Build Diary
January & February.
| January | 02/01/01 | 13/01/01 | 14/01/01 | 15/01/01 | 16/01/01 | 17/20/01 | 20/01/01 |
| February | 11/02/01 | 18/02/01 | 19/02/01 | ||||
Although I spent some time during the christmas holidays trying to figure and draw out a wiring diagram for the car, not only for the engine management system, but also for all the other electrical auxiliaries. I have decided to try to use the Aprilia wiring loom as much as possible, for ease of connection to the Aprilia dashboard. At this point I essentially see there being two wiring harnesses, one for the engine management system and the other for the auxiliary systems. In addition to this, I have already christened my new baby to be (through absolute lack of creativity in this department, not having to have gone through this process in the home front yet! Ha ha), CRUSH - which literally stands for Cosworth Rush.
In addition to this, I decided to contact Gibson
exhausts in the UK (known for their race wining, ultra
lightweight, handmade aluminium exhausts), enquiring about the possibility to custom make
a silencer for the DAX. It may look more flash to have a carbon can, but I think that this
is too expensive and doesn't quite offer the flexibility that Gibson is able to offer. The
turbo down pipe connecting the silencer with the turbo will be made by a fellow DAX owner
(who happens to also be a tractor pulling champion) who built his car some time ago, but
also bent his own front pipe.
For the rest of todays ramblings, please click on the link
John from Dax Benelux called me tonight to tell me that my chassis is being made as we speak (well not at this time of night surely …..) and that it will be ready for delivery during the first week of February at the latest. Oh no, problem, I don't have a garage yet! Although I have just bought a garage with a house (got to have your priorities right) I will only be able to move in as of the 1st of February by which time the garage will still need to be prepped (painting the floor, creating storage space, etc etc).
Having spent the last week or so trying to find a suitable wiring diagram to decipher the wiry mess in my garage, I finally found one (thanks to the guys on the (RS owners website) and got underway trying to sort the good from the bad. As some of the wires had melted (which is said to be a common problem with Cossies) I was looking to replace them and the plug that plugs into the ECU as some of the connector holes had also melted. Hmm not a good sign I hear you think. I spent the weekend pulling the wires out of the one plug and inserting them into the next. Right now, the harness is strewn over the living room floor (which is possible due to my parents kindly going away on holiday J) awaiting for me to put the protective sheathing around it again. Problem: I have forgotten which wires go together and where they go on the engine (engine is still at the rebuilders, I am told they are making swift progress though and that the bill is likely to be a couple of thousand guilders (couple of hundred quid) less than first anticipated (YAHOOOOOOO)
Decided today that I should get the roll bar, removable stays (2) and 'A' arms powder coated, despite the cost, as this will look more professional and has a better finish than the method that I wanted to employ (simply using Hammerite).
Yihaaaaaa, John Kox just called to tell me that my chassis was already ready, but that DAX still had to 'design' and make the second additional removable front stay. I wanted this as believe that this will give the car greater rigidity for on the track and will also strengthen the roll bar should the worst ever happen (pray that it doesn't). Heard from John that I don't have a choice about the painting, the chassis has already been powder coated!
For the rest of todays ramblings, please click on the link
Mondo effort tonight to get the wiring loom finished. Took about another 4 hours, but finally got the loom about 95% finished, just have to renew one connector and replace an earth wire. It doesn't quite look as the factory one does, but I think that it should be more 'user-friendly' in that if a fault should occur in the loom, that it will be easier to trace as I have separated the loom into several 'categories' ranked by location on the block.
Went to the UK this weekend and spent a lot of money (especially due to currency exchange rate) on books and magazine. I bought the latest kit car magazine, Fast Ford, ……How to build a 7 for less than 250 quid, racing tuning Cars Conversion…… I spent so much on these magazines as they are a great source of information and ideas as some of the featured cars may have some innovative ideas. In addition to this, I use these magazines as a source for addresses and telephone numbers of companies that could help me with the build of my car. Other than this, little was done. I think tonight I will have a read through the books and magazines in search for new ideas, especially about prepping a car for racing purposes as this will be the core focus of my car.
Having spent the last one and a half weeks in a frantic array trying to get the new garage and house sorted (got the keys on the first of this month) I 8/10th finished the garage smack bang on time with the poignant smell of floor paint still lingering in the room. Since my last entry John has been to the UK and picked up my chassis (and other bits) and arrived today with it. I kept looking out of the window every time I heard a car drive-by, much like a little kid at Christmas. Finally the phone rang and it was John that he was within about 10 minutes of the house. Arriving in his huge Nissan Patrol and a small trailer for the chassis (gee the chassis looks so small behind his 4*4). Helped him and his sister unload all the ancillaries (see pictures below) to finally carry the chassis off the trailer and into the garage.
Sorry for the bad quality image, but it was february though!
Everything was in good order except for a small human error made to the chassis at the factory (these things happen, I have heard of people buying BMW's & VW Golf's that had MUCH more up with them than a minor human lack of insight!). This was soon rectified without fuss or request for retribution by John (good man, this is service) and the chassis now sits happily in my snug garage. I had created A LOT of shelf space in the garage to get everything off the floor, something that I have found very important as it leaves the floor free for the car, working area and other toys!
Pretty standard photo I know, but YIHAAAAAA....
What a FIRST test drive.
Can it REALLY get any better than this????
Although I had planned to get a lot done, I was slightly overwhelmed (as I suspect a lot of us were at the VERY beginning) by the actual sheer scale of the project and more importantly with the question of 'Where do I start'? There is so much that needs to be done but what do I pick up and start on first? Having read many articles and the DAX build manual I decided to start with the floor panels and passenger side bulkhead. I called my friend Stephan who has completed his build and is waiting for his SVA test, for advice and managed to set my mind at ease as to the direction to take. I also decided that I will not paint the chassis myself as I am not convinced that I will be able to make the roll bar look professional and durable enough as a professional powder coating company could do. In taking this decision I also decided that I was going to take the slightly longer build route (which in the grand scheme of the build will probably not even be noticeable) by completely assembling the car (with the exception of the electrics) then disassembling it again to have the chassis properly powder coated. Ultimately this will give the chassis a better quality finish and will highlight any flaws in the panelling or assembly of the chassis! This is something that even at this early stage I have had to deal with, as even within the first four panels I have tried to fix, all four have proven not to fit properly and required significant 'modification' to fit. In addition to this, one of the panels does not fit AT ALL (DAX please take note, the panel supplied for the driver side bulkhead is far too small! Having checked with several other Rush owners I have to say that they constituted the same problem).
For the rest of todays ramblings, please click on the link
Had very little time today (only 1 hour to be exact). Did not
know what to do so I had a look at the passenger foot well end panel which I had made over
the weekend.
Quite frankly it looked rather crap! I decided that I would invest the 'extra time' (this
is a relative concept for this project) to do this again and make it look neat and tidy. I
could use the panel for the drivers side as this did not fit anyway (as explained above).
TIP 1: When trying to drill the holes for the rivets in the Aluminium panels and the steel frame, it is MUCH easier to mark the position of the frame on the aluminium first and drill the holes in the aluminium panel off the frame (can't call it a car yet). Then replace the panel, holding it in-place with G-clamps, and using a centre punch to mark the holes in the aluminium on the chassis. Now remove aluminium panel again and drill the holes in the steel frame to later line the panel up perfectly again with the frame ready to be riveted (in my case using self tapping screws first before I have the frame powder coated).