Westfield build, Mazda SDV

Today, it started to look a lot more like a car – the wishbones got fitted. Started with the rears but couldn’t do too much as the diff wasn’t ready and neither were the uprights. At least being bolted to the car they weren’t taking up space on the garage floor.

Then the fronts were attacked. The top wishbone fixing also includes the headlamp bracket so one of the bolts is longer.

There’s a spacer to keep the headlamp bracket away from wishbone mounting, though the manual doesn’t specify what it looks like nor the dimensions of it. We guessed at this:

Carrying on, the locknuts Westfield supplied for the top ball joints didn’t have the same thread pitch, so I’ll have to phone them up tomorrow to see if I’m missing something. Other than that, everything at the front went smoothly. Nowhere in the manual did it say to fit the front suspension though, so I made an executive decision on that front. The standard manual had the same fixings for the shock, with washers each side of the mountings.

The track rod ends also aren’t attached – I’ve decided to buy new ones rather than reuse.

So, the car (or front end at least) is now looking pretty car like!

Scarily running out of things to do with the starter kit now, so I think it’s time to order the completion kit. I’ll get the deposit down on that next week and hopefully be able to get it before Christmas. I wasn’t expecting to make so much progress this weekend, so even ordering the completion kit now I think there’s going to be a gap where I’ll have nothing to do.

To complicate matters though, the engine isn’t ready to go back in. Hopefully the head will be ready next week (and even more hopefully it’ll be worth it and my block won’t be warped!). I’m also going to take the opportunity to have the flywheel lightened and balanced as well as skimmed.

Next week then, as well as forking out lots of money I’ll finish off the rear loom and hopefully get the spacer fitted to the diff. I might then be able to get the rear end finished off.

Started quite a few jobs this week, managed to finish a lot of them today.

First up, painting! A bit later doing this than planned, but as the time when they would be fitted was looming ever closer, I thought I’d best make a start. I did the front bits first:

and yes, it did end up rather pointless marking what went where. Being only two choices though I’m sure it won’t be too difficult to suss out later.

Here they are after a quick coat of POR-15:

I tidied them up a bit more, retapped some of the threads and put them back on the shelf.

Meanwhile, whilst waiting for the paint to dry, I started looking ahead to see what was required when fitting the diff. (Yes Mark, I’d finally cut it off the PPF!). It seems there was some reducer still in the diff that I needed to remove, that would need removing. So, out with the penetrating spray, decent drift and hammer. Yes, I bashed one out in the garage again 😀

The only thing I could think of whilst struggling to remove it though, was I’d only have to fit a bigger one (on the left).

I put that in the freezer and have gotten it half in, but it’s thawed and getting quite stuck. Rather than deform it with a hammer, I’ll see if I can get it in with a nut/bolt. Failing that, off to the friendly garage and borrow their press.

The rear loom was also started this week, here it is laid out over the car.

I trimmed the wires as per the manual, then started removing what wasn’t needed. This was wires for door switches, heated rear screen and the such. Looking at another build someone had used one of the door switch wires as the added handbrake cable, which was probably a good idea. Ah well, bit too late now as I’ve already removed it and added a new cable.

With the wires trimmed, I began to wrap it in loom tape.

I taped it up as far as where the splits started at the rear. I haven’t yet added all the left hand side wires as I need more lighter fluid for the soldering iron. Still, it looks good and that’s what counts!

The steering rack got some attention today too. I read, re-read, then read the manual again to be sure. It definitely says to cut 25mm off each end so out with the hacksaw.

One side done:

and the other side:

The first side wasn’t quite straight, but the nut went straight on both times with no filing required.

I then grabbed the bag with the fittings and fixed the rack to the car, using good old fairy liquid to lubricate the rubber. The bag only had four washers in whilst the manual said 8 were required. It doesn’t get torqued up yet, so I’ll source another 4 to be safe.

I don’t know if Westfield have suddenly gained the ability to work to fine tolerances, the the mountings were only just in the right place.

Lastly for the steering rack I put the extensions on just to ensure bodily injury every time I walked around the car.

The last job for today was the rear suspension. I’ll be fitting the wishbones tomorrow (having pressed the bushes in with a hydraulic press earlier in the week). The manual said the suspension comes pre-assembled, which generally means it doesn’t. Still, I soon sussed out how to get the top mount off and put the springs on. I’ve left it as high as it will go for now and will adjust it later.

Halloween party tonight, so might be a late start tomorrow!

The top scuttle panel and drivers inner footwell panels are now fitted and that’ll do for now. I’ve still got the exterior panels and tunnel tops to go but I’m leaving them off until I’m sure I won’t need access.

I also took a look at fitting the bushes to the wishbones. I’d always planned to take them to a garage and get them done, but thought I might as well give it a go first. To be honest, the first one went in relatively easily, until about half way. Then things started getting tough. I didn’t think the vice would brake, it’s a pretty solid unit but the thought of doing 20 of the things didn’t fill me with enthusiasm, so I’ll stick to the original plan.

As it’s also a suitable time to do the rear wiring loom, I’ve ordered some cable and tape to ensure I’ve got enough.

For now though, I think I need to be getting on with painting the mazda uprights and the diff. Which reminds me, I’ve still got to separate that bad boy from the PPF!

I cracked on with the front-rear pipe when I got home, and think I’ve been pretty successful and rescuing it. I removed it, re-routed it closer to the tunnel at the front and spent some time straightening it out better.

I just wish I’d have gotten it right the first time! Never matter though, I’ll tidy up the excess silicone tomorrow then hopefully get the chassis flipped the right way and I can carry on with panelling. All in, I’ve spent 9 hours on brake pipes alone which is a touch excessive. Oops!

By some miracle though, the build is still on track. I have of course pretty much lost that month I had in hand.

So, this brings up bang up to date. After discovering that front pipe isn’t up to scratch, I set about replacing it this evening. This time, I went back under the master cylinder and down the chassis diagonal. It’s a tricker route, but ultimately far more secure.

I also replaced those master cylinder bolts with something a touch longer.

I’ve also taken the opportunity to paint the welds with POR-15. Much better!

Hopefully tidy up the rear pipe tomorrow, then silicone the panel gaps that I can get at with a view to flipping the chassis back on Thursday. Then more panelling!