2003-11-04 - 2003-11-04¶

Well, it's all been quiet lately. Mainly due to Matt and I moving to a new garage. Which meant moving both mantas up to the garage, as well as everything else that was accumilated in our own workspaces.

I have also been and picked up a Rover 3.5 V8 to clean and rebuild. Who know's what I'll do with that, but the Manta is still on course to get the 20XE engine on the throttle bodies that I'm making, and go stage Rallying next year. It's about time I made a list of essentials that I need in order to do that.

Such things I need are:

Fire Extinguisher system and plumbing, Battery box for battery, and FIA cut-off switch Roll-Cage ( minimum 6-point ) Sun roof plate ( Material at the ready.. :) ) Second Bucket seat for the co-driver Electrical system. ( Blade fuse board, switches, etc. ) Bit of welding left on the chassis, although not a lot left to do now. Front and rear bulkheads need sealing properly to FIA regulations Fuel and brake hoses routed throughout car. Brake hoses are now all flexible braided Sump guard ( > 5mm alloy ) Tubular Exhaust for the 20XE

That's about it really as far as essentials are concerned, but in order for it to be a half decent rally car, we will also need:

Coilover suspension. Rear disk conversion for better rear braking Removal of brake servo, and adjustable bias bar fitted Mud guards fitted Perspex windows ( maybe ) Few more engine bits ( ARP rod bolts, and Omega piston rings from SBD ) ZF plate LSD Fibreglass panels ( 400 kit would be nice! lol )