Regular readers will know that progress has been quite slow due to some significant issues in the handbrake area. Crucial parts were missing and had to be fabricated, as I had nothing to copy I had to make it up as I went along and it seemed to take forever to make the required parts. Make them I did though, I think they came out rather well, sadly I forgot to take any photos and the car is now back on it's wheels. Fitting the shoes proved to be an absolute nightmare, trying to get everything in place against the tension of the return springs was a complete pain - whoever designed that needs a check up from the neck up. They should be given the V. Putin award for services contributing to the downfall of civilisation. Evil. Anyway, enough of that, I couldn't be sure it would work until everything was together and the handbrake lever was pulled for the first time. I was surprised at how little travel there was in the lever and thought something was wrong but when I tried to move the car it was solid. Just very light pressure on the lever locked up both wheels - result.
This meant I could draw a line under that, cross it off from my job list and get on with something else, I decided my next job would be routing everything that needed to got from the back of the car to the front of the car - ie main battery lead to starter solenoid, electrical cables for lights etc, brake pipe and fuel pipe. Everything has to be securely clipped at no more than 300mm to satisfy the BIVA inspector so I clipped everything at no more than 250mm. It's all pretty neat, everything is routed so nothing can rub anything else, where I can things have been fed through chassis rails, which adds to the overall tidiness
I have used multi way waterproof crimp connectors that I bought as a kit, I tried them on the rear lights first, I am very pleased with them, they look so much more professional than a bunch of individual crimps and should be much more reliable. I'm not sure of their current handling capacity for things like headlights and cooling fans though, I would want to use at least 2 pins for each of those current hungry circuits. The seller claims 11 amps per pin and a headlight at 55 watts should only take just over 4 amps but my paranoia has got the better of me. Anyhoo it's no big deal to use an 8 pin connector instead of 4 or whatever and double up where needed.
Next job was to make the lower outer seat belt mount points, I was going to use spreader plates and bolt through the floor but decided that was a lot of work , heavy and not very elegant. The rules say that the loads have to be spread through the structure so what I did was make a pair of 6mm thick triangles that could be welded to both the main chassis rail and the rear wheel tub. I welded it both sides all the way round to give an incredibly strong mount. I drilled and tapped the plate to accept a 7/16 UNF standard set belt bolt, it all worked out entirely splendidly. To make sure everything was both fine and dandy I bunged the passenger seat in and tried out my 4 point harnesses for fit. I am glad to say they have plenty of adjustment and will do the job nicely. They are e marked and match the required specs so I see no problems in that area from a compliance point of view. I am convinced that my set up is far stronger than just about any production car.
While I was at it I grabbed a spare motorcycle battery and checked out all my wiring, everything worked as it should, being an ex apprentice that wired up aircraft I would have been pretty cross with myself if it didn't. As it was I decided I had earnt beer and it was time to settle that debt.
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