Before fitting the fuel tank, I had to modify the tank sender unit, in order to obtain a reasonably accurate reading from the new fuel gauge supplied in the kit. With the tank, battery, gauge and sender set up on the workbench, I bent and adjusted the sender arm and float, so that with the fuel gauge showing empty, I had a reserve of 1.5 gallons left in the tank. For safety, I used water instead of petrol and cleaned it all out afterwards using a rag on a stick.
The tank itself was very simple to fit. Foam rubber is stuck onto the top of the rear subframe for the tank to sit on, then two galvanised steel strips are cut, bent and drilled to hold the tank firmly in place. I then added the rubber fuel hoses connecting the sender unit to the existing metal fuel pipes and attached the wiring to the sender's terminals. The fuel filler neck and smaller breather pipe were then fitted, but as I wouldn't know the exact positioning of the filler neck until the rear bodywork was fitted, I left off the larger breather pipes for the time being.
Before the kit arrived, I read through the build manual several times, to see what lay ahead. The scuttle was the one part I really wasn't looking forward to. I'm quite happy doing mechanical and electrical jobs, but I've always avoided doing any kind of bodywork. Completing the scuttle involves the drilling, cutting and filing of gel-coated fibreglass, which I've never worked with before. It also involves the use of fibreglass matting, resin and hardener, which again is completely new to me. I was worried about chipping, scratching or cracking my lovely, shiny scuttle, but the job had to be done, so after reading Quantum's tips on working with fibreglass, I made a start.
I first placed the bare scuttle on the chassis, to make sure it fitted. The front was rather a tight fit over the bulkhead, so I filed down a couple of bulges on the inside of the scuttle. This was a good place to start, as any mistakes wouldn't show! I also had to deepen the lower cut-out in the scuttle, below the instruments, as it fouled the centre of the metal dash panel before the scuttle was far enough forward. As the scuttle was too big for my workbench, I worked on it on the garage floor, on a piece of deep-pile carpet for protection.
The first job was to dismantle the Sierra's wiper assembly, shorten two of the linkages and then reassemble it all onto Quantum's stainless steel mounting bracket. This bracket is then bonded to the inside of the top of the scuttle. In my ignorance, I initially thought that this was a rather poor way of securing quite a large, heavy assembly. However, after applying one layer of matting and resin between the bracket and scuttle, another two layers over the top of the bracket and leaving it to set overnight, I was surprised at how strong this method of fixing was.
Next morning, I carefully drilled the holes for the windscreen pillar mounting bolts, washer jets and speedo cable, the positions of which were scribed in to the fibreglass. I also bonded in two threaded metal bars that the pillar bolts screw into and a small bracket to hold the speedo cable clear of the wiper linkage. I then stitch-drilled and filed out the oval and rectangular holes to take the side repeaters lamps and rocker switches, then attached and sealed the demister vents and grills. Thankfully, the large holes for the instruments were already cut out, with only the hole for the speedo needing a bit of enlarging.
