New Engine

Checked with a few people, 2007 engine should be the same dimensions ie mountings/exhaust as 2004 onwards.  This means if I can fit the sliding trumpets under the bonnet somehow, I'll get a whopping 10bhp over the 04-06 model, increased torque at lower RPM, and a weight saving.  I'm a happy bunny.  

I made an offer on a 2007 engine kit which was accepted, and will get that delivered to chris at BGH and he can check that it all fits properly.   I will also order a baffle plate so I can get the engine in the car.  Tempted to order a Samco hose kit but I think that may be excessive.

Ordered the NTR Road shocks, after some debate, I decided as a road car, I probably wouldn't notice any benefit from the track version.

Checked with Chris about the reverse box and they will make up the appropriate bracket as required.  Hopefully car will be shipped to them tomorrow ready for work next week.  No progress on the petrol tank though.

Bid on a ramp on Ebay, found a ranger model with the baseless design which means no bolting down, bidding peanuts so probably wont get it.

Fury Bits

Aiming to collect the chassis first week of Feb.  Phoned Nitron to get a price, 995+vat seems reasonable enough, still thinking about getting the track shocks rather than road ones, but its quite  a bit more.

Also need to decided and preferably order an engine, its either going to be a 2006 R1, or the newer but more fiddly 2007 R1.  Probably the latter if BGH sell an exhaust and engine mounting that will work with it.  Else I'll hold out for an '06 model.  Hopefully the weather will improve so some more bikers fall off and I can pick up a bargain.

Need to check with Chris that:

Fuel tank will be ready for collection too

Cost for powder coating and the tank

Engine options

The mounting for the reverse box will be ready

Will try to order the shocks and engine this week.

Garage Painting

Took advantage of the comparably warm weather to paint the floor of the garage, wasn't impressed with the so-called tough epoxy paint that was in fact water based.   Also of course tonight its now going to be frosty, so fingers crossed that it will actually set.  Checked it again this evening to find the bits near the heater were pretty much dry, but the bits far away from it were still wet, moved the heater and added another 500W lamp to see if that will warm it up a bit.

O-Rings and balancing

O-Rings arrived, fitted them and things are a good bit better, still couldn't get the idle below 1500rpm, turned out there was fuel pouring out into the bores on one carb, adjusted the float and that helped, it idles quite erratically though, possibly still needs some love.

Washed the floor in preparation for painting, didn't look much cleaner, hopefully it will be dry soon and I'll get the paint down on it.  

Chris phone, car should be ready in a couple of weeks.

Rear Hubs

Got my rear hubs back from Frans who got his friend to turn them down to the right size, I got them turned down to 134MM in diameter to fit in the rear brake disks which come as part of the Wilwood conversion.  

I then pressed in the bearings into the rear hub carriers, and after some serious abuse with the die grinder I got the rest of the bearings pressed into the front hubs.  They looks a bit abused now so I will paint them to hide some of the scratches. 

I also fitted a new vice, and will hopefully take the old one back to MachineMart along with my new compressor which seems to have packed up already.  I had been using two together linked between the tanks, i found this quite effective if a little noisy, so perhaps will upgrade it to a bigger unit whilst I'm at it.

Crossflow Fettling

The other day I noticed a bit of oil spray around the engine block on the offside at the bottom where the breather was breathing, and around the bottom of the dipstick tube.  I originally had the breather going into a catch tank, but it was fiddly and I found that there was too much oil churning around and it was a bit of a pain so had left it off.  

I decided that wasn't working either, so tapped the rocker cover with a 1/2" barb, and ran a hose from there to the breather, so the bottom breather vents into the rocker cover, the rocker cover then vents into the atmosphere via a small filter.  I also secured the bottom of the dipstick tube with a hose clamp, and again at the top to stop any leaks or the dipstick vibrating loose or being pushed out by the pressure.  

On closer inspection today it looks like the bodge I made for the fuel pump blanking plate when burton sent me two breathers instead of one of each is leaking so I'll go and dig out a blanking plate properly this time.

When I got home, the parcel had arrived from weber bits, and even better they were the right ones, so I'll get these fitted and see if that cures the leak.

Master of Disaster

Spent an hour in the garage, the aim was to tidy up, and press in the bearings into the rear hubs which are now painted and ready. One of those days where I should have stayed in bed. (The whole day incidentally.) I opened the wrong box of bearings, and decided that now it was open, I should fit it since otherwise it would simply get lost in the abyss. The bearings were for the front hubs, which are aluminum. These have proved to be a bit of a disaster from the word go, first off, getting the studs in was a nightmare and I ended up marking the hubs quite a bit. Getting the bearings in was a complete bar steward.

The larger one went in relatively easy by using a bolt and a couple of sockets on either end, the smaller one wouldn't center and was evidently just a smidge too large to get over the lip, I tried filing that down a little, and it looked like it was going to go, the socket was too big to fit, and the bolt was too small to hold it still, so I used the vice, it was all going well until i head a *CRACK* at first I thought it was just the bearing finally sliding in, but no, apparently I managed to break the vice. Yes not the carrier, or the bearing, the vice. I gave up at this point as I'd destroyed the vice, was covered in metal splinters from the socket which I tried to pick up after using it as a drift, and it was cold. Bah.