"So to follow... The tale of the skinny car and chunky seat, some more welding, something round, some Saunders incompetence and the gear change of magic."
So... The seat.
I picked up some Sparco subframes, a little tatty, but sound. Like the factory seats, these bolt to the transmission tunnel and sill. On the sill side, another play bolts on top and this provides some adjustment. It is really awkward to photo, but here is a pic off the Internet:
The frame went in easy enough, but the seat interfered with the bolts on top. It was just too wide for the frame.
We discussed a few options and Gareth got the welder out. Again. Welding it all up, including the spare / unused bolt holes solved that problem. You can see the long weld all up the side on this photo:
After a bit off a faff, we got the seat all bolted up satisfactorily.
We had some mounting holes for the harness, but needed another for the crotch strap and one of the lap straps. More welding, no pictures, but you've all seen eyelets before, I'm sure. I hadn't quite thought through the eyelet, harness situation before we got to that stage, so thanks to Gareth for his patience and support! Currently the shoulder straps use the former rear seat passenger mounts, which looks like it is just in tolerance with the 45' angle, but I need to pull the seat forward a bit, so that will only get better.
As the passenger side has no provision for a seatbelt, I'll probably be back at Gareth's before too long to get another eyelet welded in, so we'll probably go for another horizontal bar on the cage so we can mount the harness to that.
That summarises a good couple of hours of painstaking work, overcoming one little niggle after the other. But seat, mounted, harnesses in, need to take a daylight photo!
As we were winding up, Gareth poked around under the car a bit. I had already spotted that the CV boot was off again. My fault for using a cheaper, mounting it too tight and not crimping the clamp properly. Or at all. Gareth gave me a look which suggested *idiot* and tidied it up... But I suspect this is one that will need to be done again, properly this time. Most of my mechanical experience comes from motorbikes, which don't have CVs, so that is my excuse.
And now, for the gear change of magic...
The gear change was always really floppy and imprecise and on the to do list. We worked out why...
This is the linkage diagram:
The issue is in part number 2, the selection controller, which looks like this:
The defining feature is the big rubber ball. These are known to wear, which is what I thought my problem was. Well, my Saxo has lost its ball. Completely. That is why it's sloppy! I have every part within the gear linkage in stock, apart from that part. Arse. New part is about £50 delivered and not difficult to fit. Best get that ordered as Gareth insisted on doing some remedial works to the existing part t get me home, as he was a bit mystified as to how I was even getting gears! Was like it when I bought it, did Goodwood. Magic, I tell you.
So, I promised you:
"So to follow... The tale of the skinny car and chunky seat, some more welding, something round, some Saunders incompetence and the gear change of magic."
As for the something round...
From this:
To this:
Much better! And Gareth got his Apache wheel back! Lucky him! Oh, and the deep dish definitely helps with my short arms!
Here is as good of a shot as I have of where we are now:
Oh, and the little car earned its spurs...
Next up, loads of tidying! Order up what I need already, so I'll crack on with that and show you all how I get on!
Massive thanks to Gareth for all his efforts... His name / company is on the side of the car for a reason!