 One of the things I need to do for the new engine is to get a fuel tank that’s suitable for the new engine. The most critical issue here is the fuel pump mounting. In order to make the Honda ECU happy it’s been found to be best to use the standard CBR1000 fuel pump. This is an in-tank device that pokes up into the bottom of the bike’s tank.
So, the idea is to make the same sort of thing work in the car. In order to do that I need to get this device in the bottom of a tank. It’s upside down here but it provides the proper mounting for the Honda fuel pump. |
 So, what I’ve done is to modify the design for the tank that I did last year in order to incorporate this flange. I’ve arranged to get the new tank made by Allyfab, who made the tank I made last year.
With that done, attention returned to fitting the engine. The previous attempt at fitting it really didn’t get it in the right place. Looking hard at it, it was clear that the main problem was the pedal box, especially the top corner which, to be honest, isn’t really needed by my size 12s. So, I cut the corner back a bit (clearly,I’ll have to fix it later) and after a few more attempts lifting the engine in and out got it in a much more satisfactory place. In the photo here you can see that I’ve got a fake foot, in the shape of one of my race boots, sitting on the clutch pedal to check things for size. You might also be able to see that I’ve cut the corner off the pedal box. The engine fits in this position much better. Before doing all this I took off the oil intercooler. However, the intercooler doesn’t foul the chassis in this position so I could put it back on, It might, though, all work rather better with an external cooler so I made well get an adapter place made up. Whether I have the time is another issue. |
 At which point I ran slap into the next problem. While checking the engine’s fit I connected up, or tried to connect up, the prop. After a while it was clear that the prop was fouling on the water pump.
In retrospect Andy told me this might be a problem. I’d just forgotten. So, I took the pump off to proceed with the engine fit. This is the pump here. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do about this. The two solutions are to use an electrical pump, apparently Andy’s found a dead good Bosch one, or to modify this pump by cutting off that pipe at the top and getting it welded back on at a janunty angle. I’ll have to see which of those works out better. For now, I can proceed with the pump off the engine. |
  With the pump off I managed to get the mountings made up for the front and rear of the engine, With luck you can see them in these photos.
That means that the engine is now pretty stable. What I now need to do is to take it out again, sigh, fix the pedal box and made a cradle, like I made last year for the CBR900, for the gearbox side. Once the engine is in I can look at the other issues, such as sorting out the wiring. I’ve started looking at this, and have worked out everything that’s in the existing loom. I got the complete bike loom with the engine so that’s a good start. What I want to do, though, is to strip out everything that I don’t need (such as the lighting and the lean angle sensor). I think I should then be able to splice it into the current loom. Or, more accurately, to connect the important bits up to some new connectors which will connect into the car’s loom at the same place as that used for the CBR900 engine. I will need to run some extra wires though, for example it’d be nice to replicate the ECU warning lights on the dash. Luckily, after a couple of days poring over connectors and the loom it’s now looking a lot simpler. |
