Closing In.....

 ....on the "Initial Operating Capability" - the point where I have poked into the car's nooks & crannies & sorted any horrors I've found lurking. I've spent all day on the car today, starting with fitting the roll bar, cutting the carpet round the feet, then fitting the high level brake light to the tube & wiring it in.

The wire runs through the tube to the right hand foot, then passes back to the boot where it splices into the brake light wire. The bar is a little chipped & battered, so fit's right in with the rest of the car. At some point I'd like to get it blasted & powder coated, but I need to decide how far I'm taking this car first.

The next proper job was to have the rear brakes in bits. I've been a little concerned at how far the brake pedal travels, so wanted to be sure the self-adjust was working. I would've done this before now, but being Fiesta based you have to take the wheel bearing apart to get the drum off. 

First thing, the wheel bearing being was slightly loose - just after an MoT? Also the split-pin on both sides was too short & too small in diameter, so hopes wern't high, but inside all was shiny & new including the slave cylinders (are we still allowed to call them that? Will someone get upset?), the thing that did catch my eye though was the missing spring clip on the rear shoe (with the spring rattling around loose in the drum), they're a complex shape & I'd thrown out all the old bits of brake when I moved house - but wait - the bottom bit of a soft top press stud fastener fits beautifully inside the spring & with a little dremelling, the pin fits too! I will of corse replace this with the proper thing when I get one, but it's secure & better than it was.

I also rubber mounted the fuel pump, I wanted three mounts, but everything gets in the way of everything else in that part of the engine bay, so it'll have to wait until I strip the front down & can get to it.

At about this point I opened the passenger door & a buzzer went off! Another earth problem, I'd disconnected an earth unde the dash & as the courtesy light switch (on a kit car!) & left repeater indicator shared this earth, the power was finding it's way from the courtesy light to the indicator buzzer before earthing. So the dash has to come out again.

A job for tomorrow I think, my son sent me some beer & chocolate so now's the time for relaxing.