So I Photosynthed it to give you all a better look

This is just a quick, not very good, photosynth of the car just before we remove all of the stuff for powder coating. I'll do a better one at a later date, the photos on this were taken on the iPhone so not v good quality...

Forgive me readers for I have sinned, it has been 9 days since my last post...

...and a lot has happened I have basically worked on the car for 8 days straight usually from about 10 in the morning to about 11 in the evening. During this time I have stripped and painted the rocker cover to a vibrant red, taken off and modified the sump so that it has the appropriate ground clearance, and the painted it, ground down and repainted the exhaust manifold, modified (shortened) the oil pickup pipe to work in the new sump, removed the old fan from the engine, painted the engine mounts a bright heat resistant red, welded the engine brackets to the chassis, ground down the gearbox mountings and welded on the mounting plates to the chassis, mounted the engine in the chassis, welded on all of the engine component brackets, welded on the roll bar and the remaining seatbelt brackets, made the seat mountings for the passenger seats, started work mounting up the pedal assembly, completed the front suspension and wishbone brackets, mounted on the front and rear suspension assemblies, Modified the front hubs to accept the Austin Maxi ball joint, put on the front and rear wheels, started work on the exhaust system, ground down the steering rack mountings and attached the steering rack, shortened and re welded the prop shaft and made and welded on the front headlight bars, and I think that is about it.

I could write out in full the small problems I encountered and the things that went right but as you can imagine I would be here for a while. Either way there is one thing worth pointing out. Everything that I am mounting on at the moment does have to be removed so I can powder coat the chassis. The ony reason that I am mounting it all on now is so that I can see whether it will work and whether there are any other things that I need to weld on before I do the coating. Once the chassis is coated, welding anything more onto it means damaging it. I am now left with just a few more jobs and I am slowly getting through them. What remains to do now is remove everything I have spent the last few days attaching and get the chassis ready for its coating. It's getting there though and with only 6 weeks remaining I think, although I am inevitably still very nervous about it all, I am on schedule.

Here are some photos of the progress over this last week:

Break time is over

Hello all. I am back and finally over the lack of sleep that I received on the journey back to England and the paid work that I have been doing over the last few days. A lot has happened and I don’t know what to include. The seating issue is so close to being resolved now. In short they sent me one of the seats in the new style but incorrect colour to see whether it would fit. It did not but it was narrow enough for me to justify narrowing up the central column of the car so it fit. I then ordered two more seats in the correct new style and colour. They arrived yesterday and I have yet to see whether they will fit, fingers crossed.

The old style seat in the correct colour with the new style in the incorrect colour

Almost all of the remaining parts from the donor car were removed just before I left to go on holiday. It's now truly a shell of a car. The wiring loom was a complete pain to get out of the vehicle as you can't cut it and it runs like tree roots throughout the car. But that job is done now so no need to fret. After removing the pedals from the sierra in the slight hope that I may be able to adapt them for use in the new car I have been disappointed and the lead to yet more expense purchasing a pedal box from kit parts direct, along with a roll bar and new brake lines. They should all be arriving on Tuesday of next week. This does hold me back a little as I am aware that the pedal box and steering column sit in very close proximity, this makes me disinclined to work on the steering system this weekend, my original plan.

I have moved the project into its new home where it should be completed. It's not quite as worm or as bright as the workshop but it should do just fine. My biggest fear is doing the work right next to the Rolls Royce as I am all too aware of the damage that welding and grinding sparks can incur, either way I am sure I will find a solution to that. That is about where I am up to at the moment and this is the beginning of the final part of the project, the 10 week stretch to the end. I have had to pull out of Kilimanjaro due to money problems, which pisses me off royally but I suppose if I look on the bright side I do get more time to work on this car.

New garage area with engine and chassis togeather at last

Leaving on a jet plane...

... but I am pretty sure I'll be back in about a week, assuming this holiday doesn't get even more out of hand than it already promises to be. Yes the date has come and I am flying off to Malia with some friends for a week. This does of course mean that I will not be writing any on this blog in that time, nor will I be working on the car. However when I return I will be uploading a post that I was not able to finish and getting you all up to speed as to where I am with the project. The last two weeks have been busy and I think, touch wood, that I am a little ahead of schedule. That's all really and I look forward to rejoining the project with renewed energy!

Deep seated issues, more parts and engine removal

Well as you all know the seats arrived a while ago however, there has been a little bit of trouble with them. On the website of the company that I bout them from they are advertised as being 420mm wide. When I tried to fit them I found that they were 530mm wide and they don’t fit. Without boring you all any further, I have got to get some different seats, widen the seating areas or possibly both. Europa Spares have a different seat in the post for me to try and if it fits they will collect all three incorrect seats and make me up some new ones in the different style.

I received another batch of parts mainly lights, but also a chromed fuel cap and the 4 point harnesses. You should all see them as I fit them a little later in the build. The chassis is almost fully welded and only a few more brackets need to be put in place. I am really waiting on these seats now though. While I wait though I phoned up a powder coating place and got quoted only £60 to powder coat the whole chassis so this is definitely on the cards for a little later on in the build.

I removed the engine from the sierra yesterday with a little help from my mate Charlie. We started at about 2pm and after a lot of draining fluids cutting cables and unbolting parts we had jacked out the engine and gearbox as a complete assembly by about 10pm. The video below shows some of the removal sped up. There are some pictures that I will add to this post a little later.