27/02/05
Before starting on the boot panelling, I removed all the rear suspension and the handbrake cable (which took all of 10 minutes). The front upper panel was cut first, using the front of the boot lid as a template for the top and sides of the panel.
The side panels were next...
...followed by the rear panel.
The boot lid is hinged from the inner harness mounts on the roll bar. I've used some cut-down strap hinges I had lying around.
20/03/05
I've missed another 2 Sundays in the garage, the first due to a family engagement and the second because I went to the Car Craft Show at Stafford. The show was a bit disappointing, but I managed to get some items for the car, such as lights, trim, fuel pipe and hose and various fasteners.
The boot side and rear panels have now been trimmed and folded. Some small Titanfast (sp?) trim I got at Stafford has been used to cover the sharp edges at the rear of the side panels.
It was such a lovely day this Sunday that I refitted the rear suspension and wheels, then pushed the car out of the garage so that I could work on it outside. I got a surprise when lowering the car to the ground - after being up on axle stands for so long, I'd forgotten how tiny the Firefox is, even with all the body panels fitted.
I then spent a couple of hours rubbing the chassis down with an oil-soaked scouring pad as the rust was beginning to appear again in some areas. With that done, I cleared and swept the garage and put down the new carpet I've acquired for the build area.
27/03/05
With the new carpet in place, I could lie under the car and fit the exhaust system in comfort. An immediate problem was that the large flexible coupling at the rear of the downpipe clashed with the front of the chassis. I'm using the manifold and downpipe from the 414, which may be different to those on a Metro.
With the new mountings from Onyx, the engine hardly moves at all, so hopefully a flexible coupling won't be necessary. I used the angle grinder to remove the coupling...
...and part of my left thumb. Ouch!
After the bleeding and swearing had finished, a 417mm "round bullet" silencer from Merlin Motorsport was fitted to the end of the downpipe...
...followed by a 1M straight section...
...and finally a 315mm "small oval" silencer.
The exhaust viewed from the rear. The whole system will be hung from the floor panels using rubber bobbins. Ground clearance will be minimal.
I've run the fuel pipes along both sides of the centre chassis rail, supply on the left and return on the right.
The pipes then run along the top of the front floor section, up the left front bulkhead panel and into the engine bay.
At the rear, the pipes have been left straight and extra long, until I get a fuel tank. Grommets will be used where pipes pass through the bulkheads. I'll fit them during final assembly.