Long Time No Update.....

Saturday 5th October

I only managed a short time on the car, I marked up the position for where to pass the lambda sensor wiring through the body work, removed the exhaust manifold and drilled the hole and fitted an appropriate grommet, I need to cut the current connector off the sensor wiring and re-wire it once I have passed the wiring though the grommet, slight annoying but it will look tidy.

Sunday 13th October

I have started marking up the dashboard layout, ready for fitting the gauges, warning lights and switches, this will allow me to crack on with the wiring behind the dashboard, tidying up all the wires as a I go.

Saturday 26th October

With the dash all marked out I thought I would drill the holes for the clocks, 3 out of 5 done, as I have no 80mm hole saw for the tacho and speedo....time to add to my tool collection.

Saturday 23rd November

Alternator Set-up

Today I managed to drill the two holes for the 80mm clocks in the dash, once I get back from my holiday I will start wiring the dash……..….Two weeks in Florida. J

Since the last update I have managed to fit the alternator and complete the fitting of the brackets, (with thanks to various other blogs on the net)

Wiring in the warm.

Friday 27th December

Rather than spend the evening out in the cold garage, I bought the car into the warm lounge, wiring the dash is the task in hand.

Saturday 18th January

This wiring lark is very time consuming, what started as a loom in the form of cooked spaghetti now appears to be a loom in the form of cooked spaghetti with some connectors on the end, a little more work is required I think, on the plus side most of the switches are wired so I can start wrapping the wires in loom tape. I have also fitted the front brake callipers and plumbed in the brake pipes which are all secure. 

Looming....

Friday 30th August

I decided to break open the ECU loom box and start considering the routing around the engine bay, the loom is a nice plug ‘n’ play arrangement from harnessing solutions (www.harnessing-solutions.co.uk), once I had located the relevant sensors and connections I roughly ran the loom through some cable ties and plugged in what I could, I still need to wire in the relays for the fan and the fuel pump but I will do this once I have fitted a plate behind the dash for mounting the relays and fuse box.

Wednesday 4th September

I have turned the Zetec fuel rail around so I do not have to run fuel hose the length of the engine bay and back again, this simple mod provides a neater solution, the fuel filter is also mounted and plumbed in.

Saturday 14th September

Bodywork all loaded up
ready for the trip home

Progress has been a little slow in the last week or so, mainly because I am taking my time to familiarise myself with the wiring loom and what the best way to route the loom is, although I have managed to fit and plumb in the catch tank.

Today I took a road trip to Hereford to pick up the body and a few other bits such as the exhaust system and prop shaft.








Friday 20th September

4 into 1 exhaust manifold

I managed to get a few hours working on the car, I fitted the starter motor, trial fitted the exhaust manifold so I could determine where the hole in the body work for the lambda sensor wiring needed to be and I have also made a start on fitting the alternator brackets. The propshaft is in place but not yet secured as I need to source some appropriate bolts.

Starter Motor Fitted

Propshaft in place

It's Home...And has an engine.

Friday 26th July

The car is now at my house, hopefully it will progress a little more.

Saturday 11th August

The fuel tank has been fully plumbed in, with the feed and return connected up and a rollover valve fitted. The bellhousing requires some trimming to provide clearance between the chassis once mounted in the car, this has been trimmed, bolted to the gearbox, the clutch fork fitted and along with a new release bearing.

I have also fixed the new lowline sump in place of the old 2-piece sump.

New Sump fitted

Engine in

Monday 26th August

I have managed to bolt the engine and gearbox to one another so it is now ready to drop into the car for fitting.

For lowering and manoeuvring the engine and gearbox into the chassis I enlisted some help from my other half and my dad, which was a good job to help ensure clearance on all sides, the process didn’t take too long and after a bit persuasion and adjustment it was all ready for the engine mounts, I placed the mounts on some blocks of wood and drilled down through the chassis, once the holes were drilled I replaced the wood with the rubber mounts and added some loctite to the engine block mounts and ensured the gearbox was fully bolted down.

I have a choice of what to start on next…the time consuming wiring…the alternator  (inc brackets)…the radiator…. I do know my first task is going to be plumbing in the fuel filter and engine fuel rail.

Rolling… Rolling… Rolling....

Saturday 20th July

I am now in a position to be able to transport the car to my garage, which will hopefully mean I can progress things on a little more, I spent a few hours today making sure the nuts holding the suspension together weren't going to come off during transportation. I also fitted the steering wheel to make manoeuvring easier. I am hoping to get the Kit moved at some point over the next week. 

Rolling… Rolling… Rolling……….. (nearly)

Saturday 5th July

Managed to get a few hours on the car, I spent my time adjusting the rear wishbones and coilovers ready to fit the wheels, rear wheels are on and spin freely which is good. I secured some more of the wiring loom ready for transportation to my house, a few more hours and the car will be rolling.

I'm Still Here.....

Friday 9th November

Nicely packaged up

The contents of what lies inside

Today I took delivery of a nice new Zetec engine courtesy of GBS. (www.kitspares.co.uk)

Saturday 10th November

Managed to do a dump run and get rid of 99% of the rubbish in the garage, there is now room to move around.  J Hopefully I will get around to fixing some lights up in the not too distant future.

Saturday 8th December

Put the Christmas tree up. Anna went into labour. The following day we have a baby boy. J

Saturday 23nd December

Spending lots of time looking after our new arrival Finley J and talking to visitors.

Saturday 5th January

Helping with looking after Finley. J and it is far too cold to be outside.

A Winter's Scene

Saturday 19th January

Snow is falling….

Saturday 2nd February

One of the old strip lights was accidently knocked down, one of my nice new lights has been wired up in its place. What a difference.

Saturday 16th February

Managed to spend a couple of hours on the car, I built up the offside hub / suspension set-up, nearly ready for the wheels to make the car into a rolling chassis. J

Saturday 2nd March

Popped up to Aidan’s to give him a hand on his GBS Zero, read about his build trials and tribulations.

I have been busy ordering parts, some nice shiny new wheels (www.rimstyle.com), a Omex ECU + Loom (www.harnessing-solutions.co.uk)  and a lowline sump (www.dunnellengines.com)

I also collected the garage floor paint. J Date set for floor painting, 30^th March.

Saturday 30th March

Finished wiring up the garage lights and painted the garage floor with help from Aidan in exchange for lunch and regular top-ups of coffee.

I have placed an order to have my Type 9 gearbox rebuilt by BGH Geartech (www.bghgeartech.co.uk) the lead time is circa 8 weeks, so I should receive this at the start of June/

Sunday 5th May

Weekend of Stoneleigh, decided to make a trip to attend the show. It seemed busier than the previous two years I have attended, maybe because the sun was shining. Lots of Kit cars on display which was good to see.

Importantly though I picked up some more parts, mainly for assisting with the engine and gearbox fitment, engine mounts + rubbers, propshaft etc.

Saturday 18th May

Prepared the old gearbox for exchange, clutch fork, bell housing and gearstick removed and gearbox all packaged up

Saturday 1st June

Shed building and a change to have a quick look at the new Gearbox.

I have also managed to remove the clutch, flywheel and  exhaust manifold from the engine, the flywheel is heading to Dunnell Engines to be lightened.

Fuel Tank Strapped in

Saturday 15th June

I spent a couple of hours playing with the car getting it ready to fit the wheels, also fitted the fuel level sender into the tank and strapped down the fuel tank, I have fitted some 5mm neoprene rubber in-between to the tank, mounting brackets and straps to absorb any vibration. I need to connect the feed and return pipes to the tank along with a rollover, that will just leave the filler for when the rear bodywork is fitted.

Saturday 29th June

The new Flywheel has arrived curtosy of Dunnell, I have refitted this and taken the opportunity to fit the Spigot Bearing into the back of the engine, this pupose of this is to stop dirt ingress. I have also refitted the clutch.

Lightweight Flywheel with Spigot Bearing Fitted

Clutch Refitted

  

For fans of Vinyl

Saturday 7th July

As I plan on fitting the side panels soon, I thought it best I approach a few tasks that are easier to tackle with the side panels off the car, I have ensured all the holes in the tunnel are capable of taking the 4mm rivets that I am using, I have lined up the speedo sensor bracket with the differential and mounted the speedo magnets and 180 degrees apart of the differential flange, using some epoxy resin to help secure them in place.

I have started fitting the under dash panels, the drivers side panel is fully secured with rivets and has had some vinyl applied to provide a neater finish, the passenger side works on a hinge so the fuse box can be accessed, at present the panel is only held in place by some screws, this will be covered in vinyl and riveted later on in the build.

Saturday 21st July

I took the decision to get my side panels vinyl wrapped by a professional and I am glad I did because I don’t have the expertise (it would have taken me an age, not looked great and probably cost me a fortune in wasted material), the panels look great, I got them covered by a chap called Chris who runs a local company (www.wrapiton.co.uk) based in Southampton, he even collected and returned the panels for me.

 
I have placed the panels on the side of the car and secured them with a few screws for the time being, I am really pleased with how the panels look in place.

I have taken the opportunity to start fitting the front suspension set-up, the front suspension is quite different from many of other lotus 7 inspired cars which often run a double wishbone and coilover system, the striker utilizes roller rockers, inboard coilovers and a single lower wishbone set-up.



Vinyled side panel fitted to the car

I started by fitting the roller rockers and front coilovers, followed by the lower wishbone to which the lower ball joint is fitted and locked in place by knocking the locktabs back. The cycle wingstay holds the upper ball joint which is fitted to the roller rocker, the wingstay is secured in place by the clamp and pinch bolt on the rear of the sierra front upright (which would clamp the Sierra McPherson strut in place).

At present only the roller rocker bolts have been tightened, the rest will be done once the car is underload, the wishbones on the striker are adjustable, I will probably get the suspension set-up correctly by Raw once the car has been built.

Thursday 9th August

Well we have finally moved house, the bad news is there is much decorating ahead of me, the good news is the Striker has a home so my parents can have their garage back.

Saturday 1st September

 

Still decorating

 
Saturday 29th September

Still decorating
 
Saturday 13th October

Getting there, not too much more decorating.
 
Saturday 27th October
 
The garage seems to fill up with rubbish quicker then I can empty it. This isn’t what I wanted from a garage.     :(