David S

Cheers Simon. Sounds like I have the 'tight' mould so I will look to trim around the bracket and trim as required.

I had a look at trial fitting my nose cone this weekend. I didn't have long but it also struck me that it was a tight fit. I couldn't work out if you have to ease the sides out to go over the front mounting of the upper suspension or if this should be cut out. I think we could both do with some pictures of some fitted nose cones to see how it should be done. I might not go any further until I have had chance to talk to the guys at the factory or even wait until my next parts run and have a good look then. By the way Jamie, it is looking the dogs danglies. I love the blue finish.

Cool, thanks Nick.

The link in the message is pants but the link in Hammy's signature works OK.

Sorry but I just play them and do basic set ups, I leave any repairs to the experts. This is the weakpoint on the neck and the one place it is most likely to go on many 3x3 Gibsonesque headstocks. I had it happen to me on a Yamaha SG many years ago and took it in to a luthier to have fixed. I can't remember the cost but it wasn't extortionate and the fix was good. I have no doubt he used the method you described of glue (of some sort) in the joint and then clamped together, but I don't know the glue he used. I can recommend a great guy who splits his time between Bristol and Bridgend who did some work for me on a Tokai I have. I also used Mansons in Exeter for a set up on my Parker.

Cheers, thanks

Sorry to hear the news but I can totally understand your reasoning ... land can be an amazing investment. Whoever buys the car is going to get a very well built car. Good luck with the sale.

It is the inner panel with the tabs you need to use. I bent the tabs forward and then lined them up with the edge of the scuttle and you will need to trim it down so you have about an inch to an inch and a quarter to fix the dash panel to. I bonded my frame to the scuttle and also used counter sunk rivets very close to the edge. These will get covered up with trim so they are not unsightly in any way. I have also used rivnuts to fix the panel to the frame but you could use lock nuts and bolts.

No prizes for guessing really I have had some other less obvious ones (details below) but thought I would stick to something simple here. I have used different ones on other forums. On one guitar forum I was Dilbert - named after the comic strip character that will be familiar to other people working in IT. When I registered for e-bay I was Dilbertbus - Dilbert from the IT connection with bus on the end as at the time I had a VW type 2 camper which are affectionately known a buses. Finally on a different guitar forum I am GuitarmanUK as I play guitar and from the UK (it is a US based forum and there was alreay a Guitarman registered). None are really exciting.

Not that I will be joining you, but I used to live in Bradway (in fact I was born there) so perhaps one day I can tie up a nostalgia visit to my old stomping ground with an area meeting. Won't be this year though, I have to finish building the car first!

I was quite content not knowing there was a 'right way round' for the spiggot bearing! Now I am going to have to go and look and see which way I have put mine in. 50/50 chance of it being right I suppose!

John - I wouldn't have thought the thrust bearing would mean a different spiggot bearing, so as long as you have fitted one, you should be OK. But as mentioned above, give the GBS technical line a quick call to make sure. Perhaps they can answer the question about the rear lights we were talking about as well?

I think it's looking fab. I just looked at your web site and it looks like you have painted the car Ford Imperial blue (at a guess) and it looks amazing. It is one of the colours I have been considering for mine but I am still months away and keep changing my mind on the final finish. One day it is blue, then I saw the team Lotus Catering Van so it became Green/Yellow, then I thought I would stick with white, then I watched Top Gear last night and thought the Citroen hot hatch look good in black with orange stripe and orange wheels!! I am glad I don't have to decide anytime soon!! I notice you haven't added the rear panel 'U' frame, 'closing panel' whatever you want to call it, which I assume is so it can be painted first. I have fitted this to mine so if I do have the car pained, it will be a nightmare to mask up. Fortunately it will be the son-in-law who does this for me and I am sure he will have a solution. I am looking forward to seeing the car when it is all together.

That is an excellent result Jamie. Hopefully it will possible to buy the loom made up like this to go with the Smiths guages as this is the route I will probably go.

There was an article in the December issue of Kitcar magazine by Nigel Dean (love him or hate him) on the subject of bike engines and in summary he said, and I quote "if you want a fast road car that can do some nifty overtaking but also cruise in all conditions, stay clear of a bike engine. If you want a raw adrenaline machine that can beat pretty much anything on the road, then the answer is an unequivocal YES to bike power." He recommended the Busa engine but did say that after 50 miles of driving a car with the Busa engine, he had had enough, but added 'but what a 50 miles!". As for difficulty, you need a proper cradle for the engine to sit in, a new prop shaft from the engine to the reversing box, then another new prop shaft to the diff, other than that, it is not hard. There is a DVD "Build Your Own Sports Car in 7 Days" where 2 guys build a Westfield with a Busa engine and that would show you a lot of what is required and also what can be acheived.

Looking good Femi. Same colour scheme as mine but you are further ahead of me in your build.

The bottom edge at the front lines up to the bottom edge of the chassis rail and the bottom edge of the rear sits flush to the bottom edge of the rear panel. There should be an even gap at the front and back of the wheel between the trye and the inner edge of the arch. On mine the gap was about the width of 2 fingers so about 1.5 inches. I have a post on my blog about fitting the arches although it doesn't really show a good shot from the side. I didn't have the same issue with the panel gap as you seem to be experiencing.

Nip out in the middle of the night with some tarmac coloured paint and paint some 'gaps' in the solid white line and, suddenly, no more detour!

Am I OK to use standard copper brake pipe or should I get some of the copper/nickel (kunifer) stuff?

Cheers guys. Yes I think you are all right. I think I will be changing the brake pipe this weekend. I will double check the rest just in case.

I was looking over the brake pipes earlier today and noticed that I have managed to put a very slight kink in one of the pipes to the front. Part of me me says leave it and see what the brakes are like when I put fluid in and the other part of me me says to replace the pipe. The pipe should be O shaped but where it goes round a corner it is slightly D shaped. What are peoples thoughts? I know it is a safety issue but having not done this before, I am not sure if there are any tolerences to work with. If I do replace the pipe, is it OK to just replace the part between the MC and just beyond the kink and joint the 2 pipes together with the appropriate connectors?

Hey Nick (Zero MN) - Can you tell me what clocks are you using in your dash? They look really smart.

This is the correct link http://loudounzero.blogspot.com/

Insurance companies always make a first offer, telling you it is the final one, it never is, they are just chancing their arm. A large percentage of people will just settle for it with a large shrug of their shoulders. I would simply respond to them and tell them their offer is unacceptable, explain why, and tell them you will will wait for their improved offer. Tell them what you are expecting and why, and then negotiate with them. It is very likely you are dealing with a claims handler that doesn't really understand the unique nature of our cars. Your excess should be claimed back from the third party insurer, as should any of your other out of pocket expenses, such as cost to recover the car etc, if you had to pay that yourself. Just try to mitigate these losses (keep them as low as you can).

Nothing for the Zero yet. GBS say they are working on them but they are not available yet.