16/01/01 Build Diary Continued
I had the brave goal of finishing the wiring loom tonight, but as with most good plans, this one was also not to finish on time. I spent 3 -4 hours trying to weave all the separate strands into a neat and tidy looking whole. I have to say that it took me much longer than anticipated and was a little disappointed and discouraged to see that I had 'only' managed to put the new protective sheath around the wires of 5 of the engines connectors. However, on a positive note, if one wants quality, the price is time (blood sweat and tears too). I kept telling myself that I was doing a good and that this will eventually increase the quality of the build. I also felt like I was trying to reinvent the wheel (ha ha coincidence isn't it!) in that I did not like the way the standard wiring loom runs around the engine as it spoils the 'look' of the engine. I have decided to route the wires underneath the inlet manifold instead of over the top of it. Whether this will give me difficulties later on in the build will have to be seen. I hope not. I think that I have to just really think about how I am going to do this. I am finding that I can save a lot of time if I spend a fair amount of time conceptualising ideas in my head and / or on paper before I actually do them. This is something I am not used to, but is already proving its benefit. As I am typing this I realised that I will probably have to pre-install the wiring loom to the inlet manifold and than install this together with the manifold as it will be very difficult to install this neatly once the manifold is installed. This isn't normally a problem in the engine bay of a 'normal' Cossie, but within the confined space of the Rush engine bay space is a luxury not to be taken for granted (flashbacks of trying to remove the clutch and starter motor from my Renault 5 Turbo flash hauntingly through my head as I think about the limited space)!