Electrics

Well I finally plucked up courage and connected the battery today. All circuits worked OK except for two which kept blowing fuses. A bit of detective work sorted the first, the sidelight bulb was damaged and where the terminals pushed into the holder it was creating a short. The second I've not solved yet. On accessory power i.e. first position on the ignition, if I put everything on i.e heater, wipers, washer, sidelights and fog light and then flash the headlights, the bulb blows. It isn't a problem on the second position just the first. It suggests the fuse for the accessory circuit isn't rated high enough but I want to be sure before I mess with it. Either that or refrain from sitting there with my lights on, in the fog, with the engine off, heater on, washing the windscreen with the wipers going and flashing my headlights at passers by.

I'll try and post some pictures later in the week but the other achievements were fitting the side repeaters, fitting the windscreen washer jet and the windscreen wipers and finally fitting the windscreen centre stay which was a bit fiddly and necessitated cutting down an Allen key to fit.

I also fitted the front floor carpets and started painting the underfloor strengthening plates for the seatbelt harnesses.

One setback I had today concerns the wiper motor. When I originally fitted it I checked the park position and decided it was correct, result ! The more I thought about it and looked at other cars made me decide it was wrong after all so I had to take it out again, take it all apart and move the small plastic "ramp" inside which dictates which side it parks on. This wasn't too difficult but I did have a little trouble getting it all back together. Anyway, turns out I was right the first time, if you look at a cobra you'll notice the wipers park on the opposite side to a normal car, well that's true for my car anyway. So I had to take it out again, only this time, the dash under trays, wiring looms and carpet have all been added which made it a little more tricky. In addition, it turned out I had slightly damaged the end of the wiper motor shaft when I refitted the circlip and I couldn't now get the shaft out of the casing. I ended up having to drift it out with a punch which also pulled the press fit bearings out ! So a simple job which was right the first time took me all afternoon to put right... again, including getting grease all over my lovely new carpet :-(

Under dash trays

I did a bit more work on the under dash trays and the multitude of wiring in this area. The ECU is mounted and I've cut the holes for and fitted the heater vents which direct hot air to the footwell. This all took a lot longer than I'd planned as I had to try several different positions in order to gain enough clearance behind the dash for the back of the instruments. I think I've got it sorted now and can begin to permanently fix the Mast wiring loom and the additional wiring I've put in for heated seats, 12v power outlet, neutral safety switch etc.



Another trial fit of the dash and somewhere to put it out of harms way. I couldn't finish the wiring for the dash loom and the modifications I'd made as I'd run out of a few bits and pieces and being bank holiday, it will be a few days before I can get them. Fingers crossed, the big switch on will be next weekend.

Securing the body / engine connections

I needed to find a way of securing the connectors which join the body looms to the engine/chassis looms. The standard GD arrangement is for two connectors in this area but because I'm adding a few additional circuits namely; provision to power the reverse lock out solenoid on the gearbox and a low oil level warning, I have three. It was all a bit busy in this are so I decided to use some P clips to tidy them up and hold them down securely. I started by drilling and then tapping a M5 hole to thread a button head boot through from underneath in the footwell area.



Because the bolt was held securely, this made it a lot easier to work with as I didn't have to worry about holding it in place while I fitted some P clips around the cylindrical connectors. I used two at the bottom and a third separated by a short length of steel tube at the top. The bolt is a little longer than needed so I may swap it for a shorter one when I come to fit the nyloc.



Not the best pictures in the world but you can just make out the three p-clips and the short length of steel tube. I've used a stainless M5 repair washer underneath to spread the load. Another reason for fitting the bolt from the inside up rather than outside down is that I didn't want to take a risk with the end of the bolt protruding into the footwell area and posing a potential hazard to the occupant. Because of where it is I'm not sure whether it would be an an IVA issue but either way, better safe than sorry.

Improvements already...

Ever since I fitted the main engine loom through the dash I'd never been entirely comfortable that the only thing holding it central was the rubber gasket I'd used to to close the hole. Seeing what Martin, another builder had done, inspired me to make some improvements. Firstly I mocked something up in paper which was formed along similar lines to the original stainless ring I had in place but rather than cut the centre out, I planned to make a partial cut and bend the centre forward making a tab to secure the wiring to. Once I was happy, I bought a small sheet of stainless and transferred the dimensions onto some masking tape stuck on the back.



I started by drilling all the holes before making the cuts with a metal blade in my jigsaw. Taking it nice a slowly I gradually cut along all the lines before bending the centre "tab" forwards, putting a small curve into it and tidying up all the edges.



Then it was just a case of removing the original backing ring behind the bulkhead and replacing it with the new one. The oval holes I cut into the tab allows a ziptie to be passed through and secure the loom nice and tight. The gap at the top of the new ring allows it to be placed around the loom rather than having to pass the loom through it.



Worked perfectly, whilst there are no sharp edges I will probably go back at some point and spend a bit of time really rounding them off just in case.

Number plate light

As with most things now, this has been previously fitted and then removed for safe keeping. I did need to make some small adjustments as it sat a little high. All it needed was a few holes elongating.



I also completed the wiring inside the boot. I'd previously feed a length of wire through the boot skin for the light which exits through the left hand side hinge arm. To make it easy to remove the boot in future I joined the boot wiring to the loom with a connector which I held in place with a p-clip bent to shape.



Just the rear lights, indicators and fog/reverse lights to connect inside the boot and the rear of the car is complete.

Tank sender wiring

Completed the fuel tank today by wiring the fuel sender. I'd previously cut down the plastic which surrounds the terminals so they could be bent over for additional clearance. It was just a case of cutting the wire to length and fitting a couple of female spade terminals and a short length of heat shrink to tidy it up.



The 11/16 written on the top of the tank is to remind me what size spanner fits the top fuel fitting just down the side. I've made marks like this in a few places and found it saves time hunting through different sizes spanners/sockets etc. until you find the one you need, especially when the fitting is partly obscured and not easy to see.

Fog & Reverse Lights Fitted

New bolts arrived in the post this morning, only a 5 minute job to refit so thought it rude not too ! I used M5 x 50mm button heads. The bolts are long enough inside the boot to make some angled spacers to allow for the curvature of the body in this area. I haven't done this yet, maybe a job for another day as they tighten up quite securely so I'm not sure the spacers are really needed.

Headlights

A day of easy wins today. Most of the parts I fitted have been on the car before and were removed for storage until the build neared completion, Well that day is coming and it was the turn of the front headlights and indicators. Because I knew I'd be taking these off and refitting later I'd used stainless M5 button heads rather than the self tappers supplied in case fitting, removing and refitting weakened the self tapping threads. Just a case of bolting these in and plugging into the existing waterproof connectors I'd wired in previously.

View from the front



..and from the back



Feeling quite pleased with myself :-)

Fog & Reverse Stand-offs

After going great guns fitting the fog and reverse stand-offs, the bolts I'd bought were too short. I've ordered some more so should be able to get these mounted in the next couple of days. I've also fitted the rubber seal for the boot which you can see in this picture. Felt good to finally get rid of that blue masking tape. It must have been there for about 3 years now !



...and the striker plate for the boot catch. This has been fitted before but it should be on for good now. Boot shuts nicely and just squeezes up against the rubber as the catch clicks into place.

Fog & Reverse Lights

Made a start on fitting the rear fog and reverse lights.
GD supply the mounting bracket which is basically a short length of stainless tube with a plate welded on the end for the light to mount onto. The other end has been profiled to fit the body shape in this area. It took me a little bit of trial and error to get them positioned both centrally and level but I think I'm about there. Next step is to drill some holes and modify the lights themselves by replacing the standard fixing bolts which come affixed to the light with some longer bolts which pass through the light fitting, through the mounting and through the body holding it all together by sandwiching the mounting between light and bodywork.

Low Oil Warning Light !

Weren't too sure what to do with this. The LS3, being a modern engine, has provision for a low oil level light built into the sump. The sender also provides a signal for a hot oil warning light. I hadn't intended to do anything with these but I also wanted to protect the sender in case I wanted it in the future. In the end, whilst trying to work out what the plug the hole with to protect the contacts I thought I might as well get the proper connector and wire it up. I'm still not sure exactly how I'm going to use the output, I thought I might simply wire a buzzer instead of a light for the low oil level which would be heard when you switch the ignition on. I guess in reality, with the amount of miles I'll be doing and the frequency of use, low oil won't ever be a problem, it's not like it's a big deal to use the dipstick anyway.

Fuel Tank

After messing about with bits of stainless steel to make a new brake fluid reservoir bracket, I got my finger out and got the fuel tank installed. I had to tidy up a few wires first as there's a few extra run to the boot area of a GD that I'm not using for my build, they're for things like heated rear screen for the hardtop, general accessories and because I'm using the loom provided by the engine supplier I've not used the connections GD provide for the fuel pump.



I also had to run a length of brake pipe for the vent on the fuel tank filler neck. This is fixed with small plastic p-clips and self tappers which protrude slightly into the wheel arch behind so I'll have to cut the ends off with a Dremel.



Fuel tank finally fitted. The top end of the straps are secured with jacknuts and the bottom end with a single bolt straight through the boot floor that's tightened up from underneath.



After all the effort I made trying to tidy up the loose wiring, it all got in the way of the bottom outlet on the tank so it needs a rethink. I may have to have the tank out again but it's good to see it all fitted and strapped down. In theory, I'm back in a position to have the engine running, I can't believe it's been 10 months since it last ran.

If you're wondering what the blue stuff is around the boot opening, it's masking tape that I used to hold down some thin strips or card used to space the boot lid away from the body to the same depth as the rubber seal. This was so I could position the hinges correctly to have the boot lid level with the surrounding body work when it's shut. That's been there a while as well !

Boot Wiring

No Pictures today but I've just finished rubbing down and polishing the edges of the boot. I'd had a few goes at touching up the gel coat along the edges where the two skins meet but I seemed to be continuously finding new bits which I presumably missed the last time around. Taking no prisoners I masked up the front and rear face of the boot and using an artists brush painted two thick coats of gel all the way round the edge. It's taken some rubbing down to get the profile back and everything looking smooth but its made such a nice job I wish I'd been a little bolder in the first place.

I've also passed the wiring through the hinge and the boot skin for the number plate light, a little fiddly but I got there in the end.

I'll post some pictures next time.

Better Pictures...

Because of the poor weather we've had, most of the recent pictures have been taken in the garage and weren't particularly good. As well as promising myself to learn how to use my camera properly, I also vowed to take some pictures outside as soon as the weather cleared, so here they are... other than temporarily fitting the air intake, no further progress, just better pictures :-)









Two things before I go, firstly a quick hello to my old friend Casey and secondly, if you want to see what this build has been all about, you have to stop by Steve's pages (link on the right hand side) and check out the fun he had at a recent trackday. Direct link here
Don't forget to watch the video's, fantastic stuff.

Getting there

Here's a picture of the engine bay after I got rid of all the engine harness, fuse box, ecu connector etc. and shoved it all though the bulkhead into the area behind the dash. I still need to fit the air intake onto the front of the engine where you can see "LS3" written on the black cap.



I've also opted for a bit of bling and fitted these stainless steel pipes rather than lengths of silicone hose which take the hot water from the engine and feed the heater which is hidden under the nearside wing.

Engine Harness

The engine harness was already fitted to my engine when I had it delivered, rather than unplug it all to pass the connectors through to the engine bay from behind the dash I chose to pass the fuse box, ecu connector etc. back the other way. In order to do this a 64mm hole needed to be drilled through the bulkhead and the fuse box and ecu connector dismantled to get them through the hole.






I had some stainless rings made up which I used to clamp two pieces of rubber sheet with holes cut in the middle against the bulkhead to form a seal for the harness to pass through. Probably easier to show you a picture than try and describe in detail. Each sheet has a split in it so it could be placed around the harness rather than pass the plugs through the holes. Each split is 180 degrees apart from the other to give the rubber greater strength to support the weight of the harness.

Front



Back



Another job done, the engine bay's looking much tidier with all that wiring out of the way, I'll post some more pictures later.

Air Horns

I put the air horns together which was a case of simply bolting the components onto the bracket supplied by GD, cutting a bit of tube supplied in the kit and fitting it all together. The bracket mounts using the same bolts that hold the radiator frame. As this frame will have to come off to mount the body onto the chassis I'll leave mounting the air horns any further until after the body has been fitted.

Battery Tray & Stainless Mesh

Decided to fit the battery tray today. Considering it's hidden away under the battery and behind a wheel arch compartment cover I probably needn't have gone to the trouble of spraying it but well.... in for a penny ! Oh and it's made of stainless steel as well so it isn't going to rust, Hmm, I suppose I could have polished it instead !

I also fitted the stainless steel mesh into the oil cooler and brake duct vents. This is purely cosmetic and does look rather nice when finished. I made a template of the opening and then added 5 mm all the way round and used this to form the mesh around before "glueing" it in place with Sikaflex. I should have kept and used the blanks which I cut out from the openings originally which would have saved me some time.

Body on soon !

Electrical musings

The Tremec T56 gearbox comes with a reverse lockout solenoid designed to prevent you accidentally selecting reverse during forward motion. On a modern vehicle this is controlled by the ECU which effectively locks the car out of reverse once the vehicle speed exceeds a certain value say, 3mph. There has to be a failsafe in case of a malfunction so in fact the lockout can be overcome with a bit of brute force against the spring loaded plunger. The ECU I’m using doesn’t have provision for this functionality so I’m left with either using a bit of force each time I want reverse or rig something else up. I’ve decided to go with the “rig something else up” option although I understand many choose to use brute force or even take the mechanism off altogether. The problem with removing it comes with the reverse selection being across to the right and forward which could potentially lead to problems from an enthusiastic shift from fourth to fifth if you miss the gate and crash into reverse. The other option is to mount a switch somewhere that needs to be pressed before you select reverse but this option doesn't really appeal. The spring is quite stiff and so as an experiment i’ve temporarily wired the solenoid and powered it direct and it does make shifting into reverse so much easier so I think it’s something worth pursuing.

Another aspect I’ve come across in relation to the engine management system is the use of a Neutral Safety Switch (NSS), again a modern “gadget” to ensure that you’re either in neutral with an auto box or have the clutch depressed in a manual before you can start the engine. Again, it can be overcome, the ecu provides an output which must be grounded to allow the engine to start, you could just permanently ground the wire but I’ve decided to make use of it and fit a switch to the clutch pedal requiring the clutch to be depressed (grounding the wire) before the engine will start thus avoiding the accidental lurch forward when you’ve forgotton you left it in gear.

This is where it gets interesting, I’ve going to try and power the reverse lockout solenoid on the gearbox from the brake light switch on the brake pedal and ground it through the safety switch on the clutch pedal. This will mean it’s only possible to select reverse (without brute force) whilst the brakes are on (providing power) and the clutch is depressed (providing an earth) which is generally a good position to be in before you put the car in reverse! I guess there’s still a possibility of a mis-shift whilst changing down and on the brakes but in this scenario I’ll be shifting away from the reverse position i.e. right to left. The other benefit is that by grounding the solenoid through the switch on the clutch, it won’t keep being activated each time you brake during normal driving. There’s a little bit of figuring out to do with the wiring, I don’t know yet the output voltage from the ECU for the NSS and don’t want to risk the solenoid trying to earth itself back through the ECU so I’ll have to fit some diodes in place to limit the direction of the current. Once I’ve got it all figured out I’ll post some more details

Preparing to start the engine

Had a little tinker today and mocked up the fuel lines from the pump/regulator to the tank and from the fixed fuel line to the engine. I'm going to start the engine before I put the body on partly to satisfy my curiosity but also to check for leaks in the fuel line. All the joints can be accessed once the body is on but I'd probably have to do it from underneath.

I've also built a "starting box" housing water temp gauge, oil pressure gauge and rev counter along with several switches rigged up to mimic the the action of an ignition switch i.e. power on and start but also the action of holding the clutch down. My system includes a switch similar to that found in modern vehicles which requires either the gearbox is in neutral if automatic or the clucth held down if manual. This often referred to as a neutral safety switch and is the switch labelled NSS on the box.

I've also loosely mocked up the air filter assembly and you can see how the GD system draws cool air from in front of the radiator which should help performance. The air box will be bonded into the body when it finally goes on.

This was the first time that I've moved the body whilst on it's new frame which has been designed to allow me to move either the body or chassis out of the garage independently on each other.

I also wired the fan and fuel pump. Next job will be to tighten all the fuel lines, put some petrol in the tank, connect the battery and it should fire right up !