First thing I did was to fit the spring plates and rear torsion bars. I had downloaded a document which gave some guidance on the amount of pre-load required for buggys. Using this I set the spring plates to 10 degrees from horizontal (normally they are at 19 - 21 degrees) with the adjustment bolts showing 10mm of thread. This still required a small amount of effort to lift the spring plate to allow it to sit on the 'ledge' all fitted I wound off the pre-load to make fitting the torsion bar covers easier.
Next came the front beam. I bolted the beam up before fitting anything to it as I made it lighter to lift and more stable for working on. Because I am lowering the car I have fitted caster compensator shims behind the lower torsion tube. Everything was liberally coated in grease before fitting using new nuts and bolts throughout.
I forgot to mention that before painting them, I replaced the ball joints on all of the trailing arms; one had a lot of play in it and rather than find that they needed doing once the car was finished, I would do the job now while everything was in bits. The BJs came out pretty easily using the Wyton Motorclub press.
Once the front trailing arms were fitted, it was a simple excersice (once I had remembered to fit the washers on the top ball joints) to fit the spindles.
The gear selector rod went in without causing any problems - I took pics but apart from begin clean, it looks just like the trial fit pics.
Rear trailing arms were next.
Again, with help from Squashua M, we fitted new bearings to the trailing arms inserted the stub-axles.
These were then offered up and bolts back into the chassis.
The observant of you will have noticed that the gearbox cradle has also been bolted in.
I have now also sealed areas such as the conduit exit points and weld seams outside of the cockpit area. This is because I am unsure how accessible these areas will be once the body is bonded in place. I will leave these areas for a few days before painting with the chassis black.
I've also re-built the driveshafts ready for packing with grease and fitting.
I've also cleaned out all of the conduits running through the tunnel and fitted the clutch cable. I have measured out, drilled and fitted various riv-nuts for fitting the pedals and for holding the brake lines in place.
Work has started on fitting the rear brakes, however this is still a 'work-in-progress' so I will update you all once that is finished.
I have a pretty hard target to have this all complete as I have just placed the order for the body. The last email (the day after I placed the order) was to say that the steel work was being bonded into place before the final lay-up and the body should be ready in a couple of weeks. Decisions I have had to make regarding the body is whether I want a single vent, double vent of Carrera Vent set up on the engine lid - going to go for double me thinks. The only other thing is to decide on if I am going to have bumpers or not......