Got a lot done today, in not too many hours.

I machined up 6 threaded inserts to mount the pedal box into the tubes of the chassis.  They are all lined up and welded in now, so the pedal box mounting is complete!

Next, was some work to finish the steering column.  I ended up cutting off the very end of the mount up near where the steering wheel is, cause I was not happy with it.  Made a new design that I’m happier with.  Also pulled all of the column apart to finish drilling the holes where the steering wheel mounts, and to paint it all.

The I moved onto the lower mount and built and fitted that.

The shaft is now also cut to its proper length.  I kept going with the steering theme, and fitted the steering rack temporally to work out the final bits of the steering.

I then cut up the old steering to get the splined ends, to turn them into the new section of the steering.  So thats now all cut to length and painted, ready to be fitted.

Then I bolted the pedal box back in, and the seat and steering wheel so that I could check the fitment of everything.  Sitting in there I’m really happy with how it all feels at the moment – time will tell….

Almost looks ready to go 🙂

So,  one of the next items is to start paneling in the firewall and floor etc.  I need to be able to bend pieces of steel and alloy sheet – so i made a bender.  I’ve had this on the list of things to do for quite a while, but now i need it.  It’s wide enough to fit a 1200mm wide sheet in it, so should be able to do everything that I need.

It’s all made from scrap bits from around the shed, the pivots are gudgeon pins from an engine, the bit thats attached to them are from an old trolley jack –  Neil would be proud 🙂

It works well though, even a piece of 3mm thick stainless steel strip was no match for it.

The current upper clamp has a rounded edge, creating a nice rounded bend.  I’m going to make a another upper clamp from a piece of angle iron, that has a sharper edge, for making  sharper bends (The upper bit is removable).  If the need ever arises, I think that it would also be nice to have another one with a larger radius bend on it.

Until tomorrow…  Hopefully I can start paneling in the floor.