BB September 2

Got an evening in the garage and started to make up the backrest mount.
First job was to make up the wooden blocks for the floor. These are 40mm
high and are bolted to the floor pan. The backrest will sit on these and
they set the height so that the backrest just sits within the upper panel.

Next job was to measure the distance between the chassis uprights either
side (820mm) and cut a piece of 20mm square section steel tube 815mm
long. The 5mm is to allow for the bracket width with two washers. Into
the end of the square section were knocked two M10 locknuts, each of
which had had two opposing "peaks" ground down a little so that they
would fit. The bar was then drilled through in four places with a 3mm
drill, and one one side of the bar those holes were opened up to 10mm to
allow a screwdriver access to insert self tapping woodscrews.

Next up was to make up two brackets with 8mm holes at 150mm centres -
fortunately I had some of the steel left over from making the pedals up
and the hole centres were close enough.

The support was assembled as shown in the pictures (the bolts are still
loose) and the backrest will attach with the self tappers, which will be
strong enough as they only take any weight when the backrest is tilted.

The seats aren't fitted yet asc I still have to make the upper backrest
support but the photo shows what they should look like.

Having got the lower backrest/pivot loosely in place, next job was the upper
backrest. Once again the footpedal steel was used. After cutting it to
shape, I welded an M6 nut to it. A 6mm hole was drilled through the upright
at the same angle as the seatback (OK, not scientific, but close enough) and
then 6mm threaded rod was cut to length, and a lock nut threaded half way
along it. The rod was pushed through the hole and the front end had the
plate attached to it via the welded nut. The locknut holds it in position
against the front of the upright and a nut is attached to the rod at the other
side for security. What I end up with is a fully adjustable upper backrest.
I also dressed the threaded rod with some chromed tube. The photo isn't
clear, but I think that you get the idea.

Attached the lower seat to the the pivot bar with self tappers and the jobs
done. The upper seatrest has velcro to stop it flapping and the seat squab is
also restrained to the floor with velcro. Last job is to attach the lower
seatbelts.

By this time it is getting late, so I decide to do something simple, like
attaching the steering wheel boss. It took two ****** hours! Everything I
have received from Phil has been well engineered, but this was pants. The
adapter plate fits the upper column OK, the problem is that there are four
holes in that plate to attach the collapsible boss. The boss has 16 M5 holes
so that you can adjust the steering wheel spoke position, I guess, but they
are all at different centres, and no 4 matched the plate. Slotting the holes
in the plate as well as trying to maintain centricity of the whole affair was
murder. Trust me, its never coming off again!

A bit of a bitty weekend. I was hoping that exhaust headers would arrive last week, but they didn't.
They do know what the problem was though, the welded the stubs that go into the exhaust port in the
wrong position. I really need to do the exhausts next as once they are on I can attach the headlights
and the cycle wings front and back. As I didn't have them I spent time fiddling.

First up was to attach the steering wheel. This really does look the dogs danglies, although I still need
to make up a crash pad for the centre. With wheel and seats in place I could try the driving position
and it is spot on, not only that, but the pedal extensions also fit just right. And no, I didn't nake brmm
brmmm noises while I was sat there. I did occur though that once the exhausts are on I will be able to
tootle around the close in comfort.

Next job was the cowling (again). I got this wrong first time, and now the bonnet is fitted I could try
it again. Essentially it just needed more trimming off it as it will be attached to the bonnet now rather
than the front engine bay hoop. I also decided to polish it up, which took 4 hours, First job was with
the angle grinder using a worn disk for cleaning up welds. This took the ridges off it, and then it was
a sanding disk in a drill with progressively finer grit paper. A lot of work, but worth it. I couldn't,
however, attach the cowling until the exhausts are in place. Onto the spats for the cycle wings, These
need to be curved to the same radius as the cycle wings and also have a flange added, for which I had
to make up a wooden former.

Once this was done I decided to tackle the headlights. These came from SVC and are lovely items, 5
1/4 " halogen in a chrome on brass shell. They are designed to fit upright, but I wanted them
horizontal from the light bar, and so have to rotate the actual headlight within the shell, and also
replace the original screw with an M12 set screw. This means that the normal route (through the
centre of the original screw) for the cables isn't available, so I'll have to drill a hole in the shell.

I didn't take any photos, I'll do some tomorrow and post them up.

Rang Phil about the exhaust pipes, and bugger me, when I get back this eveningb the are on the
doorstep. I trial fitted them which took a bit of effort to get a good fit, but the look fine. They
need polishing up and I need some round exhaust clamps to make the final fit, and some heat matting
to put on top of the engine and inside the cowling. Of course, I couldn't resist running it with the
pipes loosely in place - that's annoyed the neighbours again!

I could also see that the cowling was in the right place for the balance pipe, so I can fix that to the
bonnet and fettle it so that it all looks neat. Last job was to alter the headlights - these cost 50 quid
a pop, so I was very careful before I comitted the drill. Drilled two holes, one was M12 for the cable
exit, the other was M5 as a drain hole at the bottom of the unit.

As promised, some photos at last. If you hold your mouse over all of the photos on this site, you
should get captions appearing.

During the week I had ordered some bits and bobs to help me make progress over the weekend. First job
was to finish the exhaust, for which I needed some exhaust clamps. I'd got some nice stainless ones from
Aidpac which are suitable for external use i.e. visible. Problem was, I hadn't recognised that the balance
pipe, which has to be done first, was a smaller diameter than the main pipes, and so the clamps were too big.
D'oh!

So, that was left and I started the wing stays. The first front one took a long time to get right as you want
an even circle around the tyre, and the tyre mustn't touch the stay on full lock. Once this is in the right
position, center punch the stay and remove to drill at 3mm. Re-fit and make sure it is in the same place then
drill through the mounting plate behind it at 3mm. Open out the stay to 7mm (to give a little movement) and
then drill the mounting plate to 4mm and tap to M5. (or drill to M5 and use nuts). This took most of Saturday
afternoon. The second one of course took an hour on Sunday morning once I had the technique sorted.

The rear wing stays are easier as the come as one piece. One end mounts to the bolt holding the damper in
place, the it is mounted in the center with a U clamp around the axle arm. Instructions say use a 2 1/4
clamp. I found 2 1/2 was better as it gave me some lateral adjustability. the major pain is getting the
bracket past the brake pipe, and I also found that I needed to shorten the extension to the damper bolt and
re-drill the hole.

I had also got some edge trim that allowed me to finish the spare wheel carrier and around the cockpit
edge/glovebox edge. It is amazing how much better it makes it look.

Last job before I finished on Sunday was to attach the bonnet to the cowling.

This evening I decided to tackle attaching the spats to the cycle wings. I didn't get too far as the
instructions say drill through the bead edge of the cycle wing, but the spat is so close you cant get a drill or
rivet gun in, and the 8mm long rivets I had weren't long enough. I guess I need to ask some questions.

Decided I was being a wimp, so set to on completing the
wing I had started. having started again it is clearly how I
have tackled it rather than what has to be done that causes
the problem. The trick is to drill the spat flange first, hold
it in position agisnt the cycle wing and mark the
corresponding place to drill on the wing. I'll do the next
one that way.

So I attached the first wing tonight, but very carefully.
The next ones will be easier.

First things first, it appears that I have been connecting the spats to the
wing incorrectly. What you should do is drill into the rolled edge, but not
right through the wing, and use short rivets. Not a major issue, I'll do the
other front wing the same way so it looks even, and do the rears the
"correct" way.

Tonight, however, is exhaust night as I now have all of the bits. I only had a
couple of hours as I was going out later on, so this seemed like a suitable
thing to fill the time. First up was to change the spark plugs for new ones, I
got some Bosch ones that have a "splitfire" effect, and new HT leads. This is
because the old ones were too big at the plug end and fouled the exhaust - I
got these from Motobins who make up their own.

And so to the exhausts. Nothing difficult here, use anti-sieze paste on the
finned nuts before attaching them. I decided to put some heat cvaldding on
the balance pipe where it passes the engine top cover. I don't know if this is
strictly necessary, but I don't want to find out that it is the hard way!

Fitting the side pipes was again. easy, everything just fitted and the rear
exhaust mounts took 5 minutes to fit. What took longer was modifying a
spring and fitting it. The rear exhaust mounts are shaped like a U that goes
under the pipe, it has two small holes at the top of each arm of the U with
which to attach a spring which goes over the top, and thus provides some
compliance for the pipe.

Oh, and finally, the SVA and DVLA registration forms arrived yesterday. It
is all getting closer - gulp!

Wow, four nights on the trot! Attached the second cycle wing last night (using the "incorrect" method)
which wasn't nearly as easy as the first. It all went together easily enough, the rpoblem was making sure
that it was outside the outer edge of the tyre for SVA. The wing itself only just as wide as the tyre , and
the wing stays position is fixed by the turning wheel, i.e. on full lock it mustn't touch, and the tyre was
5mm proud of the wing. After lots of faffing the result was packing out the lower stay by 5mm, and then
bending the wing itself outwards so that it's diameter was bigger.

I started the rear wing after that but didn't get far before retiring fo the evening.

One further snippet. If you've been following this since January, you will know that on 1st Jan I was
threatened with the "D" word. Well, having escaped until now, SWMBO has insisted on some "D" being
done, however we have a agreed a 50/50 split on my time. Despite this, I have to say that my (long
suffering) wife has been extremely supportive about the entire build (time and cost!) - as she says
(laughingly I hope), its better I don't have any free time to tinker with other women or a mid life crisis!
So, if you're reading this Nic, a) thanks and b) when did you learn to use the Internet?

A busy weekend, not only did I decorate one of the offending rooms,
I also made great progress on the Brooklands front. First up I put
bothe rear wings on. These were quicker (about 90 minutes each) as
there wasn't so much faffing about with the stays . The results looks
good. After that I could finish the exhausts by adding the rear
silencers.

And so the great moment, with the exhaust finally in place, I could
drive it out of the garage. I drove out into the close, turned it around
and drove it back onto the drive, and vice versa. It was fantastic -
something I have build moves under its own steam (OK, petrol
technically).

I found out several things from this. Firstly, the seating position is
good, secondly the clutch is very stiff and I ground into gear, thirdly
the idle was high and the accelerator pedal didn't return properly to
its rest position.

So I fiddled with the idle until it was around 1000 rpm and roughly
even. In the process I found that there is an exhaust leak, so I'll have
to fix that. The idle won't really be right until I have lubricated the
accelerator cables better and added a stronger return spring so that
the pedal retuns to the same rest position.

The clutch is still stiff, but all of the bits are new so that will get
better, and after some adjustment the gears engage quietly.

So, now we are onto lights, mirrors, engine set-up/tune, interior trim
and a b***dy good polish!

Busy week, so I wasn't able to get into the garage until Wednesday evening. I removed the exhausts and
sealed them all with firegum which has stopped the leaks. Once that was done it has to cure by heating,
so I fired up the engine and took the opportunity to tweak the carbs while I could. It isn't scientific but
it will do until I can take it for an MOT and get a gas analyser.

Next job was to fit the headlights. All went well until it came to re-fitting the lamps/bezels, which
wouldn't go on no matter what I tried. I know that they are a good fit to seal against water, but I swore
for a couple of hours until logic kicked in - the problem was the 'W' clips which hold the lamp to the
bezel. Somehow I had reversed them and whilst they still held the lamp, the stopped the bezel going back
on. D'oh!

So last night I wired them up but it wasn't to be that easy. There is a wiring fault of some kind which I
spent a couple of hours on. One light only functions correctly when the switch is in main beam position
i.e. with main beam warning light on, the other only offers sidelight. After some time, during which I
stripped the light stalk, I worked out that the main beam warning light was lying and the other light had a
bad earth somewhere. I ran out of time, but should now be able to get it all working next time - you
wouldn't think two lights could cause such grief!!