The long and windy road

I should have posted this a while ago, as you can see it is at the old house, but sums up how kit car building can make you feel at times !

It was the first drive (with lots of clutch slip) in Nena !

It will get better !

Why the 3 month gap ?

Moving house, Xmas, decorating.

That ok with you !



Anyhow, back to it all now, and set myself another deadline ! Paintshop by 3rd February, so as I write this I have 7 free evenings and two weekends to do all the snagging jobs before the paint goes on !



Scary !



Still on a positive note I have a new garage for Nena, which is much bigger than the last:

The downside is that it can easily become a dumping ground !

More soon, and hopefully you will find out if I make the painting deadline !

All the best,

Jim

A Sunday drive

Well progress is fast now ! After the success of the wiring, and engine test last weekend I am getting more confident.

Sarah went through a lesson in bleeding brakes (and hydraulic clutch), and here are the results. This is the first tentative drive out of the garage:



and after that, and some small adjustments (including fuel !) it was onto the open road. As you can hear there is some clutch slip going on. Initially I put this down to the clutch (still the original from the donor), but further investigation revealed some adjustment of the slave cylinder is required. Brakes also need some more bleeding, but it is getting there:




Hopefully more updates soon - the next week is going to be spent fine tuning the clutch, and re bleeding brakes. Next weekend I hope to get it over 20mph !

One British motoring victory this weekend then !

Racers, start your engines … and deafen the neighbours

Real progress is at last being made. This weekend I finished the installation of the wiring loom, refilled the gearbox oil, and gave the engine an oil change.




This put me in the exciting position of being able to test the wiring, and ultimately fire up the engine. Sarah was on hand as the able assistant to turn the key, turn on and off switches, and of course moral support.

For now a temporary speedo and fuel guage are wired up, with relevant warning lights. Once I know this all works fine I will test up the other spare gauges I have, and decide which go into the car.




Most circuits were tested prior to the engine test, and aside from a loose connection on the headlight circuit, and a fault on the indicators all seemed fine. As you can see the foliage is making work a little difficult, I can't wait to move as a double garage is waiting!

So time to get brave, and turn the key:

The trusty Volkswagen Flat 4 did the business (ever seen Woody Allen Sleeper??) and on the 4th turn of the key we had ignition. The accelerator cable is still to be fitted up at the pedal box, and the brakes need commisioning, so a drive wasn't possible, but we could at last hear the engine, and give it a bit of a work out !

With a new exhaust fitted, (which will probably need modifying to suit the bumper) there was a lot of paint to be burnt off the inside surfaces. The haze of black smoke soon filled the garage, and the car had to be wheeled outside. You can still see some of the smoke in the air in the below video !

Finally, all I have to say is thank you to Sarah for braving the smoke, and noise, to help in the tests, and sorry to the neighbours for the Sunday afternoon entertainment !

and this week I am an electrician !

Hi all,

Been a while since I posted any progress as house move has taken priority (well packing the garage to be precise).

Anyhow chain collapsed, another 4 weeks minimum living out of boxes so thought I would get back to Nena !

So this week I am turning my hand to electrics (needed the smallest amount of tools that are packed). So in the wiring loom goes !

I am using the donor beetle's(http://jimsvwnovarestoration.blogspot.com/2006/10/your-donor-card-please.html) wiring loom as a template but making up new wires as I go. So far I have run wires to the switches, steering column and front loom (lights etc).

It isn't looking that neat at the moment but I am going to pull through the slack to switches/lamps etc at the end and cable tie it all in place.

I now remember why I hate wiring, but after three evenings (around 2 hours a night) it is starting to come together. More detail shots when it looks neater

All the best, Jim