Putting the brakes on the project (in a literal, not a figurative sense you'll be pleased to read)

Time for another update!

Had another very productive week - most evenings and a long Saturday up at the workshop, pressing on with the Legend.

Emma, or the "kit car widow" as she now styles herself, has been more than generous with my curfew allowance these last two weeks, and so been able to really get stuck in (thanks!!) Didn't save me from the perils of a DIY Sunday though, and whilst fixing and also breaking the toilet at the same time, there was a suggestion I would have been better off up at the workshop today (a tactic I must employ in future) 

So this week has seen lots more painting and the assembly of the rear brakes.

First off - stopping power.

The eBay specials arrived, and I excitedly set about fitting them. Only to find the calipers didn't fit around the disc. Stumped I hit the drawing board and poured over the instruction manual. Whilst it did technically say "any BMW Rear discs", it latterly went on to say "any BMW rear discs that are 10mm thick". Standard 328i discs  (that which I bought) are vented and 24mm thick. Standard 318 and 320 discs are solid and 10mm thick. (that which I then went out and had to buy the next day). 





Sorted. For ease of purchase I decide on non-grooved and non-drilled discs on the rear, and having spent an extra £36 but hey ho, small sacrifices in the scheme of things. Plus I'm sure they'll stop plenty good all the same, and I've now got a set of grooved/drilled 328i rear discs to eBay :-)

Well what do you know - a 10mm disc fits inside a caliper designed for 10mm discs

I had some issues, or possibly perceived issues that weren't; with the handbrake and the caliper. There didn't seem to be an obvious method for attaching BMW cables to VW calipers. In the end I filed down the "nipple" on the end of the cable to allow it to pass through the actuating arm and put a nut and bolt through. Not sure if this is IVA friendly, but can easily be addressed at a later stage by taking off the rear wheels, so will do for the minute. I later read, somewhat coincidentally,  on Steve Tullinge's Blog http://stevesescaperoute.blogspot.co.uk/ that's precisely what he did; so must be alright.

Cable nipple doesn't fit in the caliper - plus had to actuate the caliper a little bit "on" to get the nipple through after filing. Hope the pads don't drag?

Seems to have worked OK - need to test the pads for drag, can't do that until they're bled

To test the function of the rear brakes without going too much further forward, and to see if this nagging doubt about dragging pads would continue... I decided to put some fluid in and bleed them up - more to see if the handbrake was OK. I jury rigged a temporary reservoir and fed the rear brake master cylinder with fluid. I didn't have the correct adaptor for my pressure bleed kit, so I made a self bleed tool with a bit of rubber hose, bunged the end and put a slit in it with a stanley knife - the pressure opens up the split and lets air out, but when you release the pedal the slit closes and doesn't draw any more air in. Simple, but effective, and best you can hope for when you're on your own. This allowed me to get some sort of braking and test all the functions. Pedal feel wasn't great but then I wasn't expecting it to be as the front master cylinder had no fluid in it.

 

With a wheel on you could spin the wheel freely, and by pressing the brake pedal or pulling the handbrake up it stopped and wouldn't move. Perfect! Job done. Might need some adjustment on the handbrake as it was a good 8 or so clicks, but once all the brakes are bled properly I can sort that out with the cable tension adjuster.

I suppose at this point I could have fitted the proper reservoir to the ally bulkhead, but it wasn't yet painted, and the instructions specifically tell you the bulkhead has to come out, so the temporary rig was OK and barely any work at all.

So the rest of the week was all about the painting again. I'll let the pictures tell the story here

Final results were not too bad - again, a bit orange peely as you can see from the last one, albiet this was still wet. I'm still quite pleased with the result, I'm by no means a professional sprayer, and my total training amounts to 5mins at lunchtime in the spray booth at work with the painter stood over my shoulder letting me having a go at a test panel! 

It dries out a bit better, perhaps if there's time at the end I'll flat them back with 1000grit and go over them with a light coat.

I also had to delve back into the rats nest of the original wiring loom and find a few connectors to send off to Peter - to make up the interface loom between the EWS, key transponder and the engine loom

So glad I labelled everything!!

Out of all this I only need..

...These - EWS connector(s), key transponder connector and main engine loom plug

earlier in the week picked up some tires - budget ones, for now; but pretty happy with them. they get a good write-up online and were only £60 per tire fitted.

c'mon... put your back into it! Actually I wasn't being overtly lazy, just in my suit and not about to risk Mrs O'Mara's reaction to tire marks all down the front of it

Then last thing Sunday, couldn't resist just gently placing all the panels in-place and putting a couple of the wheels on - really is starting to come together now and looks very exciting. I think you need little psychological "wins" along the way as it's good for morale. As one of my friends commented it looks like a tiger at present...

So next week I'm hopeful and very keen for GKD to send through the front uprights and rear track adjusters - that way I can complete the following:

• Rear suspension
• Front suspension
• front brakes
• connect up steering
• bleed brakes and then...

Lower it gently onto its wheels!!


Hopefully there'll be some other goodies on their way too, loom, side panel and steering shafts. And as Emma jokes at that point I won't need to worry about engine start, because I can make "vroom" noises and she can push me!

Thanks for reading, see you next time.