Now the alloy panels are fitted to the chassis and the little boost in motivation that has given me i'm cracking on with the next stage of the build. The customer is due to visit soon, and i need to get the car to the point where he can sit in it and try out the seat and pedal positions pretty soon.
First step for today was the side panels. They are really the only part of the body work that needs fitting in the early stages of the build. I cut them so the front suspension passes through them so they look nice and neat and tidy, and hence they have to be fitted fairly early else the suspension must come back off. I rought trim them with a 1mm thick slitting disc in an angle grinder so they'll fit on over the chassis. Then using a template i made some years ago in MDF i mark out the appropriate suspension holes and the trim line for a nice fit to the nose cone. I use the point on the chassis where it starts to taper in to form the engine bay as a reference point and transfer all the holes from the template to the side panel. Hole saws are ideal for making the initial hole and then i open them up to the correct size and shape with a cheap copy of a Dremel mini die grinder.
To fix the side panels, i use rivets anywhere they can't be seen. It doesn't need many rivets to hold them securely, along the bottom edge and a some in the engine bay area and under the rear wings will be fine.
I personally like to then fit the majority of the rest of the bodywork. I find it motivating to see the actual shape of the car sat there in front of me. It does mean the bodywork is prone to getting knocked, but it does also help it keep its shape. Today i fitted the back panel, scuttle and the nose. It's nice for the customer to see the car starting to look like a car too. The scuttle and nose are fitted with M6 bolts with repair washers down into the rivnuts in the chassis. The back panel is fixed with rivets along the underside of the chassis and around the chassis area hidden by the rear wheel arches.
Before fitting the nose i trimmed out the front panel for the air intake to the radiator. I left a few tabs of fibreglass around the edge so i can mount the grill mesh. The trimmed out section i kept as a template for the grill mesh, i found making it about 1" bigger all round worked perfectly. The grill mesh is held in by M6 plated button head screws in 6 positions around the edge. I sourced the mesh from a local car accessory shop for this job. It's a pretty expensive way to buy it but i needed it in a hurry having forgotten to pick any up last time i was at my normal supplier. £25 bought me enough mesh to do two noses.
I have also trimmed and fitted the front indicator pods and the headlights. I'll probably remove these again but it was a quick job for today so that i could get some more fibreglass trimming out of the way whilst i had the equipment out.
First step for today was the side panels. They are really the only part of the body work that needs fitting in the early stages of the build. I cut them so the front suspension passes through them so they look nice and neat and tidy, and hence they have to be fitted fairly early else the suspension must come back off. I rought trim them with a 1mm thick slitting disc in an angle grinder so they'll fit on over the chassis. Then using a template i made some years ago in MDF i mark out the appropriate suspension holes and the trim line for a nice fit to the nose cone. I use the point on the chassis where it starts to taper in to form the engine bay as a reference point and transfer all the holes from the template to the side panel. Hole saws are ideal for making the initial hole and then i open them up to the correct size and shape with a cheap copy of a Dremel mini die grinder.
Before fitting the side panels properly i fit 6 rivnuts, 4 for the scuttle and 2 for the nose cone. Its easier and a better fit in the chassis to fit them before the sides. It can be done after but its more fiddly. I mark the position of the mounting hole on the scuttle and nose first, basically half way through the width of the return flanges, and at sensible points along the sides so you can get inside when fitting them, with a spanner. Then i transfer these measurements to the chassis remembering to take account of the thickness of the layup of the side panels. That way everything fits nice a flush.
To fix the side panels, i use rivets anywhere they can't be seen. It doesn't need many rivets to hold them securely, along the bottom edge and a some in the engine bay area and under the rear wings will be fine.
I personally like to then fit the majority of the rest of the bodywork. I find it motivating to see the actual shape of the car sat there in front of me. It does mean the bodywork is prone to getting knocked, but it does also help it keep its shape. Today i fitted the back panel, scuttle and the nose. It's nice for the customer to see the car starting to look like a car too. The scuttle and nose are fitted with M6 bolts with repair washers down into the rivnuts in the chassis. The back panel is fixed with rivets along the underside of the chassis and around the chassis area hidden by the rear wheel arches.
Before fitting the nose i trimmed out the front panel for the air intake to the radiator. I left a few tabs of fibreglass around the edge so i can mount the grill mesh. The trimmed out section i kept as a template for the grill mesh, i found making it about 1" bigger all round worked perfectly. The grill mesh is held in by M6 plated button head screws in 6 positions around the edge. I sourced the mesh from a local car accessory shop for this job. It's a pretty expensive way to buy it but i needed it in a hurry having forgotten to pick any up last time i was at my normal supplier. £25 bought me enough mesh to do two noses.
As i wanted to get the seat and pedal positions signed off with the customer in the cockpit, the next item i fitted was the pedal box. This is the same hydraulic pedal box setup that i've been supplying with all kits for the past year or so. It's floor mounted and only requires two M6 bolts to secure it to the floor. It is secured to the footwell bulkheads as well via the master cylinders, but, for now i'm fitting it only to the floor. I still need to trim and fit the footwell bulkhead panels and i find it easier at this stage to leave them out in case there is some big problem, requiring an extreme solution, when the customer tries it for size.
In this car i'm fitting our most popular GRP bucket seats. I lay them up with M8 anchor nuts in the base, and i have a template for these hole positions that i lay on the floor of the cockpit and drill through. I use M8 sets screws with big repair washers to spread the load. These seats are designed to take a seat runner whilst still allowing the driver to sit as low as possible. So when i fit them without seat runners as i am in this car, i use hard poly type suspension bushes as spacer blocks.
I have also trimmed and fitted the front indicator pods and the headlights. I'll probably remove these again but it was a quick job for today so that i could get some more fibreglass trimming out of the way whilst i had the equipment out.
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