More floor and fuel!

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

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.....