Throughout the winter months I have been compiling a list of 'finishing touches' that I wanted to do to my Libra in the nicer weather.  People have often said to me that you never finish building a kit car!

Below are the latest changes:

The first track day that I took the Libra too in February 2005, I failed the noise test on the gate.  Not a particularly good start!  I made up this silencer box from a cheap Astra centre silencer.  The car is just under 100 dB at 4500 RPM now.

When I initially set the car's suspension geometry I used parallel strings along each side of the car.  I found this took a very long time to set the strings up and then wasn't particular accurate trying to take measurements from them.  I made up this 'setup bar' which touches the front hub and the rear suspension brackets. It is very quick to set the bar up and easy and accurate to set the car up with it.

When I received the new style instruments from GTM I was disappointed that they had stopped supplying an oil pressure gauge.  I was initially going to fit a gauge pod under the radio and just fit an oil pressure and oil temperature gauge.  Whilst I was looking for gauges I found one that incorporated a rev counter, water temperature, oil pressure and oil temperature gauge.  It also has a remote shift light which I have fitted to the top of the dashboard.  Very handy for track days.  The second rev counter is handy too as the steering wheel obstructs part of the dash mounted one.

To record the action on track days, I found this very neat bullet camera and multimedia recorder.  The camera and microphone are mounted on the rear bulkhead between the seats.  The recorder sits in the glove box and is powered from the cigarette lighter.

The person who trimmed my car was supposed to be a professional, but he made a terrible job of the top dashboard cover.  Twice he attempted it, but it was dreadful.  I've now re done it myself and it is how it should be!  I wish I'd done all the trimming myself now.

I wasn't very impressed with the windscreen washer jets.  How ever much you moved the nozzle they seemed to either spray over the car or just hit the wiper blade.  I've now fitted 'spray bars' from a Peugoet 405.  This bar has about 4 holes along its length and clips over the wiper arm.  This way it always directs water just in front of the wiper blade.  I'm very impressed with these and they are such a simple upgrade to do.

I've still got the mint condition1400 engine in my garage.  I'm undecided what to do with it.  Sell it, or keep it for my next project!

I always thought the head light covers needed something to finish them off.  I also didn't like the way they were screwed on as water can get in and it is very easy to crack the covers.  I had a go at bonding in the covers in. I experimented with the thickness of the black band I painted round them first. I tried the whole width of the overlap at first but it was too much and had a kind of panda eyes look. I've settled for this narrow band. I think it really finishes them off nicely. I've always thought that just left clear it doesn't look quite right. It's also a nice width to cover up the bond.

I've silconed around the back of the lights to hopefully stop any stones getting in. For the bond I was going to use Sikaflex, but 1) I was worried about making a mess when it all squidged pressing the covers into place and 2) it'll never come off if anything did manage to get in there.

I believe the stuff I used is called Tremco.  Windscreen fitters used to use this stuff before they had the sikaflex style stuff they use now. It comes in a big roll as shown below and you just cut a length and simply just press it in. It is as strong as a sikaflex bond, but it has the beauty of not being messy to use. It also never fully sets, so it is possible to pull the covers off. It very strong stuff but not impossible to get off.

I heated the covers up first to mould them to the proper shape of the body. That would also be worth doing if you were going to screw the covers down, as you'll have less chance of cracking the covers if they sit properly on the car.