Photoshop

Well I've been playing round with photoshop whilst waiting to drop the engine and got to say the carbon look with matt headlights does look good to me!

Ordering parts...

With the engine getting close to being dropped I needed to order parts for it. So I've spent this weekend researching and ordering

* Timing Belt
* drive belt
* Headgasket set
* Head bolts (the mr2 have stretch type)
* Water pump

The engine i currently have suffered from a radiator failure before i bought it but compression had been checked etc... but I wanted to replace it to be 100% sure.

As well as this the rev 1 and rev 2 versions used a paper gasket and the rev 3 onwards used a metal gasket. The metal gasket is stronger and is compatible with the rev2 head. This should make it stronger.

The engine is also covered in oil and this looks to be coming from the rocker cover gasket so a headgasket set kills all the birds in one go! Obviously at the same time ill be cleaning up the engine as much as I can!

I don't plan on upgrading this engine to high power 260 / 70bhp in such a light car for road use willl be fine! the money is going in the build not the engine for a change! So have gone OEM or equivalent for parts.

For the UK people I used a forum and eurocarparts.com to source parts feel free to use code 30now for 30% off at eurocarparts!!! how long it will last I don't know, but 30% is a good saving and they do free delivery as well.

Little update

The only parts I have left to take off the car are;

* wiring loom from engine bay through cabin (awaiting engine drop)

* accelerator Cable

* fuel tank drop (need fuel pump)

then the engine drop, I have dropped the subframe now so the engine is held on by just the left and right mounts. these are the two that take the weight anyway, the front and back are to stop twist.

I'm hoping to drop the engine mid november.

The IVA is no doubt a tricky test to the point of even the bolts. they ask that the bolts show the gradings and being the UK this is metric based. So 8.8 would be required for suspension pieces  However the mr2 (being an import) has the imperial markings for strength on them. So I have sourced online the SW20 service book and it has a guide in there to bolt markings and the strength that this means. Ill be printing this off to keep with all my other paper work which I will need at the IVA to prove to the inspector the car is safe.

The IVA test...

when building a kitcar in the UK we have a test to meet the requirements of for the car to go on the road. If I was using a chassis from an already registered car and the engine then an IVA (individual Vehicle Assesment) wouldn't be required.

So the test / manual. Its 200 odd pages of criteria to meet, from lights (angles, postions, markings), fuel tank, wiring, fixings,. To the radius of edges within the cockpit area.

I've been reading the manual over and over for the last month or two, its key to know as much as possible because you will need to build the car too meet the requirements. One for gullwing doors for instance is that the car must have a bolt with audioable warning if the car is moving and door open or an automatic way to close the door if the car starts moving.

Below is the link to the site that hosts the manual..

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1081997083&type=RESOURCES

Front hubs powder coated

I got the front hubs back off a friend who is powder coating all my parts for me, He has all the suspension now. So when they come back I can fit the bushes. Once that's done I will make up each corner so relevant bolts are kept with where they came from... Stops bits getting lost!!

these hubs are now off to have the bearings fitted!