This
is perhaps the one aspect of the build that I had not anticipated....
the
time taken on seemingly small sections can be out of all proportion to
what you expect...it's the classic Haynes manual syndrome were it
states
'remove ancillary components' easy to read...not so easy to do!! As
you can see from the pictures in this gallery things have begun to move
and the car is now beginning to take shape. The deep red exhaust system
is a bit different to say the least and came about as a result of
phoning
various exhaust companies looking for the best deal, I hadn't budgeted
for stainless steel at this stage, so was just looking for an exhaust
to
see me through the first year or so.....The
price of this system was cheaper than most of the rivals so I purchased
it ...without seeing it. After some tinkering it went on OK.....it
sounds
very deep and throaty, probably something to do with the 4" tailpipe.(I
didn't know that either!!) You will see a picture later!!
I think I may have to tone it down somewhat with some darker paint?
The next stage is about cutting and drilling holes in the fibreglass panels and requires plenty of protection if your not going to walk around for several days scratching like a flea bitten cat! Don't forget to wear a mask, fireglass gets everywhere including your lungs. I had already decided to spray the bulkhead myself so that I could fit out the engine bay without to many problems. You can see the results in one of the photos.
One area
that I new I would have some
difficulty with was
the fitting of the body shell onto the chassis. The problem arises
because
the Royale Sabre was originally designed for use with a manual gearbox
to which the tunnel has obviously been designed. Unfortunately the
automatic
gearbox is slightly wider and will not fit in the tunnel without some
modifications. A
number of solutions are available, I chose to cut out the tunnel
enough to allow the box to fit and then refibreglass to the new
dimensions,
I also made small inspection plates to allow access to the linkages
should
this be neccessary at a later stage. There is a small amount of
encroachment
into the footwells but not enough to cause concern. Once all the holes
were drilled and the front section rubbed down primed and sprayed I
prepared
the chasis for the fitting of the tub.
Felt strips are used to stop the tub bonding to the chasis which is
sealed
with silicon and wax to help stop water penetration. Getting the
routing
of the fuel and brake pipes correct caused me some dilemma as I
couldn't
seem to get them to a position were they would not get squashed or foul
on something... A quick call to John at Royale resolved the
problem....a
point
worth noting is that a major problem to you is often a minor issue to
the
more experienced.....don't be afraid to ask.
One of the great
things about
building your own car is that the finished article is down in the main
to your own skill and the satisfaction that comes with this is
immense......unfortunately
getting to the satisfaction utopia often means many hours of brain
teasing
problems, a number of swear words, scrapped knuckles and a number of
Murphies
Laws!
One of which states "You should have labelled it, if you did it should
have been in ink, and if you didn't.... spend the next four hours
finding
out what it was for!!! and then worry some more!!!" This is the
great
electrical wiring loom puzzle...fortunately I had had numerous
discusions
with owners who had encountered problems with the wiring loom and gave
me excellent advice.
I had decided to use my donor loom as opposed to purchasing one...my
choice
was based on financial grounds and the fact that I am conversant with
electrical/electronic
equipment and wiring having been a electronics Service Engineer for a
number
of years. Even so the art of fitting a quart into a pint pot was not an
easy one!! The Granada loom is enormous in comparison to what is
required,
with a myriad of additional equipment and therefore wiring that is
unnecessary
in the finished car. The dilemma is do you remove unwanted wires now or
wait until you have the basic car running?? 
I chose to install the loom as was to get the engine management systems
on line and the engine running and at a later stage remove unnecessary
wiring. This in itself worked well, although I have to say that the
loom
is extremely unweildy and looks like a tangled mess for a while...but
of
course its not!! I did not use the conventional place for te fuse box
but
moved it to the front of the drivers side scuttle panel, so that it was
accessible once the bonnet was lifted, but more importantly gave me
easier
access in wiring to it at a later stage.
