I've spent quite a lot of time this week finishing off and tidying up various bits and pieces. The main job was to finally finish the scuttle panel. I removed the scuttle and changed the wiring for the indicator warning light, as mentioned in week 7. Next, I fitted two new warning lights between the existing three. One of the new lights will be an oil pressure warning light. Although I have an oil pressure gauge, it will be easier to see a bright light on the dash, should problems occur, rather than having to continually the monitor the gauge. As the wiring loom already contains the wiring for the light, it's a very easy item to add. The second new light is not connected to anything - it just evens out the layout of the lights. I may eventually use it for a handbrake warning light.
With the wiring and lights sorted, I placed the scuttle back on the car and fitted the mirrors. I haven't found suitable, SVA-legal replacements, so I'll use the ones supplied in the kit. To get them in the right place, I simply copied the positioning of the mirrors on Quantum's latest demonstrators, which I had a look at when I collected my exhaust. Next to go on was the windscreen. I loosely bolted the windscreen pillars in place on the scuttle, then a piece of U-shaped rubber is put round the top and sides of the screen and a lipped seal is run along the bottom. The aluminium windscreen surround then goes over the top of the rubber. I carefully placed the assembly in position between the pillars and marked where the surround and rubbers had to be trimmed. After trimming everything to get a neat fit, the surround is bonded between the pillars, taped in position and left to set over night. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the windscreen is laminated, instead of the usual toughened glass.
Next, the roll bar (again!). After my polishing disaster, I've struggled to get an even, shiny coat on it. I've also discovered that the paint stays very soft and easy to mark. A piece of scrap metal that I painted as a test piece five weeks ago can still be marked just by touching it. As the roll bar is often used as a grab handle when getting in and out of the car, it's now obvious that this wasn't a very good choice of paint for this item. I can't really afford to spend any more time on it at the moment, so it will have to wait until after the SVA test - at least it won't rust with all those coats of paint on it! In the future, I'll have to repaint it, probably using silver enamel, with a couple of clear lacquer coats on top.
I've also had a go at re-routing and tidying up the fuel supply and return pipes in the engine compartment. With the addition of a few more chassis clips, some spiral wrap and P clips, the pipes now look much neater and are better protected and secured. It was very difficult to drill the holes in the chassis, now the engine is in place, but I think the result was well worth the effort.
The cam cover has also been refurbished at last! A local coating company stove-enamelled it in Post Office Red, which is quite a good colour match for the gelcoat, then lacquered it to give a nice shine. I'm really pleased with the result and it looks great on the engine. £25 well spent!
