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MooSPEED IV - Build Diary
January 2005
In the build diary for January 2004 I was hoping that 2004 would be the year that the car is finally finished. Well, in as much as it has driven over 50 miles I suppose the statement was partially true. This year I predict that it'll be SVA'd and registered. As I've already booked the SVA it's not much of a prediction.
I'm now starting to concentrate on only doing jobs for SVA and not getting sidetracked into making things look nice. The to-do list has been prioritised accordingly. I've also got the date booked now for SVA so that will help to focus the mind. 24th February is the big day - I can tell I'll be doing some overnight shifts to get ready for then.
Here's the before and after shots of the bonnet catches. These are Triumph catches which I'd been led to believe were OK for SVA however when the car was down for the exhaust work Mark said they could do with recessing. I've done this just with a few washers. I can't get the very bottom bit of the catch drop inside the line of the bodywork but it only protudes by a small amount so hopefully Mr. SVA will have some common sense and see it's not dangerous. I've gone off these bonnet catches now as they seem incapable of holding the bonnet in-line so I can see these going shortly.
Before -> 
<-
After
As the sidepod is now on I can line up the bonnet catches to the bars inside. However many adjustments I made I couldn't get a good line on the back end of the bonnet. The problem here is that the bonnet moulding isn't symmetrical. I'm not after modern-car quality shutlines but I would like any gaps to be consistent. After spending ages trying to pull it into line I decided to take the bonnet off it's mounting brackets and open up the bracket to get a better line on the back end. This did mean hacking the fibreglass at the front to allow more room for wheel clearance but I'm much happier with the line now. I also needed to fit a couple of bolts on the underside of the bonnet to slide into holes cut into the sidepod - this was to pull the sides in so that the line is smooth down the side of the body.
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I fitted a bonnet retaining wire a while back, without something like this the front of the nose would get chipped up every time you opened the bonnet as it hinges too far forward. I've now added a spring to this. Although it couldn't possibly have got caught in the wheel Mark Fisher advised that it's good to show Mr. SVA that you've put some thought into it.
I've taped up the airfilter in an attempt to reduce noise, not totally sure it's done a great deal but every little bit helps. I'm not overly concerned with restricting the airflow leading to reduced performance prior to SVA.
