More Fuel Gauge.........

Nick from "soft bits for sevens" emailed today to say that he'd received the screen channel, the half hood was in final finishing and would be posted out on Friday so I need to get as far as I could with the ongoing problem with the fuel gauge and then rebuild the car.

Float on fuel surface

Float pushed to the bottom of the tank.

I removed the filler cap and using my new boroscope I videoed the inside of the tank and then moved the float up and down with a wire taking photographs and measuring the resistance between the sensor output and earth.  On 3/4 full the resistance was ~140 ohms and push fully down was 10 ohms.

The float didn't seem to move completely freely and stuck at the bottom until I flicked it and it floated back to the surface.



I then reconnected the fuel gauge and the battery.  Initially the gauge read full and with the float pushed down it read 1/4 and returned the full when the float was released.

Whilst I'm still slightly concerned about the "stickiness" of the float I know know that the wiring must be correct so I refitted the dash, boot, cap and steering wheel etc and got the car ready for the weekend in the hope that the 1/2 hood will arrive and I can get out regardless of the weather.  If it doesn't I'll take the front wheels off and fit the mud flaps and the stainless steel bighead nuts, bolts and penny washers arrived earlier in the week.

Cold Garage

The last of the Christmas parcels arrived during the week and, with the snow and ice, I wasn't willing to test my limited Westfield driving experience on the road - so out to the garage for upgrades!

I'd removed the instruments last week in an attempt to dry them and stop the fogging so they've been in the airing cupboard/hot press but I got the fuel gauge out to try and isolate whether it was the sensor or gauge.  I'd already confirmed that the wiring was correct when I removed the gauges, and after the gauge back in, it was reading 3/4 which was roughly what was in the tank.  I disconnected the sensor input to the gauge went to full deflection and then shorted and it went to empty so I guess it must have been a loose connection.

 On to the first upgrade - CarbonMod Stone Guards - I fitted the rubber beading around the edges and then drilled and riveted them in place.  A reasonable fit but I then noticed that they were slightly asymmetrical - hopefully it won't be too noticeable









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Then on to the Cobra Immobiliser - I used the dedicated connector in the WF chassis loom, mounted the immobiliser on the ECU panel and the indicator/key point in the dash (a little askew).  A bit of a fiddle wiring in all the independent supplies and earths but it was fairly straight forward and worked first time - miracles will never cease.













Next was the steering wheel with quick release.  First steps were to replace the upper steering column inner and fit the quick release to the steering wheel (measure, measure and measure again before drilling!).  I was also trying to identify a resonance somewhere in the steering at idle - nothing obvious so hopefully between greasing the column and making sure it goes through the middle of the dash cut out will be the cure.  Everything still needs torquing so didn't refit the pedal cover etc.







By this time the -2 deg C was beginning to take it's toll so the last thing was to rivet on the build plate next to the VIN plate.

6 hours work and very cold - time for the hot tub & cider me thinks!
  

New Year Blat

I hope this is indicative of things to come in 2013, after a little early morning rain, the sun came out and I decided it might be a good day to get out in the car as I'm back at work tomorrow.

I went out to the garage to do a few things to the car. First was fitting the wind deflectors fairly straight forward I just had to align them with the windscreen pillars and the bodywork with a length of rubber grommet applied to the lower edge to protect the bodywork.  Next I removed the exhaust "cheese grater" as this had been rattling since initial build, the stainless steel will need a polish next time I clean the car. Finally I removed each of the wheel, cleaned and treated the suspension wishbones and uprights, and adjusted the ride height to 155 mm front and 170 mm rear (without a driver) in an attempt to reduce the possibility of the chassis gearbox hoop grounding.

Tricia I then went out for a drive, first into Yeovil Hospital to drop off Tricia's uniforms for the week then to West Bay via the A37 to Dorchester and the A35 to Bridport.  As expected the wind deflectors are not as effective as the side screens but they provided enough protection for comfort and also deflected the puddle water from the cockpit.  After fish and chips and West Bay we headed back to Yeovil through Beaminster taking the diversion around the closed tunnel and finding some nice clear and windy roads on the way.

Just over 70 miles covered and the car now has just over 600 miles on the clock.