Apropos the tall gearing mentioned after the Haynes test, I’ve managed to lay my hands on a Type 9 five-speed gearbox that came out of a two-litre petrol Sierra van. It cost £60 from a local scrap yard. This seems to be the normal price around here but I was pleased because they are getting a bit thin on the ground now, so it was good to find one locally.

I shall soon be placing an order with BGH Geartech for a heavy-duty uprated gearkit. The ratios will be very useable and provide a relaxed cruising in fifth gear of 23mph/1000revs. Theoretical top speed at maximum power is 166mph. So, all in all, I believe it will be a very worthwhile modification.

Pete Jones at Jondel has just called to say that the flywheel/clutch assembly have been balanced and all is ready to collect and, oh, he mentioned the cost. The price was on the high side but the majority of it lay in the competition clutch and organic plate (whatever that might be)

The new ring gear and balancing were quite modest in comparison. I shall wait until after the car has passed SVA before fitting the new components.

I must admit that this year, I have slowed down with the build but I am still surprised at how long it has taken to arrive at this stage. It will be two years in February since I commenced the build. Maybe if I had realised how long it was going to take, I might have sold the kit and the components at the outset. Remember, my son bought it in the first place and I started putting it together because of the way everything was deteriorating through damp down in the stables.

It has taken me away from my main project, the Trials Car but having said all that, I have gained a lot of useful experience in the build and made some really good contacts in the Locost Group. From time to time, I get a bit concerned at the way time is flying and that I may not have enough hours left to complete the projects let alone enjoy them when they are completed. Anyway that’s enough of this so, back to the build.

17th October 2007. I’ve just been over to see how the bonnet is progressing and I am pleased to say that things are moving along. My friend Martin has finished putting shape (as well as filler) into the power bulge and has started to tidy up the underside. He is going to etch-primer the underside of the bonnet followed by a hi-build matt black.

This should look very nice. I’m hoping the red cellulose that we had specially mixed will match the gel coat and continue to match as it ages. Probably too much to hope for but I suppose the answer if it is a bad match is to paint the whole car. Martin is expecting the job to be finished in a couple of weeks so I’ll start completing the SVA form directly.

In the meantime, I have fitted some rubber channel to finish off the black strip in place of the windscreen and I have re-connected the wires to the mirrors (for the repeaters) and re-fitted the dashboard. I have also formed the second backing piece for the crash padding to go on the offside.

28th October 2007 I’ve just had a call from Martin to tell me that the bonnet is finished and ready for collection. Oh, he also mentioned the price but enough of that! Transportation gives me a bit of a problem because it won’t fit in the back of my truck and there is nothing to tie it down onto my car trailer. I did take it to Martin on the trailer but at that point I was not worried about scuffing it. Now that there is serious money invested, it’s a different story.

We decided, ridiculous, as it seems, to trailer the car to Martin’s and fit the bonnet there. It will have to come off again once back in my workshop to fit the grilles, lamps and horn etc. but this seemed like not only a good plan but the only plan.

I have taken the backing pieces to Stuart my friendly upholsterer to fit the foam extrusion and leather-cloth. Lucky for me, he has an off-cut from a Harley Davidson saddle he has just finished for a local Hells Angel. It’s a really good quality, heavy-duty material and it will be ideal as well, and, I hope, at the right price!

Following one of my posts regarding SVA on the Locost site, Barrie Sharp a Locost builder very kindly offered to pop round an offer advice on SVA issues. Barrie turned up in his very nice Locost constructed, to a very high standard, by himself. He lives locally and has been through SVA at Exeter which is the station I shall be using. It was good to meet him and his help was invaluable so, thank you Barrie.

One area on my car that will surely fail is the under dash radius. I have no padding in that area and so a lower edge of radius 19mm is required. I’m hoping to form an acceptable shape using some polyurethane insulation material that I purchased from builders merchants. I need to bond it to a piece of aluminium sheet and then shape it to match the underside of the dash. This will be an interim measure because in the long-term, I would like to make some hinged lockers beneath the dashboard.