Cooling
After much debate with myself, I decided to go with blue silicone hoses for the cooling system. The other option was black rubber hoses but the wonders of Auto Silicone Hoses and eBay meant I was able to afford the more stylish blue hoses!
I'm going with an M14 inline water temperature fan switch on the return hose to the radiator. The switch is yet to be fitted however the wiring has now been sorted, I've split the feed on the GBS loom at a point near to this switch. This means just an extra 8 inches of wire, resulting in a nice tidy solution.
The bottom hose is currently fitted with an alloy t-piece - the idea here is that I will fit a neat header tank but the plumbing seems a little over the top and complicated! Going to look at a few cars at Stoneleigh in a couple of weeks for some inspiration or solutions.
Fuel Pipes
Having run the plastic fuel pipes right up to the engine bay, I thought it was time to fit the final fitments to the pump, pressure regulator and carb. I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, need to secure the pipes a little bit more but overall it looks good (well I think so!). I have a total of 3 fuel filters in place, might add some more but 3 will do for the moment.
Horn & Fan
A few minor electronics here. First the horn needed bolting down, I also added some foam to the underside to reduce the vibrations. I've heard that horns have a habit of falling off with the various vibrations coming from the engine bay so I think the foam may have been a vital addition!
Second set of electrics, I connected up the fan. Yes, this is split at the inline fan switch but all now connected up at the fan end. Few cable ties and everything is secure.
Wings
As hinted at the start, I've been looking for something that would make me feel like I had made real progress. I highlighted the front wings as something that may bring back the build 'spark'. I decided the wings didn't give a comfortable clearance from the brackets or the tyres therefore I made some new brackets; these also gave me a flat edge to rest the wings on.The wings will be secured using two M6 allen bolts, some people use adhesive whereas others don't mind the odd bolt on show. I guess I'm in the second camp there. Fitting the wings was definitely the right thing to get me back in the 'build' move, just want to get the whole the whole thing finished now!!!
Front Lights & Indicators
The wings wouldn't be complete without the indicators, so just before Easter I planned how I was going to fit these and started drilling. Most people go for the the side LED indicators and front indicators on the nose (usually swapped after the IVA). I've gone for the usual sides and then wing top indicators as shown on the Raw Striker demo car. In terms of wiring and ducting, I have decided to duct out of the side of the wing along the top wishbone, with this being central I have no issues when the wheels are at full lock. The ducting has been secured to some cable tie mounts held down with Sikaflex and then cable tied to the wishbones, looks pretty neat and both sides are consistent!
Next came the fitment of the headlights. I purchased the sidelight loom from GBS, this made the job really easy! The only issue I had was that one of the headlights wobbled in the casing, this has been resolved with some foam strip around the edge, not ideal but I think it should do.
So with the headlights, indicators and wings fitted I took at step back and smiled, amazing progress!! The picture below doesn't really give it all justice but provides some of the detail.
Dash
As the scuttle was in place and I had taken delivery of my gauges (Smiths Telemetrix), I decided to mock up another dash idea, this time in the car!
One major change from the above, I'm ditching one of the smaller gauges (Oil temp) in favour of just having fuel level, water temp and oil pressure. The warning light cluster will go under the larger gauges (speedo & tacho). I might even drill the holes straight!
So, since last month I've made good progress but it's been a long time coming and a bit of a struggle. A quick thank you to Mike and Jordan over the last couple of weeks who have helped with ideas (or focus) and a few of the tasks.
