I have been making some progress over the Christmas/New Year period. I had great plans and expected to be further advanced than what I am but advance we did.
Having installed the fibre glass insulation and stainless heat shields it was time to look at the pedal box and brake and clutch line installation. I had previously made the cut out in the firewall for the master cylinder/pedal box assembly and to get the location of the pedals right I had to install the seat frame and sliders for a trial fit to my 5'9" frame.I had to cut slots in the front of the torsion box to slide the seat shear plates into position. I also found that I had to modify them to sit in position without interference in the box itself. The manufacturer has corrected the slots and shear plates on the latter chassis which will make it a lot easier for those down the track.
I set the seat so that it was 1/2 the way forward giving plenty of room to slide back for taller drivers and forward for those a little shorter such as my lady friend or daughters...I am now getting a very bad feeling all of a sudden.It's funny the things that go through your mind, I thought, well, I am going to drill the holes which consist of the mounting holes through the torsion box welded to the floor then the 1" holes through the floor it self to get a drive socket through to tighten on to the runners. My mind immediately went to ..what happens if I get this wrong, all those 1" holes (4) will not be easy to fix. Anyway I went ahead and drilled the holes and it worked a treat.
With the pedal box resting on the floor I did a trial fit but only resting my feet on the pedals lightly as they were not bolted down which felt sort of strange sitting relatively straight legged when I am used to driving a medium sized SUV.I set the pedal where I reckon they should go and marked and drilled the first hole, put a bolt in and spotted the remaining 3 holes and bolted the assembly to the floor.
Once everything was bolted together I set the seats in the right position and height and I think I am sitting a little low but I have adjustment to lower the steering column or raise the seat frames.I am currently waiting for an upgraded seal plate from the pedal box and fire wall to be able to complete the unit.
The brake lines were the next task. This was relatively easy as they are all pre-bent hardened stainless steel that only needed a small amount of tweeking to get them in position, this was the same for the clutch line as well, a very neat fit held together with stainless P-Clamps and stainless button head screws into the chassis.
I had previously fitted the Charcoal canister and inner panels under the front L/H suspension and run the fuel vapour lines through the trans tunnel to the rear along with the brake lines.
The hand brake was also relatively easy to install. I had to cut holes in the torsion box to run the cables through but a 20mm hole saw fixed all that.
I have now also fitted the pin drives and spinners and did a trial fit of the wheels to see what it looks liked, pretty good I think.
Well, that's all for tonight and I have much more to come. Getting around to doing these updates has to find me in the right mood as I find it quite laborious.
Until next time,
Cheers
Russell
