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As the fuel pipe is now finished, here's some pics of the finished setup: Picture 1 (see left), Picture 2, Picture 3.

I seem to be getting multiple strands of work on the go at once now. This is good. If I get stuck on something or I'm waiting for that 'special part', I can get on with something else whilst I'm pondering and/or waiting.

The next jobs to be tackled then was fitting the rear wings and the electrics (or at least a start on the electrics). Firstly though, the rear wings. I had to fit the GRP arches to the stainless. I printed off the instructions kindly supplied by the North West Hoodies. You can find these on their website. I had to enlist the help of my friend John for this task. When you embark upon jobs like this, two pairs of hands (and two heads!) make the job easier. We had some bother getting the arches 'snug' to the stainless as per the instructions. Our solution was to tease the GRP in from the outside of the stainless rather than the inside. If you're reading this cold, you'll have no idea what I'm on about, but if you look at the instructions you should get a clearer picture. Once the GRP was fixed, we then set about actually fitting them to the car. I'm sure you'll be getting the idea by now but as usual, several trial fitments became the order of the day before we were happy that they were OK. Even now they're not on for keeps as I need to get some wing piping to put between the wings and the rear panel so that it all looks neat & tidy. Anyway, here's a pic of how they look now. I've also made some infill panelling for underneath the arches - is there a song about this or am I just showing my age? I still need to make up the stoneguards too so, not finished yet but nearly there! Finally, a common problem (apparently) with these cars is that some need a spacer on the nearside rear wheel. It appears that the diff isn't exactly central. Mine was no exception. 23mm of spacing and new longer studs too have been purchased from Rally Design to sort this out.

With regards to the electrics, after roughly getting the loom laid in and labelled up, I started by concentrating on the instrument cluster. I'm using Capri Clocks but the Vicki Green Loom Wiring Diagram is for Sierra Clocks. Getting the instruments wired up correctly entails tracing the VG wiring colours to the sierra colours and then translating these into Capri colours. Ford had a habit (and maybe still do?) of not sticking to the script with regards to wiring colours. This job therefore proved to be a bit of a headache! Patience though, is the virtue here, tracing one circuit at a time and documenting along the way. There were only two hiccups with this particular task:

1. I could get the car to start 'on the key' but not stop! It turned out that I wasn't using a switched live but a permanent live.


2. I struggled to get the Ammeter working properly - It is now!

Thanks again go to the Hoodies on the RHOCaR website who offered plenty of advice and were very patient and helpful. Thanks Guys (you know who you are!). I'm now in the position where all the clocks are working. I just need to get the correct fuel sender. I'd bought one last year from GMS Capri Spares at the Newark Show. It must have been a Sierra one and of course, I need a Capri one. I've just taken it back to them at the Stoneleigh Show. They didn't have a Capri one so gave me a full refund - Top lads! Obviously, there's more electrical work to be done and this is currently ongoing.

I've also re-done the exhaust mounting bracket.


The end of April saw me at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show. This is the biggest one of the year being well attended. Unfortunately I didn't get much time to socialise. I'd got a fairly big shopping list which once fulfilled, left me with little time to chat as I had to get back home. No doubt, when the cars' finished I'll have more time for that! I didn't even get time to take any photos. I came away with lots of bits 'n' bobs (mainly electrical stuff) and even more nuggets of useful information so that I can crack on with the build. Hello again to the faces I saw there and sorry to those I meant to say Hi to, but never managed to meet up with.

I'm still attending the monthly meetings. I mainly go to the one in Keighley as that's the nearest. I do try though to get up to see the lads in Durham now and again too. Again, like I've said before, the social side is as important to me as much as the build. Without their support, help and advice, things would be more difficult for sure.

OK, so there's another couple of months flown by. Progress, albeit slow, is in the right direction. At least it's starting to look like a car now, but there's still plenty more to be done. Next up is finishing off the rear wings and the electrics and then onto the boot, the dash and the bonnet!

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