Jobs That are definitely not sexy, but necessary...

Greetings...

Just a very brief update this evening, last few bits on the car finished so it's essentially at status "complete awaiting IVA" :)

I had trouble with the self centring on the last outing, as in; it was non-existant. I had some helpful suggestions from Dave (rodgling) that it could be the track rod ends. I suspect he was right, because when I took them off they were stiff as anything - "could hardly move them in the vice with a large spanner" stiff. So with replaced TRE's and 40psi in the tires the steering is indeed much lighter now, but still not sure on the self centring bit. The manual states that it has to show "some sign of self-centring above 10mph", slight flaw as I can't really get much past 10mph in my yard without risking smashing into something; so it will have to be what it will be for the day. See what happens!

The exhaust randomly started blowing at one of the joints, but then I realise that I might have caught it on a low kerb and twisted it off a bit - but that was an easy fix.

Finally, an extra bonnet catch either side - I had a not-so-hilarious incident on one of the outings where the front clip popped itself open and the bonnet nearly flew up and smacked me in the face. Mildy amusing at 20mph as it was, but not so much at 70 and beyond. 

I imagine the fault lies with myself - either the way the bonnet is bent or the positioning of the clips, but the extra clips stop the problem I had before where under vibration the whole bonnet was slipping forwards. Works like a charm now, and actually holds the bonnet much more neatly towards the shut lines.

So the massive paper trail has now begun to gather together all the necessary docs for IVA. As well as the application form(s) themselves I've filled a lever arch folder with relevant documentation:

• Info from the donor (V5 etc.) BMW info ont he powerplant and gearbox ID codes, EWS anti-theft principle of operation etc.
• Insurance
• GKD instructions and build plan
• Wiring loom info and basic car dimensions
• Previous MoT info (1 x fail, 1 x pass)
• Receipts and invoices
• scrap metal receipts from donor (Made £240, woo hoo. When you couple that with the eBay sales of donor parts at £255 and I only paid £410 for the car itself, I'm £85 in profit and still got all my base donor bits for free)
• Certs. of confirmity for seatbelts, battery etc.
• Relevant Correspondence
• Photo story board of the build

Quite possibly OTT, but I don't want to leave anything to chance in terms of being able to prove it's an amateur build, evidence of the provenance of components, and also giving that confidence factor that I've thoroughly researched their processes and I know what it's all about!!

So all that is most definitely un-sexy, but very necessary. Just a few last minute outstanding queries with Peter and then the forms and the very lumpy cheque can be sent off.

In order to leave you on a high I'll show you what arrived for me in the post this week - my wife ordered it for my Birthday a few months back but it only showed up now - full nomex and colour matched to the car. She's awesome isn't she...?

 Thanks for reading