RUNNING REPORTS
94 September 2019 http://www.completekitcar.co.ukPETE
DAWSON
Project:
Luego Velocity XT
Occupation:
Sales Director
Age: 49
Project Start Date:
Winter 2012Pete has had a busy few weeks making progress in those areas
of car building that don’t make much visual di erence.
WHAT GOES UNSEEN
A
t the end of my last report, Steve Randle was due
to sort some of the nal wiring. is has been
done, although there is still some more nishing
to do. We did manage to get a battery connected
and carry out some nal circuit testing, but as
with all these kinds of projects, there are a few teething issues. We
have power to ignition circuits and some of the peripherals (horn,
instruments, etc) work ne but there appears to be an issue with
the pin out on the original Ford steering column switches.
Steve had followed a pin out obtained o the internet, but things
like main headlights and indicators are not working as they should.
We were half way through circuit testing when Steve got called
away, so things have not progressed for a couple of weeks. It was
most satisfying to nally get some power back on though.
As stated, part of the circuit testing did check power to the
starter motor relay and ignition circuits. We stopped short of
turning over the engine as I still have some nal mechanical checks
to carry out before we nally have a go at starting the engine.
On the oil side of things, I have sourced all the necessary
replacement uids for the rear di , gearbox and engine. I am using
a mineral based Castrol racing product for the di and Millers
products for the engine and gearbox. While I was at it I also
purchased a Silverline 500ml oil syringe, which I have to say made
the di and gearbox re lling tasks an absolute breeze. e only
point of concern was re lling the gearbox. I recalled emptying the
di prior to getting it refurbished, but as far as I could remember I
hadn’t dropped the oil out of the gearbox.
I was quite surprised, therefore, after lifting the front of the car
onto axle stands to only get about half a pint of old oil and watery
sludge out of the gearbox. I didn’t have any leaks or issues when the
car was running last, so I’m hoping that I’ve either forgotten that I
emptied the gearbox at some stage during the strip down or, more
importantly, that having insu cient oil in it (it should hold around
1.2 litres) has not caused any long term damage.One job highlighted as part of the nal wiring exercise is that
the new water temp gauge sender from ETB requires a separate
earth connection. e sender is threaded ⅛ in BSP, but screws
into the original plastic thermostat housing with no means of
connecting a local earth. I therefore spent sometime making up a
3mm thick aluminium spacer washer which the sender screws into
with a 5mm earth tab connected to it.
Another job created by the last wiring escapade was that I hadn’t
tted enough threadserts to secure the rear wiring harness. at
might not sound a big issue, but trying to get a drill into certain
locations after you’ve tted rear suspension, wheels and brakes is
not quite as easy as it sounds. A half-hour job ended up taking the
better part of a Sunday by the time I’d jacked up the car, removed
wheels and rear suspension drilled the necessary holes, cleaned up,
tted the threadserts and then put everything back together.
I’ve had my vacuum swirl pot back from the powdercoaters and
have rebuilt this ready for nal tting. I think I’ve mentioned that
I’m using a maximum advance pressure (MAP) type Megajolt
ECU, so the swirl pot is designed to get a consistent vacuum signal
from the four-way bike carb inlet manifold. I just hope it works!
I have tted a billet alloy handbrake lever to the existing Sierra
handbrake. It was an aftermarket part for a Lotus Elise and, again,
something that looked like a ve-minute job became a couple of
hours’ job. e main issue was tting the alloy centre lever release
button, which was not at all straightforward.
So there we are back up to date again. I really hope that some
of you nd my banal scribblings of interest. It does serve to show
that car building is not all glitz and glamour. ere are long
periods where you feel you are not achieving anything, and then
periodically you make a seismic leap forward which spurs you
on through the next period of apparent inactivity. Long term,
though, the experience is one of immense satisfaction and great
self achievement, so if you are contemplating taking the plunge
yourself, deliberate no longer! Dive in and get your feet wet!The wiring is now working. Well, most of it is.Peter called in some help with the wiring.Billet handbrake handle an aftermarket Elise part. Tab separates earth connection to temp sender.092 Running Reports.indd 94 01/08/2019 12:50 pm