I've finally got it covered!

It took a while, a year to be exact but I had booked a track day last week so had to get it finished because of uncertain weather. I redesigned the soft top bracket to have it bolted to the roll bar with two M6 bolts. This way it won't revolve. 

The back of the bracket will bend to follow the curvature of the roll bar. Now it seems to work I'll make up a couple of nice polished ones.

When the top is not on the two supports fold back and rest on the rear panel. To allow this there's a 15mm spacer between the support and bracket to lift the support away from the bracket as well as the roll bar. It's made out of 10mm chromed water pipe. 

This is the correct position. I put wire between the two supports until I got them the right distance apart. The intended ribbon to the left will replace the wire for a much neater solution.

Once the soft top is "popped" on to the windscreen it's then dragged back over the supports. It's a really tight fit. I put the first rivet in the middle 25mm from the top edge of the rear panel and the others at approx. 150mm intervals around the rear edge also 25mm from the top. 

I ran out of press fasteners hence the long gap along the sides.Important to keep it really tight all the way around.

At last it's in place. No time to test it before tomorrows track racing!

It's not quite as good looking from the front as it is without the top but it's practical! Evaluation? It's really brilliant; now I can drive any day, any weather. The heat produced by the heater actually stays in the car! It's really extended the season. I may be limited when it comes to snow and sub zero temperatures though!  

Looks great from the side. I've even had dogs looking as I drive past!

The doors fit nicely between seams in the roof making a nice seal.

It's quite quick to take off too, just a couple of minutes.

Rev limiter problems still

I was hoping that by replacing the MAF and now the cam shaft sensor my rev limit problems would be solved but alas they weren't. I then replaced the diff speed sensor and really thought that was it, I'd solved it.

One handed jumpy video!

It revved perfectly up to 6,500 in every gear up until the normal rev limiter actually came in. BUT then after switching the ignition off it was back to 5,200 again. I then had the engine idling, pulled the diff sensor plug off for a few seconds and then plugged it back on again: Rev limit was back to 6,500 again! As you can see both the odometer and rev counters appear perfectly normal. 

Peter suggested that I go through all the wiring to double check it's all okay. This will mean taking off the scuttle which I think I'll wait with until after a Scania race day which I have booked for the 19th of September down in Linköping. I can always unplug the diff sensor to reset it!

Well that was a short summer!

The sun hasn't shone quite as often as most of us would like this year, in Sweden at least. It's been a case of "make the most of it" which I must say I have when it comes to getting out in the car. 

Joined motorcycles in this years Mälaren Runt which takes place every year in August. Thousands of bikes take part in a 300km tour around Lake Mälaren to the west of Stockholm. 

The start in Solna ("borrowed" picture!). Most of the towns along the way were lined with waving pic-nickers.

Everyone a die hard motorcyclist but luckily they didn't mind Neil and I in a kit car!

Over the past few weeks there has been quite a bit of rain so I've been very careful to pick the right days to go out. I therefore thought it was time to lengthen the season and attempt the soft top. I fixed the doors on some time ago:

This shows the first time I put the doors on but Peter soon told me that I had the hinges and doors on wrong. You may also notice that the mirror in this position can't be seen from the driver's side so will have to be moved.

Hinges now on correctly but there's a gap in the upper hinge that shouldn't be there, apart from that the doors are great.

The mirror is now moved further up the window bracket. The bolt fits nicely between the bracket and scuttle.

 Now it was time for the soft top. I couldn't use the bracket included in the kit (the one to the left) as there was no space for it between the roll bar and side panel.

This is my first prototype bracket I cut from 2mm sheet that's fixed to the roll bar with a M6 bolt. The centre of the circle mirrors where the pivot point is for the frame that support the soft top. I noticed a problem straight away, it's actually better to fix the bracket on with two bolts otherwise it may rotate with the force of the soft top. That's easily fixed - I'll make another with place for two vertical bolts.

Checking to see how it all goes together. It's okay I know the frame goes on the inside!

I had to remove the glass from the frame to be able to drill and rivet the pop fasteners in place. They are shorter rivets which fit between the frame and glass. 

It'll look something like this. I need to get the frame in place first before riveting the rear panel and then finally  putting pop fasteners in the rear of the soft top.

That's as far as I got with the soft top as I talked with Peter Friday about the rev limiter problem. I mentioned that when BMW gave me a free diagnostic they had told me the cam sensor was reporting an error. I bought one on e-bay a few months ago but never replaced it. Well he persuaded me to change it which I did today.  

Removing the old sensor was much easier than I thought, took about an hour. Removed air filter, the 5 upper inlet manifold nuts and bolts to get to the old sensor plug. Once off it was a case of re-routed the new sensor,  plugging it back on and replacing everything in reverse order.

Take care not to break the plastic cable holder. 

Thought I'd fixed it as it ran beautifully up to 6500 but then it was back to 5500. But ... 

I checked the diagnostics and the cam sensor warning had gone and it now showed P0500 "Vehicle Speed sensor A". I'll replace it next week and hope the error goes as well as the rev limiter problem!

Road trip - Norway or bust

I managed to get the side screens fixed in place but didn't have time to get the soft top on but it was time for a little relaxation anyway. Neil and his son Daniel were up for a nice long road trip so we decided to head for Lillehammer in Norway the site for the 94 winter Olympics. Neil took his Suzuki Bandit and Dan kept me company in the kit. Weather was pretty good but there was rain forecast for the journey home. With the side screens in place the wind turbulence in the cockpit was reduced remarkably, the only slight problem was the side pressure pushing in the screens. At 80mph the pressure was quite significant which didn't make things easy for my "frozen" shoulder so occasionally I had to lean towards the passenger side.

Very hot day but no helmet or leather gear required - for us in the car at least :-)

Left home at 2pm Wednesday, picked up Dan in Borlänge and drove until 10pm which took us inside the border of Norway about 320 miles in total. Weather was great all the way. 

Wasn't really sure if it was going to rain during the night. If you look closely at the exhaust, side panel and rear wing you can see the results of hitting a fresh cow pat at 80k's. Good job we had the side screens on - there's mud in yer eye!

Lillehammer - reached by Thursday lunchtime. Walked up to the top, took a couple of photos and then walked down again - mission accomplished!

They can fix anything these days.

Then came the rain. We got some funny looks but with the side screens on the rain just blew over the top and left us quite dry. I need to put some sealant between the scuttle and side panels as water leaked in slightly.

Another night, this time in tents and I would say that it topped my all time list of worse experiences ever - bloody cold! Actually Norway was extremely expensive, camping, food, drink. Don't you want tourists Norway??

We were happy to get back to Sweden and headed for Sälen where the clouds cleared, the sun shone and the prices are reasonable. The roads around the Swedish Fjällen (mountains), ski resort country are absolutely fantastic. Beautiful forest roads in great condition, hardly any traffic and curves you wouldn't believe. I can highly recommend a road trip up there as even the accommodation at the ski resorts is cheap this time of year. 

Back into Sweden, and the ski resort Tandådalen

After a great night at the Ski Lodge in Lindvallen where we drank beer in the bar and watched the opening ceremony of the OS while a duo (John Mitchell & Ann-Sofie Jonsson) played Scottish, Irish and Swedish folk music it was time for final drive home.

Last song "Whiskey in a jar"

I have to mention that the car performed brilliantly. It took us safely 900 miles to Lillehammer and back in three days without a hitch. I still can't believe the fuel consumption and how many miles to the tank it does. Even driving at a constant 80 mph it still managed about 36 miles per gallon (8litres/100km) and easily 260 miles (420km) per tank. Well done GKD and Peter for an immensely fun car to build, to drive, to own as well as being comfortable, economical and above all safe. 

Mid summer

Amazingly enough we are already half way through the year. The longest day was yesterday but temperatures have been struggling to get over 20oC. I have been limited by not having a roof on the car but hopefully that will change this coming week. I'll be seeing Peter at GKD on Monday, he says he has a set of prototype side doors that I can take home and try. At the moment I'm using a sheet of tarpaulin that I throw over at the first sign of rain. The main problem with rain are the seats and carpets.

Trosa Veteran Car Club 

During the summer there are two villages close to where I live that take it in turns to have enthusiast meets. Last Thursday it was down in Trosa a small picturesque coastal town 50km south of Stockholm. There must have been 50 or 60 cars of various types on display. Mine was amongst them and I was amazed how much attention it got.

4.5 litre Mercury from the 50's

The other village is Nynäshamn which I will try over the summer holidays.


When I had the panels painted I was a little disappointed with the results of the bonnet. Dan at Danbo Lak tried very hard to get the powder coat to look good and it did, fantastic in fact but something didn't quite work out with the bonnet, it had a slite orange peel finish. I talked to Mats who painted the fiber glass parts and he said he would go over the bonnet again with spray and then bake it. The result is brilliant - a mirror finish that really makes the whole car shine.

I bought some brilliant polish from BMW. So easy to use and rub to a mirror finish as it leaves no dust.

Some small jobs done. Anette finished the gear knob gaiter which now looks really great.

New material glued to the original surround.

Perhaps I should get her to make a new handbrake gaiter for me too!

Installed a bonnet switch

Out with Neil a few weeks ago the accelerator cable snapped at the pedal. This was the "Bear Grylls" solution until I got it home.

Tried a prototype wind deflector but it was useless. I found a link to site that made Perspex ones, may copy the idea.

I still need to sort out the speed sensor. A quick way to reset it is to plug out and in the sensor in the diff. I'll fix it when rain stops play as I need to get the scuttle off.  I can't afford to waste any sunny days!


That's all for now - have a great summer! 

Small jobs

Weather was great Monday and Tuesday so drove to work both days but unfortunately it's been rain since and will be until Sunday apparently. It's always a good excuse to clean up or get some small jobs ticked off the list. Tonight I fixed the intermittent wipers. They are not supported in the wiper kit but it was easy to fix. I bought a small intermittent wiper hobby kit from Elfa (like Radio Shack). Soldered it together and then wired it into the first wiper position on the stalk. When it's activated (it's adjustable between about 3seconds and 1 minute) it sends 12v to the slow wiper position for one wipe.

I fixed it to the inside of the scuttle beside the mirror bolt so I can adjust the wipe speed if necessary, it's set to about 7 seconds which seems quite reasonable.

I found the nyloc nut on the clutch pedal loose again so I'm going to have to change all that have been undone a couple of times. I'd like to get the car up on a lift and go round all the nuts and bolts before I do too many miles. 


I've noticed again that after a while driving max revs goes down from the red to about 5,5k. Disconnecting seems to fix it temporarily. 


Jobs to do still: Sump guard, better air flow into the manifold, fix the soft top but I'd like to do a more discreet solution than suggested by GKD and console still to do.

Stoneleigh will have to wait until next year!

The thought was there but to be realistic a journey of 5,000km in a week in a rebuilt car open to the elements and the thought of all that English rain didn't fill me with a lot of enthusiasm. Instead my sights were focused on the Scania enthusiast Road Trip which took place on Thursday. It was all very 11th hour as I was rushing to get the windscreen on, lights fixed, relays replaced. Thursday morning I nipped into BMW and they were kind enough to give me a free engine diagnostics.

Two things wrong, one was the MAF sensor which costs £350 and the Camshaft sensor which comes in at £100. I decided instead to use CRC air sensor cleaner first. I'll check out Ebay for the cam sensor.

The guys were very friendly and were very interested in seeing one of their engines packed into such a small car. Actually during the diagnosis they told me the engine was actually from a 1998 BMW not a 96 which I was lead to beleive by the BMW breakers (note to self - don't complain!) 


I'd like to do something with the bonnet as it's quite a handful to take off and on. Perhaps it can be hinged in some way.

The new wishbones are great, the turning circle is very much better than before. If I can get the angle right I can get out of the garage in one instead of 5!

At last the GKD sticker in place on the bonnet!

Windscreen wipers needed some adjustment to fit parallel to the bottom of the screen. I'm not sure how effective they will be in a rain but I'm not in a hurry to find out. Today I cleaned the MAF with  the CRC cleaner and went back to the first air filter I bought. The backfire has now reduced, acceleration is brilliant, so much so that I have to learn how to change gear faster!

Some small jobs, rear carpet makes a big difference. 

Peter at GKD ran me off a BMW inside sticker. Nice against the black.

Windscreen wipers in place. Not tested yet!

A couple of adjustments I need to do in the next few days. I bolted the drivers seat a few centimeters too far forward so waste some valuable leg room. The foot rest is great but it makes it a little tight between pedals but it's worth it. Anette is making the gearshift gaiter for me, hopefully that will be ready tomorrow.


I was out driving past Rosenhill today along the much loved motorcycle routes in the area. The weather was great, sunshine (a little cold perhaps) and clear skies. I'm still thrilled with the road handling, the sound, the speed and above all it has the same feeling as riding a motorcycle only it can be done without a helmet.  


Peter is developing a supercharger kit which uses a Mini Cooper S system. It's estimated to increase power by 50HP. Hopefully he will have that ready by winter. It's not something that is really necessary but it's a new challenge, and I reckon that's what life's all about. 


A few more pictures:

Pity the black gets dirty quite quickly

The reversing sensors work very well. ebay sell them.

Fault found

After a good nights sleep I was able to tackle the electrical problem with a clear mind but did it help - no!


I removed the scuttle again and took the opportunity to clean up all the wiring, it was just like spaghetti in there. After hours of searching I sent a quick mail to Peter asking whether it  could be relays. After a chat on the phone to him it ended up that it was indeed a relay problem as the fuel pump was on even when  the ignition was off! There are four BMW relays, all with the same part number as I far as I can see for various things but one is for the fuel pump.

All I did was swap it with another and then back again and it fired up no problems. I'll nip in to BMW tomorrow and buy some replacements. While clearing up the wiring I also fixed the background lights for the dash switches as a couple weren't working.

It's quite tight with wiring, switches, heater hoses, instrument cluster and wipers but now it's a little neater.

Another relay I'll need to change is the flasher relay. I changed to LED indicators and they were flashing twice as fast as usual. Peter told me it was the change in current drain to the lamps and that the easiest thing to do when changing from normal 12v bulbs to LED was change the relay. Ended the evening with a quick lap around the block, I had almost forgotten how great she sounds with the small backfire when de-accelerating. The neighbours are going to love me!