Well, today I'm a very happy chappy. My car came back from the factory after having the bodywork pre-fitted and it looks AWESOME! I'm really happy with the colour, so much so, I may not paint it - but we'll see. Besides, it can be painted at a later date as the body has to be final fitted to do a good job and the old piggybank is running dry :( Anyway, not a huge deal to say except that the factory have done an (unsurprisingly) excellent job. So, with a load more boxes of bits to play with, I can get cracking again. In fact, there's only a handful of parts missing before I can finish the build (engine and transmission being two of them of course!). Anyway, I snapped a couple of pics as it gives a far better idea of the colour. More updates on Monday. Have a good weekend - I will!
Well, despite having a good part of the weekend to get stuff done, I managed to do very little. Actually, that's not entirely true. It just LOOKS as if I've done very little!
The first issue to be dealt with was the removal and storage of the bodywork. I have to remove the bodywork as the side pods aren't yet fixed and if you've been readin this diary, you'll know that the fuel tanks aren't fitted either! So much of the morning was spent cleaning up the workshop, moving stuff around so that I had enough room to store the various bits of GRP. Removing it was a simple enough task, taking care to record the number of spacing washers around the mounting rose-joints for the front/rear body sections. Removal was just a case of removing the mounting bolts and gas struts and carefully lifting them off the car. Safely stored, I moved onto the cockpit. First off were the doors for which you need to remove the inner hinge bolts and the cap headed screws for the upper rose-jointed hinge. TAKE CARE not to let the rose joint 'spin' otherwise when you refit them, you'll find that the door no longer hangs in the apeture and you risk damaging the GRP. Had a bit of a 'Doh!' moment removing the nearside door, where the upper hinge popped a chip of the gelcoat out on removal :( This isn't a problem if I paint the car, but I so like the colour I may keep it in the gelcoat finish for a while until funds allow! Anyway, doors safely removed the main cockpit section could be free'd. The cockpit had been secured with some temporary rivets as well as the 12 mounting bolts (4 front, 8 rear. After removing the bolts, I carefully drilled out the long mounting rivets and steering column. It became clear that one of the most important aids you can have in the workshop is a small girlfriend! Hels got stuck in under the dash to remove the steering column UJ bolt so that the upper section could be removed (you have to do this as it passes through the dash). I was little concerned that the dash was 'sprung' under the dash rail and Guy (who had turned up to collect some tyres) warned me that there was a fair risk of it cracking - as well as a host of other tips so thanks for that mate! I needn't have worried, another good friend turned up and helped lift the cockpit section from the car. It's quite flimsy when removed from the chassis, so take car not to crack it especially along the narrow roof centre section. That stowed, we set about lifting the chassis back onto the dolly. It gets heavier every time! Removal of the wheels helped immensely, and not having an engine hoist to hand (in the old workshop) it was good old brute strength that elevated it into position - who needs the gym anyway! Now that I could get underneath the car, I drilled out the temporary rivets holding the side-pods in place and removed them too. Phew! So I'm back to square one again!! I need to get hold of some rubberised paint to prepare the fuel tanks and insides of the bodywork, so that stopped further progress. We called it a day and I considered how I might continue tomorrow.
A wasted trip to Halfords etc. didn't turn up any sort of undercoating that I thought suitable. So, back down the workshop having wasted half the morning meant that the only progress I could make would be to rectify the 'snags' that Andy had spotted when I took the car to the factory. First up, the accelerator pedal which I'd cranked over to avoid chassis fouling was moved to the rearmost mount position so that it missed the chassis rail completely! It's amazing how something becomes so obvious after fitting for the first time! It was again a pain to ream out the powder coating from the mounting hole, but a short rat-tailed file did the job with some elbow grease. Next up, was the gearlever. Before I go on, let me remind you that the spacing from the centreline of the 2 rosejoints that hold the gearlever linkage need to be spaced off in order that they can give enough deflection of the gearlever - 30mm for the bottom one and 45mm for the top (see pic) The locknuts supplied sit on the cockpit side of the chassis NOT the outside. Right, where were we... Ahh yes, rollpins. Now I HATE rollpins especially when they're in tricky positions to insert. Given that the gearlever is at the end of a free-moving linkage, getting the damn pin in is not a simple case of whacking it with a hammer and a drift! So, I modified a G-clamp by drilling a countersink into the clamp face. This allowed me to tighten the clamp onto the pin and UJ whilst holding the pin in a vertical position. It helped by drilling out the holes a bit of course (the pins supplied were about 4.4mm in diameter so I used a 4mm drill to make the bores) but the tool worked well. In fact so well, I used it twice. Not deliberately of course :( Whilst being half asleep, I managed to drill/mount the gear lever so that it cranked towards the rear of the car. This is fine if you only want to use 2 of the 5 gears available, but obviously, I'd like some more to play with! So I had to remove (cue more swearing) the rollpins and UJ, re-drill 90 degrees to the original hole and refit. So, when you come to doing yours, make sure that it's attitude matches that in the pic below!
Unfortunately, that's as far as I got. Having no sealant for the body of fuel tanks and also, no fume seals, I couldn't fit anything else :( Still, I've got the week to get hold of the required parts so hopefully I can make some better progress.
Just a very quick footnote. After contacting the factory, they confirmed that the fume seals are NOT necessary. Apparently the seals were a legacy from the old Sports and Spyder models (which did not have alloy luggage containers) that had nothing to stop items put into the side pods from moving back into the engine bay over the petrol tanks. So nothing to stop me from final-fixing my luggage pods :)
Whilst my GTR is primarily for road use, I can't help thinking that it will find itself on a track some day ;) With this in mind (and to further reinforce the GTR's 'race car for the road' image) I've decided to fit a plumbed in fire extinguisher system, FIA kill switch and fit a remote brake bias adjustment. I was also considering an alternative setup for the indicators (which are a dash mounted toggle switch as standard) with a wheel mounted system. It was also time to order my Stack instrument pod (ST8130P) which collates all the engine data that you need and presents it on one, easy to read pod. Basically, it measures:
It's not cheap at a little under a grand (gulp!), but puts all the information right in front of you as opposed to the standard Ultima setup with dials in the centre of the dash.
The fire extinguisher is a 4.25l OMP mechanical system which came in a reasonable (well, I thought so) 186 quid. Besides - how much do you want to stop a fire should it happen? 600hp, a Supercharger and a weedy 1 litre hand-held extinguisher - I think not! I'm not entirely sure that it will fit into the passenger footwell, but I'll give it a go anyway.
The FIA kill switch is a good security measure as well as a safety feature for track use. I'll mount the switch out of the way internally for the time being. I can fit a remote external pull-switch at a later date but I don't want it poking out of my bodywork at the mo.! Same goes for the activation pull for the fire extinguisher. I'll have one fitted internally and leave the other off for now.
The remote brake bias adjuster, saves fiddling about in the footwell, trying to set the braking up properly (and you have to stop to do it). It's not permissable for the SVA, but it will be removed for that. Of course I'd never dream of using it on the road, no way, no siree-bob, errrmmm.... officer ;)
I also ordered a pair of remote buttons for the steering wheel. As the switches are non-locking, they will either activate a relayed circuit which will turn the indicators on and off - or get replaced for locking versions! The advantage with a seperate circuit is that I can also incorporate a cancelling timer. My electronics knowledge is a bit rusty (to say the least), so a fellow Ultima owner (and racer) is 'giving me a hand with' the design (which translates to 'telling me how to do it' :)
And finally, I ordered a footplate for passenger comfort (and a place to rest your clutch foot!). There are several styles available. I ordered the Sparco one which is hinged at the base, on the premise that it would allow me to get at the fire extinguisher which would be mounted to the floor behind it. It's not the most sturdy one available, so if I have to move the extinguisher I'll replace it with a stronger item. It was more than twice the price too! See Sparco item 3781 and TAS124 for the options.
Well, I didn't have a great deal of time to do anything constructive today due to personal commitments, but I managed to squeeze a few hours in to try and resolve where the bits that had arrived from Demon Tweeks would go. First concern was the extinguisher. I'd gone for a saloon size mechanical bottle (4.25l) as the single seater version (which is smaller capacity) is still the same length. Being careful to cover the ally floorpan with some protective plastic, I put the extinguisher mounts into rough position and put the bottle in. As I suspected, whilst it did fit, it was very marginal. There was only a couple of mm between the activation handle and the clutch. The last thing I wanted to do was to go to change down a gear and set off the bloody fire extinguisher! Besides being very close to the pedal, the orientation of the bottle meant that the routing of the activation cables and plumbing lines would be a real pain. Also, to check the pressure guage and remove/insert the locking pin meant scrabbling around in the footwell - as feat not easily achieved in a GTR. I could fit an electrical system, but at about 3 times the cost. It rapidly became clear that an alternative position needed to be found.
I wanted to keep the bottle as far left and forward as possible in order to balance out the (considerable ;) ballast in the drivers seat! There's no where for it to go forward of the front bulkhead so the only solution was looking like the luggage pod. However, I didn't think it had a hop in hell of fitting in :( So imagine my pleasant surprise when I found that it went in like a glove! The benefit of positioning it here is that I can easily check the pressure guage and remove/insert the arming pin :) The routing for the cables would be much simpler and direct, whilst the plumbing lines that carry the extinguisher fluid would also be more easily routed around the cockpit and engine bay. Result! Once I've fitted the luggage pods and worked out which pull goes where (don't want to try and unclip the bonnet and set the extinguisher off either!) it can all go in for good. Of course, the net result is that I lose some storage space. But, seeing as I wasn't thinking of using the GTR as a shopping trolley, it's no real problem ;)
Next challenge was the brake bias remote adjuster. The adjuster is a simple setup with a knob turning a cable which attaches to the end of the brake bias bar in the pedal by way of a 3/8 UNF connector (the connector screws onto the bar with a locknut and holds the cable with a grub screw). The trouble is, when you depress the accelerator pedal, it fouls the adjuster cable. It looks as if the solution is to modify the accelerator pedal to incorporate a 'bulge' to the front which will give it the extra clearance. I'm checking for alternative solutions with the factory, so we'll see.
The final bit of work that I managed to achieve, was to fit the steering wheel switches. There are wheels available with the buttons integrated into them (however, not the factory supplied one), but this way, I could mount it to the upper steering column boss so that I can still remove the wheel without having wires trailing all over the place. Not much more to say on this as fitting was a doddle. I had to ream out the holes a bit but the Sparco (who make the switches) bolt pattern is the same as MOMO anyway. They're very neat and sit very flat so I should have no problem getting them through SVA (famous last words). You'd have to be able to stick your head through the wheel to hit them anyway! So to finish, I finally got round to fitting the wheel centre. I wondered why it kept falling out until I realised that there was a sandwich plate that I hadn't fitted that the centre clips into - doh!
So not a great deal of progress and as work is getting busier, the finsh rate gets slower. Still, I aim to try and do more in the evenings so we'll have to see.
True to form, work is now mental so I've been unable to get much done (much to my frustration). However, it has given me some time to do some more research and hear the experience of others. A thread that caused much discussion on the Pistonheads forum regarded the temperature control of the cockpit. Like most mid-engined cars - especially ones with whopping great V8's in them - the Ultima gets quite a bit of heat wash from the engine bay making cockpit temperatures rise. No problem in cooler weather but not very comfortable in the summer (what's that?). The other contributory factor seemed to be heat conduction from the engine coolant pipes which run along the sides of the chassis, close to the luggage pods and side panels of the cockpit. When the car is up to temperature, these can radiate heat into the passenger compartment, making the air con (if you have it) work that much harder. So, to avoid this situation, the solution seemed to be to lag the pipework and add some thermal protection to the areas around the pipes where they run close to the cockpit (the heatwash from the engine bay will be treated in a similar way by applying thermal cloth to the engine bay bulkhead later on).
A trip to my local raceparts supplier furnished me with some suitable bits and pieces. Aluminium clad fibreglass matting, exhaust wrap, stainless steel strapping and clips and foil tape provided me with the necessary materials for the job in hand. Coincidently, my trip there also unearthed a G50 gearbox! It was a Clubsport 'box with close ratios and LSD. I was tempted, but I had another contact who had heard of a cheaper box so I decided to have a look at that first. Anyway, back to the job in hand. First up was to lag the pipes themselves with the exhaust wrap to minimise the radiant heat. Not an easy job when the coolant pipes are already attached to the chassis, but not too tricky. Make sure you moisten the wrap first as it's far more pliable and stretches a bit. I assume that it shrinks a little when it dries out again giving a nice tight finish. The instructions on the box said to allow 33 inches per foot of 1.5 inch pipe - this is cobblers! Allow 45 inches per foot as this allows you to make a complete wrap around the pipe at either end. The steel straps are a bit of a bugger to get tight and be prepared to stab your fingers with the sharp steel strap! Thinking about the temperatures involved (basically around 100 degrees) I also added some cable ties to keep everything tight around the pipe as it does have a tendency to slacken off over time. That done, it was time to move onto the thermal matting.
The pipe lagging reduces the heat conduction from the coolant pipes, now I wanted to minimise the transmission of any remaining heat into the cockpit and luggage pods. Whilst heating the pods is good for keeping pies warm, it's not great when you're stuck in a 12 mile traffic jam at crawling pace, where the sun has inevitably come out to help roast you in your GRP cocoon. So, to keep the heat at bay I glued the matting to the cockpit sides and luggage pods with contact adhesive. Now, if you thought lagging the pipes in place whilst they were fixed to the chassis was tricky, try sticking the matting to the panels when they're in place!!!! Needless to say, the benefit of hindsight showed that this is best done BEFORE you fix the cockpit side panels to the chassis. Now you know why I'm writing this stuff - I hope you learn something from my experiences!!! :) Lagging the luggage pods was a much simpler affair if quite time consuming. The aluminium foil tape finishes the edges of nicely and looks very 'motorsport'. It also solved the problem of fixing the tubes which protect the A/C pipes from chafing on the pod edges. The downside of all this stuff is more weight. However, in the overall scheme of things it's almost nothing and I'd rather have more comfort in the cabin. Besides, I intend to balance it out by cutting down on pies.
Anyway, with itchy hands (remember to wear rubber gloves to protect your skin from glassfibre shards like I didn't) and four newspapers stuck to my feet (from applying the aerosol contact adhesive) I got the job done and it looks great. An added benefit of the thermal matting is a bit of sound insulation. Still, with 600hp of supercharger behind my noggin it's probably of negligable benefit!!!
I spent most of the morning looking for etch primer so that I could get on with coating the fuel tanks. I finally found it but it didn't leave much time for actual 'work' on the car. Still, now the pods were insulated I could look to fitment of the fire extinguisher. As the pic. shows, it's a snug fit - but it works! I looked at several solutions including using a smaller bottle, or having an electronically fired system which has a shorter firing head, but this was the one I was happy with. I was on a bit of a go slow after I'd farted around trying different places to fit it, but finally got the brackets fixed in the pod and drilled the holes for the activation cables. Lack of grommets stopped play at this point. So I went to the pub instead ;)
Happy day. I finally unearthed a decent (I hope) gearbox for resonable money. It's a short-tail G50/00 but has close ratio's and LSD. It's not the one that I found locally, I ended travelling up to Halesowen to Clubsport to get it. It seemed in pretty good nick and complete (once I'd located the clutch fork). Ideally, I would have liked a standard ratio box, but, finding a short-tail with LSD would be a miracle. At least this way I can replace the ratio's if need be. So, I handed over the cash and set off back home to give it a good clean up. A mate of mine (cheers Mart) has a steam cleaner which is about the best thing I've found to remove 11 years of road grime.
So a healthy going over with tilt cleaner and several blasts with the cleaning lance had it looking almost new :) Almost good enough not to prepare any further, but with my pristine engine arriving in a couple of weeks, it'll probably get a light coat of wheel silver. That means, short of a pair of driveshafts and a clutch, I have everything I need to complete the car!! Gulp!!! No more time to spend on it until next weekend, but expect plenty of progress then :)