Screen Wipe

One of the long standing niggles with the Fury has been the screen wash.
The only place I could fit the jets at the time I built it was the scuttle. I could've put it on the bonnet, but that would've required a hose right to the front of the car where the hinge frame is, then all the way back along the underside of the bonnet where there's nothing to mount it to. The problem with where it is is simple, it's right at the foot of the screen, so it ether squirts the base of the screen, or right over it, it's impossible to set it "nicely". It needed to be further forward.

Looking at my CAD model of the Fury one day it occurred to me that the solution was a bracket reaching out from the bulkhead with a nozzle on the end squirting through the vent at the back of the bonnet. I drew it up - it looked good & today I've made it. It's not plumbed in yet because I need to take the dash out to get to the hose.

At the TKC Live event a week or two ago, I bought a tall washer jet from the nice people at Car Builder Solutions & today I found some time to get out in the garage.

I found an offcut of 0.5mm aluminium & marked the profile from my CAD drawing on it, cut it out with snips (easy as the metal is so thin) then bent it to give it some strength & It looked like this - the protective film is still on it at this stage.

I drilled a couple of matching holes in the bulkhead (after removing my "skull & crossed spanners" sticker) & jig-pinned it on, closed the bonnet & there it was - perfect.

Here it is in the engine bay, with the old nozzle at the bottom of the screen. As you can see I've had to grind away the screen seal to allow the water to pass.

And here's the view with the bonnet closed, perfect I'd say

"But" you ask "what about all the extra weight?" well I'm assuming the new tall plastic nozzle is lighter than the old chromed brass one & the bracket itself weighs 15g, yes, one-five-grams.

TKC Live Brands Hatch

The SKCC had been invited along to Brands to show our faces at TotalKitCar Live. It's best described as mid-way between a kit car show & a disappointment. It's a sound idea, a race track is rented for the day & manufacturers rent pit-space so they can take prospective customers round the track. the public turns up to see the cars & watch the track action & everyone goes home happy.



SKCC area & erm another club's less densely packed area

Except that being November, It wasn't the ideal time of year & the public mostly stayed away in droves. It wasn't all bad news, the club met up at a golf club for the traditional full English & a very nice breakfast it was too.

I had taken Neil along for the ride (he of the "man cave") & after we were fed, we convoyed(ish) to the circuit, out allotted club stand was between the only other two clubs with a stand, the Kent & Essex kit car clubs, each of which had about five cars on. The SKCC rocked up with 30 & COMPLETELY filled our area.

Just gorgeous

I was going to leave the car uncovered, but thought better of it & put up the hood before walking down to the pits. There were some interesting cars there, a couple of Cobra replicas, the gorgeous GD T70 Moda, a few bike engine Furys, a Hayabusa powered Mini, a space-framed, GRP bodied, bubble-arch Escord MkI with the V8 made from two Hayabusa top ends & a new start-up Company called Ewens Sports Cars, wit a newly designed chassis which looked to be very well engineered in deed. Also Zenos were there with the pre-production E10, it's not a kit car, but it is very minimalist & again has very impressive engineering.

Lining up for the track action

Mean while cars were going round the track. It was wet, it was slippery & there were a few spins, but it was interesting to note that one of the fastest cars out was the 'busa powered front wheel drive Mini which was keeping up with the cobras (one of which sounded like the Wehrmacht was going past) without too much trouble, I guess when it's slippy torque is more of a hindrance than a help. Then it TIPPED with rain while Neil & I were talking with the man from Zenos. Due to the rain, no "real" customers were coming in so we chatted until it stopped, he seemed a really genuine guy who just wants to make a really good car.


Ear defenders at the ready!

Mmmmm GT40 & corners

 At last it was time for the "parade lap". By the time we'd wrestled the soft top back into it's stowed position we were last in the queue, but no matter. In front of us was a MkII Escort & a black seven, we all headed off behind the control car - obviously all hanging back to give some acceleration space. The parade followed the control car up & round the first bend & the seven held a beautiful drift, the Escort thought it'd try it's luck at the same trick & ended up 90deg to the track one way, then the other before he got a handle on it. It was slippery though, the back of the Fury jiggled a couple of times - easily controlled with a little opposite lock though.


So then it was time to go home. It was an enjoyable day, but for me only because the SKCC were out in force. Had I gone on my own, I could've seen it all in an hour which is a pity.



Zenos - impressive



THAT Escort

 

Post Script

Something I should've mentioned from the last post (see what I did there? - Remembrance Day - last post?) was mention that the engine had been much smoother around the idle with none of the hesitation nonsense it's suffered with. I'm guessing (hoping) this is the result of increasing the fuel return pipe diameter - the theory being that there was pressure in the return line, which meant that when the car wasn't using much fuel the back pressure was overcoming the fuel pressure regulator (as the excess fuel had no-where to go) & so over-fuelling the engine. On Sunday, the pick up from idle was as crisp as a crisp thing (possibly a crisp?) so hopefully that's another niggle consigned to the list of "problems it used to have".

Fisher Fury from the rear.
It's with some pride that I write "That's the car I built".

Also on Sunday, DJ from the SKCC took this rather appealing photo of the Fury while passenging in GB's car. AND another thing, While it was in bits I turned up both rear shocks by two clicks & that seemed to stop the crashing over potholes - of course I may just have not gone down any really big pot holes.

On the down side (every silver lining has a cloud) the fuel gauge wasn't working so the tank will have to come out again (ar5e)

Wassapnin?

Legions of loyal readers have quite literally not been asking me what the current situation is. Well, firstly I have a job. A proper job this time, on a real airfield with real aeroplanes, though as yet I haven't been formally introduced to the scrap bins.

Owing to the above, the Fury has been re-taxed & the mods & updates are complete(ish). Today is Remembrance Sunday when the SKCC invades a small Sussex village & lays a wreath on their war memorial - whether they like it or not - fortunately they seem to like it.

I decided not to partake of the blatt before hand as this would be my first drive of the Fury in 2 1/2 months & it's first outing since a fairly major strip-down, but there were no mechanical issues, except the fuel gauge isn't working & on re-starting it at thee café, it sounded like a bag of spanners being vigorously shaken. I shut down the engine, but the noise continued & then it became apparent that it was someone else's starter motor I could hear over my engine.

Good Turn-out

The plan was the same as ever, a blatt followed by breakfast, then a procession to the church. I have yet to arrive as part of the procession in spite of setting off as part of it every time. This year we came to a staggered junction & one car went right-then-left, the next car & the one after it went left. I decided to go with the majority decision, but as we rumbled along, the ETA on my satnav was saying 10:45 ........ 10:50 .......... 10:55 at which point I decided to turn round & follow the satnav on the "fastest" route to the church. As we know Satnavs exist in their own part of the space-time continuum & in spite of me taking the "fastest" route, the cars I was following when I turned back not only arrived before me, but they were parked up & their occupants were out & deep in conversation (probably about where the idiot in the Fury had gone).

Bathed in sunshine again

The service itself was conducted with decorum by the village vicar & was only interrupted by some late-comers (ironically all in German cars) who compounded the faux-pas of lateness by parking up in such a way that the road was impassable, causing a couple of cars to have to back back to the last junction (sigh).

 

Job Done

Earlier today I had a small excursion to the local petrol station, where I purchased almost six litres of fuel. I put half in the Fury & waited - no splashing sounds - good. I put the rest in & looked underneath - no drips - even better.

I left it for a while in case some small seepage became apparent, but there was none, so I turned on the ignition (no fireball - getting better & better) & turned on the fuel pump. Nothing.

Peering under car's pert rump, I found a spade terminal disconnected. With that fixed I moved the switch again & was rewarded with a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooooh, as the pump flooded the system & built up pressure. Still no leaks.

I turned the pump off & back on while watching the return hose - no jumping (regular readers may recall this was the reason for fiddling with the fuel system in the first place). So that gripe appears to be sorted. I'll have to run the pump for longer & do a proper leak check, but nothing's gushing.

So the only thing left was the un-bled brakes. My wife returned from a shopping trip & offered to operate the brake pedal (usually a comical sight to behold as she's very nearly a foot shorter than me & has to sit in the footwell to reach).

I moved the car out & jacked up the rear, found some hydraulic fluid, but could I find a jam jar & length of clear hose? No dear reader I could not.

However, I did find an "eezibleed" kit I'd bought some years ago, so I set about the car solo. The rears bled down pretty easily, opening & closing the valve helped move some reluctant bubbles, I then opened the valves in the Wilwood front callipers just to get some fresh fluid into them. I climbed aboard the car & pushed the centre pedal, it went half way to the bulkhead. I jiggled it up & down in the time honoured method of "pumping up" brakes with air in, but nothing changed. I tried bleeding the rears again & managed to loosen a few bubbles who thought there were there for the long haul, but not enough to give me half a pedal back.

Only one thing for it, the "self adjusting" brakes hadn't, no surprise there then, they never seem to. I took off the wheels & the drums & adjusted them by hand, re-assembled & I now seem to have serviceable brakes Hoorah!

So the car's ready to go as soon as the month turns & I get it taxed. Thanks to being made redundant I've done a whole winter's refurb in two weeks as well as a whole bunch of decorating & landscaping & ironing & washing up.

What a virtuous person I am.

Back Together

Today was a good day. After breakfast with the guys I'll be travelling to Boscombe with, I started on the Fury. The Waxoyl was ladled about & the wishbones, upright & drive shaft were re-assembled with the shock absorber, all the bolts were treated to a little waxoyl, but not tightened until the car is back on the ground. As I may have said, the brakes were stopping me re-assembling the hub & fitting the wheel, so I moved on to the fuel tank.

I connected up the new fuel return line & the wires for the ign-live & earth for the level sender & lifted it into position. Fitting the nuts onto the tank fixings is always a hassle, but it is at least do-able which wasn't the case the way it was supposed to be arranged.

It was now time to move on to one of those jobs I wanted to do to from the outset. I shortened the fuel tank outlet pipe & fitted a three way junction, two 12mm & one 8mm. Obviously the two 12s take the main fuel supply, the 8mm joins to a copper pipe which passes though a stop valve & a stop-end behind the rear chassis member. The plan here is that next time I need to drain the tank I can remove the stop-end & put the pipe in a jerry can, remove the panel under the diff & turn on the fuel cock. Proper control over the draining, but if some joker thinks they can steal the petrol by opening the stop-end they'll meet with disappointment as the cock will be off so they'll get nowt.

Right at the top of this pic, you can see the tee piece with a large hose passing inside the diff cage to meet the filter & pump. Coming down is a joiner hose & an 8mm copper pipe which goes forwards & inboard under the diff, through the stop-cock (you can see the yellow bit on the handle) & then out of the back. I've now cut the bit at the back down & fitted the stop-end.

So I'm now waiting for the brake slave cylinders to arrive & I can finish the car off ready for a club outing to Brands Hatch next month.

Worn Out Slave

Did I mention the off side rear brake slave cylinder was leaking? A certain wetness around the seal suggested that I'd stripped the brakes not a moment too soon, but the brake hardware was all new when I built the Fury, so they've only done 10k miles.



Whatever, it'd need to be changed. Googling for the parts suggested there were two sizes, I needed the smaller one (fastidiously keeping the details of the donor car has it's rewards), but to be on the safe side I stripped the leaking one to measure it & found this tale of woe:-


I ask you dear reader, does that look like it's done 10k miles?



I found a Ford parts site which wanted £20 + VAT + postage each, then a motor factor in Norwich who could do a pair of QH pattern parts less than that delivered. Now being brakes, there's a school of thought that says one shouldn't compromise, however, I wonder when the last time Ford made Sierra parts was? And the important bit is rubber. So an ancient original part, or a more recent - but still high quality - pattern part. I've never had a problem with QH before, so I went with them.

As for the bigger picture, The off side is now cleaned, surface treated, & painted RED, so later today I'll stipple on some wunderseal to stone-chip affected areas, tomorrow will be waxoyl & re-assemble, so just as soon as the slave cylinders appear (Ok a day or two later), It'll be ready for taxing on the 1st of Nov.