Hello all!

[CptKaos]

Thanks guys.

Managed to get enough ali to finish off the cabin thanks Andrew, my buddy from Tripod cars, everything else has come to a grinding halt until business start up again, friggin holidays...
So put major bits of panel in to make the sills, probably the hardest panels on the car to make, mainly because I decided to make them all one curved piece instead of 3 flat panels, to match the tunnel top as well, I think straight panels looked a bit naff in this car.









You can see I'm making the rear 2/3rds of the tunnel top and passenger side removeable, as well as a hatch in the drivers side for future access if needed.

Center tub back on.



Sill area



about 2 hours later at this stage, fettled in pretty well, another hour or 2 tomorrow should see that side done, 1 down and 1 to go!

[IEVAQ8]

neat as fuk man

[CptKaos]

Thanks for the comments guys!

It's been way to hot to do much but I've been doing a bit still over the last few weeks so time for an update!

Stripped back the rocker cover for paint, and found empty toilet paper rolls perfect for covering the spark plug holes while painting. Unfortunately couldn't find an easy way to cover the raised lettering so taped and cut the old fashion way, and what a PITA that was, very fine, fiddly job.



Applied the new wrinkle paint as per instructions, they say 3 heay coats sprayed horizontally, vertically then diagonally, then bake at 95 for an hour.
My heavy must be different to their heavy as it came out like and old elephant's scrote. On a cold day!
Too thick and too wrinkly so I'll have to strip it back and try again...



Couldn't quite fit the bits I needed into the ally I got so once the shop reopened I got another sheet of 1.2 and did the sills, found a nice lockable glovebox from the chandlery and fitted that, ( is removable and will give me access to battery and electrics) and did a final fettle on panels and center tub section.

[CptKaos]

Covered internal panels with waterproof canvas, sills and tunel top are padded, the rest is not.
Going to be tough keeping it all clean during the rest of the build but I couldn't think of a better way of doing it, so I'll just have to cover it all up as good as possible.







Started gluing and riveting, bit of a milestone, using Sika 260N, after some testing seemed a good compromise between strength and ease of application. Light scuff of the powdercoat and a wipe of both sides with isopropyl does the trick, you'll have to destroy the panels to get them off again.

[CptKaos]

Had to throw the tunel top on and check out how the finished item will look with tadpole strip in place, and I don't mind saying for someone who's never done anything like this before I'm rapt with the result, just need to keep it looking like that now....



Oh and had to put a build number on it to keep the gingerbeer happy, so rivetted on the label I got with the kit.



Starting to come together now, bit exciting!

[IEVAQ8]

fuking awesome man...

[u mad?]

^ x2, can't wait to see this beast finished

[CptKaos]

Thanks guys.

Been too fkn hot here to be in the shed much but still ticking off the jobs.
Continued paneling finishing the footwells all but the drivers outside piece, I'll leave that off until the pedals are hung and floor's on.









That last one was a complete bastard to get in, I think the neighbors learned some new words...


Now I decided to take a big sidestep and fit the body, before the floor goes on, because then there's no access to the front of the tub where the front clam latch goes. So glassed on catches, suspension/wheels back on, then body on and lined up as best I could. It needed a fair bit of fettling to be honest and it's still not as good as I'd like. I did speak to another chap building one and he found the same thing, in the same areas so it looks like the body is not square/mirrored perfectly. But after a few days off it and and chat or 2 I have some more ideas and should be able to get it ok I reckon. Will be the last thing on my mind hooking the the hills anyway.
As it looks now, catches in, hinges hung, still needs some locating pins for the side and the stiffening gussets glassed in. Oh and I then found out the outside of the clam can still lift up, holding down from the center only isn't enough,so more cunning plans needed. Or I'll just piss off the fancy catch system and used a couple of bonnet pins instead.





In the meantime I plumbed the fuel tank, made the covers and had to extend the float a bit on the sender, all came up good bar my little "test" hole... Idiot.
Had to test the pump and the Holley Hydramat so put 10l of fuel in, rigged up some electrons and gave it a go. Pump primed straight away with good volume and pressure, sucked what seemed to be 10l back outgave 1 cough and flow stopped. Checked the tank and got half a mug out of it, about 100ml I reckon so happy with that to.
See how it goes over time.

[CptKaos]

Didn't that last 10 months go in a blur, been a bit of a shed hermit tbh...

But she's done, fin. For now anyway.

Passed all the last tests 2 weeks ago and got the paper to get rego yesterday.
Got my plates, how's the awesome number, not personalized just the random plate that came my way, good omen I reckon.
Anyway here's a few shots i took today and a link to the rest of the build photos if you want.
Oh and yea, haven't fully got up it yet, like on the track, but it's proper quick, lovely little engine, thanks to everyone here that helped me along the way, appreciate it.

http://s1302.photobucket.com/user/ak...ry/Sylva%20J15

[EKVTIR-T]

wow congrats fella,thats unreal! nice score on the plate too

[bennjamin]

Interesting

Without pushing too much - can i ask the tracking and wheel base ?
How did you work out the shift linkage (rear engine rear drive right ? )

I have a S600 shell i want to do something similar in the next few years ��

[CptKaos]

Cheers guys, that's cool push away, glad to help.

Wheelbase is 2280mm and track between rear hubs is 1420mm from memory. Had to shorten Honda driveshafts and recut outer splines to take the Ford Fiesta outer cv.
Have a look through the build photos to get an idea how I did the linkage and ask away anything you're unsure about.
It basically uses a solid "U" rod to transfer the output to the front of the box where it can be accessed and used as normal, no need to reverse throws etc if you use the Honda shifter method. ie shift rod swinging under the shifter pivot.

Also check out http://locostusa.com/forums/ particularly the non traditional build log section for plenty of good ideas for the build you're planning, there's a couple of interesting BEC N600's there atm.