Mistake no. 1

Not a huge one,  I hope but... on collection day,  Richard at GBS suggested I clear the powder coat out of the threads for the seat belts with a 7/16 tap. So I made sure the tap and die set I bought had that size in it. Sadly,  I didn't understand when Richard said '7/16 UNF' and when you buy a set,  there is little detail on what you're getting.  What I got was a tap stamped '7/16 BSF18' which is not the same thing, obviously. Even sadder,  I didn't realise this until about 1/3rd of the way through re-tapping the thread! I'll have to wait until I get the seat belt fixings before deciding the best way forward.

In the meantime, finished all the bushes on the suspension units:

... and picked up the diff:

Unfortunately,  as I didn't get this from GBS,  it doesn't come with the required bolts. As I'm not sure what these should be,  I've ordered a Haynes manual for the Sierra (£2 off eBay).

I also started on the pedals - trying to get the inner tube through the bushes requires  a bit of Heath Robinson jiggery-pokery :

Once again,  I'm a little confused about how this is supposed to work - the tube is a VERY snug fit and,  once in, the pedal is very stiff. I'm assuming that it loosens over time or I've done something stupid.

I didn't continue with the pedals as  it suddenly occurred to me that I better drill all the holes for the footwell  panels while access is easy. Made a start before I was dragged out of the garage by the wife to do 'house stuff'  - boo,  hiss!

On holiday for 10 days from Tuesday so no updates until my return - hope you will survive, my loyal fans ;-)

More bushes

Couple of days delay while I waited for some bits to arrive...

Done about half of the suspension parts now - bushes and crush tubes. According to GBS,  crush tubes should be flush with the bushes. Most of the crush tubes have been a fraction too long so I've had to file them down a little.

EDIT: No,  no,  no - do NOT file the tubes. GBS now produce them pretty much exactly as you need them.  They should protrude a tiny amount from the bushes (0.1mm maybe). 

The new ignition barrel arrived and slotted in easily - but significantly,  I now have keys,  which seems strange considering the big box of bits that is the car they belong to.

I'm picking up the diff  tomorrow but then go on holiday on Tuesday,  so not sure if I'll get time to fit it but I'd like to - be nice for the chassis to look a little different ☺

Bushed

I wasn't  100% sure of how to do the bushes.  There was absolutely no chance of pushing them in by hand and I wasn't too sure how much force to use.  The bushes are only plastic and I didn't want to deform them. However,  after another read of Richard's blog,  I found an excellent description of how to do the bushes on both pedals and suspension units. Basically, remove the powder coating in the tubes (I did it with my Dremel),  grease the tube and bush,  place in vice between 2 pieces of wood and slowly turn - works a treat:

Managed 2 pedals and 1.5 wishbones before I ran out of Dremel sandpaper roll thingies - more shopping needed:

Also started on painting the front calipers - I expect I'll need 5 or so coats,  if the rears are anything to go by.

Staring at things

A couple of hours of...er...doing very little.  I was planning of continuing with drilling the rear panel but then realised that I've been using a 3mm drill bit when the rivets are 3.2mm. I assumed that I'd never manage to drill an EXACT 3mm hole but it seems I'm better than I thought and the rivets don't fit.  Problem is,  I've only got a metric drill set so my next bit size is 3.5mm. I drilled one hole that size and the rivet is just a little loose so it looks like I need to buy some 3.3mm bits.

I then spent 30 minutes finding and then staring stupidly at the pedals. GBS provide a list of items needed for the pedals but absolutely no clue how they go together.  Many thanks to Richard for having an excellent picture on his blog of the pedal setup. Sadly,  none of the bushes for the pedals fit - I need to remove the powder coating from the inner surface of the pedal joint (?),  I think.

The only thing I actually did tonight was to remove the old ignition barrell from the steering column - 30 minutes with a hacksaw,  screwdriver and pliers:

Need to order some bits and pieces - tap and die set in particular to get powder coating out of threads. 

First stumbling steps

Well, i promised the wife that i wouldn't spend my life in the garage, so only managed a few hours today but strangely productive...

Finished the discs off and whacked a quick coat of Hammerite on part of the old steering column:

Using some bits of wood and a G-clamp, i managed to get the 'nightmare' steering column grommet done in 15 minutes - hope I've done it right:

And (drum roll please)....drilled my first hole:

....followed by 10 or so others in the rear panel (using clecos for the first time). A couple have ended up a bit too close to the edge of the tube but i don't think it will be a problem? I've asked for advice on the GBS forum about it...

I'm planning on drilling as many holes as possible but not riveting anything until as late as possible - the later i leave it, the more access i have for routing brake pipes etc.

An unforseen positive is the interest my previously X-Box-addicted son is showing - got him doing the dull job of removing panel protection stuff:

T-0 - we have lift-off!!

Collection day!

Started badly with the world's slowest van hire receptionist - 40 minutes for her to single-fInger type my details, photocopy everything 3 times and struggle to understand the card machine! Then a forensically detailed examination of the van...FFS! Finally got on the road at 9am...

3.5 hours later and we arrive at a suspiciously closed-looking GBS. Thankfully, Ruth and Richard were there. This was my kit ready to load:

All loaded up about an hour later:

Spent another 20 minutes taking pictures of one of the half-built kits, for when i get stuck. Left for the return journey.

Got home and managed to squeeze everything in with the help of a friend to get the chassis in.

Ok, now it's a reality, i don't know where to start - so much to do! I need to go get the diff (hopefully next weekend) as that is the first bit to bolt in.

Until then, I've been advised to get the steering column grommet in - it's supposed to be a pig to do so worth getting it done before anything else is in the way. I also need to paint the front brake calipers to match the rears and tidy up the old steering column they gave me.

That'll do for now...the real journey has begun (fanfare, fireworks)!!

T-2 days - Yellow Peril

Brake calipers done - before:

...and after:

Doesn't look as good in the flesh, admittedly, but it will be fine considering where they'll end up.

Also started on the discs themselves - just black Hammerite on the boss (difficult to explain - I'll put a picture up when done).