The StewRat - a race car reborn

[Neil Davies]

This is a build thread with a bit of a difference, in that I know I'm not going to finish it. But I have contributed to the history of this car and given it a future it otherwise would not have had.
It's going to take me some time, so bear with me!

Best place to start is at the start. Briefly I got my first Beetle in 1995 when I was 17, crashed it, Cal Looked it and still have it now. Got a Ghia in 1998 and Cal Looked that too, had a 1641 with 36 Dellortos and decided to join the VWDRC in 1999, getting down to 18.0's. That same year I bought what became Headstraight, my 1966 roof-chopped gasser, and had a succession of engines, eventually calling time on the whole thing in 2005 having run a best time of 12.09 @ 109.7mph. Sold the car that December and the new owner had cut it up and scrapped it by February.



Of course, it was during that winter that Outlaw Flat Four came into being, and there was me without a race car! I served on the committee for a while and pretty soon decided that I needed to go racing again. Some changes in personal circumstances meant that I wasn't in a position to do anything about it for quite some time, although lots of ideas had been discussed and put aside. Late in  2012 I saw an advert for an MSA-legal rollcage,  still in a beetle body and pan. This could be it!

[Neil Davies]

So emails went back and forth, and in February 2013 my Dad and I went up north to collect our new purchase. This:


Now we may have seemed a little bit mental, indeed the guys I share my unit with thought so, and some of the others on the estate had decided I'd totally lost the plot but I had an idea! It didn't involve the car going back to its previous guise, which was like this:

Despite Baja Bugs not being Cal Look at all, you can't argue with one that runs 12's!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbk7EIAN0dg

I had visions of a late model Cal Look street car, and years previously had briefly started work on a 1970 pan which was going to get IRS, bus box etc and then put under a body that I hadn't yet found. When the Baja appeared, it seemed logical to build it up, run it for a season or two while finishing the new pan and then swap the body and cage onto the new pan. Best laid plans and all that...

[Neil Davies]

So Dubfreeze 2013 sees me coming home with a new sedan nose cone (fitted to a car and then removed again), and with the wings and bonnet I already had in stock I decided to crack on. A wallpaper steamer, petrol, assorted scrapers and wire wool got part of the way through the underseal and revealed factory paint in a strange yellow. Now Craig, the previous owner, had told me that he'd owned the car twice, once as a gloss red sedan and later as a red oxide Baja, but I can't remember if it had been Baja'd by him or the intermediate owner. Whatever, as a 1200 model it only had the small headliner so lots of metalwork that needed painting over when it went grey. It gained a fibreglass dash cover when it was Baja'd too. Finding this yellow paint pointed to one thing - this car had probably started life as a Jeans special edition in 1974!
A few repairs were uncovered, and a few that needed were discovered, but getting the front mocked up was a big boost.

Finding that the heater channels were a collection of repair panels was not quite so inspiring, so a passenger one was sourced as this was the worse of the two and it was modified to suit as I discovered when I got it home that it was a 1302/03 one...
Slightly depressed, here is where the story slows down somewhat.

[Neil Davies]

Over the next 12 months I did very little to the car, changing the vent panel under the rear window back to stock as it had had a really bad script panel put in, stating that the car was "Flamin' Hot" - I thought it was flamin' awful so it got changed for a donor section, drilled out along the spotless wherever possible. It also re-instated the decklid hinge mounts that had been chopped out at some point in the past.
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The other modification I was less than overjoyed with was the mess left behind by the fibreglass dash. I found that it had been bonded on with bodyfiller and when I pulled it off the filler gripped the paint better than the original factory paint gripped the factory primer! Worse still, to fit the Autometer Monster speedo, the hole in the dash had been hacked out beyond repair. A call to a mate and I ended up with the dash cut from another car to use as more donor metal.

[Neil Davies]

In September 2014 I changed jobs and suddenly found myself doing stupid hours (up at 6am and work til midnight!) and spent no time at all working on any cars at all - between 1st September and Xmas 2014 I visited my unit on only five occasions. All projects simply stopped. In February 2015 my wife and I found out that we were going to be parents for the first time so priorities changed and the search for a new job took over. When I saw a message on here in April asking what race car projects were out there I offered mine up, which took Stewart (StewRat) a little by surprise!
Stewart explained that he'd got some sorting to do before he could pull the trigger - not actually having a garage was a major stumbling block - but that he'd be back in touch when he was ready. To be honest, I didn't really expect too much and kind of forgot about it! The car sat on a pallet on casters, with the nose chucked inside, no front or rear windows, no running gear, the passenger heater channel removed, gathering dust and being completely ignored until October, when Stewart got back in contact and said that he'd like to buy the car and the parts I'd accumulated to build it up. One condition though, he had no access to welding gear so would I mind finishing off the welding?
Of course I wouldn't mind, I really enjoy building stuff, as does my Dad. That's why we're simultaneously doing a kitchen extension at my house with no external help! Just to make life really interesting, I started another new job at the start of September and at the end of September my son Jake was born! Going to get busy...

[Neil Davies]

Finally, time for an update!
So I really needed to get my backside in gear and get the car built up. Biggest job was the heater channel, which also meant that the front inner quarter, door post bottom and the heater channel end plate needed replacing too. Fortunately the rear quarter itself was solid, but that just made it harder to get the replacement channel in! Before the channel went in, the heater tube was trimmed back and plated over in the back and the outlet plated over in the front. Trimmed down the repair panels to keep as much of the original metal as possible - don't know why, just something I've always done!
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[Neil Davies]

Passenger side successfully repaired, we moved under the bonnet, where dozens of holes had been drilled over the years. Most had just been gobbed up with filler, so they were all hammered flat, welded up and ground flat again - took bloody ages!
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After that, the bulkhead and framehead were stonechipped, the beam was built up and bolted on and the nose section was welded into place. It fitted really well one side but the pressings just didn't line up on the other side so had to be re-worked quite a lot. The other issue was the nose section was a LHD one, so had to have the steering box access hole cut in.

[Neil Davies]

And in the week leading up to Christmas Dad and I spent several days in the garage with the final assembly, getting the gearbox in, shocks on, wheels on (6" and 7" Cookie Cutters on redrilled discs and drums), steering connected up and a coat of stonechip under the bonnet and on the inner wings, and primer on the rest of the front end to tidy it up.
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Next the wings went on, the passenger door was refitted again (fortunately very light as the inner skin had been chopped away and plastic windows fitted!), the windows went in and the rear valance was modified to bolt between the rear wings as there are no inner wings to work with!
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And that was that! The car headed up to Fife in Scotland on the Wednesday before Christmas to it's new owner for finishing off. It needs a bit of topcoat on the front end, the wiring and plumbing sorting out, the Bigwig interior panels refitting, a seat mounting up and a few other bits, including, obviously a motor. Stewart has plans for a 1914cc motor and then get used to racing it, which is more than I managed!
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Go on then Stewart, it's up to you to keep this thread updated now!

[StewRat]

And here's Santa delivering a little later the same day


Soooo ....

Over to me.

Firstly, I have to say a big thanks to Neil for getting me to this point and actually being able to talk in terms of having a "race car".

The amount of work he put into the car before I got it was incredible, and he kept putting more into it long after I was committed to it and we'd agreed the price. It saved me a load of time and - importantly in this budget-conscious build - money.

He probably saved my job and marriage too, given the amount of time I was spending online looking for a suitable base vehicle for my plans (hopes, dreams). And if I'd followed that path, I might have eventually found a car, but I'd probably have ended up with a fairly standard bug with a lot to do.

Not that there isn't still a lot to do before the StewRat's first pass, but I think I'm starting in a really good place and I'm looking forward to the task, and the responsibility of getting this car back on the strip. So thanks again Neil, and I hope I can give you the satisfaction of seeing this car race again soon.

Before we get onto the tech stuff, first a bit about me, and the plan.

I've been into cars for about 40 years - mainly American muscle, and VWs. My daily driver is a T5.1 I've had from new, purchased as a panel van and converted into a kombi equivalent (which you couldn't buy at the time).
Build thread for that work is at http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=69843&highlight=transformer



So that will be the tow vehicle.

I live about 30 minutes away from Crail that has a 1/4 mile drag strip that operates fortnightly for much of the year, and a couple of years ago I got the idea of building a fox-body Mustang to race there. In the states, they talk about the $10k dragster with these cars, meaning $5k to buy a 5.0 model and add $5k of bolt-on parts to give you a pretty fast car. Problem is of course, there are no remotely solid 30yr old Mustangs in the UK for $5k, and all the parts cost much more, so I eventually dropped that idea.

Fortunately I discovered the world of VW drag racing about the same time and eventually ended up where I am today!

Which is - no real mechanical experience, a rented lockup, little spare time. But I have a car and a plan, and I'm going drag racing!

Defining criteria for this project:

• Race only, I don't have time or budget to worry about MOT and everything else street related
• If it doesn't make it faster (or maybe safer) it isn't going on the car. That includes paint, so apologies, this will be no cal-looker
• Budget conscious - currently I'm hoping to be on the strip with about 6000 GBP in the car
• Getting it finished and racing is more important than every element being the best available
• Target for first iteration will be to get into the 13s. Maybe ambitious but something to aim for.

 

[StewRat]

The plan is - as Neil mentioned - to build a 1914cc motor, but if a bargain stroker crank/barrel/piston package came along, I'd consider going bigger.

So far, I have accumulated:

An unused CB Super Case that is machined for 94mm barrels and clearanced for up to 84mm cranks.
Somewhat strangely, it has "RaceShack" machined into its side - a name I know only from the "Beetle Crisis" TV programmes and now belief to be defunct.




CB 044 Supermag dual port cylinder heads with 35.5 x 40 valves and opened up to 94mm.



I had originally aspired to have 48 IDAs but the cost is just too high, and I got a deal on this pair of 40 DRLAs. Research suggests that with the right venturi, jets and stacks these can work well with the size of engine and valves I have.



I bought a job lot of parts off Gumtree that includes(subject to checking!) manifolds and a linkage for these, along with a breather box, distributor, coil, fuel pump.

Used StreetMax headers should arrive next week.

Oh, and when I saw that Sunpro had been bought by Bosch, it seemed like a good excuse to buy what might be the last of the Sunpro branded gauges.




My approach to gathering parts is that I have made a list of everything I know I need, from crankshaft to spark plugs, and have tried to find the best new price for each item.
Then I'm keeping an eye on the classifieds on forums, facebook, ebay etc and if a bargain appears that's on the list, I'll buy it now.
If I reach a stage where I need a part to move forward I'll look for the best deal I can get.

Right now, because I cant really start building the motor until I get my new shed built, I'm looking for the bits I need to go through and complete the brakes, replace some suspension boots, etc.

... and a seat so I can at least sit in at and go vroom vroom.

[hotstreetvw]

The fox mustang would have been cool but I think you made the right decision

Last track day I pitted near a 90ish LX.  He rolled in, pulled the jack and slicks out, swapped over to the slicks, ran a 10.70 at 130mph.  End of the day he bolted the street tires on, loaded up and drove home.  All the while I'm putting my car, best if the day 13.66, onto the trailer, haha.

Our day will come.  Have fun.

[kev d]

good luck with the build!
We need as much Scottish race cars out as possible
Cheers
Kev

[StewRat]

good luck with the build!
We need as much Scottish race cars out as possible
Cheers
Kev

Thanks Kev

I saw a thread somewhere about the Scottish guys planning to get together at Crail one day - don't know if that has happened in the past, but if it's ever planned again (this year?), please let me know.
Chances are I'll only be at the stage of picking brains and bench racing but I'd love to meet up with y'all.

Stewart

[kev d]

I'm only just getting mine ready for the track now so not sure if there's been a meet at crail lately??
I'm looking at the run what ya brung day at the start of April then the cal look drag day / weekend
Cheers
Kev

[dth]

Hi mate , as Kev said , good luck with the build , we were up at Crail in 2014 , never made it up last year,
hopefully get up this year , wouldnt mind doing a few runs before i go south , if you can make the Cal Look
Dragday in June , go for it , hopefully gonna be a big one. I,ll give you a shout if we,r doing Crail in the spring
time hopefully , cheers Donald

[StewRat]

This week I have been mainly thinking about carburetors. And taking them to bits.

So much so that when I pulled in behind a No36 bus yesterday, I thought "that's the size of venturi I need".

As said above, I decided I couldn't justify the money for 48 IDAs - though I should perhaps have decided that before I bought a pair of the beefed up EMPI manifolds. Anyway...

I found a set of DRLA 40s on Ebay (in Italy), and having done enough research to satisfy myself that they would be able to feed my level of motor, I secured them for £250 which seemed like a good deal. I did ask what they came off and wasn't surprised when it was an Alfa, but only after dismantling them, reading some more online and consulting the Bob Tomlinson book, now do I realise there is quite a bit to do to before they become VW-ready.

I just put all the bits I need into a cart at Eurocarb and it comes to over £100 without rebuild kits.
choke blanking plates
36mm venturi
158 main jets
60 idle jets
stack mounting studs

Fact is I wont need the carbs finished until after the motor, and that is still at the parts gathering stage, so I'll keep my eyes open for used or swaps before biting the bullet.

Upside on all this is that I bought a job lot box of bits off gumtree early on, sight unseen and without a lot of info, but it turns out the manifolds and linkage it included will work with these carbs with some new linkage bar springs and maybe new throttle levers (another Alfa difference). So that, plus the distributor, coil, breather box, oil cooler and fuel pump in the box made that worth £100.

I've decided to feed the DRLAs with a fuel line each off a T rather than the serial connection they come set up for. Seems sensible to me rather than making one carb dependent on the other for its fuel. This means blanking off one of the connectors on one of the banjos, so I threw caution to the winds and tapped my first ever thread with my Aldi tap n die set ready to take a sealing screw. I know there may be more threads to be tapped, so I reckoned a good place to start was on a banjo that could be replaced if I made a mess of it.

[Neil Davies]

Stewart, with the IDAs I used a Holley Blue pump with a Holley Red regulator for two reasons - first because everyone else was doing it so tried and tested, and second because the regulator acts as that T piece. On the DRLAs I simply fed fuel to one carb then across to the other, worked well enough! Didn't bother with choke block offs either, just left them on and disconnected! Don't bother with specific jets until you get to a rolling road or engine dyno, then it pays to have plenty to hand, which they can often sell you.

[Neil Davies]

Defining criteria for this project:

• Race only, I don't have time or budget to worry about MOT and everything else street related
• If it doesn't make it faster (or maybe safer) it isn't going on the car. That includes paint, so apologies, this will be no cal-looker
• Budget conscious - currently I'm hoping to be on the strip with about 6000 GBP in the car
• Getting it finished and racing is more important than every element being the best available
• Target for first iteration will be to get into the 13s. Maybe ambitious but something to aim for.

Stewart,  I've been thinking (dangerous, I know!) about what to do next!
First up is to have a read of Richie's 10 second street car thread - loads of good info in there. You're a fair way along as you have a solid car with a 10.00 legal cage. You're also good because it's not going on the street, so you don't really have to compromise.
Wheel bolts - you will need them! The Porsche wheels need different bolts - I think they're a ball seat, and certainly longer than the stock ones holding the wheels on now. You may want to use studs and nuts instead - makes changing wheels loads easier.
You'll need fuel lines as the one under the car is no good. I used 10mm microbore copper running down the underside of the passenger heater channel, so it's well protected. You used to be able to buy a fitting to go in the bottom of the fuel tank to run a bigger fuel line without the restriction. Alternatively, a small fuel cell mounted in the stock location and aluminium panel the resf of the hole - saves weight! Think about if you ever go fuel injection or turbo and need a return line so make sure you've got provision for that.
We've already spoken about brakes with regards to re-piping it and putting in a line lock. Stock calipers on the front will be fine, but you may want to use front wheel cylinders in the back to give a little extra stopping power. I used to stage on the handbrake, and it's easy enough to modify to keep the button held in for launching - couldn't find one of those so add it to the list for Dubfreeze!
Where I'd look to spend some decent money is on the gearbox. Deals come up all the time so if you've got a decent chunk put aside (about a quarter of your budget) you should be able to get something decent. Race axles are important and I'd go for short axles and tubes to tuck the rear wheels under the arches - I hadn't realised how close they were. I've got the mid mount bracket here so I'll pass that on when we meet too. Uprated torsion bars will make a difference, they would have been my next step if I'd kept the red race car.
Save some weight with lexan windows - Direct Plastic in Sheffield do a nice coated plastic perfect for the job. Paul Woodhead (the boss) races a Beetle too.
Inside you've got a seat to buy, a decent shifter (although I used a stock curved one on a quickshift plate!) and harnesses and window net to get too. There should have been a 100mph speedo in with the car (good fun to wind the needle past the indicator light!) and you'll need to get a stock glovebox lid to fix in place with some simple brackets - it won't clear the cage so no hinges, and you may as well single skin it before sealing it in. Extra gauges? Up to you, but you won't have much time to look at them. Idiot lights are good for things like oil pressure. Use the stock switches for wipers and lights (I know about weather in Scotland!), but eliminate the washers.
Cosmetically I'd get a cheap spray gun and blow all the primer over in cellulose to seal it - it's about £11 a litre so worth doing, and grab some '68-'72 tombstone rear lights and a numberplate light just to finish it off. A Saltire or St Andrew's cross number plate would be cool like KevD's race car. Bumper iron rubbers are cheap and worth fitting just to tidy the slots in the wings up, and I've got some stock indicators that I meant to dig out but forgot,  just to fill the holes in the front wings. You could just fibreglass the holes up instead though! Check out the DKP II thread in the Cal Look section and you'll see some nice late models for inspiration!
Phew, big post!

[StewRat]

Thanks Neil - just what I needed, more things to add to the to-do list.   
Thanks especially for the notes on the wheel bolts, I hadn't picked up on that yet.

Fortunately some of it at least is already on that list, like:

Full overhaul of the brakes with new lines. Hadn't thought about that rear cylinder tweak - thanks.
Full re-pipe of the fuel system (and yes, I'd thought about running an extra line at the same time).

Some of it is on the list but may not be done before first outing - like Lexan windows.

And I'm rattle canning the primer just now purely to seal it. It's going to look pug ugly when it first goes out, but I can live with that. The rest of the cosmetics will probably have to wait.
I've got tach, oil temp and oil pressure gauges and yes, planned to have idiot lights.
I hadn't planned to fit the speedo as I reckoned there wouldn't be a situation where I would need to know my speed in the moment. Do I need it?
Similarly, I hadn't planned to fit any lights or wipers on the basis that I wouldn't be racing anytime I would need them and it simplifies the wiring. Do I need them?

I am a bit of a perfectionist by nature, so I am constantly going back to those 5 defining criteria, and forcing myself to ignore or postpone anything that doesn't fit them.
It would be very easy for me to spend a couple of years getting to the point where I have a car that is brilliantly 60% equipped and looks great, but never gets to the track.

Don't let that stop anyone making suggestions - I absolutely need and appreciate the input, as I dont really know what I'm doing 

[Neil Davies]

Hi Stewart, it's great that you've got similar ideas to me! With regards to the lights and wipers, you don't actually need them, but they are useful! If I remember the rules right, a rear light is mandatory when racing at certain times of year if the weather  conditions demand it, so at dusk really. Depends on the curfew at Crail I suppose! Likewise, at Santa Pod there used to be no floodligts after the finish so night racing with no forward lighting could get a bit hairy - i know of at least one Beetle that pulled off the track into the return road and into a field... not me! Indicators are useful if there is potential for confusion when pulling off the track, although brake lights and main beam/sidelights aren't so necessary. I'd bin the existing rear loom and use a piece of 7-core trailer wire and some quick release connectors. Wipers are easy weight to lose but it is nice to be able to clear the screen, and the speedo is just good fun to watch - it really gives you a feeling of how quick your car actually is.

[56BLITZ]

Wheel bolts - you will need them! The Porsche wheels need different bolts - I think they're a ball seat, and certainly longer than the stock ones holding the wheels on now. You may want to use studs and nuts instead - makes changing wheels loads easier.

Your tech inspector might want you to have open-ended lug nuts, like these . . . http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Premium-Open-Ball-Seat-Lug-Nuts-For-OEM-Wheels-14x1-5-0-825-Tall-3-4-Hex-/141715239307?hash=item20fee2f18b:g:CG8AAOSwMmBV0-il&vxp=mtr
Makes it easy to be sure the wheel studs are long enough.

[richie]

Hi Stewart

I would definitely have pressed in studs for rear wheels, then use nuts, front is ok with bolts if you want to

cheers Richie

[StewRat]

It's been too long since I updated this - mainly because most of my effort has been shopping rather than wrenching on anything much.

Carbs are rebuilt with bigger venturi and jets - I heard the advice on waiting until it was dyno'd to set the jets, but reckoned it was worth being in the right ball park with these so at least I know it runs okish before that.

I've covered up the primer I inherited with a shonky B&W chequer pattern - not sure why as it is much harder than just spraying a colour over it; I think there was some crazy logic around not deciding on another colour to add to the 3 or 4 there already.

I'm going to post a separate question about wheel studs etc rather than divert this thread.
In fact in general I will post my questions in the appropriate thread and reference here.

Following an interesting separate thread about seats (http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,25431.0.html), I now have a Kirkey seat (thanks Richie).

Also, (from memory largely) ...
Brake pipe, fittings and associated tools for that overhaul - with a Biondo line loc.
Fuel regulator
External oil filter fitting
Oil pump
Push rods and tubes
1:25 Rockers
Main and rod bearings
Lightened flywheel
Rocker covers with breather barbs
HT leads
Gasket set
Gland nut
Exhaust headers

... and one big unplanned purchase of a MSD 6AL-2. Hadn't planned on electronic ignition, but there was a more basic MSD unit for sale somewhere that put me on a trail that found this one new for about the same money. It was the rev limiting that sold me on the idea as it seems like worthwhile insurance.

There's more (my wife will tell you - and the Royal Mail guy who amusingly has delivered most of this car so far).
But also more to get - I think for anyone else following this route with no parts stash or existing engine, it is worth considering just how many different parts you need, and when you are buying pre-owned, stuff doesnt always come in "kits" with the associated fittings etc. There's probably an argument for buying a cheap complete engine, both as a working example check for all those parts, and as a donor for the bits and pieces that don't need to be bought new.
 
Last 3 weekends have all been fully occupied elsewhere - including last weekend where I hoped to get to Dubfreeze but was thwarted by prep for building work in the house and business travel.

This weekend - back to the lockup!!



 

[StewRat]

So the biggest news - still largely shopping related - is that the Stew Rat is going to be 2276cc, not 1914.

As I have been whittling away at the parts list, sniping bargains where I could, I'm getting to the point where there are a few big items remaining - most of the rotating assembly!

Barrels and Pistons I had been looking at spending <200 on probably an AA set. Second option were Mahle forged at c100 more.

Then while putting together a cart of smaller items at VW Heritage, and going through their entire sale list, I saw stroker forged Mahle B&P on sale, and somehow managed to convince myself that spending more than I originally planned for something much better than I would have got is actually a bargain!

So final big rotating assembly items to buy are now an 82mm crank and the right rods.

That and cam + followers and I will have so many parts that I really will need to clear some space and start building something!

[Neil Davies]

Good work Stewart! Now, have a look in the classifieds at Dannyboy's gearbox - the final piece of the puzzle!

[StewRat]

Good work Stewart! Now, have a look in the classifieds at Dannyboy's gearbox - the final piece of the puzzle!

Yeah - I saw it.

I know even less about gearboxes/trans than I do about engines so I've been in a bit of denial about that aspect of things so far.

How quickly do you think I'll rip the guts out of the existing box, especially assuming I will be ramping up for a bit based on driver inexperience etc?

Stewart

[Neil Davies]

Depends on your driving style! I've had mates blow stock boxes with a 1641 on Kadrons, and others make them live with a 2007 IDA motor. The way I look at it, it's one less thing to worry about, and it would suck hugely to come all the way to the Pod and break a stock box on the first launch! When I built my old car I got the gearbox before the motor - had slicks and close ratio 1st to 4th gears, superdiff and race axles with a 1584 with 36DRLAs, which was slightly overkill but it meant that when the 2180 went in I didn't have to change anything else.

[leec]

The only downside to having the box before the motor is you can not tailor the ratios to suit the engine
Lee

[StewRat]

Just a quick update in case anyone (Neil especially) was worried I hadn't been doing anything.

Progress is somewhat slow, due to limited free time, learning as I go along, and the car not being right beside the house.

However, progress there is.

Brakes have been largely replaced all round - new calipers, master cylinder, new soft hoses, and I have made all my own hard lines. Line loc is plumbed in.

Similarly fuel, with larger outlet from the fuel tank to fuel pump, and new soft and hard lines routed under the car to regulator in the back.

Under the tank is now looking like this.



(I didn't say the pipes were neat).

One of the biggest frustrations has been getting the right fittings for things -  tapered vs straight threads, thread pitch, etc etc - especially finding fixtures that are correct at both ends. I have a growing collection of misc fittings bought in error that I'm sure will come in handy one day.

I've removed all the original wiring. There was so much of it relative to the systems I will have in the car, and a lot of splicing and additions over the years, so I now get to learn all about wiring from scratch too. I am beginning to have a sense of how I will approach it though. With the battery in a box behind where the passenger seat would be, I plan to mount a panel on the side of the car with the MSD, fuses, relays etc. Its a short run to the battery, easy access to a hole through the rear panelling to the engine bay, and forwards to the original hole through to the back of the dash etc. Still much to work out on that, but I've sketching out a scale diagram with everything on it so I can make a loom from that. Sez he sounding like its a small thing.

But with a gear lever and a handbrake and a seat, it's beginning to look more like home.



The light in that pic has been a game changer - 10 pounds from Aldi online and its brilliant. LED, 6 hours life, has a hook and a magnet for positioning.
Also got a set of ratchet spanners there for the same money. Ah, ratchet spanners, what an invention.
Next most useful thing has been the set of magnetic tool trays I got from Machine Mart. I have always had a massive problem with tools in that I lay them down and instantly they disappear. Really disappear. Drives me mad, especially when I find them later in a completely weird place. But with these trays I discipline myself to put all the tools I'm using on a job in one of them, along with the bits I'm removing, new parts etc, and then I put all those back in the main tool box when that job is finished.



I've made a template for the dash and have ordered some aluminium to make a single facia for it.

The rotating assembly has been away for balancing, and I've done some smoothing and polishing on the manifolds and heads. I've been pretty conservative on the heads as they were CNC ported to begin with, but the manifolds needed matching and had big welds and general irregularities inside. I've lapped the valves and am waiting for a new valve spring compressor to cc and match the chambers.





I've got proper bolts for the wheels -  it was recommended I get studs pressed in on the rear which I plan to do.

Hope soon to get started on the first trial build of the engine, if only to find out what's still missing.

More soon, hopefully ...

[Neil Davies]

Hi Stewart, good to see progress! When I built my previous car, my brother found a colour wiring diagram online somewhere, then photoshopped out all of the wires we didn't need. Made wiring much clearer! If you then decide to add lights and wipers after, you can run them as a separate circuit, using trailer wire for the lighting makes life a little easier as everything is there.