This Easter as we have a bit of space in the workshop we’ve been cracking on preparing the clutch, gearbox and engine as far as we can without the rest of the car.
As you can see from this picture the ballistic clutch bellhousing is quite a lump of metal. It’s very lucky for us that weight is not a major consideration! We have had to modify both the back of the bellhousing and the clutch release bearing mechanism as whilst the bellhousing itself is a perfect fit for the engine, not the same can be said for the gearbox end. This will require the bellhousing to be recertified by an expert to confirm that it is still ‘bulletproof’ and we haven’t significantly weakened it with our mods. Whilst you can’t see it in these pictures (because we haven’t made it yet!) there will be a thick plate inside the bellhousing for the clutch release bearing to be mounted on. This will more than make up for the metal we have removed.
Despite being busy with work commitments we did get a small window to pop down to CCK Historicand see how the work was progressing. The guys down there are really surpassing themselves with their attention to detail in what is a very complicated and painstaking piece of fabrication. As you have seen from our previous newsletter the underside is pretty much in place, after this was taken it was then removed, the main hoops inside the car were fabricated dropped down through their mountings to weld all around the tubes, pushed back inside the car and the underside then reattached. A lot of work to read let alone do!
Having seen the doorbars, without the extra drivers cage and seat I’m really unsure how much grease we are going to need to get in and out!!
Away from the grubby nuts and bolts stuff we have been spreading the word far and wide, this has included an article in a local newspaper (Crawley Observer) and an International Jensen blogger in Australia has also picked up on our project.
We are also contacting a number of potential corporate sponsors that may like to take the opportunity to get involved. Some of these are potentially very exciting. If you know anyone that may be interested in promoting their organisation on the car we would be very interested in hearing from you.
