Well I’m starting to make some progress now. The pedal box has been in and out umpteen times but I think it’s in for good now. I noticed that the steering column still didn’t feel very secure. A little more bracing was fabricated which seems to have done the trick. The master cylinder is installed (without the servo) and the extra length of a transit clutch cable has enabled it to be routed a lot neater. I was told that 2 inches of outer cable needed to be removed but in my case this wasn’t necessary so I had to revert back.

I’ve shortened the gear lever as per the tips linked to from the RHoCAR website. This went OK.

I decided that the exhaust manifold needed to be insulated. Some exhaust wrap from CBS was used and the manifold re-installed. I got a stainless steel surround made up at my local metal shop and fixed it around the aperture on the side panel. I also bought some heatmat for the footwells and fitted this too.

The battery tray and firewall were then re-fabricated somewhat. I have no idea whether this will be too high or too low. No problem at the moment as the bonnet’s not on yet.

My attention was then drawn to the cooling system. I needed to install a sensor for the electric fan. I got a suitable piece of pipe made up and in this went. I also needed an expansion bottle which I sourced from my local scrapyard. The plumbing was obviously improvised and so it was re-routed so that it looked a lot tidier. The mini heater is (almost) in place and plumbed in. The cooling system episode did cause me quite a bit of pain. Whilst trying to remove one of the heater pipes, it gave way suddenly causing me to gash my arm on the stainless (which had yet to be planished). A trip to A&E and seven stitches later saw me back at home feeling rather grumpy! Once I’d mended (and been on holiday!) it was back to building.

Mid August saw the Harrogate Kit Car show which was attended and gave me the chance to catch up with more Hoodies.

From the scrapyard, I got a mounting bracket for the coil and in addition a fuel regulator/vapour separator which I need in order to facilitate the "fuel return" issue which I’d been pondering about for some time. Before installing the fuel lines, I then turned to the mounting of the fuel tank. I had to remove the rear panel so that I could see what I was doing. I’m getting used to the concept that things need to be fitted and then removed a few times over. I’ve installed two rails for the tank to sit on and all I need to do now is fabricate something to tie it down in place.

Throughout these couple of months I’ve posted quite a few queries on the RHoCAR website (I’ve even tried to offer help to a few others!) and received lots of useful hints & tips – Thanks Guys.

Steve...