Front Suspension

Once the side panels had been trimmed to fit, the front suspension was assembled. The actual assembly of the suspension takes about 15mins per side and it all went together without too much hassle. The only thing left to do here was fit the steering rack extensions and fill the steering rack up with oil.

 

Front Brakes

Once the front suspension had been fitted the front brake lines could be fitted. There was some quite interesting pipe bending to do here, and I think it turned out OK. The flexis are fitted through the side panel using a blanking grommet which has had its centre cut to allow the pipe to be pushed through.

The discs were de-greased, and the pads fitted into the calipers. This wasnt a big job, and all went smoothly. All thats left to do on the brakes now is to fill them with fluid. Although I need to sort a clevis out for the pedal first.

 

Fuel Pipe and Rear Electrics

The fuel line was fitted up the passenger side of the car, to suit the pinto engine as the carbs are on this side. This meant the pipe had to be crossed over at the back as the fuel outlet on my tank is on the drivers side. I crossed the pipe over under the diff, and a bit of rubber fuel pipe was slit and pushed over the copper pipe to prevent it chaffing on the chassis or diff.

I used some multi-core cable for the rear electrics, as it seemed like the easiest and neatest way. The electrics were run down the bottom of the tunnel on the drivers side. The SVA manual states that the fuel line and electrics should not be run together, so for this reason I chose to run them on opposite sides of the transmission tunnel. The electrics cross over at the rear of the car under the diff just behind the fuel pipe. The cable was wrapped in spiral wrap to prevent it chaffing on anything. Both the fuel pipe and electrics are mechanically protected from chaffing in potential problem areas, I hope the SVA inspector thinks it's ok!

 

The Move!

The car had a change of scenery at the end of August, this was to allow me to work on it more easily in the evenings after work, and it was getting close to needing to get the engine in and this means it needed to be closer to home. Its been moved to my grandparents as they only live 100 yards down the road. This means I can just push it to my house when the engine is ready to go in.

It was moved by a guy from work who has a bg (12'x6.5') trailer and a LWB Landrover Defender. It fit on the trailer with ease, and really was dwarfed by the landy! (Sorry I dont have any pics)

 

Steering Column

An extension was made out of a bit of 25mm mild steel rod, which has had its centre section turned down to 15mm to match the original column. This was then roll pinned onto the original column to allow it to be aligned and fixed before being welded up.

The coulmn itself was positioned in the car and the holes marked out. I found that the column had to go as low as possible so I could see over the steering wheel with the triton seats, and I am not exactly short! i have retained the original ingnition barrel so as to have a functioning steering lock, this helps with SVA as it counts as an anti-theft device.

 

Radiator

I made some rad mounts out of 1.6mm stainless sheet. They are pop riveted to the chassis and also stuck on with PU adhesive. The radiator is held on to the brackets with 4 self tapping screws into what would have originally been the fan mounts on the Polo. The fan is mounted on the rear of the radiator using special fan mounting ties which pass through the radiator core.

 

Nose Cone

This was a pretty easy job. The rear flange had to be notched to allow it to clear the upper wishbone mounts, marks were transferred over from the side panel, and the nose notched to match the other suspension holes.

The grill area was then cut out. I traced the shape of the ridge around the opening using a modified compass, with a ball stuck onto the point to allow it to follow the contours of the nose. It worked fairly well I think. 20mm was left all around to allow the grill to be attached at a later date.

 

New Wheels

I finally had to give in and shell out on some new wheels. The capri ones protruded from the rear arches too much (20mm or so) to allow them to be used. I knew they were the wrong offset but was hoping they would fit. However I think the new ones do look nicer! They are Wolfrace Snipers, 15x6.5JJ rims with 195/50-15 tyres. They set me back £350, but I think it was worth it, I think they look rather good with the yellow bodywork.