Under the Gun

As of my last post on Wednesday, I was about a day behind my plan to get the car running.  The list of things was definitely getting shorter though.  The thing is, I was so focused on getting stuff done, that I didn't stop to take too many pictures.

Here's a quick rundown of Thursday's activity:
Made a bracket for the fuel regulator and installed it.
Connected all the permanent fuel lines.
Installed the radiator, fan and grille.
Shortened all the radiator lines to match the final radiator location.
Installed the brake master cylinder.
Reconnected the steering.
Calibrated the timing pointer on the engine.

Yesterday I did stop to take a few pictures of the progress as you'll see below.

Something I had to do was to start installing the inner body panels.  For example, I need a floorboard under the pedals because up until now, the car is powered the same as the Flintstones car.

And to support the floorboard, I had to install two other panels.  This was another new challenge -- how to align all these panels to each other, drill holes for rivets, add silicone to all the joints, and finally rivet the pieces together.

Here is the front panel on the driver's side.  The copper studs are actually temporary rivets used in aircraft manufacturing.  As I drilled each hole, I installed a temporary rivet to hold the pieces in alignment.

Looking down between the engine and the driver compartment.  You can see that I had to remove the exhaust on this side.

The interior of each panel also is getting a layer of heat/noise barrier.  I cut out the pieces to size and stick them in place.  There is an aluminum facing to reflect heat.  This will all eventually be covered with carpet.

The exterior of panels that won't be visible will also get an undercoating treatment to reduce noise.

Here Ben is helping to reinstall the exhaust.

Getting close.  The driveshaft goes in.

Connected the throttle cable.

Cleaned-up the temporary wiring.

Now you can see the floorboard under the pedals.

And here's the radiator and grille painted a semi-gloss black.

Today was all about getting things done.  Sorry, no more pictures.  The main accomplishment was getting the brakes and clutch bled (ie, filled with fluid).  Many thanks to Ben for helping get it done.  As usual, it took much longer than I thought it would (mostly because I ignored the advice to prime the master cylinder with fluid before installing it).

I got the engine running again after no starts in nearly two months.

Finally, it was time to put the tires back on, and thereby, crossing the last item off the list.  It's ready to go!