March/April
Sorry for very little or no updates, but the fact is that I have been busy preparing my Cosworth for sale and also researching some bits and pieces.
I have managed to modify my heater motor to accept fresh air from the brake scoops at the front. The modification consists of blocking one end of the motor with a blanking plate and forming a bracket to hold a 4" hose (tumble dryer!) at the other end of the motor. This hose is then connected to a hose from the brake scoops (to be fabricated). This now means that fresh air will be circulated within the cockpit and not just the cockpit air, which should be a bonus on those hot summer days !!!!
After some thought I have decided to sell my Cosworth, I only covered 5000 miles in her between MOT's in the last year and all she does is just sit there waiting to be taken for a drive, which have been few and far between lately, so I'm in the process of advertising her. Also I have been searching for part numbers for my engine to complete the building of that. A friend is building it for me and I needed to obtain an oil pan with the correct pick up pipe, this is where the PistonHead's forum is very helpful. After I had posted on there I had a few messages giving me part numbers and the best place to get them from. I am also researching the fuel system, the Ultima has two alloy fuel tanks, one either side amidships, but the current set up dictates that you have refill from from both sides and switch from one tank to the other when one is running low, this means two fuel pumps, and lots of braided hoses (read expensive) plus I have to remember to switch over the tanks, which really isn't something I want to have to remember I know it's something trivial but I would prefer a system that balances the tanks and I have one pump for drawing from both tanks via a 'T' piece to a fuel filter then into the carb. So to that end I am on a quest to find an engineering company that can weld an alloy -12 fitting to the two fuel tanks.
Onto the instrumentation, I know that I had a binnacle made up and that I have made holes for the all the dials, but I have seen a digital dashboard that incorporates all the functions (and more) in a simple compact unit. Features include the ability to set your own parameters for things like low oil pressure, high water temps, fuel pressure etc, the list is almost endless. I had a demonstration of the dash working and was really impressed, but this does mean that I will have to revise my layout again and rework the dashboard!!!