The last parts of the build take longer than expected... I've been fixing all the electrical wires to chassis, mounting rear lights(pain in the "bleep" to get them possitioned correctly), mounting the front lights, the bonnet locks(another pain in the "bleep").

Still have to mount the front window, interior, fog and backup lights, dash, weather gear, doors, and probaly a few other things I'm not thinking of at this time.

My goal is to get the car finished by the end of this month.

After the test drive

I've been neglecting my blog for some time now. But here's an update of the build.
At this time I'm nearly finished, only some finishing touches to do.

The steering bushes from westfield where to small so I've had my steering column axle reduced by a few 10's of a milimeter.
The complete body is fixed and I've already made a little test drive. For some unknown reason I forgot to take pictures or film this happy moment. Really feels good to drive your own creation the first time. Before I could test drive the car I had to fix 2 problems, one was an electrical ground problem, and the other was a problem with the clutch. But both where found and solved rather easy.

part 2 of the build

After some delay I shifted in a higher gear today and started again. I've fitted the steering column
and the body. Last week I've added a light to the NB cluster for the heated window (took the one from the NA cluster)

New cluster

I've picked up a NB type cluster to make it possible to remove the speedo cable. Someone thold me it will brake after just a few kilometers when I leave it mounted like it is now. And I don't want to make a hole in the tunnel.
(and yes I'm still waiting for my parts...)

news from westfield

I did not get the full story why my (2 very small) missing parts take so long to get. But I've got an apology from westfield and the parts should be on their way to belgium now.

Keeping myself busy for just a few hours to avoid the feeling of a lost weekend I've fitted the dash to the scuttle yesterday. The westie begins to look more and more like a real car.

After the last weekend I was able to continue on the westie, I was missing 2 small parts again.
I called Westfield and they promised to send them to me asap. Now almost 2 weeks later, still no parts.... and another weekend coming that I will not be able to work on the westie.
My intention was to finish the Kit at the end of this month, but because of all the delays with missing parts this will not be possible anymore. My new deadline is end of March.

I was finally able to retrieve the missing parts on thursday evening so I could continue the work on my steering colum.

On friday I've finished the steering column. Fitted the drive shaft. Put the westie on its wheels for the first time to tork all the bolds in the suspension. And mounted the rear fenders.
Also did some small jobs like mounting the washer bottle, added connectors for the headlights to the loom, fixed some wires of the rear loom to the chassis, mounted the feul tank, changed the oil in the diff and gearbox, mounted the gear lever,...

I was fun to be able to work a full day on friday and some hours the rest of the weekend. Finally some progress again.

I've been able to contact Westfield. And they thold me that they have a big problem with there telephone center. This weekend I should receive all the missing parts...

All is quiet now

A few days now, almost weeks I'm running on a low gear. Mainly because I'm missing parts and it takes a lot of time and patience to get a response from Westfield or Oracle.
There are some parts that I'm missing from before christmas. To bad for all the spare time I had between the holidays but they did not get the missing parts to me before the holidays and I'm still waiting....
To bad because I wanted to get my westie finished before march. To achieve that I'm working each friday for a full day together with my dad since delivery of the kit. But I already had to call him the last 2 fridays that we could not work on friday because there's not that much todo without parts and this friday will be no different.

Driver position

Installed the driver seat, dashbord, and steering wheel (not connected to the wheels yet) to test the driver position.
This also gave me a change to test the brake and clutch pedals. I don't think the clutch needs to modified as flyin miata describes at this time. Mayby when I drive it I change my mind.

My other helper

I forgot to mention him before. Not only my dad is helping me :-)

Fitting the body

Because I did not receive the missing parts of the steering column on time before the holiday of Westfield I test fitting the body, and adapting the shape where needed.
I will have to remove the body again to fit the steering column and some other small parts.

It's Alive

Tested the engine today.
You can see the engine running for the first time on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyWZT7izip0

Also all the electricals are tested and working, the brakes are bleeded and the handbrake is working. Just some little jobs left before starting on the body.

A very small piece is missing in the kit. In order to be able to connect the clutch a little fixed line of 25cm is needed.