My Rally Project

Lopéz said:
Cheers I will :)

Attu90 - to be honest, skill doesn't come into it - it's all experience and having a practical mind. The most important thing of all in a project is having a working space - preferably big, tidy, and well lit. I think Muncher and L1J will vouch for me on this one!
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Certainly, plus you need the right tools. My Dad said to me today that really a lot of what I've done wouldn't have been possible without the internet though. I wouldn't have had the contacts to get the parts cheaply, I wouldn't have had access to the service and parts CDs and it would have been a much bigger pain in the backside doing certain things where I've checked online just for piece of mind. I don't know how people did this kind of stuff without the internet! As a side note, building a kit car I imagine is million times easier that stripping it down and rebuilding something. Given the space I'm pretty sure I could knock something like a Caterham together in not much time at all.
 
Definitely - the internet has been a massively useful tool. If there's ever anything I want to check on first I just search for it on the relevant forum and read the results to see if I was right or wrong!

If I was ever going to build a proper custom/kit job I would love to have a replica of something like this:

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Little bit more done, I'll be away now until the new year so this is it for 2007!

Magnex 4-branch manifold in place. No idea what I'm going to do about the rest of the system yet.

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Bulk of the engine wiring is in place. This is where you always find out your labelling wasn't as "comprehensive" as you thought it was!

As you can see I forgot to prep and paint the battery tray properly. I'll take it out and do it in red properly at some point.

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Wiring on this side still has a way to go - it's all the wiring for the headlamps

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See you next year!
 
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I'm sure you'd have spotted it if it was, but is that rust in the passenger footwell?

Good work as usual though Leon. Looking forward to next years progress (feels weird saying that, ha!)
 
Yeah, after I cut holes in the bulkhead all the little bits of swarf were in the footwell, hich got wet when I was working outside with the doors open - so it isn't real rust, just stains on the floor from the rusty swarf. It wipes off relatively easily.

Cam cover is Frost VHT Crinkle paint. Takes a while to dry but looks great IMO.
 
We now have sidelights and indicators functioning. :D

And it cranks - won't start without an inlet manifold mind you :p
 
Muncher said:
As a side note, building a kit car I imagine is million times easier that stripping it down and rebuilding something. Given the space I'm pretty sure I could knock something like a Caterham together in not much time at all.
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Yeah, I remember researching about doing one a few years back as my brother and I were going to build a 7 replica. If we worked solidly and had all the bits to hand we could have done it in a weekend...which would have been quite cool.

Still have the Sierra 2l lump including drive gear etc. in one of the sheds, waiting for the day it gets used again....would love to make something with the engine and drive gear, but don't have the time or money whilst I'm at uni.

...maybe a RWD 2.0l 205....hmmmm...wait, drive shaft is too long... :( :p

Works looking good Leon, once done will it be taken to the next RR?

InvG
 
Right, we now have dipped headlamps and main beam :cool:

Dipped:

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Main Beam:

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Errr, black to black, red to red or something....

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Believe it or not that rats nest is very organised, just needs wrapping and a few cable ties.

Next up, plumbing in the coolant system.
 
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Every time I see this thread I get thinking about a project I want to do one day (when I can afford the insurance on a modifies car). I want to fit the quad cam boxer engine from an old Alfa 33/alfasud/145, into a Fiat 126 bis.

I'd put all my wiring in heat-shrink, that way it's almost impossible to fix it if I've got anything wrong.
 
BigglesPiP said:
Every time I see this thread I get thinking about a project I want to do one day (when I can afford the insurance on a modifies car). I want to fit the quad cam boxer engine from an old Alfa 33/alfasud/145, into a Fiat 126 bis.

I'd put all my wiring in heat-shrink, that way it's almost impossible to fix it if I've got anything wrong.
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126 is a great car, I've fancied one for a while.

As for the wiring, the majority of it is heat shrink covered, but the last few odds and sods were too fiddly so will just be taped with amalgamating tape (brilliant stuff for looms etc)

Progress report: We now have all coolant pipes fitted, except one elbow at the back which has split and needs replacing.
 
What if, when it's done.. you think sod it, this is too mint to stick on a rally track and bend round a tree?:eek::p
 
Tim said:
What if, when it's done.. you think sod it, this is too mint to stick on a rally track and bend round a tree?:eek:
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Oh don't worry it's far from mint, it's generally sound but nothing to get excited about - if it was a really lovely mint shell I'd have kept it as a road car :D
 
Inlet manifold back on, throttle body on, and that's it for tonight - had enough :D

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I know what you are doing :mad: You are getting all the interesting stuff done before I show up tomorrow.

Looking good though mate!
 
This is one of the parts of the build which shows how fast professional mechanics really are. Being able to replace an engine (involves swapping all the ancillaries from the old engine to the new one) in under a day for some cars.
 
Not really - I can do an engine change in a few hours on most cars if I *need* to, in fact my first ever engine swap was done between the hours of 11:00 and 15:00 which was a hell of a learning curve.

However...

I am not being paid to do this, I am not under pressure to hit any book times, I don't have another car queuing for the ramps, there's no boss looking over my shoulder and I don't need the car to take me to work tomorrow.

I'd rather work at a pace which allows me to enjoy the work and ensure it's done properly, and to last :)
 
Take the time to do it all right instead of going back to potentially pickup a mistake.

Also helps if your at a garage where you have air tools and SPACE! Main killer is getting the car jacked up and lying under it, with some air tools and a ramp/lift could greatly reduce the time it takes to do jobs at home i think.
 
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