One step forward and two steps back...
At least that's the way it looks and feels sometimes. A couple weeks ago the car looked as if it was almost ready to fire up and today it looks like I'm just starting the project. Looks are deceiving however because the car is getting closer to "D" day (Drive day) with every turn of a wrench.

To put things into perspective, think about this. The steering has never been completed and I have yet to turn the front wheels with the steering wheel. The brakes work but due to a defective master cylinder, they leak like a sieve. There has never been oil in the motor or blower. In fact the blower still has a plastic cover and has never been bolted down more than finger-tight. The cooling system is dry and the transmission won't hold fluid until I devise a good way to route the cooling lines. The drive shaft has never been installed. There's no throttle or shift linkage - and on and on. Basically the key elements of the car (steering, brakes, gas, shift) have yet to be completed.

The painted frame throws people off and they ask me why I don't paint the body before I wire it. As far as I'm concerned the car has just left the "mock-up" phase and is entering the initial "hook-up" phase. It's time to get it running and because of the electronic fuel injection, electric fuel pump and other necessary components, I'm forced to wire it before the final body work and paint is applied. Unfortunately the frame will have to be re-painted too but at least the paint protected it from rusting.

I don't plan on driving it, except maybe up and down our street until it's completely finished. I don't want to glue in a windshield or license the car before it's painted, but I do want to make sure it runs, steers, stops, and shifts before final paint and assembly. If there's another problem (like the brakes leaking) I can make a note to correct it before final assembly.

So even though it looks like we're moving further away from completion, we're not. The addition of plumbing, wiring and the completion of major components like the steering and throttle and shift linkages brings us closer and closer to that big day. My prediction (I gave myself a time-line) is that the car will be running by mid to late summer, taken apart an painted in the fall, reassembled and tweaked in the winter and make it's debut next Easter weekend at our indoor car show. I think that's a realistic schedule.

As you can see by these photos (if you've been following the build) there are several things that are now finished that have yet to be written about on the site. That's because I've chosen to work on the car whenever possible and to update the site when it's convenient. Every hour in front of the monitor puts me an hour behind on the car. Actually, documenting the build has proven to be harder and more time consuming than working on the car - so please bear with me. I would say we're at about the half-way point for Articles, so there's still a BUNCH left to write (and read) about.

Scooter

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