First drive

Following the start up, I couldnt resist a small drive.  The first attempt was a failure due to the clutch cable needing a bit of adjustment.  30 seconds later I had another go and this is what happened...

IT LIVES!!!!

So the day after boxing day i did a bit of fault finding and turns out id forgotten to connect a cable so couldnt connect to the ECU.  After sorting that I loaded a map and the fuel pumps kicked into action! I primed the system by turning the ignition on about 6 times until the pitch of the pumps changed and could hear fuel in the engine and swirl pot. Then I turned the key to the final notch and.....

Somehow it started almost immediately with no problems at all.  I couldnt' believe it!

ECU fitted

Yesterday, for Christmas, I was lucky enough to get the ECU for the car. I spent a few hours titivating bits today and finally tried to turn it over.  I’ve not managed to get a map onto the ECU yet and there was no fuel onboard but it’s so close to starting up!

Headlight upgrade - already!

Having had xenon and LED headlights for years now, I’d never relished the thought of going back to halogen. I found a set of all LED lights online with a green background and halo DRL which has the indicator switch back feature.  They arrived this week and I’ve just fitted one. I love it!

The cars favourite visitor..

My Little nephew, Charlie, visited again recently and as always asked for a play in the car.  He loves it and can’t wait for a drive!

Chrome finishing strips

Another quick job I did this weekend was fitting a few parts from the finishing kit.

Added the floor, side and rear stainless steel strips. All fitted and nice and shiny.  Not sure if I’m happy with the side piece and may remove, reshape and refit.

 

Exhaust

I finally got the last few pieces of the car including the exhaust which my Mum deleivered on a recent visit.  I fitted it this weekend and we are now so close to being finished. Looks amazing...

Finished the wrap

I had about 2 hours free today so finished the carbon fibre effect wrap.  I cleaned the aluminium which I took the protective covering off a few weeks ago, drilled out all the rivets and set to work.

It went on perfectly and absolutely love the effect. Really glad I did it.  There are a few imperfections but I’ll cover those with black paint and nobody should be any wiser!

Before..

Before adding the rear wings back on...

And all finished, lights etc all back in place.

I think I’ll paint the aluminium shroud in a gloss black to finish the styling and leave the stainless steel finishing trim in shiny silver.

Carbon fibre wrap

Today I decided to attempt to wrap my car.  I’ve bought a 4D carbon fibre style wrap which looks really smart. I cut it to length from the big roll I bought and then stripped all of the fitted parts out of the way.
I then started at the back and made my way forwards.  It went on perfectly and love the effect. A bit trickier around the front wishbones but still managed it.
Before starting..

Once the protective film was peeled off...

During the fitting of the film...

A close up...

All done


Back panel and the other side to go!

My baby boy in the car

Now the car is quite heavy its a 2 person push from my garage across the road to my drive where I prefer to work on it. I got my wife to help today and she brought over Oliver - my 6 week old baby boy.  He hitched a ride in the boot while we pushed the car - can't wait to take him for a drive!

Fuel system

I made a start on the fuel system (before being cut short due to an unexpected storm).  I removed the long metal pipe that comes as standard on the zetec engine and fitted the new modified version from GBS.

All I need to do now is connect that to the high pressure pipe, the outlet of the fuel rail to the swirl pot and thats the fuel done.  So close to being able to start her up!

Cooling system finished

Today after a bit of advice from GBS, I was able to finish the cooling system.  All of the silicone pipes need cutting down and so does the extra long top Stainless steel hose. I set about cutting everything down and then fitted it all before sealing with the supplied brackets.  To support the length of the bottom bracket, there is a small metal fixing that needs fitting under the steering mounting bracket.  Annoying that I had to take it off, but needs must.  It then attaches to the cooling pipe using a cable tie.

Once everything was plumbed in, i filled it with water to ensure there were no leaks - there weren't! When I was happy, I drained the water and its now ready to fill with coolant.

Cooling System

One of the last big jobs is the cooling system - its really getting close to being finished now! After a bit of research it all seems straight forwards. Firstly was to install the new thermostat housing which houses 2 sensors - 1 for the instruments and the other for the ECU. This was a straight bolt on job but with paper gaskets between the joins. I also sanded them as flat as possible using a 300grit and paper to ensure they were perfectly flat after being powder coated.  Finally before assembling I added a small dab of gasket sealant.

Next I cut off the two additional mounting tabs from the radiator. These aren’t needed on the Zero and hinder it mounting properly so were removed, filed, primed and given a coat of Matt black paint. If you didn’t know they were there you never would! Very happy with this job.

Next thing I did was to mount the radiator and fan into the car, straight forwards with 4 bolts but not sure about the bolts through the fan resting on the radiator. I’ve put a few layers of duck tape behind in the interim but will need to revisit this I think.

Before..

The tape I mentioned....



And after. I was going to paint the aluminium support brackets but they give a nice shape through the grille.

Final job for the day was the stainless steel overflow tank and a few silicone pipes.

I couldn’t do anymore as I’ve been sent the wrong pipe for here so called it a day.

Cooling re-visited

I wasn't happy with the fitting of the fan on the radiator, as I mentioned last time as the screws were clipping the radiator and denting it.  My temporary fix was a few strips of duck tape as you can see in one of the following pictures, it didn't look great and there must be another way around it.  I took it apart again today and turned the bolts around, once they are tight they pull the screw head into the plastic bracket and the problem is solved.  I also turned the brackets upside down so it fits much better.

Engine back out

I had a tiny leak from the new sump I’d fitted so needed to remove it and refit. So out with the engine / gearbox combo, removed the sump and I could immediately see what was wrong, I’d clearly caught the gasket as I was installing it which knocked it out of alignment - causing the drip.

5 hours work, absolutely no forwards progress but the leak is now fixed. 

How it started the day 

Engine out and sump off

And the finished car at the end of the day (not a finished car but getting there now)

Exhaust manifold

A quick job for this afternoon. I removed the existing manifold and added the GBS manifold so I could make a template for cutting the hole in the bonnet. 

Once I’d marked everything up and cut the hole, I then vinyl wrapped the bonnet in the same green as the scuttle. It came up very nicely.