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I've been working on the car for two months now and as I sit here typing in the garage and cast my eyes over it; nothing seems to have changed much. Actually though, I feel I've made some real progress. Two months ago I was still pondering the task ahead and wondering what I'd let myself in for. In reality, I was subconsciously gathering a large amount of information and knowledge which only becomes apparent when you actually get stuck in. I discovered a couple of months ago that there was a monthly gathering of Hoodies in the Keighley area. There's an invaluable source of information to be gained from these meetings along with a sense of camaraderie that I've not really come across since my motocrossing days. The first task in hand was an easy and enjoyable one. I reckoned that since the engine hadn't turned over since I first bought the car last December that it was well time that I started the engine. In this car there's no loom, no brakes, no fuel lines. All I had was a "rolling chassis" with great deal of work still to do. I'm not complaining though, just trying to set the scene. Anyway, after getting a battery I set about some hot-wiring. Ummm, various failed attempts at connecting it all up and quite a bit of head scratching (all I've really done with cars for the last 20 odd years is drive them - I've forgotten how they tick!) coupled with the fact that the Haynes manual (well simply it just lies!) meant I was out of options. A quick call to the previous owner though (thanks!) and VROOOM! - It runs! OK, enough playing but it was good to hear the engine running and sounding just as sweet as it did last December.

The first thing was to get the seats in. It sounds strange I know, but I wanted to check that the seating position was OK with regards to reach etc. Whoh! Way too high so off came the runners. That's better but I still reckon they could do with being lower. OK for now though…. Then it was time to get on with some more building - well actually some unbuilding. I'd noticed that the steering column was really close to the exhaust manifold and also the alternator bracket. In addition, when the car was jacked up at the front, there was quite a bit of notchiness when the steering was turned from lock to lock. This needed sorting so I started taking it all apart. My initial perceptions, that all this work was done, were incorrect. In fairness though to the previous owner/s, I think this was all probably put together as “first fit”. There's no easy way to get the steering column out without removing the radiator, which obviously meant a drain down. Well the car's stood for some time so I didn't think this would be too bad an idea anyway. Out came the rad and then out came the steering column. Its mounting bracket was repositioned and the alternator bracket was modified/extended to get that away from the steering column. With everything as far apart as possible (and there's not a lot of room to play with) the steering was still notchy. The culprit here was that the angle of the column into the steering rack was too steep. Yet another visit to the RHoCAR website (which is another source of good info) revealed that this is a common enough problem. Tilting the rack rearwards seems to be the cure. (Alternatively, you can grind a small amount off the UJ, but I didn't want to risk weakening anything). I made up some wedges (20mm) for the rack out of some box section (cut at an angle) which seemed to cure it. I then learnt that altering the position of the rack can possibly introduce the phenomenon of “bump steer” Eeeek!

After a bit more research, I decided that although the rack needed to be tilted, maybe if I didn't tilt it quite as much, I'd be OK. Out came the wedges and in went a couple of washers (4mm) instead. Bingo – this cured it too and I also felt that 4mm wasn't going to introduce any unwanted “bump steer”.

OK so that's the first thing out of the way. The next thing to get my attention was the pedal box. As it was originally, the brake pedal was rubbing the steering column. With that moved though, things seemed better. The Robin Hood videos may well be lacking (according to most) but there was a useful nugget of information (and hopefully more to come?) which helped me straight away. Richard says to watch out for a hairline crack on the pedal box – sure enough, mine had one. Now I cannot weld for toffee but my friend can – he sorted it out and I had it back to me in no time. Before I fitted this back together though, I then took a look at the footwells. They can only be secured on three sides and seemed quite flimsy. I managed to source an off-cut of chequer plate from a local engineering shop to beef up the footwells. I took a trip down to the Stafford Show back in March. I didn't buy a thing because I simply didn't know what to buy!! Later, I also managed to get to the Newark show in the middle of June, again met a lot of Hoodies, this time bought quite a bit of stuff (probably need more though!) and now feel that I'm really getting into the “build”.

The next job was the servo – or rather, getting rid of it. In my opinion, the servo was going to be overkill and make the braking too sharp. Other Hoodies have ditched it so I was going to as well. I needed a replacement Master Cylinder Brake Rod from Tiger Racing. This presented another problem – How to attach the Master Cylinder through the Pedal Box plate without the servo being there. After a bit of advice and some brute force persuasion (OK, I bent the Pedal Box bracket slightly) it all seemed to fit.

One website I found towards the end of June was that of Colin Usher's. This site is different to most. It's a build manual rather than a Diary. I will never be an engineer (that's not my trade) but I can always wish. Colin's manual has so much technical information, that at first glance it's quite scary! So much to consider/modify/adapt it's mind boggling. I've taken the liberty of printing it all out. I reckon it's going to be very useful.

Challenges, challenges but I'm enjoying every minute of it. For example, I never would have thought that I'd agonise quite so much over what size pop rivet to buy? What type? How many?..and in what material?!! I realise full well that this is just the start. So, two months on and I've no idea whether I'm on target or not. I thought originally that it'd take 12 months so that means there's 10 to go. Ah well, it's not a race! What matters is that I build this kit car right. One thing I've noticed so far is that from all the Robin Hood Kit Cars I've seen, they're all different. That's what makes kit car building so enjoyable – they're unique!

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