Finally, it's time for an update! Things have been at a standstill here for quite a while. Hessisch and EBI have more or less forced the bus to take priority, and on top of that, moving from an apartment to a house has taken up quite a bit of both time and money!
First of all, I got the engine case back from Servais Engineering when I was down in Malmö back in May.
During our trip around Europe, I at least picked up a crank pulley bolt in the style of the old dished Santana bolts. We also went to inspect a pair of potential seats for the car. They were definitely comfortable to sit in!
A long time ago I ordered 40 mm velocity stacks for my IDF40s because the stacks that came with the Chinese carburetors were 44 mm. When they finally arrived and I test-fitted them, I discovered something I hadn't expected: the CB filter base plate for the linkage. The hole in it is about 45 mm...
The solution ended up being 3D-printed velocity stacks that taper all the way down to the carburetor.
These will eventually be printed in ASA plastic (similar to ABS). Before that, I need to verify that they fit inside the actual air filters.
So this weekend I made some progress on the interior. It's time to replace the steering wheel and the gear shifter, along with all the related work. I also need to reinstall the tachometer.
The tachometer was already prepared and the mounting bracket had been 3D-printed, so all that was left was to install it in the car. And of course, polish the carriage bolt that holds it in place.
Unfortunately, the tachometer ends up sitting in front of the ashtray, so I won't be able to stub out cigarettes inside the car anymore.
That little knob on the front of the ashtray felt a bit unnecessary, so I took it out to the garage and welded a screw into the hole where the knob used to be.
The screw in the ashtray was cut off and drilled out.
I vapor blasted the ashtray and painted it silver to make it look a bit nicer. Then I reassembled it and installed it back in the car.
As you can see, the steering wheel is missing from the pictures. That's the next part to be replaced!
The VDM steering wheel was taken apart and all the chrome was polished.
The steering wheel center, which is made of black-painted sheet metal, had started bubbling slightly from rust, so I sanded it down and repainted it.
I polished all the small parts and reassembled the steering wheel.
But I'm not planning to stop at just replacing the steering wheel... In the future, when the new engine is finished, I want to be able to shut it off with the key and coast safely to the side of the road without the steering lock engaging, for example if I lose oil pressure or the car catches fire. So the steering lock has to go, and the ignition switch will be relocated to the dashboard.
Drilling out the old steering lock and replacing it with a bushing was easier than I expected! I enlarged the hole in the dashboard where an auxiliary light switch had previously been mounted, and drilled an additional hole underneath the dashboard to secure the ignition switch.
I haven't had time to wire up the ignition switch or check whether the horn works yet... More to come!
Needs a cap and rotor .. the original badge is really nice as pictured sold as is 
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