Safety Harness Mounting Plates

For the IVA, there needs to be a radius on the safety harness mounting plates that screw on underneath the car where the eye bolts bolt through.  This was rounded off using a file, then I buffed the edges a bit with the polisher.

These are fitted to the car using stainless self tapper screws. The holes for the eye bolts could then be drilled through ready to be finally fitted when the carpets are installed.

These were then roughed up with a scotch pad, sprayed with etch primer and then semi-gloss black paint.

Dashboard

I have set out the standard GD dashboard layout which was pre-marked on the blank panel. I used a hole saw the neat size of the gauges, however the holes will need to be opened up later for the leather to fit in.

Even though the dasboard is uncovered, it makes the car look ever more complete.

I may alter the position of the switches, but this will be looked at later.

Clutch Bleeding Disaster!

Now that I had my bleeding kit, I went ahead and bled the brakes.  Using DOT 4 fluid, the front and rear systems were bled without issue.  The reservoirs were left at the "Full" mark.

I moved onto the clutch bleeding where it apperared to bleed ok.  I tried the pedal and it all seemed good.  Again, topped up the resorvoir to the "Full" mark.

A while later, I noticed a small puddle of fluid underneath the gearbox bellhousing.  The clutch reservoir level ad dropped. On investigating with a torch, and peeking in through only a few of the small openings, I could see that the fluid supply fitting had a small weep.  If you remember I made a fitting here.

Since this is all inside the bellhousing, and also the fitting was made to a sort length for neatness, I couldn't tighten the fitting from outside the gearbox housing. (Hindsight would have been a great thing).

I managed to get a spaer fitted inside but couldn't turn it. I then got a 4" adjustable spanner inside and could manage to put a bit of pressure on to nip up the fitting.  As you can imangine, you can't put very much force onn with a 4" adjustable, but I managed to put enough on to break the clutch slave cylinder and release bearing!  Needless to say, the rest of the fluid poured out into the floor.

The only way to fix this was to remove the engine!

I had to undo the front support brace, the cooling water reservoir, exhaust manifolds, starter, undo te fuel hoses and wiring thenn it just lifted out!  The design of the housing has a thin section as the fitting goes into it.  Possibly been weakened before?

\

What it should look like

I managed to weld the piece back on, lengthened the fittings so they could be tightened outside of the bellhousing, and put it all back together again.  Bled the system and all appeared well.....  Watch this space!

Brake & Clutch Bleeding

I bought a Sealey Brake & Clutch bleeding kit (VS 820) which came with a universal adaptor for fitting to multiple reservoir types.  However I needed to make a fitting to be able to connect it properly to each of my reservoirs as the universal adaptor couldn't quite fit correctly.  This will allow me to bleed each system myself and without any spillage (hopefully).

I turned out an adaptor out of some PTFE to allow it to fit under the screwed cap of the reservoir, and also for the Sealey quick connect fitting to be bolted through it.

First Start

I temporarily hooked up all the gauges on the dashboard, and tried a first start.  She turned over but no signs of firing.

A phonecall to Dave at CANEMS soon had her fired up once he uploaded a basic map for the LS7.  She will get properly mapped once down beside him on the rolling road.

I realised that the thermostat wasn't opening, so I removed it from the housing and using a kettle I confirmed that it was very sticky.  New one on order!

Oil Catch Cans

I finally got around to installing the oil catch cans.  I couldn't really decide where I wanted to fit these, but ended up fitting them just above the alternator on the passenger side.  Care will have to be taken when draining them down not to spill any of the collected oil...

I made a stainless bush and bracket to mount these to the cylinder head, also using the supplied twin bracket.  I used AN-6 fittings and hose to connect it all together.  Once mounted, and by following a diagram detailing the "dirty" side and "clean" sides, I ran the hose as neatly as I could, cut it to length and fitted the ends.  The only difference between my LS7 and the diagram is that the driver's side rocker cover only has 1 vent point so I used a T-piece to join to the passenger's side rocker cover.  I just have a few more clips to fit to ensure the hose doesn't move.

Power Steering

It seems like I haven't had much time in the garage over the last few months, what with school holidays, trying to be out and about while the weather is still good and other activities.  I have however managed some time so will try and provide an update as to what I have done.

I started working on the power steering column again.  I thought I'd be best to get the polished stainless cover to fit along with the stainless steel stalks.

The Corsa steering column took a bit to modify to allow the GD supplied stainless cover to fit.  Some of the plastic had to be cut off - this was done using a multi tool.  I trimmed just enough so that the cover would fit.  Interestingly, the bolt holes line up perfectly, which must be the same as the GD supplied Vectra column.

Since I am not using a key, I removed the ignition barrel, and also the steering lock mechanism.  I am using the CANEMS immobiliser and also a Battery Brain which has a battery cut off controlled with a remote.  I think that this covers the requirements of the IVA for disabling the car so I don't need the steering lock....

Since my Corsa column is adjustable, I had to trim the adjuster lever, and thread it to allow fitment of the GD supplied end.  This also meant that I had to modify the underside of the stainless cover to allow the lever to move.  The edges have been smoothed over with a file.  I also made an aluminium blank to cover the key hole in the aluminium cover, so it won't indent when covered with the leather.

I bought new indicator and wiper stalks for a Vectra B, since the Corsa ones are for a CANBUS system.  The Vectra B ones fit exactly into the Corsa column.  I cut the plastic stalks off, tapped out the holes to M6, and fitted the GD supplied stainless stalks.  I plan to use the wiring plug off the Vectra to plug into the new stalks, I just have to order new terminals to crimp onto the GD wiring.

When I had the steering column temporarily in the car, I marked and tack welded the Corsa universal joint to the GD supplied steering column assembly.  This has new been fully welded and tested to ensure that it won't fail during operation.

The next thing to do is to make the GD supplied aluminium steering wheel boss fit the Corsa column.  Typically, this is greatly different from the Vectra column.  The Corsa column has a bigger diameter spline, so the boss will require machining out, and new splines cut.  I will provide an update once this has been done.  I will be using the Corsa steering wheel for now.....