So, on to June... at this point we have 18 days left to prepare for the Newark Show. We estimate that it will be ready in time as we seem to be cracking on with most of the jobs now...

On the agenda for this evening for me at least was to prepare for mounting the rear light units. Phil threaded the wires into the headlight bar ready for connecting.

After masking up the rear arch we positioned for the light clusters to go 30mm higher than on the previous build. We did this as we thought the former one's were too low. After marking up we drilled for the screw positions using callipers and drilled a hole for the Dremmel. We used a long side routing bit. It took approximately 2 minutes each to remove the fibreglass to make the hole. I obviously had to do this four times. I also had to route the wires ready for fitting up.

Tonight we have lots to do. Namely:

• Finish rear light fitting
• Wiring to rear lights (indicators, brake and side lights)
• Fit oil breather
• Fit drivers seat
• Fit gear selector knob

Fit Rear Lights	Seal them using PU Adhesive	Hard wire	Test

Next up fitting the gear selector knob. We used the same gear lever as on the last build... 20mm tube. We wrapped some contoured plastic around the tube... then wrapped some inner-tube around the lever to give it that satin look. We then fitted the specially contoured gear knob. Like it or not - it does the job very well...

Following this we then fitted the newly purchased Oil Breather... a lovely K&N jobby! At first we thought it rather large but fear not - it looks the part under there.

Last up - we fitted the drivers seat... using spacers from the previous car everything went together just fine. Sorry we can't be any more help here but it really went together quickly!

4 June 2005

Our regular visit to MK to collect our power bulged bonnet, many thanks to MK Sportscars for persevering with us... and obviously to chew the fat a little and maybe a bit of tyre kicking? Likely...

Unfortunately the fibreglass man failed to deliver so our bonnet had to wait until another day.

5 June 2005

Early start today to get things moving at more than a snail's pace. Things we managed to do today were:

• Collect rear reflectors from Halfords
• Secure black plastic coated mesh for mounting behind MK grille.
• Fit and complete wiring for indicators and Hazard warning lights
• Bleed brakes and check brake wiring system
• Fit and complete wiring for lighting system
• Begin boot box cover

The mesh grille was manufactured from some Steel mesh from B&Q. It was bent into shape using tabs which bent over the rear of the MK grille. Once the shape was complete we then had it plastic coated in black. It was then secured using P.U. adhesive. Strategic 'blobs' were placed on the rear of the 'MK' to stop it bowing in at speeds up to 70mph ;)

Following the grille came the indicators and hazard lights. These were an absolute nightmare previously. However, I referred to the noted and diagrams from previous build and all went together as planned... well, almost. When the hazards were switched on only half of the bulbs worked. It seems that during the impact of the crash from the previous build the filaments were broken and some of the internal connections were sheared. Once the lamps and connections were repaired... away they went!

After the indicators and hazards - I then tackled the sidelights. The wiring is threaded internally through the headlight bar for look and functionality. Once this was completed the headlight bar and nose cone could then be fitted on a more permanent basis.

Then came the headlights and main beam - easy!

A cardboard template was used to construct this play-wood shape. This will become the lid-top for the final boot. For now, this is merely a cover... the roll bar is to be secured through the board. Thereby securing the board into place.

To finish the day we bled the brake system - the fronts were pretty straight forward... the rears need to be inverted to completely devoid the calliper of air. To shoot the air over the top of the arch we merely worked quicker giving the air little time to collect. Eventually, the system was pumping through clean bubble-less brake fluid. This will be checked again on Tuesday to ensure a tight system.

7, 8 and 9 June

Due to me being away on business - I am unable to update. I am able to say the following has been completed:

• Fog Light - fitted, wired and complete.
• Rear panel - fitted and complete
• Rear suspension geometry done.
• Steering arm lock restrictor tubes. To restrict steering lock angle - the wheels turned too far!
• Number plate lights fitted, wired and complete.
• Brakes finally bled.
• Nose cone fitted to complete.
• Wiring a power-point socket into the 'under-dash' to provide connection for trickle-charger.

We discovered what could be a brake master-cylinder leak - oil in drivers foot-well. Hmmm - see how it goes...

11 June 2005

Collect bonnet (with bulge) from MK Sportscars. Chat to local visitor's....

12 June 2005

Here we are... 7 days to go before the Newark Kit Car Show. We have a tight schedule if we are to take Hellfire II. The jury is out as to whether we are going to make it or not.
Our concerns about the master cylinder leak are proven - it is leaking and allowing air into the system. This is a must to be repaired before the 19th and time is quickly running out for us. Today I ordered a high level brake light and after extensive searching for some replacement orange bulbs for the indicators we have used some readily available clear one's and coloured them. On the schedule today are little things but many of them:

• Fit passenger seat.
• Fit and calibrate speedohealer.
• Tape up the loom with amalgamated tape
• Complete indicator bulbs
• Fit bonnet

Passenger seat - this is fitted again as on the first car lower. This may be fitted onto runners at a later date. Time is of the essence and we need the time to do other things right now if we are to attend the Newark Show.

The replacement bulbs were coloured and fitted. These are now very bright orange much improvement over the standard supplied one's, time will tell as to how long the colour will last.

Right - probably the largest job we have to tackle now to complete the car. The stone guards we have are stainless steel and are the locost one's supplied from Mansfield. We have some grey piping to place into the edge just to get it to look tidy. After sorting out where the position of the holes were going to be we ran a thin bead of P.U. adhesive around the very edge and placed it onto the predrilled arch. Locating the rivets the trim was then slid into place and popped up to secure. We got covered in P.U. adhesive but that's half the fun (honest!). The slippy nature of the P.U. sometimes pushed out the piping but this was held in place with masko until cured.

Repeat the process on the other side. This then completes the rear arch's.

The next job was to complete the newly acquired bonnet. Thanks to MK Sportscars they exchanged the bonnet when we discovered that the ZX12R engine should be able to fit under a standard MK bonnet with power bulge. The intake however had to trimmed forward to allow the air filter to sit comfortably under the lip. This is then to be covered using black mesh the same as the grille then this will be P.U.'d into place. This is to prevent stone's and debris from entering the engine bay. The SVA compliant straps or bonnet securing mechanism's was undertaken (template to be drawn up) and fitted. This was far more difficult than it sounds as we had no template to begin with. However, it was done and the straps fit very well. Not too much force is required but not so much as to place undue load on the straps like on the first car. Everything is moving on quite quickly and it is looking like the Newark Show will be attended.

So here we are the last picture to be taken on Sunday. Things are looking very good right now... apart from the brake problem which we need to sort. Hopefully a master cylinder kit will be readily available for us to replace the seals quickly.

14 June 2005

Tonight - our attention's were focused on the bonnet grille. First we cut out a rough shape using cardboard... then armed with leather gloves we set about cutting the mesh with tin snips. We placed tabs on so as we could use the trusty old PU to secure the grille into place.

Here we are with the mesh cut out and secured into place using wire retainers. This was then PU'd up into place.

Unfortunately a seal kit was not forthcoming... and we still have Newark on our minds. The Kit was approximately £40 so we decided to strip out the master cylinder and check the seals/bore. Once stripped down it was evident that the bore had slight scoring but apart from that nothing. We cleaned it all and put it back together. We bled the braking system again... still spongy but the master cylinder problem was cured. I then suggested the air could be in the pressure sender. I cracked the nut open and brake fluid leaked I then tightened up the nut... disaster struck, the nut just kept spinning. I transpires that the T had stripped a thread. Dad suggested PTFE tape to fill out the thread so gaining a little nominal size further up the thread. We did this and it nipped up without leaking... bled brakes once more and hit a firm pedal... we managed it!

15 June 2005

Due to business commitments I was not available this evening. The side/rear panel flash's were started and the front cycle wings were positioned and secured again using PU adhesive!

16 June 2005

On what must be the warmest evenig of the year we masked up

and sprayed the grille black. Mmmmm

With the wheels in position you can see the bare metal disc face - so we decided to paint some of the disc face.

Today will be the last working day before the Newark Show - so, we didn't make it. However, it is very close to completion. The finishing touches can and will be done before it's released onto the road now. We've order up a high level brake light and our home designed decal set, key fob's and wheel centres in 3D graphics. We shall be working on Sunday after visiting the Newark Show for some bits and pieces. Namely a brake T, some black carpet to mention a couple. Hope to see you down there!

19 June 2005

Today was the day that never was... we missed the Newark Kit Car Show in Hellfire. We nevertheless visited Newark in the tin-tops. We had a good time and the usual stimulating conversation and jolly banter! Well done to Mad Dave for getting his car down to the show half finished but driveable :P It was very impressive! Many thanks to Martin of MK Engineering and Phil, Baz and the rest of MK Sportscars crew for their hospitality. The stand looked very impressive and I bet some orders were taken on the day! The show was held in the sweltering heat of 32 degrees in baking sun - it can't have been very nice to be an exhibitor on this day... well done to those who stayed 'til the end. Lots of suppliers were closing shop at 13:30. Our shopping list did not get completed as the suppliers were shutting down. Here are a few of the MK's I chose to photograph:

Today was no exception for working on the car - Father's Day or not! We gathered in the garage at about 7:00pm, the clouds were beginning to thicken but the air was very heavy and still very warm 30 degrees! Very soon the heavens opened and down came the rain. The thunder and lightening were very impressive... this is the view from the garage

I was fitting up the high level brake light whilst dad and Phil were messing about putting carpet to the rear bulkhead.

Following cutting out the carpet - the rear bulkhead was glued up using Evo-stick, this was left to go tacky whilst the carpet was glued up.

Once this was done the Fire Extinguisher could be mounted - we put a rivnut through the centre stay and bolted the top through the bulkhead.

Once this was done it was 11:00 and time for an end to the day. It had been a very long and hot one... roll on Tuesday!

21 June 2005

Tonight is the night that we applied our set of stickers.

• Top left - MK Logo in silver foil with black 2mm thick surround around
• Top right - identical MK Logo and Kawasaki ZX12R logo again in silver foil with black outline
• Bottom left - dashboard button function labels in black
• Bottom right - rear panel website address in silver chrome.

We also secured the rear-panel/side-panel flash this gives it a little of our trade mark glitter. This may be later logo'd up depends how we feel.

23 June 2005

The interior floor carpeting was next. This was glued down using Evo-stick in strategic places.. sorry if pictures are blurred, this was due to intoxication. ;P As you may notice we also have out tax disc.. this was positioned and secured.

Next job up was to put on the rear bulkhead aluminium strip secured using large head rivets.

I did a bit of design work and made enquires regarding my design. We have some custom made Key Fob's... I am having more produced with MK Indy on to the same standard. They are extremely well made and if you wish to buy I will soon be placing 1 or two onto ebay.

Another job which was done was to fit the brake sender unit - our original one was incorrect fitting (Imperial 3/8" BSF) instead of the standard 10mm x 1P. The brakes are now complete. We had a visitor tonight to drop off our custom made front number plate... many thanks Paul F!

25 June 2005

Our usual visit to MK - wont be in Hellfire as it is still not ready... battery went flat!!!

Our visit to MK was one of the best yet... there were lots of people there basically trialling and purchasing kits. No doubt these leads were from the Newark Kit Car Show as from what I can gather it was very well attended, more than likely due to the very nice sunny weather. The promise of a scantily clad lady didn't come to pass as she knocked herself out in the gym apparently! However, 2 weeks time there will be a whole host of scantily clad women, let's hope the weather turns chilly :P

26 June 2005

Hopefully - today is the day when Hellfire get's road bound. Lots of things needed finalising and then a final check:

• Steering cowl shroud

Due to the fact that we no longer need a cycle speedometer or clock and we're not having a gear indicator (for now) we no longer needed the old shroud. Therefore we set about manufacturing another from aluminium and vinyl wrapping it, for effect. This finishes off the steering cowl quite nicely.

Then came the nearside kick strip - this was done using some tadpole trim under the GRP so as to fill in the gap left between the GRP and the trim. This was popped up using medium head 4mm rivets.

Now you might think this very sad, but we don't - it's for effect. We removed the wheel centres to accommodate the new 3D wheel centre badges that we have. We think they look brilliant but it's not to everyone's taste.

We had two of the wheel centre badges left over - so they went on here.

Then one of the last few stickers to place... it's unassuming but effective. The stickers are made by Edward Signs by the way... I have given them the design and they produce whatever you like - obviously it's down to cost but we consider them to be economical and they are less than 1 mile away, so it makes them very handy.

Finalising the build now - therefore manufacture of the registration plate brackets was needed. We are mounting it in exactly the same place as before. However, we have had manufactured a smaller than standard plate. The numbers and spacing's are ever so slightly smaller. This allows us to have a significantly smaller plate which fits under the nose cone nice and unobtrusive.

Here we are fixing the brackets on - we used double sided foam sticky backed foam (Halfords) for securing. The pads are extremely good and do not fall off providing the surface on which they are stuck is very clean. naturally we use cellulose thinners to achieve the greaseless finish required.

Then finally after scrupulous positioning - the plate went on!

Here we are setting the toe angles. We have gone for a straight ahead parallel setting. We used two lengths of angle iron secured to the disc faces using the wheel nuts. Measuring the angles and adjusting the arms until we achieved the same figure. For the record it was 1520mm exactly.

Following this we then replaced the wheels and finally lowered her to the ground... the exit of Hellfire II from the garage for the first time has been captured on video. As soon as I have the time I will be placing the video into the video section of this website.

Then out we went for a shakedown - the suspension needs tweaking to bring up the rear as the wheel/tyre combination puts the tyres within 5mm of the arches when two up. The speedometer also needs calibrating using the "SPEEDOHEALER" and as they don't print any instructions with the package we need to download them from the internet. This will set the speedometer correct for Tuesday. However our problem with the battery has resurrected itself. We think the battery has been left to drop too low and us charging it up with a non specific charger has irreparably damaged it. We have a trickle charger on the way, but if the battery is chuffed, it's chuffed. Maybe a new battery is on the way - we shall wait and see.

As night time fell we could then setup the headlights - we used my car to generate the beam pattern on the garage door. Then in the same position we placed the Indy and set the lights, we did the previous Hellfire's lights this way and they were spot on.

So now all that is left for me to do is to get the video sorted and this website has reached it's natural conclusion. It will be tampered with from time to time with our exploits and maybe a few track days.

As a suggestion - we would like to get a kind of rotary meet going within the Yorkshire Area so that you're not following the same route all the time to specific meeting places. This will take time as information has to be gathered. However, if any of you would like to suggest a Pub or Meeting place near to you and in Yorkshire - let me know and I'll put online a table showing specific places and directions together with dates for all to meet.

28 June 2005

Tonight we calibrated the speedometer - bled the brakes one final time. Took out for a test... and everything seemed fine... clocks are spot on. Battery dead again on restart.... we need a new battery!

This will be done tomorrow or Thursday - for those interested see you down at MK on Saturday weather permitting...

Tonight we had a few little jobs to do - we replaced the defunct battery with a new one. We placed the engraved stainless steel VIN plate.

Stuck on the bonnet stickers.

All that is left to do is take it for a every lengthening runs and check nuts and bolts until confident that nothing is going to work loose and fly off! :) Car looks very very well now... cant wait to go out for a spin in it...

Unfortunately I will not at MK this Saturday due to other commitments - Phil also has commitments so unless Dad is prepared to drive we won't be showing this weekend. Sorry!

So basically that is it - "No SVA?" you might ask. Well, no! As the previous car wasn't registered as a Total write-off it is allowed back onto the road as soon as is finished. Silly we know but true - what a loop-hole!

Thanks for reading - please post any comments or suggestions to

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