Beta Volumex HPE restoration

[squiglyzigly]

Work on the HPE has taken a back seat whilst the other 3 roadworthy cars deserved maintenance and repairs. But things have still been ticking over with external machining jobs and small detail jobs that I would rather do before finally painting the shell.
One such job that was niggling me was replacing the two window washer reservoirs. I’m not a fan of the fragile front windscreen washer bottle mounted under the windscreen scuttle panel and I wanted to combine both bottles into one.
Initially I would have preferred a washer bottle under the n/s wing like most modern cars but the filler neck would have needed to be where I intend putting a secondary fuse box for fuel injection power and relays.
So my second idea was to put a single bottle with two pumps where the original rear washer bottle lives. Some hours later on eBay and for the grand sum of a tenner I had myself a Suzuki Alto two pump reservoir to experiment with.

[squiglyzigly]

In less time than it took me to find a suitable reservoir, I knocked up some stainless bracketry and mounted it in the location of the original rear bottle. Once the shell is painted I will run the feed pipe to the front of the car in hard nylon pipe. Then once the car is refitted with carpets and trims I shall see if I need to protect the filler neck from knocks and bangs.

[Paul Kindermann]

Hello Peter - huge restoration you're doing - be great to see how it's going.

As an aside - what have you done with the hard full lines from tank to firewall? Have you used the old ones, renewed them and run them inside the cabin or run something else? I've got a split line in mine (in Australia) and wondering if running a new line under the floor might be an option, and I'm therefore curious to see if others have.

If you get the  chance - would love to hear how you tackled this. All the best

thanks
 

[squiglyzigly]

Hi Paul,

I haven’t run the new fuel lines yet as the shell is still in primer.  I removed the original hard lines that are routed inside the car and have made plans to replace them in 8mm copper in more or less the original positioning. The only real change will be the start and end points will be different as I am intending to go fuel injection, therefore flares and fittings will differ from original.
One change I have made is where the hard lines pass through the bulkhead. Instead of the lines squeezing past the throttle pedal, into the engine bay, and then squeezing past the end of the steering rack and up along the chassis rail I have chosen to go through the wheel arch near the bonnet release handle and along the space behind the front wing. Then the lines enter the engine bay through the inner wing to more or less the original position for the fuel pressure regulator next to the power steering reservoir.

Hope this makes sense. I’ll post some pictures when I get back in the garage. Busy decorating the house at the moment.

Cheers
Ian