have to be taken out so I can bolt the frame to the jig, turn it over etc. As John is not around for a while, such tasks will be more cumbersome and difficult, hence the decision to sort as much as I can before the engine has to come out! This meant tackling the rear lower 'wishbones'. I discovered that Fiesta Ball joints were available separately, you don't have to purchase the entire lower arm as the Haynes manual suggests, and a spell on E-Bay yielded two of these. These will be bolted to a steel plate (on the other side to the way shown on the image) and welded to two arms. The ends of the arms will have spherical bearings, partly to allow adjustments, but also because I was given some complete with threaded inserts (albeit LH thread!). The inserts were a bit too big so a friend turned them down on a lathe - a bit roughly but they'll do. Today I drilled through the CDS tube and welded through the holes to hold the threaded inserts in place, then welded around the top. All of this was done with a spare bearing screwed into the insert to avoid distortion. I am quite pleased with the results - 1 down, three to go!!!

Back to work at last

2006-01-25T21:09:00.000Z

After a lengthy break, I got started again today. Last week, John and his family, and me and my family, had a holiday at Center Parcs. John will now be away for a while so I am on my own. Now that I have the gearchange sorted, I set about making the 'N' frame - this will bolt in position under the engine to stabilise the back frame that mounts the rear suspension. I got this done but further progress was frustrated as someone has borrowed the pillar drill. Hopefully I'll be able to make some more progress at the weekend.

New Year KISS

2006-01-11T08:10:00.000Z

It has been a slow few weeks - partly due to 'Royal Visit' from mother-in-law and her mother over christmas, and partly due to Johns house move. However, spent last night in workshop and have finally (I hope) resolved the gearchange. Originally I had intended to use a combination of rods and cables, that I sourced frmo a Fiat Coupe a mate was scrapping. Wasted a couple of evenings trying to get it working nicely but I was never happy. Last night I tried again, but the new linkage I tried just pushed the selector into an arc of movement outside of the possible range, so in a fit of pique, I junked it all and reverted o the original plan of a simple rod, as per GTM coupes and the like. It seems to work! Forgot camera though! Sorry. Also, yesterday I ordered front shocks and springs from Protech - very nice, helpful people and thoroughly recommended! Hope everyone out there had a good Christmas, Happy New Year to you all and keep watching! Front end is next...

A day of contemplation!

2005-12-11T21:21:00.000Z

Fans of the series American Chopper will be more than familiar with our day today - you know the scene, 'Pauly' gazing wistfully at uncompleted bike, 'Senior' walks in - what the **** are you doing?, when will you finish?. Today, John and I spent a couple of hours plotting and scheming, working out the best way to run the gearchange. To help, we lifted the car onto axle stands and carefully levelled it. Yesterday, I drove to Thetford to Ellistons and collected my hubs. uprights, discs and calipers, which took some time, but well worth it as they look great.

Latest 'progress'

2005-12-05T19:46:00.000Z

We've had a busy week. I got lucky and won a set of wishbones on e-bay - should save a lot of time and the parts that we've already made can be used when we start on Johns car. As we have decided to ditch the Fiesta rear subframe, I've also been getting quotes for the CDS tube for the rear suspension - it was much more reasonable than I thought so I will order that soon. Had a minor panic when I could not contact Ellistons kit parts for a while - I've paid them for a reconditioned set of cortina uprights and hubs, however, eventually contacted them, thanks in no small measure to those helpful people on the locostbuilders website. Finally, John and I spent Sunday morning making the rear gearbox mount and working on the gearchange mechanism - pictures of the mount are here. Plans for this week include collecting the front hubs, when it will at last be time to finalise the front of the car and get some wheels on!!
Finally, this week was novel for one final reason. For once it was John who left the workshop dripping blood - this is normally my speciality and I've been keeping antiseptic manufacturers in business for some time!!!

Progress.....

2005-11-20T19:39:00.000Z

Spent the last week making the parts for the front wishbones, ready to assemble them this week. Showed Johns father in-law the project and couldn't resist doing the following!

Finished with Fiesta!

2005-11-06T19:13:00.000Z

A profitable morning today (despite a few bottles of red wine last night!).
John stripped the last of the donor parts - the rest of the loom, the master cylinders and the gear change. I acquired some miscellaneous parts from a scrap Fiat Coupe and a Mondeo. Now we can make a bit of room in the workshop and get cracking. Hopefully I'll get to collect my reconditioned Cortina Hubs this week and work can begin on the suspension.

More progress

2005-11-01T21:15:00.000Z

It's been a busy week. While John removed the wiring loom/ECU, steering column etc. from the Fiesta, I continued to make the secone engine mount. I also had a busy e-bay week, securing an escort steering column and some track rod ends, and some Fiat Coupe back lights from a friend. Tonight, the fuel pump was removed from the donor - just the pedals and hydraulics to go. Here are the pictures of progress so far

Engine Mounts...

2005-10-19T20:19:00.000Z

Spent some time this evening aligning the engine within the chassis - took a while to get it perfectly square. Then fabricated the right engine mount and tack welded it in position. Photos to follow...

Progress again

2005-10-18T20:44:00.000Z

Decided to junk the subframe from the donor car. After a little work, it was off - when we tried to move it we discovered that it was bl***y heavy - good decision I think! The rear of the car was the next part to be fabricated and welded on - looks great. A day at the Donington show yielded lots of useful info chatting to people, and lots of goodies from the various stands, although my plans to buy suspension brackets from MK were foiled - they forgot them! This evening has seen the creation of the strut brackets and part of the engine mounts. All in all, a good weeks work!

Stripping the donor car - again

2005-10-07T19:12:00.000Z

The new donor car has been delivered - a 1996 Fiesta 1.25. Stripping this car was much easier than the Rover. After an hour and a half, all the under bonnet connections were undone. Removal of the subframe mounting bolts was east, it was then a case of removing the engine mounts and the strut top mounts. A minor delay occured whilst searching for an 18mm ring spanner - remarkably elusive!!! The engine was then lowered onto a low trolley under the car. The front of the car was then lifted on the engine hoist and the tiny, all aluminium engine and gearbox wheeled out. The engine is now resting in the chassis awaiting construction of the engine and suspension mounts, while the donor car awaits the removal of all the ancillaries to make the engine run. Photos to follow...

Top Tip Three-Measure Twice, cut once...

2005-09-19T19:25:00.000Z

I wanna tell you a story....
When the build began, I understood that Mini's and Metro's had a 4"PCD (diagonal distance between wheel studs). When I was offered the Rover, I measured the PCD - 4" - great, I'll use Metro front hubs.
I duly sourced front hubs from a low mileage Rover Metro, put them in the corner of the workshop and forgot about them....
Big Mistake!!!!
A chance conversation with a 'Font of automotive knowledge' (whose Mastermind specialist subject is 'PCD's from 1872 to the present day') set me on edge. To the workshop.....

What we found:

1. The 'Rover' Metro uses a PCD of 95.6mm, unlike its A series predecessor.
2. the Rover 200/400 uses a PCD of 100mm, not 4" (101.6mm).

So nothing fits anything. B****x.

After long deliberation of the options, the difficult decision to ditch the Rover was made. Using a Rover Metro front subframe at the back was briefly considered but with the future supply of Rover parts in the balance, Uncle Henry's parts bin called.

The local tame scrappy is very keen to use my engine in his Banger racing car, so has offered me a deal on a Zetec-s engined Fiesta 1.25. This is a light, revvy engine that will fit in the chassis with no modifications. It also allows the use of standard 'Locost' suspension with Cortina Hubs at the front.

Stay tuned for 'Stripping the Donor part deux'...........

Catch up on the build so far

2005-09-19T19:12:00.000Z

Building the Space frame

Step 1 was to purchase a sheet of 18mm MDF to use as a jig for the frames. The upper and lower planform were marked and holes drilled either side to accept a length of threaded rod. The cut tubes were put in place and clamped to the board using offcuts of plywood. This ensured that there was no distortion during the welding process. We then spent some time learning to weld, and here is the first Top Tip – MiG welding works MUCH better if you have gas in the bottle……..nuff said?

The top and bottom frames were then accurately positioned using a precision jig and the corner uprights cut to fit. Some time was spent ensuring an accurate fit prior to welding. As this was the first angled weld, a test piece was welded first – eventually with good results. However, when I tried on the chassis, it was awful! Nothing for it but to grind it off and start again. And again…Returning home in a foul mood, I kicked the cat and went to bed. Next day, same settings, nothing changed produced decent results. Doh!

After the considerable effort cutting the uprights, for the diagonals we used a long length of paper to prototype the tube. This was wrapped around the tube then marked and cut. This gave excellent results with a good fit virtually straight away. Top Tip Two – Paper is SO much easier to cut than steel!

This is what we are building!

2005-09-19T19:07:00.000Z

Here is a quick picture of a MODEL of the Mistrale. It is not a full size car on giant slabs!

Stripping the Donor Car

2005-09-11T03:30:00.000Z

The donor car was a 1990 Rover 416GTi that was purchased from a friend for the princely sum of £10. It had failed its MoT because of a small area of rust next to a suspension mount - no problem to fix once removed from the car! Other that this, the car had had much attention and money lavished upon it including nearly new back brakes.

The first evening was a bit like a feeding frenzy. With the help of two friends, most of the under bonnet connections were undone, along with the front crossmember - all of this taking about an hour. We decided to strip the car outside to ease disposal of the bodyworf once it had no wheels. On the second night, working alone, I disconnected the steering column, pedals and gearchange - again about an hour before the light faded. On the final night, a friend helped lift the front of the car with an engine hoist, and prop it up. A trolley was then wheeled under the engine and gear box. The final mounts were undone and the car lifted off the engine/trolley assembly!

We then returned to remove various other parts from the car. The back axle and rear uprights were removed as a complete unit - in case anything proved useful! Next followed the fuel tank, filller neck and the remains of the exhaust. The wiring loom followed after a very hot evening of work and finally, an angle grinder was taken to remove the thick walled bushed that the two fornt cross members bolted into. The full leather interior had already been removed and has been put aside - if it is not used, e-bay calls!