|
|
|
|
3rd-7th May, ActionThe long bank holiday weekend provided a bit more time to play with the car (big surprise!!). No big breakthroughs, just more tinkering. The fuel tank is now separated from the radiator/cooling area by a steel bulkhead with only minor lacerations to the fingers - which is nice. The front of the car has been tidied up a bit more with more substantial hinges, extra spot lights, painted exhaust manifold and black valance type thing to conceal stuff a bit. The rear is pretty much finished now, with the valance and bumper fitted. The only thing to sort out is the look of the tail pipes, probably just short stubby pipes straight out, but there was a quick test of side exits (just in case)... The rear window on the passenger side was removed and replaced with a plastic one so I could trial fit a NACA duct for getting air to the radiator. Looks a bit messy, but should give a good idea of airflow without cutting any real metal up. If the flow is reasonable then we will cut one into each rear side panel. Damian ventured over for a couple of days of Imp-tastic action, and got on really well with adapter plate stuff, so his engine, box and transfer housing all bolt together, and the starter motor spins the crank up :-) And while there was a willing assistant to play with the throttle it seemed rude not to record a bit more video...... Just idling from front & rear 1078kb avi or 92k wav Gratuitous revving from inside and out :-) 1484kb avi or 435k wav Avi's compressed with DivX (see tech files for download) 11th - 12th May, ActionDuring the running last weekend it was noted that there was a small pool of oil growing under the car , the kind that would soon have Greenpeace arriving in force and teams of school children cleaning oily seagulls - you know the kind. Saturdays job :- Pop the engine out to see what was going on. It appears that the oil is mainly emerging from between the 1.0 & 1.5mm steel sheets that form the block to gearbox adapter plate. The previous build had been fairly oil tight using silicone instant gasket between the sheets, but welded the edges of the sheets together (without sealant) seems to have been a bad idea - more rigid, but way less oil tight! Oh well, slapped some sealant on the outside that should hold the worst of it until the next rebuild, Then got the engine back in and running and plumbed in the heater - and all before teatime :-) Sunday.. playing with the ducts. It seems that the opening for the duct in the side window will allow enough air in to cool the engine from H to N when stationary, so we made the (foolish ?) assumption that two ducts of this size may be OK under load. So I bit the bullet, removed the radiator then got the jigsaw out. Having butchered the car Elaine was enlisted to make some prototype ducting from chicken wire and gaffer tape. No point making permanent bits at this time in case we need to make the inlets even bigger, or put some scoopy things on the outside. Last job was to bung the radiator and cover back in, with one minor upgrade.. A tap connected to the top of the radiator to make bleeding air out of the system easier. 18th -19th May + 25 - 26th May, No Action.Two weekends of V8mini free skiving !! 27th May, Info.Received a coded transmission saying the driveshafts could be ready..... 31st May, Action!Test fit of the driveshafts, without CV boots, all seemed OK. So stuffed a split pin in the gear linkage as a temporary roll pin & pushed the car into the drive... Clutch very iffy, brakes very iffy, but IT MOVES !!!!! |
|
NOTE AVI files compressed with the DivX codec, free from www.divx.com Diy
fuel injection by MEGASQUIRT For General V8 info try http://www.v-8.org.uk/forum/ For sensible Spag stuff visit www.spagweb.com or for madtech mayhem try www.magicspanner.co.uk
Looking for more Mini info ? Then try the Internet Mini Encyclopaedia www.ime.org.uk
Norfolk n Goode Pies, Your Favourite Farmyard Faces In Tasty Pastry Cases. http://www.norfolk-n-goode.co.uk
This page last modified 04/02/2008. |
www.msefi.com
