4 wheels on my wagon, and i'm just.............

...................etc, etc.

Anyway, I had the rear bearings pressed into the rear upright by the local friendly garage. Makes me laugh when I think I actually lined them up in my vice pondering whether it would be possible to do!....Of course it wasn't unless I could somehow generate the best part of 10 tons of pressure!.

So, bearings pressed in, then the hubs were pressed into the bearing. The kit comes with some decent quality heavy duty ford bearings, and I hope I'll never need to change them as I cant think how they will ever come out.

Of course, rear bearings and hubs in means that the rear uprights and wishbones can be installed, and this of course means I could bolt on the rear wheels, and this of course means the car now has 4 wheels, and this means it can come off the axel stands, and this means I can see no good reason whatsoever not to throw on the front clam, stick my oldest in the driving seat and pretend for 5 mins that the car is actually finished :-)

I'm really liking the colour combination of the blue orange and black. 

Of course, all body work is held on with some tape at the mo. I really do need to get the shocks sorted out as I need to do a preliminary alignment of the wheels and suspension. For these it's off to protec who I used for the Westfield, and for the price I think they are probably the best out there. The spring rates on the standard car are 200lbs for the front, and 300lbs for the rear. On my test drive of the demo car I noticed how beautifully composed it felt on the very bumpy and muddy lanes of Lincolnshire. So, in a blatant attempt to ruin the ride for a few extra 10ths on the track I'm going to go higher, probably up another 50lbs allround, but before I order I will consult track developments who set up my westfield for their thoughts.

Brake lines and a change of plan.

The front brake pipes are now fitted. I'm quite please with this as I managed to fit them under the chassis rail. Not a technical revolution of course, but it helps keep the car as clean looking as possible.

Another change of direction for the brake master cylinders. I have been warned they may not fit, but being a stubborn wotsit, I'm determined to make the integral master  cylinders fir. I know a few others have done this, so we will see. The issue is not so much with the reservoir, it's the fact that you need to add a level indicator and associated test buttons. Anyway, we will see if this works when I offer up the front clam. As you can see, both front uprights / wishbones are on and once again couldn't resist chucking the wheels on in an attempt to make it look more like a car!.

Radiator arrived, I would have liked to have a nice trick alloy rad, but at this stage of the build I really do need to think more about IVA rather than all the modifications I plan to do in the future. So, a standard golf mk3 rad it is...Brand new £26 delivered!. not bad.

The steering rack used is a new Escort rack, but I've gone for a quick rack (i.e. 2.4 turns lock to lock)...reason for this was simply from the demo drive I had in Jeremys car... perfect for the road, but I think on track a quicker rack would help.

The dreaded floor went in with it's 200 plus rivets. Actually, it turned out to be one of the easier panels. I used larger head rivets, and can recommend the Clarke oil less rivetgun....fantastic and welcome crimbo present.

 

Other seat arrived, so a little trimming of the lip, and it slipped in nicely. Also, primed and sprayed up the steering column.....More about the column at a latter date when it comes back from the engineering shop (i.e. my dad).

 Callipers look good :-)

 Jumping ahead a little, but until I can afford some of the other major parts like the shocks, ecu, dash, etc...I need to amuse myself....Having been warned on numerous occasions about leaving large fibreglass mouldings in one place (they can deform), I try to move them every few weeks...This time, curiosity got the better of me and couldn't see a good reason not to cut the main tub and fit it (temporarily of course).

 The wife was thrilled when I called her in at 8pm in the freezing cold so she could sit in it while I took a photo.

Pedal box and balance bar

It's been a while since the last update, but that's not to say nothings happened.

I've been having a play with the pedal box, but soon realised (thanks to the locost forum), that I will need to cut a large hole in the pedal box to allow the balance bar adjuster to poke through. Not the end of the world, but wish I would have sussed this before powder coat.