16th and 17th of August 2003

Finishing brake pipe work, mounting the rear diff and the whole suspension package at all corners.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 49 KB))
Fitted left front brake pipe.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 50 KB))
Fitted right front brake pipe. Exact mirror-image of mounting position.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 66 KB))
Left side suspension hooked up, but not torqued down.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 55 KB))
Another view. I just can't get enough of admiring these aluminium pieces. They may be aluminium, but the whole front suspension is still a pretty heavy piece actually when it's all there.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 71 KB))
Right side suspension hooked up.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 74 KB))
Mounted steering rack.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 41 KB))
The steering rod goes quite close to the frame. But there is about 3mm of clearance and I can't see these pieces moving around in any way to make contact.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 38 KB))
Drilled hole in aluminium plate for the upper steering rod.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 77 KB))
View from drivers position.

Click to see big picture (480x640 pixels; 63 KB))
Positioning of rear differential. It was a real PITA to get the bolts in and all torqued down. Took me an hour probably. Good thing I have the hoist, didn't have to lift a thing :)

Click to see big picture (480x640 pixels; 68 KB))
Mounting of left rear suspension. Also nice aluminium parts!

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 50 KB))
Also did all the rear brake pipes once I had the diff fitted because if I had done the brake pipes first, I may have had to redo them as I wouldn't know how the diff was there. The plan was actually to just position it, do the pipes, take it out and mount the pipes before putting the diff back - but since it took me an hour to get it in, I just wanted it over so I fiddled the brake pipes in anyway.

Click to see big picture (480x640 pixels; 48 KB))
Nice view.

Click to see big picture (640x480 pixels; 67 KB))
Right side rear suspension is also in now.

Click to see big picture (480x640 pixels; 56 KB))
Here's the whole car. There's not a symmetrical piece anywhere on this car, nothing is the same from left to right side. I guess Westfield have spent years refining this structure to maximise people space and improve performance - at least, that's what I hope I have paid for...