Engine Hokey Cokey

You'll remember I had an issue with my clutch slave cylinder leaking here.  I kept an eye on it, and every now and agin there would be a small puddle of clutch fluid on the floor...  I checked the remote bleed hoses and fittings which all appeared ok, and even having a look inside the bellhousing, it didn't look like the repaired housing or fittings were leaking either.

I concluded that it must be the seal on the shaft that was leaking.  That means engine out again!

Since I have done it before, it isn't too much of a big job.  There are a few bolts that are more tricky than others, and the O2 sensor connectors are a little difficult to reach.  At least all the bolts are new and free from rust.

I stripped the cooling system and front chassis cross brace, removed the exhaust manifolds, starter, alternator, fuel connections and unplugged all the wiring.  This means the engine comes out without too much trouble.  With blocks of wood under the gearbox, and the car on axle stands the engine crane makes short work of removing the engine.

I ordered a new clutch slave cylinder through Gardner Douglas - Genuine one which looks a lot stronger than the Tremec one.  I didn't take a photo of the supplied one, but here are two from the internet (The photos don't look like there is much difference, but side by side they were)

Tremec Slave Cylinder

On inspection of the removed slave cylinder, the central section where the seal moved against, appeared corroded. This means that when the seal moved past that piece, fluid leaked out.  Not sure how this came to be, unless the coating was damaged and the brake fluid corroded the aluminium?  Anyway, I was sure this was the problem.

I removed the quick connect fitting from the new unit and replaced it with my fitting including a dowty washer (bonded sealing washer). 

Engine was then put in, put together with a couple of bolts on the bellhousing and the clutch system bled. I didn't want to fully bolt it all back in case I had a different issue....

I realised that with the new slave cylinder installed, I didn't check the clearance between the slave cylinder and clutch tines to check that the clutch would engage / disengage.  To check this, you have to measure the distance between the clutch tines and the bellhousing, and then the bellhousing to the slave cylinder bearing face.  Then you deduct the two to get the clearance.  You know what that means?  Engine out!

Once out (again), I measured the distance from the slave cylinder bearing face to the bellhousing while still in the car.  I then had to remove the bellhousing and fit it to the removed engine so I could measure that part.

The Macleod twin clutch documentation recommends .100" to .250" of clearance.  I ordered a shim kit from Billy's Speed Shop on eBay.  I then installed the correct shim under the slave cylinder and the engine went back in again!  The clutch was then filled with fluid and bled again.

There are a few tutorials online for how to measure the clerance, but I thought this short video from Kame Trick shows what is required.

I will continue to monitor this to ensure there are no more leaks!
 

Side Carpets

I started looking at the fitment of the side carpets. As mentioned, mine seemed a bit different to some of the others I'd seen with mine having vertical piping at the rear meaning my side pieces had to go in after the rear bulkhead carpet.  

I played around with the rear carpet positioning and for best overall fitmant I cut off the upper piping to allow it to tuck right up and under the rear bulkhead lip.  This will be covered by the leather backing so you won't be able to see it anyway.  As mentioned before, the carpet seemed slightly too big so when in place, it held off the rear leather panel and the tunnel cover and you couldn't quite squeeze everything together.

Once the rear carpet was in a good position, I could look at the side carpets and the fibreglass just behind the doors.  I had to keep in mind the finisher that would be used to cover the rear door seal also to try and work out how it was all going to come together.

With the carpets in and out and looking and feeling it was clear that there was too much bulk just behind the passengers shoulder area at the end of the rear leather panel.  I marked out the section of fibreglass using masking tape and a sharpie.  Sections were cut out using a grinder, and the carpet re-tried and the fibreglass trimmed further to suit.  Once done, the edges were filed to allow a smooth transition.

The carpets have been in and out, pushed and pulled but are now looking good where they lay.

Trying carpet fitment to see how it lies

 

Tunnel Vision

After a while of looking, repositioning, pulling, pushing, I wasn't happy with the tunnel carpet piping for where it follows the fibreglass shell.  With the leather placed on the top, the angle of the piping, tunnel and leather didn't quite line up and just wasn't right.  No matter what way you pushed and pulled to try and keep the tunnel carpet correct at the rear and at the correct angle of transmission tunnel I had to do something drastic.

After a bit of persuasion from a friend, I decided to slice a strip out of the tunnel carpet - the join will be under the leather tunnel cover so you won't be able to see it.  

I marked the centre line with chalk then cut the carpet in two - no turning back now!  We then positioned each side of the tunnel carpet until it lined up better with all the angles - the piping ends up up and under the leather cover.  That is the best position for fitment.  Once both sides were done, I then cut through both layers of carpet where they overlapped which meant that the carpet joints butt up to one another.

With the strip removed (Approx 50mm), and the carpet pulled up a bit the piping will not be seen.  I also had to re-cut the gear lever hole due to the split, and also we ended up moving the carpet further back to improve it's apperance so required a bit more trimming.  I will glue in an insert at the gear lever prior to leather panel install to keep it all the same level.  The carpet was glued using EvoStick - that's the tunnel piece in!

Cut line (Centre line) marked ready for cutting

Tunnel Carpet glued in position

Leather

I set on the leather pieces to try and see how they interact with the carpet pieces.  These are leather covered fibreglass and so are pretty much fixed in size.

These were set in with the tunnel and rear carpets in position.

The rear carpet has piping on the bottom which needs to fold onto the tunnel because of the size of the carpet.  With this length the leather topper either needs to sit underneath the piping, or on top.  A bit of a play around to see what looks best.. 

Since the leather tunnel topper is a fixed size, I marked and cut out for the gear lever.  I used a hole saw to go through the fibreglass and then a knife for trimming the leather.  I sealed the cut using a hot glue gun as I didn't want the leather's stitching to undo - although the gear lever stainless ring should hold it all in place.

Carpets

I thought I had better set all the carpets in to try and figure out what piece goes where.  There are a lot of different pieces!

Everybody else seems to start with the tunnel - so I thought I would start with that.  It was too long to fit in my cockpit, so the first step was to cut it to length.  I had to figure out where the taper fitted the tunnel best, then I could get a measurement to the rear to be able to cut it.  Once this was done the front and sides could be cut to length.  I then cut out the hole for the gearlever.

I laid in the side carpets and also rear caprpet to see how it was all going to line up with each other and also the fibreglass bodywork at the hinges and door closer.  Not going to be easy!  

Some of the piping appeared to be different to other builders, and the rear panel appeared slightly big.  I do have the sound deadening installed, but that shouldn't make it too different.  A bit more head scratching required.

Seat Runners

I fitted the runners to the seats.  The mounting surface was uneven due to the leather folds of the seat so I spaced off at the mouting bolts using penny washers.  This then allowed the runner to be perfectly straight with no chance of being stiff due to distortion.

I also decided that it would be neater and easier to get the bolts out in future if they went up through the body.  Here in Shetland any exposed bolt thread will corrode very quickly meaning that it is much harder to get bolts undone.

I made threaded insert blocks which fit inside the runner where the bolt from underneath will screw into.  The block has a small retainer screw to hold it into place.  This was done for all 8 fixing places.

Door Switches

Before fitting any carpets, I decided to fit door switches in case I wanted footwell lights.  The GD loom has wires for it.

I decided to use microswitcehs so I had to make a small stainless bracket to be able to fit them to the door hinge mount.  The mount was drilled and tapped and the switch mounted.

To trigger the switch, the simlest solution I could come up with was to drill and tap into the hinge itself and screw in a button head set screw.  This is slightly rounded and easily presses on the switch to trigger it.

The wire was run from the dash and a small cable clip was screwed to the pillar to keep it out of harms way.

I also fitted the same type of switch to the handbrake for the brake test circuit.  This was bolted directly to the handbrake bracket - I don't seem to have any photos..

Door Open

Door Closed