Westfield build, Mazda SDV

At the end of March the propshaft arrived back from Bailey Morris. A bit later than expected, but they were busy. I’ll forgive them because they were nice enough to avoid putting balancing weights where the handbrake might be!

Before I fitted it I changed the seal on the gearbox turret – it had seen better days!

I changed the oil in the turret itself and refitted it.

Upon fitting the prop it still fouled the handbrake bolts. I got some countersunk ones and fitted rivnuts to the passenger side panel. This meant it can be bolted in from the ‘other side’ and so be flush inside the transmission tunnel. It also made it completely flush on the panneling which is a bonus.

Much more clearance now… let’s hope its enough. Some people have to uprate the gearbox mounts so that will be an option if I still get inteference.

The speed sender has also been fitted. Fortunately it comes with an led on top to show when it’s working. Just as well as the first position I put it in didn’t work! In the end I’m reading the bits on the diff itself.

I meant to cable tie the wiring loom to the bracket to help keep it away from the diff. Oops! Off with the tunnel top again then.

Now, as we know, no bit of progress is complete without a disaster and this time those brake pipes have come back to haunt me. Went to bleed the brakes today but it seems it’s leaking from one connection. Probably not bad in the scheme of things, just one connection out of all of them. It would be the hardest to get to though!

(it’s the bottom pipe in this photo)

The leak was coming down the pipe so I undid it and flared it out a little. Unfortunately I flared it too far and split it. I cut that off and reflared it a bit further down. Unfortunately it still leaked. Probably a blessing in disguise and shortening it did make a bit of a mess of the route in that area.

I ordered some bits now so I’d be able to cut the pipe off behind the seat backs and attach a new one. It makes the most sense as I won’t have to replace the entire pipe and I can plan the route better.

Still, it was nice to reassociate the word brakes with some swear words…

I’d finally finished painting the aluminium pipes for the cooling system so got those fitted – quite pleased with how it looks!

Just need to secure them now. I’ve knocked up a right angle to go from the passenger side engine lifting point which should secure the long pipe. The elbow from the water pump gets scarily close to the fan belt but I can use the outlets on the pipe after it to ‘pull’ it away.

Spurred on, the coolant header tank got attached to the scuttle. I think I spent more time looking for instructions that actually fitting the thing – there’s nothing in either manual. Fortunately the odd looking piece of aluminium that I always wondered about revealed it’s true purpose.

On my visit to the factory the other week I picked up a set of locks for the bonnet. Not really security minded, more because they’re flush. The fact they lock is just a bonus.

Tricky to fit, lots of measuring, masking, measuring, drilling, filing and general creation of orange dust. All ended well though and it clamps down a treat. Lucky really, stuff like that isn’t my strong point!

I got brave and started fitting the headlamps. I’d already removed the standard headlamp mounts which don’t get used on the FW bonnet. I test fitted the cover and taped it in place.

With the bracket held in place I marked it out and attached it to the bonnet.

And put it all together

And repeat.

It doesn’t quite fit flush on the front edges – the covers seem to be straight where the bonnet isn’t. I might just silicone them flush later on. With that done, I wanted to do something else ‘visual’ so attacked the rear arches with the infamous devastation from the dremel and drill. Arch on, holes marked, arch off, holes drilled, arch on, tub marked, arch off, holes drilled. Faint when holes actually line up! It’s fitted using Playskool’s finest plastic bolts in the hope they break before the tub when I bend it.

I decided the car didn’t have enough swarf in it so fitted the tunnel top panels. Still waiting for the propshaft to come back at this point so they’d have to come off again later. Fitted with countersunk bolts and rivnuts so this wouldn’t be a problem.

The overlaps are probably the wrong way round in this photo, it looks like water will be able to get in, given enough spray in the right direction of course.

In other good news the modified steering column arrived back from Westfield at the desired length

I’ve kept the splined end on it so that I can use the standard Mazda seal on the bulkhead panel. It wouldn’t slip over a UJ. However, everybody on the planet apart from me will notice that a Mazda spline is not the same as the Ford one used on the lower column. Nobody makes a Mazda/Ford UJ so I’d dropped a mild clanger there. Fortunately Mark from the WSCC had a couple of Ford splines and sent them in my direction. I’d just have to get the Mazda end chopped off and a Ford end welded on.

Back at the start of March I made another trip up to the factory. I dropped off the standard rear lights and roll bar and came away with an RAC bar. I also picked up:

• Fan mounting bracket
• Headlamp brackets for FW bonnet (didn’t realise standard ones weren’t used)
• Bonnet lock set
• Clamps for the upper steering column

Unfortunately, the digital dash I’d ordered hadn’t arrived yet and the middle steering column was still awaiting modification.

So, with lots of new bits I went home and promptly fitted something I already had – the ECU mounting plate. Now, I’ve mounted it to the top of hoop here and everyone else mounts it to the bottom. I didn’t deem it a mistake worth fixing though – how often will I need to drop the ECU? I’d also rather not be upside down in the footwell doing it anyway!

Unfortunately I didn’t have the strap to mount the ECU with so I used a few 90 degree brackets. Does the job! The ECU is sitting on sponge tape – I’m not expecting massive amounts of vibrations but every little helps, to coin an overused phrase.

My kit came with an aftermarket fan and I wanted to use that rather than the Mazda one. The Mazda one is slightly too large for the radiator which seems a little pointless to me. I was going to modify the fan bracket to suit when I noticed these little beauties in the factory:

And so it was fitted and the radiator bolted back on. I hate those stupid little bolts needed to fit the radiator!

Final job of the day was to stick some tape down as protection for the bonnet (both sides)