You gotta hate mould

After reading on a post that an IVA man failed a car as the heater could burst water onto the passenger I decided I should properly box in the T7 heater/AC Unit I had installed.

First of all I made a cast from wood in the shape that I needed and purchased a fibre glass kit from fibreglasssupplies online.


I didn't know what to use a release agent and I had read on the forum that simple cling film would do the job.

Well it might do but not when you are using a gel coat. It was a complete cow to get the gel coat on, and I had to use some off cuts of fibre glass to hold it to shape whilst the gel set.

The actual fibre glass bit was fairly easy and everything was dry in a couple of hours. It released from the mould ok but then I needed to sand off the cling film and P38 up the mould to tidy it up.

It fits pretty well and also provides something for me to mount the wash wipe relays and the fuses for the dash on. It should also keep Mr IVA happy and should fine once carpeted.

1 year since it all began

As its been a year since it all began (well since I collected the chassis) I thought I would post some pictures that show how it looks today.

Removing Steering Lock

As I'll be getting around to fitting the steering column soon I decided it was time to sort out the steering lock.

The method varies depending on the column you have but I found a relatively easy method to do this. First, remove the steering wheel. This is as easy as using a flat head screwdriver to pop the centre cap of the wheel and then using a socket to undo the nut the holds the wheel in place.

There is a trick to it though, the key must be out with the steering lock engaged undo the retaining nut but then you need to release the steering lock to actually remove the steering wheel.

Then remove the plastic casing from the column. On my version this was simply two screws underneath and two above.


This allows access to the wiring and the brackets which need to be trimmed down.

AK trim the black bracket to ensure it doesn't foul on the scuttle but they also remove the left mounting leg as its not used and removing it makes it easier to fit the carpet later.

The picture on the right shows mine after cutting the leg off and trimming the bracket.

AK also advise removing the ignition wiring. Not all of it needs removing but I'll cover this is a separate post when I write about finishing the wiring in the dash.

All I'll mention at this stage is removing the wiring on the back of the ignition barrel.

Once removed its time to remove the steering lock pin. Across the front of the pin there is a smaller round retaining pin. You can use a small punch or long nail to knock this out towards the hole towards the left of the picture then pull it out with some pliers.

The locking pin (the brass bit in the centre) will then drop out of the hole lower if you release the steering lock. You can then trim pin with a grinder and re-engage the lock. This will make the pin fall out of its retaining hole allowing you to pull the pin out of the column.

The video below shows the pin engaging.

Once complete just re-assemble the plastic casing and attach the AK loom plugs for the indicators, lights and wash/wipe.