- Details
- Written by: Gordon
- Category: 2012
- Hits: 3
Not very warm so I start to catch up on some of the 'new' indoor DIY jobs the wife has decided need doing. Creaking staircase and upstairs floorboards take up a lot of time.
The cill tops need to be trimmed to fit over the luggage containers. I make cardboard templates and mark the cuts. The cills were then marked out from the templates.
I chain drill the cut outs, and then with a junior hacksaw cut the links between the holes. The holes need to be tidied up but it was getting too cold in garage.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon
- Category: 2012
- Hits: 3
Its still pretty cold in the garage but I do get to finish trimming the Cill tops.
I use the angle die grinder with a sanding disk to get the general shape and finish of with a hand file. I put some duct tape on the chassis members to protect them whilst trial fitting the Cill top.
Once the Cill tops had been dressed to fit I stick the spacer on the underside using the black bonding agent. While it sets I place a piece of ply on top and weight it down with a can of thinners.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon
- Category: 2012
- Hits: 3
The weather has warmed up a lot and I start on the side pods. Removing the old Sikaflex takes forever. I use a bathroom sealant remover and plastic scraper. It's gel like and does soften the Sikaflex. Once it is all removed I clean the inside area with panel wipe and dry it off. I masked up the outside edges and then the inside was painted with Tough Black aerosol paint. Because the fibre glass thickness does vary, from certain angles and with light behing the panels, you can see variations in the colour. The paint will stop this being apparent.
I temporarily fit the fuel tanks using tie wraps to hold them in place and once the sidepods had dried I clamped them into postion. The cockpit section was retrieved from the shed and also placed on the chassis. The side pods and cockpit were then given a good clean and polish.
I need to mess around a bit with the cockpit and then pre-fit the front and rear clips. Then the fun will begin aligning everything.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon
- Category: 2012
- Hits: 3
The front and rear clips are re-fitted.
Then the wheels are re-fitted.
I guess it would be reasonable to say I am back at the position when I first acquired it :-)
Although I have identified and corrected a number errors along the way, in particular:
Front hubs transposed.
Rear upright washers transposed.
Brake Master Cylinders transposed.
Replaced flimsy plastic P clips with galvanised clips with rubber inserts.
Uprated water pipes that are hidden behind luggage container with silicon hoses.
Generally tidied up things - petrol tank finish. Aircon facia panel, side pod covers, added some sound / heat insulation.
Looking from under the rear clip you can see the variations in fibre glass thickness that I previously mentioned.
I will not paint inside of the rear clip yet as I need to finalise what engine and thus what configuration I will have. Sticking the heat refelctive mat will get better adhesion to the clip if it is unpainted according to the build manual so it would be reasonable to extend this philosphy to sticking the air intake etc. for an LS engine.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon
- Category: 2012
- Hits: 3
I have read on other sites about the non-symmetry of the body and the need to fit shims between the rear clip and body. These I cut out of some 1.5 mm aluminium sheet.
I also have read advice on fabricating some solid 'washers' to spread the load for the nuts that secure the body to the cills, again I fabricate these out of some steel bar I have lying around.
I also make an aluminium bracket to support the rear clip as depicted in the build manual, although I later find out this is not actually required.
