Build progress - Page 16

peterux · #**301** 10th September 2007, 21:43

Yes, well done, the car is looking brilliant!

Peter

MartinClan · #**302** 11th September 2007, 07:21

Car is looking great Patrick! Do you have a date for the SVA yet?

BTW what are you doing about the steering wheel? There seems to be two schools of thought.

1. Use the original BMW wheel as it is - original, as designed.
2. Use an aftermarket wheel with a collapsible hub. Problem here is you aren't allowed any slots or sharp edges. Most aftermarket wheels I have seen seem to have plenty of both!

Cheers

Robin

Patrick · #**303** 11th September 2007, 07:31

We don't have a date yet, steering wheel going to leave the momo one on with the collapsible boss. However I will stick the stock wheel in the "support car" along with a load of tools.

Stuart · #**304** 11th September 2007, 20:13

Patrick if you are leaving the momo wheel on then you will need to cover the sharp edges as they will fail if not. If you replace wheel with original then you run the risk of being pulled up over the angle of difference in the shafts not being large enough.

Stuart

Patrick · #**305** 13th September 2007, 17:40

Was doing a bit of testing of things in the garage and both the horns from the E30 have spontaneously combusted, doh. Getting a steady 12V from the wiring so its not fuse or relay related.

Going to order these ones from CBS:

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/horns.htm

Bottom ones, looks very similar to the E30 ones.

MartinClan · #**306** 14th September 2007, 07:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick

Was doing a bit of testing of things in the garage and both the horns from the E30 have spontaneously combusted, doh. Getting a steady 12V from the wiring so its not fuse or relay related.

Horns normally work by having a permanent 12v supply and then grounding them to work. I am not sure if this is the case with BMW - but if it was the 12v would always be there and it would be the ground (earth) side that is causing the problem.

Robin

Patrick · #**307** 14th September 2007, 07:21

The earth would seem to be OK as the reading was taken directly at the plug, but will double check tonight as you never know with these things!

(EDIT, Richard tells me BMW = only live when needed, horns always earthed - well the button on the wheel works by connecting earth but that switchs a relay which runs through a fused circuit that switchs power in and out)

Patrick · #**308** 14th September 2007, 19:51

Got a letter today from VOSA asking for copies of receipts of the kit and evidence that it's been built by us! I should think copied of the Marlin receipts and some of the other bits will suffice!

I'm sure the build site will be more evidence than they normally get

Patrick · #**309** 15th September 2007, 22:08

Small update:

Been trying to bleed the coolant in the engine but nothing has been coming out the hole! So took the thermostat housing cover off. There was a big build up of deposits in there. The engine block itself the other side of the thermostat looked fine. So I'm guessing running mostly on idle with the stat closed has caused it. Anyway the stat is fine, tested it in boiling water.

Cleaned up the housing cover, ran some coolant flush through the system for 10mins, drained it then filled up with 25% antifreeze 75% distilled water.

Also set the speedo, big thanks to Stuart for the guide

- Click me

Also did a first pass of the car with with the SVA manual. As previous mentioned the indicators at the front are in the wrong place to pass. Also the main headlights are slightly too low so the front suspension needs to be wound up a bit.

I am a bit worried about the angle of the rear lights, but others have passed with these so I'm going to wait and see what happens.

The only other problem that may still crop up its the edge radius test on the exhaust pipes. Not sure if the 30 degree cone test will be effected by the bar we've put on the back.

Didn't get to the indicators, but some good ideas from Peter will be tried tomorrow.

Patrick · #**310** 16th September 2007, 19:57

A bit of a dilema! The steering wheel. The E30 wheel would pass SVA just fine, however the steering column is at a very shallow angle therefore it probably wont pass. The solution a collapsable boss. No problem the momo wheel has that, but its got a few sharp edges on it. So the solution, hopefully, is this:

You can still use the horn button through the sponge but there a nice head impact friendly centre piece!

Made new brackets for the fog and reverse lights so they sit about 1cm further back, this means they can sit at 90 degrees to the ground.

Also made a start on some brackets for the front indicated by bending some pipe up!

Patrick · #**311** 22nd September 2007, 16:38

More small jobs sorted today while waiting for an SVA date:
Indicators installed so that they comply with SVA regs:

Installed new horns as the ones from the donor died:

Finally clean up of the engine wiring loom:

Interior lighting, these run on a dely circuit so when you open the door they stay on for a period of time. They also turn on when you unlock the car with the alarm for a longer period or until the engine is started.:

Patrick · #**312** 23rd September 2007, 14:54

Some more small things today:

* Indicators bolted down, they need moving back bit to avoid hitting the front wings on full lock
* Interior some more zip ties on the wiring
* Exhaust plugged taking the noise level at 4000RPM to the mid 90 db's
* Oil topped up
* Test the brakes on the drive way - seems easy enough to lock the wheels at low speed
* Steering wheel sponge cover tweaked a bit
* All lights checked
* Heater cover added and 90 rubber bends to point the air flow at our feet
* Cleaned the garage up, it was starting to look a bit messy!

Patrick · #**313** 25th September 2007, 11:56

Got a test date! Next Friday

can't wait now!

MartinClan · #**314** 25th September 2007, 12:02

That's great Patrick

I reckon everyone else on the forum will almost be as anxious as you to hear the result!

Good luck

Robin

Patrick · #**315** 25th September 2007, 13:49

yeah! I just booked an MOT for Tuesday afternoon and sorted the insurance!

Stuart · #**316** 25th September 2007, 16:38

Good Luck for the test Patrick.

peterux · #**317** 25th September 2007, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinClan

That's great Patrick

I reckon everyone else on the forum will almost be as anxious as you to hear the result!

Good luck

Robin

Yeah, I'm feeling nervous and it's not even my car!

Good luck chaps!

Patrick · #**318** 25th September 2007, 20:37

Not as nervous as I will be Tuesday when I drive it to the local MOT station!

My biggest worry is what the weather will do on both Tuesday and Friday!

peterux · #**319** 25th September 2007, 21:06

Hi Patrick,
one thing I spotted in the SVA manual, you might want to check.
Section 6 says that the lower edge of the dash panel needs to be 19mm radius or 5mm radius if covered with soft material. Soft material is defined as compressable by thumb pressure....etc.
Looking at lots of marlin pictures I think people use something like this....
http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/pc-181...extrusion.aspx
It's nice and squashy.

Not sure what you have used?

Perhaps Andy could comment on what Vindicator fitted to his car?

Patrick · #**320** 25th September 2007, 21:09

I used the same black rubber trim material that I used on the other panels on the car, looks like it may not be squishy enough. I'll add more squishy stuff to be sure! - thanks