Build Diary 4

Build Diary Page 4

• Suspension continued.

Now that the wishbones had been fitted with the bushes, they could be attached to the chassis.

The front uprights are built up into a complete unit. This consists of the custom upright which Quantum manufacture, the Sierra hub and bearings, and two ball joints. New bearings were pressed into the uprights using a hydraulic press. This ensures they go in square, you don't want to mess this bit up!

The rear uprights are also built up into a complete unit. This consists of another custom upright which Quantum manufacture, the Sierra hub, bearings, and drive shaft. The rear hub nuts have to be torqued up to 260Nm, very tight! When you tighten up the hub nut you have to somehow stop the whole hub turning, you could try holding it in a vice, but this is not really practical. To help torque up the nuts a jig was made that bolted onto the hub using the hub nuts. This enabled my Dad to hold the hub stationary while I tightened up the nut with the torque wrench. I had to buy a 41mm socket for the hub nuts, its not the kind of thing you get in a standard set.

The wiring loom finally arrived 4 weeks after the initial delivery. This had been holding up the whole build, because the wiring loom needs to go in before the engine and gearbox. The loom is led up the transmission tunnel to the rear of the car and through the bulkhead into the engine bay. The connections are made at a later date.