Frankly, I think we're all secretly praying that building a race car is like solving a Rubik's cube. Right up until the very end it looks so totally like you are never going to solve it and then Wow! you manage to put it all together and go have some fun.
But we haven't spent all this time since the last update just getting the door on. For example, the rear fenders are on, including the gas filler cap. I didn't think we were ever going to find that piece. It no longer opens so I guess we won't be able to lose it again. While bolting them on, we defiled a set of Star Wars Empire Strikes Back sheets. Maybe we should have sold them on eBay. That Halon system we need costs over $500.00!
Barry Larson (foreground) came up again from Ramsey to give us a hand. Barry runs a very hot modified gas roadster that has seen the other side of 200. He helped Joe bend up the pedals so that they clear the tunnel. That stuff get's pretty hot so Ed steps in with a big hammer. More importantly he gave us some tips like where to mount the tach (in front of the wheel so that the driver's eyes don't have to stray to the side causing the car to drift) and how to seal the steering wheel shaft for a flame-tight seal at the firewall.
The tunnel is finally welded in and the shifter and boot are fitted. The dashboard is installed, too. Note the steel pipe that carries the fuel line through the passenger compartment. It is just visible in the lower right corner of the picture. Kirk came in and painted the interior for us in a nice flat gray. It was somewhat spoiled by the welding done on the tunnel, much to Kirk's dismay. Here's the interior with the fixed up pedals and the clutch hooked up.
Greg has been very busy. He wired the fuel pumps (which involved much cutting, soldering, and shrinking of wrap) and drilled a hole in the rear firewall to run the electrics up to the main panel. Unlike those poor schlubs we saw in tech at Bonneville in '03, we'll be using a grommet in the hole.
