My First Drive
 

I had to take a video of my First drive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0LB...v4icV6OXwbq4rL

Lowering it on to its own wheels was a big moment for me. My car has stood on chassis stands since the first few days of its arrival. They were home made and cost £50. And they have been brilliant. You can see how easy they are to push around even on a block paved drive. And working underneath is so much better with a mechanics trolley.

So, this is Bambi getting on to his own four feet: and then having its first outing.
Whoooooooooooooooh!!:eusa_dance: :eusa_dance: :eusa_dance: :eusa_dance:

Hey Mike! Great video moment! That's one of the best quick acting jacks I have ever seen!

Yes, a great occasion to capture on video :high5:

Did you fit anything to your chassis for the tops of the stands to locate into or just rely on the friction between chassis and stands being greater than the rolling resistance?

You have the best toys, Mike. ;)

Great to see Bambi running. And the best bit of the video?

Mike: I have brakes!
Mrs Mike: I'm very glad to hear it.

The fact that's she sick to death of servos and adaptor plates littering her house and dining table is palpable in her tone :lol:

That is a good question Mark.
I relied on friction, which was fine most of the time. The only problem I had was when I rolled it out to work outside on nice days. I had a pig of a job to get the small wheels to climb over the 1" lip back in to the garage. I ended up making a steel ramp to help, but even then the stands would slide on the chassis, and on one occassion, tip over. I then had my "BIG yellowjack" lift my car up INSIDE the garage. I had to extend the forks with an I beam about 4m long to lift the front of the car back on to its stand without taking the garage roof off!
H&S would have had a fit!!!!!!!!!

But I really would recommend stands for any new builder, even in a single garage - perha[s even more so. It makes it so easy to move side ways.

I made my own - wrongly first time, as I made the heights the same - only to relise the chassis rises up over the rear wheels, so the rear stand has to be approx 6" higher than the front.
Stands, and a mechanics trolley have been brilliant. A definite must.

Jason have you been eavesdropping..........'servo' is now a forbidden word in our house!

Looking good Mike,

is the missing drivers window glass to allow you to look cool with you arm draped on the top of the door or is it the start of a cunning masterplan mod to make the glass disappear into the door completly. Ah if only that was possible, it annoys the hell out of me.

Well done on the first drive, IVA looming.

John

Funny you say that John................

Whilst I will not do it before IVA, I am considering having a piece of glass cut for the driver's side window, with 2" less at the top, so that when it is wound down it will be flush with the top of the main door.
The idea then being to either bring the hood roof down lower to meet a lower window, or if viewing is essential through that section, adding a piece of clear perspex to the hood as a substitute?
As I have not even driven mine until the weekend, and have no idea what it is like for vision with the hood up, I don't know whether this is even a starter?
What are your thoughts?

As for IVA - I don't know. Is July realistic?
Again what do you guys who have been through IVA remember about the final preparation stages.
essentially I have to complete the wiring, install the dash and centre console which are both made, fit carpets, and then spend months worrying about what they might fail me for on IVA - and still leave something they can pick up on!!!
What do you IVA veterans recommend programme wise?

Mike

Hi Mike,


Many congratulations. It must be a fantastic feeling to get some wind in your face after all that time in the garage. She looks and sounds great.

I guess you haven't used too much right foot yet but how's the engine responding under load. You talked previously about it smelling very rich but is there anything else to suggest there may be any latent and associated (fuel pump) earth issues.

Nigel

Not sure about your planned window mod Mike. The hood is close to my eyeline through the side window. And it is a tight squeeze to get in and out with the hood up. With a bit of plastic there it would be a real trick.

Also where would the plastic go when you have the hood folded back?

I tend to use mine Cabrio as often as possible, and with the widows down you get a bit of buffeting at cruising speeds, windows up is much less drafty. I would expect the buffeting to be much worse with the window flush with the door top.

Thanks Chris
This is just the sort of feedback a current builder needs from those who have done it.

So, Plan B..........................?:noidea: :help: :eusa_think: :ranger:

Mike, I agree with Chris, I don't think you would be able to get in an out with a lower hood line, my Hunter is a feat of athleticism for me in its standard form, if you lower the hood line any more you will need to book on the local limbo dancing night school class.

The sticky up bit is annoying though.

John

Thanks John
So that is a very definite NO then.!

But you are right: it is annoying. I remember seeing the original BMW M50 demonstrator, and being surprised/disappointed that the window would not rest flush with the door skin top. I naively thought there would be a simple fix :mod: + :nono: = :cry:

Noisey Start Up
 

A mechanic who has rebuilt his own engines suggested my noisey start up was almost certainly due to dry hydraulic tappets, and not the ECU/DME re-learning anything. I had assumed that once the oil pressure had built up these would sort themselves out, and therefore it was due to the ECU not setting up the Vanos: but he says it will be the hydraulic tappets, as they often do not start to work until the oil has warmed and thinned sufficiently to work its way in to the tappets .
Since my engine has been dry stored for 5 years the hydraulic tappets may have been a bit sticky too.
He says they do sound awful, and make you wonder if you've left a spanner in the head!!! But you just have to be patient (and confident that you did put it all back together correctly!!)
Mike

I posted recently elsewhere about noisy tappets, which I had after my engine rebuild last summer. My tame mechanic suggested I put some Wynns Valve and Tappet treatment in the oil. within seconds of pouring it in then noise went from sounding like a machine gun to a gentle tick-tick-tick, and that disapperaed after a few minutes.

These tame mechanics obviously know a thing or two!

IVA Leadtime
 

Just rang VOSA to get an idea of leadtimes for IVA bookings at Nottingham - Answer: 4 working days!

Don't think I need to think about booking for some time then!!
Mike

Dash & Console
 

Thought it was time to add a few updates:

Whilst it was so cold in the garage, I decided to move my dash and centre console on.

And this is the final result, now covered in leather..............

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7198/6...4258561e_z.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6...73574bcdf4.jpg

There is more here ....... http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikes_bmw_marlin_cabrio/

...............I have to say I am chuffed with the way it has finally turned out.
(well there is a little more to do, as the icons are for temporary show, and need the correct ones in the correct place, before gluing in posistion)


There are issues with IVA as it is, and I have a plywood template to place over the instrument bezels, and will remove the flick switches. If anything else does not meet with approval, I'll end up fitting black vinyl wing piping along the offending edge.

I have beefed up the strength of the dash with triangulated supports welded in - despite being screwed to the plywood dash there was not a lot of strength in the centre to resist the Start button being pressed.I have now scewed the dash to the console as well, and the whole structure is much less flexible.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6...c3f106ce2b.jpg

These are shots of the dash and console covered in a dense foam, giving it soft edges and a nice tactile feel.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6...cc566684b9.jpg

Wow, crikey thats better than many production cars.

Nice job Mike.

Dash
 

That is a work of art!congrats.