Quick Shift and Other Bits of Tinkering

Even though I had the weekend off from gigging, I still didn't get much done.  After I had spent some time with the family, Saturday was gone.  Sunday dawned and it was a lovely day so it was time to get some of the jobs done I have been putting off.  Yes, you guessed it, the gardening!!!  Now I only have a small plot as I live in a coach house, but that doesn't mean the weeds don't still grow.  I don't enjoy it, but it is satisfying when it is all done.  Driving to the local recycling yard, windows down, sun shinning, just made me think about how much fun it will be driving the Zero when it is finished.

Back in the garage, I decide to fit the scuttle so I could start looking at fitting the pedal box.  I also wanted to see how good the joints were going to be.  Here it is fitted.  It is amazing how solid it all feels.

This is the off side joint.  It isn't too bad, but it isn't 100% and I can live with that.  The car is going to be about driving not about concourse shows.

Here you can see the pedal box being lined up.  It still needs a bit of trimming here and there and it won't actually be finally fitted until the car is painted and is ready to go together for the final assembly.

Next job was the quick shift remote gear change.  Below you can see it all laid out and the piece of paper is actually some form of instructions on how to fit it.  Well, actually, it is a list of parts and a very poor photo copy of an exploded view.  Having said that, it is all pretty easy to go together.

Below is the only part that had me scratching my head for a short while until I figured it out.  This coupling has 2 pins going through at 90% to each other.  Neither can come out  as the back one is covered by a sleeve and the front by a spring clip.  The front is the chamferred end.  Anyway, to get the front pin out you have to put the coupling in a vice to hold it whilst you punch the pin out with a centre punch.  The spring clip comes with it and can fly across the garage so watch where it goes.  With this out, the rear sleeve can slide forward on the coupling to allow the other pin to be pushed out.  The supplied rod can now be put in place and the pin pushed back in and the sleeve pushed back to stop the pin falling out.  Back to the gearbox and repeat the process for the front pin, attaching to the gearbox selector.  The pin and attached clip will gently need tapping back with a hammer.  When it is finished it looks like this.

Next, the rose joint can be fitted to the gear lever.  This is done by unscrewing the bottom joint and pushing the rose joint over the threaded part of the bar.  Don't try and push it down from the top as it won't go .... yes, I tried!!   The rose join can then be threaded on to the supporting bar and everything tightened up.  There is a lock bolt to hold it tight.

You will need to adjust the position of the rose joint to make sure you can get all gears.

Finally, I decided to see what it would be like to fit the gearbox in place.  No reason other than to see if it would fit and where the gear lever will end up etc.

Below you can see the gear lever in place.

That is it for a few weeks now.  Hopefully when I post again I will have been to the factory, had the gearbox mod done, and be ready to get the engine fitted.  I will also have picked up a load more parts and the build should really start to progress.