Sunday, 30 January 2011

More bits coming off

Not been a good day in the workshop......

Having discovered last week the new pedal set won't fit have had to come up with alternative solutions, then to add to it the inlet system wont fit without having to move the radiator.

Will update more later in the day......grrrrrrrrr

Monday, 17 January 2011

Parts ordered

Well got onto ebay today and ordered a pump, swirl pot and 12mm fuel pipe. Hopefully should have most stuff to put the injection side loosely together over the forthcoming weekend.

Have made a deal with myself that if I complete the pedals and injection by the end of February, I will do the bulkhead/scuttle conversion.

Sunday, 16 January 2011

Pedalling to no where

Well managed to finish stripping out the pedals and half of the bulkhead.

Starting to ferment ideas of replacing the whole bulkhead and rear of the bonnet with a GRP scuttle unit. The bulkhead arrangement was always a bit of a compromise, making access to fusebox, etc a nightmare. Proper scuttle unit with flip forward bonnet would be good.....the bonnet catch at the front of the bonnet would go giving space for the inlet system.

Offered up the new pedals and propped them in place to see how they would be position wise when I was in the driving seat. Seemed to work out OK, but unsure whether to use the original pedal mounting plate from the 2B kit, or to use flat plate to mount the brake/clutch pedal then work out an arrangement for the accelerator pedal. May do some mocking up using ply to start with.

I pressed the bushes into one of the pedals - quite a tight fit but the bench vice did its job. When I tried to put the pedal on the mounting tube discovered the tube was too large. Quick measure up showed the tube to be 14mm diameter, and have managed to borrow a drill of this size off a neighbour so hopefully this will solve the problem.

Pulled out the Mondeo engine loom to start pulling out the wiring/connectors I need for the injection. After battling with extremely sticky insulation tape, and trying to trace wires back when there are multiples of the same colour, I managed to get out most of what I need. Found one sensor that I can't identify though....need to check the Haynes manual for that.

Ordering fuel pump and swirl pot tonight, so may be able to start putting injection together in some form next weekend.

Sunday, 9 January 2011

Saved wiring to date

Just for the comedians amongst you, here is the saved wiring pile so far.....

The dismantling commences....

Well tonight I decided to get a few bits off and offer some of the new bits up.

This is the new brake kit:


Designed for a Robin Hood Zero, it turns the master cylinder around so it faces backwards, therefore giving space in the engine bay.

I started with the brake master cylinder. To lessen the amount of lost fluid, I sucked as much as I could out with a childs medicine syringe. Disconnected the brake pipes and the mounting bolts and the unit was out. One more bolt out of the pedal assembly strengthening bar....


....which is under the repair washer going back to the chassis, and the pedals were out.

Carbs were next.....blocked off the fuel line and released the carbs from the silicone hose mounts. Next was the manifold....had to work from the outside in with the mounting bolts as some muppet (that will be me then.....) welded the inlet tubes on without keeping the flange plate straight and warped it with all that heat on one side.

Once all the parts were off, could not resist offering up the injection manifold....


I also offered up the new pedal assembly mount


Immediate problems that raised their heads....

  • Manifold is wide and high.....quick check with spirit level and measuring tape suggests we will have about 15mm clearance to bonnet. Hopefully.
  • Manifold is close to original pedal box mount, meaning the pedals will have to be moved back, which is good news because....
  • The new pedals look like they will be further away from the seat, so mount needs moving back.
  • Mounting holes on master cylinder do not match new mount, but can probably be sorted by drilling/filing.....

What am I trying to do?

Well we are on the road to injection.... Got assistance from a friend the other night to get the bonnet off, gives a chance for the dog to see the rabbit, so to speak.

A quick reminder of why/what I am doing.....

This birds nest of wiring was supposed to be a temporary job when I was in a rush to finish the Zetec installation. Its now been like that for nearly two years....can't be too bad though...has done 3000 miles like this!



In addition I want to replace the carbs with fuel injection


Note the use of Diet Coke cans.....this was an attempt to lengthen the inlet tract to cure the fuel stand off problem.


Its all a bit tight between the brake master cylinder and the carbs...note how the brake line goes through the inlet tract of the carb.....

Sunday, 2 January 2011

Here we go again....

Well, its off the road for the injection swap over.

I have swapped the alternator for one off an Escort - the Mondeo one had outputs designed to go via the ECU, which meant the battery light was on regardless of which output wire I connected it to. The Escort alternator just has a straight forward main charging wire and a signal wire, so when I have recharged the battery and fired it up we will find out if it works as expected!

Go the pedal kit out of its box where it has been hiding for 18 months. Its designed for the Robin Hood Zero and mounts the master cylinder inwards towards the steering wheel, rather than into the engine bay. But looking at pics on the net it has a additional strengthening web which mine does not have, but will not be a problem to knock one up.