With thrashing so hard to get everything done on the car, keeping this up to date has been a bit neglected. So here is the last month….
Last post, engine mounts where the next item on the list, and I got those cut out, awaiting the engine being fitted back into the car so that I can get it all lined up.
The next big jobs were getting the thing painted, so that I can start bolting things back on.
Jan 23 – the first coat of paint went on the underside and engine bay areas.
A couple of days later and the second coat was done, and now all that is left to do is wait for it to dry. Its now the 30th of Jan…
While waiting for that to dry, attention turned to putting some of the sub assemblies together, so they can be bolted in.
Gearbox mount was re-made and is now bolted back onto the gearbox.
My beautiful wife assembled the new pedal box for me while I worked on the front suspension.
I got the new calipers cleaned up and painted (snapped one off in the crash), and also got a new knuckle prepped and painted.
Also got the inside floor of the car prepared and a coat of paint on it.
While the inside was drying, it was time to start working underneath the car and getting as many parts as possible fitted.
Fuel tank, pump and filter in, the tank needs to be in before the rear subframe goes in.
Assembled all of the hubs, rotors, calipers, shocks etc and got them bolted on.
Feb 6th – Another weeks has flown by.
All of the rear end is back in.
The wiring is layed out in the car, switch panel mounted, brake and fuel lines fitting, handbrake fitted – all made a lot more difficult because the floor is new, all the mounting holes need to be done again.
Next job was to start the fiber-glass work – need a new bonnet, front bumper and front guards, as well as repairing the rear flare on the right side that had a few, well lets call them flesh wounds.
Front bumper done.
Bonnet with gelcoat done, with the cloth layers cut out and ready to lay up.
14th Feb – Bonnet, front guards are out of the molds. Next is to trim these up and sand them ready for paint.
Got a few more bits fitted, like the radiator, and more of the wiring, like the battery kill switch, radiator fan, etc.
Feb 19th
Steering and dash fitted, more wiring finished, etc etc.
Oil catch tank, radiator overflow tank and lines all going in.
JC helped me out and trimmed up all of the fiberglass parts, so they are ready for a final sanding and painting.
Engine and gearbox went in, engine mounts welded in, cross member in and suspension connected. For the first time in about 10 months she is on her own feet again!
Now just the small task of making it run…
Feb 24th
A day making a few small parts and fitting them to the car. The throttle setup of the car was something that I was not happy with, there was too much travel of the pedal from idle to full, and it was quite linear. I wanted a lot less travel, but a decent amount around idle/low speed, but then rapidly to full throttle with only a small amount of extra pedal movement.
Machined out this rocker, and set it up on the pedal box with some new linkages (the old linkages snapped off in the crash) and I now have it acting like I think I want it to be – although another whole day has passed. The test will be seeing what it feels like when I have a running motor…
Spent the following day being totally exhausted.
But we now have a new exhaust system in place. The other one had its muffler crushed in the post crash extraction, where we had to drag the car out over the fallen tree that we hit, and it was also very beat up where it exited the side of the car – not to mention that it was made from parts of two old STI exhaust systems that were donated from an exhaust shop’s bin.
And that’s us all up to date, although there was another whole bunch of other tiny things achieved as well.
Mike Joss Racing 