Well here we go again, I have now welded up the fuel tank. 3 times.

At the first attempt, I filled the tank with water and it leaked in 14 places. Actually, i wasn't too disappointed as it was my first ever go at making one.

Second attempt, It leaked in 5 places.

Third attempt, it now only leaks in 1 spot - and it's one I previously marked up but missed. Next go I'll have it sorted, I'm confident.

I have also painted the battery tray, and fabricated the fuel tank holding brackets. The last job i did yesterday was to line them with rubber strips, to stop vibration from the chassis when the car is in motion from damaging the fuel tank.

Next on the list once the fuel tank is leak-free is to paint it (I'll have to be expensive and use 2-pack paint for it that is resistant to petrol) and finally fit it to the chassis. Once it's installed I'm going to plumb in the fuel lines.

Well apologies for not posting again sooner, but my home laptop has completely died.

The good news is I have made good progress. The one panel that needed fitting became 3, all done, as is the pedal box bulkhead. It's not my neatest ever work, but will be hidden from view anyway so I'm not too concerned. It's strong and does it's job.

Moving on from the paneling, I have managed to re-fit the engine and gearbox, attaching the propshaft along the way. It's all now tightly bolted into position - fingers crossed I don't need to take it our again! To me it marks a mojor milestone in the project, as the running gear is now completely assembled. It actually completely confused me yesterday, I needed to roll the car a few feet up the garage so i released the handbrake and pushed, it wouldn't go. It felt like I had left a chock by a wheel, but I looked around and no, I hadn't. I pushed again - won't move. ????? Oh yeah, it must be in gear, dopey prat.

Well I was a vey busy bee yesterday as I moved on to the next item on my to-do list and fitted the battery by fabricating a tray, welding it in position in the rear of the car (no room at the front - it's a big battery) and fabricating a clamp to hold it down.

Today I hope to make the fuel tank, indeed already this morning I have cut and folded the steel for it's main structure. I'll weld it up later on, and try to fit the pump/sender assembly.

As always, I'll post pics when i can.

I got some more done yesterday, and hit a problem or 2 as well.

I finished all the welds inside the engine bay that weren't accessible with the engine in place and ran and fixed the reamining front brake pipes. The front half of the braking system is now complete. The rear half just needs 2 more little flexi's.

I was then looking to see if I needed to do anything else bfeore refitting the engine. One thing has become clear, re-fitting the engine will be a 2-person job as the engine mounts, propshaft and gearbox mounts need to be aligned all at the same time, and it has to be done without hitting, snagging or otherwise damaging the lovely new brake pipes.

The other snag is that I need to fabricate and fit one of the panels for the gearbox tunnel, as it needs to be riveted on from the inside, which would not be possible with the engine and box in the way. I made up a template from corrugated plastic sheet - which was rubbish. I need to make another one. The difficulty is that the panel has to fit around the clutch master cylinder and it's pipe, without touching it.

I also need to panel in the end of the pedal box, which is a really complicated shape. I really have gone and made this difficult for myself.

I'll keep you all posted.

I went to a track experience day on Thursday, after being driven round the track by an instructor in a Lotus Elise (mostly sideways) and a thrilling few laps in a Subaru Impreza group N prodrive rally car, driving myself, I had the choice of supercars to take out for a few laps, which would you have chosen? Ferrari 360, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Audi R8, Porsche 911 GT3 or a Lamborghini Gallardo? There was only 1 choice for me, the 500bhp Lambo, it was immense.
Here's some of the front brake lines clipped to the chassis.

The extended steering rack - finished!

And the shortened handbrake cables, re-clamped properly.

Ok update time.... after a week on days i have indeed got quite a bit done.

All the parts and tools I ordered arrived very quickly, so I re-cut the threads on the steering rack and fitted the extension pieces, connected it all up and the steering works! Woo hoo, i can finally put a tick against a thing on my to do list - the steering is finished.

I have also ticked off item 2 - recondition rear axle, as all that is left to do on there is get 2 new flexi hoses and fit them - easy peasy. The ones I was able to remove from the BMW were is such poor condition that it wasn't worth re-using them.

Well no sooner was the steering finished, i had to paritally dismantle it again, as the engine had to come out. I Have removed the engine and box for 3 reasons - I needed to install the clutch, I had to run the copper brake lines around the engine bay for the front brakes, and I need to do a couple of last welds inside the engine bay. All of these would have been very difficult with the engine in place, and removing it isn't much hassle.

So with the engine out i have fabricated and fitted all the front brake pipes, at the moment only partially clipped in place, i need to do the welding before i fully rivet the clips in places as there is a chance i could damage the pipes with the heat from the welder.

I have taken the time to re-fit the clutch with brand new stainless steel bolts of the correct size, and fit the gearbox back up to the engine.

I have also fitted the brake balance valve in position in the brake circuit, in the centre console, within easy reach when driving.

The last thing I have done this week is revomve the alternator from the scrap BMW, it is actually the one off my donor engine, i had to use it on the BMW when I was driving it regularly as it's own packed up.

So the plan for this week is to finish the few welds, brake lines, and get the engine back in with the propshaft fully installed too. At this point, all the major mechanical systems will be in place, and the next phase is to get them all working.

I've had a little potter about with the car this week, I've made up the last of the copper brake lines for the rear axle and installed it, I just need to recover a couple more flexi lines from the scrap BMW to connect it all up. I've also refitted (properly this time) the handbrake cable calmps that i used to shorten them, as they were previously slipping quite badly. The handbrake now seems to work fairly well.

This past week I have also sold my spare alloy wheels on ebay for 155 quid, which will go towards my suspension. I intend to order that when i get paid. The wheels will be collected this week.

Parts-wise I have oredered some brake pipe clips (the P-clips I have are too large), a large Die holder to finish cutting the threads on the steering rack, and a brake proportioning valve, to control the pressure to the rear brakes, to stop them locking up.

I'm back on dayshift from next week so i hope I may be able to get back on with it at the pace i previously had been going at.

Last weekend I did indeed get the rear calipers refitted, and to be honest that's about all that's happened since last weeks' post. Being on night shift, I've had quite a tired week this week and haven't been able to find the energy or willpower to drag myself up into that cold garage and get on with it.

Enough excuses, I'll get the rear axle finished this week and hopefully the steering too. Refitting the clucth shouldn't be too much trouble, the prop will be done at the same time (that reminds me, I need to paint the welded joint) although the clutch might require a run to Cowbridge to get some bolts to hold the pressure plate on as i had to cut them off to remove it.

Hmm... keep reading!