02/06/2006

2hrs

Rear Bulkhead

The paint has dried on the inspection panel so I fitted it to the rear bulkhead.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon shortening some M4 countersunk screws and  fixing the RH vent box . I  had to do a small mount of filing to the vent box to get the vent flap fit easily in place and aligned with the indentation in the wing.   I  finally got it in place after touching up the edges of the box with black paint.  I'm undecided whether to leave the trimming of the flaps to Nostalgia to ensure they are the best fit possible when the car is being finished. I don't have to make a decision about it now and will turn my attention to other outstanding jobs. I can always come back to the vent boxes again later.
 

03/06/2006

Bonnet Badge

Grill

Exhaust
System
 

I started by looking at the build manual for module 3 and noting the jobs in order that were still outstanding. The bonnet badge looked like an easy one.  3.00" (true,  taking into account the curvature of the bonnet) on the centre line of the bonnet and drill a single 6mm fixing hole. I place masking trap on the bonnet to protect it and to assist with marking the hole for the badge.  The devil is in the detail. I marked 3.00 " on a piece of card nd cut it to length. I  placed one end on the top of the grill opening laid in along the "centre line of the bonnet and marked the other end on to the masking tape.  To find the centre point on the bonnet I cut another piece of cardboard and laid it across the bonnet at the point where the badge should fit.  I  aligned one end with the edge of the bonnet and marked the other end where it also aligned with the bonnet. I measured the length and divided it by 2 to find the centre. I placed the cardboard back on the bonnet and transferred the centre mark to the masking tape.  Where the two lines crossed is where the badge should fit. - or should it?  Locking alone the bonnet to the centre pillar of the windscreen and the grill opening I could not be sure the point was in the centre of the bonnet.  Nothing could be worse than the badge would look off centre when the grill was fitted.   Nothing for it but to keep the point as is on the bonnet  and turn my attention to fitting the grill.  I unpacked the grill  which I had had fro some time but not looked at more than just a cursory glance to see if it was OK.  I put my usual masking tape around  opening on the bonnet for the grill. The build manual says to make a template to transfer the hole pattern to the bonnet for drilling.  I duly made a pattern from cardboard and punched holes through it for  the fixing studs. I attempted to transfer the hole pattern to the bonnet but found that the curvature of the back of the grill and the contour of the bonnet were not the same.  Also the template was pretty floppy and difficult to align with the moulding in the bonnet that indicates where the grill should fit.  To solve the problem and get some confidence that the grill was going to be in the correct position I adopted a combination approach. I taped the template to the bonnet aligning it as best as I could.  I placed the grill on top of it and aligned it by eye to be central to the hole and the moulding. The studs at the top lined up with the holes in the template, so far  so good  the studs at the bottom were no where near where the template said they should be. The centre ones did not line up  or touch the bonnet at all because of the curvature of the grill. I painted engineers blue on to the tips of the top studs and offered the grill up in lace again. The blue mark transferred to the bonnet indicated where to drill.  I drilled two pilot holes and then opened them up to 5.5mm. I took the template off.  I Refitted the grill  this time having painted the bottom studs with engineers blue, engaging the top studs and transferring the blue mark to the bonnet for the bottom studs.  I drilled pilot hoes  and opened them out to 5.5 mm.  With the top and bottom studs engaged in the holes the second set of studs (next from the top) now touched the bonnet.  I repeated the operation for these studs. Once the holes were drilled and the grill refitted I was able to mark the last set of studs and drill the corresponding holes.  The studs in the grill are at different angles , so it is necessary to gradually open out the holes  either with a slightly larger size drill or elongate the holes with a rat tail file to obtain the best fit.  Frustration points number  one and two now came to a head.  Whilst I was working on fitting the grill I realised I didn't have any securing nuts of the right size.  Secondly I now discovered that the outermost vertical bars of the grill interfere with the bonnet preventing it from fitting flush with the bonnet.  There is no mention of this as a problem in the build manual or of having to modify the hole in the bonnet ot accommodate the grill. I decided to abandon the grill fitting and seek clarification from Nostalgia on Monday,   The grill looks to be in the right place and symmetrical with the hole and the moulding  in the bonnet.  I had got sufficiently far enough to enable me to place the grill in positing and mark the position centre vertical bar on the bonnet.  Then using a plumb line from the central windscreen pillar to front to the car, via the centre pint of the grill I could establish the centre line of the bonnet.  It passed very close to the mark I had made for fitting the badge, I only had to make a slight adjustment. the plumb bob also gave me a line of site which made the marking of the windscreen washer jet, at the back of the bonnet, much easier and more accurate.  I drilled the bonnet and fitted the badge

Another job to tackle was fitting the exhaust system.  The manifolds and down pipe were fitted a long time ago the remainder of the system had been sat in a box waiting, I spent a few minutes at the end of the day sorting out that I had all  parts I needed,  It looked like a straight forward job fro tomorrow.

04/06/2006
4hrs

Exhaust
system

I started on the exhaust system confident that I would have it finished just after lunch. I fitted the two anti vibration mounts to the lower differential mounting plate.  There are two holes pre drilled in the plate for this purpose.  I connected the 1- 2 front pope t the down pipe from the manifold I found it useful to support the pipe with a bottle jack while locating and tightening the front fitting. To help with the fitting and sealing, I used Holts Fire Gum as a lubricant and sealer on all joints.  I engaged the RHS mid pipe in the  1 - 2 front  pipe  ( RH outlet) and then worked the pipe further on with a twisting motion until I could fit the bracket on to the RH A/V  mount on the diff carrier.  I repeated the operation for the LH mid pipe. except that I could not get the bracket to engage on the LH A/V mount there was a gap of 25mm.   It looks like one of the pipes is 25mm too long but which one?  I took the whole system to pieces again to investigate.   One of the arms of the 1-2 pie is longer than the other  I presume by intention, to accommodate the fixing clamps which will need to be staggered because there is insufficient room to mount them side by side.  I did a trial fit, rotating the 1-2 pie by 180°  so that the outlet pipes were swapped over.  The result was the 25mm gap changed sides. My frustrating weekend was complete.  I'll phone Nostalgia tomorrow to find out if they ever  have to shorten any of the pipes.

 05/06/2006

Exhaust

Grill

I called Simon at Nostalgia about my problems over the weekend.  Firstly the grill securing studs are 2BA thread and they will send me some nuts.  Secondly they extensively modify the hole in the bonnet for the grill  They cut back to the interior dimensions of the grill but making "D" shaped areas to accommodate the studs, so leaving plenty of fibreglass  around them for strength.   Lastly the exhaust system. Nostalgia have never had to shorten a pipe but have managed to accommodate the  fitting of the pipe by bending the brackets to a lazy "S" shape. 

I only had a little time to work on the car today. I added more masking tape to the area around the grill hole in the front of the bonnet. I put the grill in place and  dew around it.  I measure the width of the outer frame of the grill at 20 mm. Using the outline of the grill as a guide, I measured 20mm from this line at frequent points and joined them up to mark  the outer limit of the modified hole in the bonnet.  I placed ¾" washers on the stud holes and drew around them to define the minimum stud area. I moved a further few mm inboard all round as the place to start cutting out the hole.  The Technique will be  to cut the hole out to this minimum size, then gradually work outwards making sure not to encroach in to the area for the studs. By successive trials of the grill modify the hole to it's final size when the grill is the best possible fit.    A job for tomorrow.
 

06/06/2006

Grill

I started work on modifying the hole in the bonnet for the grill by bolting some large (¾") washers in place where the grill studs will fit. This defines the land around the studs. I left them in place to prevent encroachment in to this area when I removed the excess material.  I drilled 4mm holes in he waste material, close together, at strategic points around the hole fro the grill. I broke out these holes to make a slot so that I could use a pad saw to enlarge the hole.  I removed the excess material ,up to the line I had marked, with a combination of sanding drum in the Dremel and a half round file.   During this process I discovered some quite severe delimitation of the GRP which will need filling.  A trial fit of the grill showed the hole was still not big enough.  If I was to stop all of the vertical bars interfering with GRP and preventing the grill from fitting as close to the bonnet as possible then the hole would need to be considerably bigger,  the vertical bars ended about 10mm from the edge of the grill frame, so this is what the size of he hole should be. I had marked the outline of the grill on to masking tape surrounding the hole. I measured 10mm in from the outline all round the hole and joined the points together to mark the outline of the hole.  I put he washers back in place to define the land around the studs again. I cut back each of the washers as far as the line marking the hole.  I took our the surplus material with the Dremel sanding drum and a half round file.  I shaped the GRP around the washers to make neat semicircle for the land around the studs.  The end result was a hole essentially the same shape as the grill but 10mm smaller, with additional GRP around each of the studs fro strength.  I refitted the grill and modified the holes fro the studs to obtain the best possible fit. The grill is a pretty good fit at the top and a reasonable fit at he bottom.  In between the bonnet will need to be built up with filler to match the curve of he grill. 

Having done the job and knowing what I do now, I would tackle the job slightly differently. The hole pre-cut in the bonnet needs severe modification. Use it only to determine the correct place for the grill. Mark and drill the holes for the studs and adjust these holes as necessary to get the grill in the correct position. Satisfied the grill is central to the bonnet draw round the outline of the grill and remove it.  Measure 12mm from the outline mark to create the outline of the hole.  Place the ¾" and bolt them in to position. Cut and file away the surplus material back to the outline of the hole and the edge of the washers, Trial fit the grill and adjust the size and shape of the hole if necessary. Satisfied with clearance of the vertical bars  at the top and the bottom adjust the holes for the studs to obtain the best overall fit. 
 

07/06/2006

Grill

Exhaust system

First thing this morning I photographed the delamination at the bottom of the bonnet hole. It was much worse when I started but it got less as I cut away the material to open out the hole.  I then mixed up some filler and filled the gap.  Once it was dry I sanded it down to the original shape.  After a some trial and error I  worked out that the grill securing studs were really M5 threads but needed cleaning up with a die following the chrome plating. 
I cleaned up the threads and tested  them with m5 plain nuts. I fitted the grill in place and temporarily secured it with  8 x ¾" washes and M5 plain nuts. The  fit was not bad but now I have the grill secured I can see that it can be improved. I can make the land around the studs smaller to stop the very ends of the vertical bars coming in contact with them.

Back to the exhaust system.  I decided to do a dry, trial assembly as the safest way of making sure all the joints were fully inserted and enable the joints to be made and remade whilst I sorted out the rear brackets.  I fitted the 1-2 front pipe to the down pipe supporting the pipe on a bottle jack as before.  I fitted the RH Centre pipe making sure it was fully inserted over the 1-2 outlet branch.  The rear bracket was about 25mm away from A/V mount on the diff  carrier lower plate . I removed the pope and bent the bracket, close to the weld on the pipe, towards the front of the pipe. I trial fitted the pipe again and the bracket  would just engage on the A/V mount but needed another bend to square it up to the A/V mount. I took the pipe of again, placed a spare A/V mount in the hole in the bracket and marked edge of he A/V mount on the bracket.  I now put another bend in the bracket at the point just marked towards the rear of the pipe.  The bracket now resembled and elongated "S". A further trial fit  showed the bracket to need a slight twist.  I did this in situ, using a plumbers wrench to grip and twist the bracket.   I fitted the LH Centre pipe in the same way,   The silencers fit on modified exhaust clamps and bolt on to A/V mounts mounted to the sloping face of the Boot Slam panel. The boot floor , fitted earlier, means the slam panel is a closed section. It is possible (though difficult) to get a hand in from the side but much easier to drill and set M8 Rivnuts in to the panel.   To determine where to drill the panel I temporarily mounted the silencer and fitted the modified exhaust clamp.  I placed masking tape on the underside of the  slam panel.   I dipped one end of the A/V mounting stud in engineers blue. The other end was loosely mounted to the exhaust clamp.  The silencer and clamp were aligned with the body and lifted upwards until the A/V mountings stud came in contact with the masking tape. The corresponding blue dot indicates where to drill. Before I drill the panel I will repeat the procedure with the RH silencer tomorrow.  Then I will check the position of the pipes is symmetrical across the back of the car.  Once satisfied I will drill the holes.

10/06/2006

Exhaust System

I marked the position of the second of the silencer rear mounts (RHS) as before. I dismantled the silencer system and compared the positions of the blue dots marking the position of the A/V mount with respect to the dumb irons and the fold in slam panel that makes the flange for the seal.  I settled for a position of   172mm from the dumb Iron and 25mm from the fold  on each side.  I drilled 3mm pilot holes and opened the hole out with a 10mm drill.  I opened the hole out slightly more to accept an M8 Rivnut.  I fixed the M8 Rivnuts in place and did a final dry assembly. Satisfied I dismantled the complete system again and reassembles using Holts FireGum sealer/ lubricator on all the joints. This sealer lubricates the joints for ease of assembly but hardens and seals under exhaust heat to seal the system.  I assembled the exhaust system font to back making sure All the joints were fully inserted, aligning all the components by eye before finally tightening all the clamps .  On an unfinished car there is a bit of an optical illusion that looks like one of the tail pipes protrudes more than the other. Opening he boot and comparing with the edge of  slam panel will prove if it is or not.  Mine was OK.

12/06/2006

Seat Belts

Seat Belts; the original XK120 didn't have seat belts but you can't get the car through SVA without them. If you use 3 point inertial real, automatic belts as recommended by Nostalgia  you need a seat belt escutcheon, You can either make this according to the drawings in the build manual or buy one ready made from Nostalgia.  I chose to do the latter, since it is a finishing strip that needs to be exactly right.  To position the plate you need to cut the slots for the seat belts first.  This can be done by carefully drilling upwards through the slots in the seat belt mounting plate. Drill carefully at each end of the slot to determine the position and length of the slot. (it may be necessary to remove one of e supporting stays to gain access to the slots). Once the end holes have been drilled the remaining holes to make the slot can be drilled from outside as follows draw a centre line between the  pair of holes marking the end of the slot drill pilot hoes along the centre line open these holes out with a 5mm drill. Cut any material between the holes to form a continuous slot. Open out the slot with a combination of rat tail and flat files to match the slot in the mounting plate.  Repeat for the other seat belt slot.   Once the slots have been cut to, size the escutcheon plate can e fitted.  The Nostalgia version has , what look like, two clips mounted on the underside. These are soldered in place as part of the chrome plating process and need to be removed.  They will pull off  leaving a solder pad behind. This can be removed with a grinder or small flat file.  Don't worry about slight damage to the chrome the underneath is brass and won't corrode.
 

13/06/2006

Seat Belts

Today's job was to fit the escutcheon plate. I aligned the plate with the slots in he body work and parallel to the edge of he body work . Making sure that I did not disturb the position of the plate I marked through the  securing holes with an M5 bolt dipped in engineers blue.  I marked the centre of the blue dots and drilled a pilot hole through the GRP and the seat belt supporting plate underneath.  The pilot holes were drilled out to to 5.5mm The plate was secured with 2x M5 x 25mm countersunk screws, plain washers and nyloc nuts.  With the plate in place decided the slots in the GRP need a small adjustment to align then with both the plate and the slots in the seat belt supporting bracket.  I marked the edges of the slots in the plate on to the masking tape . Removed the plate and adjusted the slots ot size with the small sanding drum in the Dremel tool, a round file and a flat fie

14/06/2006

Seat Belts

Today I did a trial fit of the seat belts. The seat belts come with a fitting kit to suit most cars  so inevitably there are some redundant parts. From the kit you only need 1 x long high tensile bolt, 2x medium length high tensile bolts, the shouldered spacer and crinkle washer, 3 x plain nuts and shake proof washers 1 x plain washer, 1 x  inertia reel mounting spacer. The procedure is  bolt the fixed seat belt buckle to the outside of the mounting bracket nearest the door. working from outboard towards the centre of the car using a medium length bolt, plain washer, buckle ,additional plain washer to act as a spacer , bracket, shake proof washer and plain nut.  I found the the plain spacer provided in the kit was too thick which sir why I used the additional washer between the buckle and the bracket.   For the inertia reel belt pass it upwards through the slots in the mounting plate bodywork and escutcheon slots.  secure it to the inboard mounting bracket such that the orange label and the mounting  face inwards to where the seat will be.  Secure with the remaining medium length bolt, through the belt, crinkle washer , shouldered spacer , mounting bracket, shake proof washer and plain nut.   The inertia reel itself is mounted on the back of the support plate, It is mounted using the holes that bolt the support plate ot the chassis, Remove the existing bolt washer and nyloc nut.  It is advised to protect the inertia reels from dust by mounting them in plastic bags. I used re-sealable freezer bags. I cut a slit n the bottom so that the plastic bag would not interfere with the mounting bots and plates. The seal of he back was done up around the belt strap leaving it free to move but protecting it as much as possible.  The reel was secured using the long HT bolt, the plain washer from the original mounting bolt, removed earlier, the inertia reel, the spacer plate (makes sure it is engaged with the holes in the reel mounting, shake proof washer and plain nut, Make sure all bolts are done up tight.  Repeat fro the other belt.

15/6/2006

Hood fixings

The seat belts are in, temporarily.  Time to tick off another job, the mounting of the hood tear drops to the rear body work .  I used my usual masking tape to assist with marking the bodywork for drilling.  I stuck a length of masking tape across the body parallel with the top of the boot aperture.  Using the top of the boot aperture as a datum I marked a line 12.75" across the body.  I already had a centre line marked on the body from the petrol tank filler. Using this as a datum I marked 13.75" either side (27.0"  between points).  At this point I drew a line at right angles to the line across the body.  The datum line across the body aligns with the slot in the tear drop.  I marked the rear mounting point of the tear drop with engineers blue. I carefully lined up the tear drop with the lines on the masking tape and pressed down to transfer the engineer's blue to make the mounting point.  I drilled a pilot hole to accept  the M5 stud.  I inserted the M5 studs in the tear drop coated the front stud with engineers blue located  the rear stud in the hole and pressed down to mark the front stud position. Drilled a pilot hole for the front stud and drilled it out to accept the M5 stud.  The rear stud fits in to a shouldered mount open out the rear hole to accept the 8mm shoulder so that the tear drop fits flush.  The tear drop is secured with 2 x M5 plain washers and nuts Repeat for the other tear drop.

17/06/2006

1hr

Windscreen Washer

This weekend was never going to be a productive weekend.  I confess that all my adult life I have been a fan of of the Le Mans  24hr race.  This year was no exception  but more so since the Motors TV  channel have devoted 52 hrs of broadcasting to the race over the past week of which 37 hours non stop over the weekend to cover the race itself and the supporting "Legend" races for historic and modern sports cars.   Superb coverage of all aspects of the race made it difficult ot tear myself away from the  60"  screen on which the picture was projected accompanied by surround sound.   Regrettably I was not at the actual race but this was the next best thing.   "Diesel Power wins  Le Mans,"

Amidst all the excitement I just found time to fit the windscreen washer jets. At the same time as I fitted the bonnet badge I drew a datum line down the centre of the bonnet and used this to mark the position of the windscreen washer jet.  I drilled a pilot hole and opened it out with an 8 mm drill. The fixing stud fro the washer jet is "D" shaped.  Using a flat file and a half round file I modified the 8mm hole to "D" shape  to fit the stud.   I fitted the washer jet in position with a rubber washer top and bottom and the plain nut supplied.

18/06/2006

Fuel injection Loom

ECU

Today I started the wiring with fitting the fuel injection loom. The fuel injection loom came from the XJ6 and was fabric covered and a little worn in places.  I covered the worn patches with insulation tape, spiral wound, to reform the loom. then I covered the entire loom with PVC loom tape, spiral wound, to cover and protect the fabric.  The loom fits from the ECU in the RH wheel arch, past the fuel tank, down and across the rear bulkhead, alongside the RHS of the transmission tunnel and gearbox cover, through a pre-cut hole in the bulkhead to the engine RHS of the engine compartment.  The engine compartment end has a number of branches off the main loom which would be difficult to fit through the bulkhead. It is easier to feed the ECU plug through the bulkhead from the engine side and pull the loom rearwards until the multiple branches in the loom are close to the bulkhead. I found it necessary to remove the brackets fro the full load switch and the throttle cable to get  straight access to the hole in the bulkhead to feed the ECU plug through tit.  I loosely routed the loom as described above in to the boot compartment. I attempted to connect the ECU to the plug, which is when I found my mistake,  I had mounted the ECU mounting bracket upside down.  This was easily rectified by  unbolting the bracket from the wheel arch, turning it through 180°, re-drilling the holes and bolting the bracket to the wheel arch again.  The incorrect holes were filled with body filler.  I remounted the ECU and connected the plug.  Tomorrows job, after I get back from London, is to route the loom through the cockpit as neat and tidy as I can given the fact that it will be disturbed and possibly re-routed by the trimmer when finishing the vehicle.
 

Fuel Injection wiring

21/06/2006

Fuel Injection Wiring

Nostalgia recommend mounting the the fuel pump relay, main relay and diode unit on the rear bulkhead between the heater unit and the RH bonnet hinge. To do this the bracket has to be modified by  removing the 4th relay and cutting of the portion of the bracket where it as mounted.  This leaves a rectangular plate approx 3.0" wide with 3 hooks on which the relays and the diode unit are located.   Before I could mount the plate I needed to secure the rest of the loom in place. It took several attempts to get the loom routed down the side of the gearbox cover and up the front bulkhead try. the loom is quite stiff  and needed to be supported at quite short intervals to make sure it was both neat and secure. Neatness was difficult ot achieve because of the long spare lead that needed to be strapped to the loom and insulated for safety.   Eventually I managed it by  strapping the loom in place on its own.  Then  used cable ties  to strap the spare lead to it at the same time tucking it in to gap between the cover and  the top and rear of the loom. This makes sure that the cross section is kept ot a minimum and makes it easier to hide when the vehicle is trimmed. Lastly  I made  sure that the end connectors were insulated and covered.  The loom was now secure as far as the hole in the bulkhead I fitted the insulating grommet (already on the loom from the XJ6). In the engine compartment I placed the loom  as best and as neatly as I could so that I could attach the multi connectors from the loom to the engine  wiring.   These two connectors are quite stiff to attach and are keyed so that match with the engine wiring , but with perseverance they will fully connect.  The loom is as yet unsecured in the engine compartment until I have mounted the relays and other components like the throttle switches , power resistors and air flow meter.  Once they are in place I can then tidy up the wiring.
 

22/06/2006

2hrs

Total hours this Month = 41 hrs

Total hours to date = 1723 hrs