Car now sold

Hey, I know this is cheeky given you've moved on from the car, do you have any pictures of make the ally rear and side panels?

I haven't sorry. The main thing is to keep annealing it with a blowtorch to soften it up in the areas you're going to bend. Clamp to the frame using a long solid block of wood and slowly pean it over with a smaller block of wood. You may have to keep taking it off to anneal it again as it hardens when you're working it. Don't be tempted to bend it where you don't have a good wooden support. Best of luck

I've made a drawing for the side panel in aluminum which is dimensionally similar to the fiberglass type. I can email to anybody who's interested. Worked a treat on my car. I got a local firm to cut and bend them for me to the drawing, cost me 120 quid including the material. Then I covered them in vinyl, look and fit much better than the fiberglass ones I had previously.

Thanks gaz!

Wyllie, yes please!

Likewise, I'd be interested in the drawings to.
Cheers

norton, just open up the book and read the page about side panels. It's one of the easiest and most pleasant jobs on the car.

I made a paper template according to the drawing in the book and verified it on the car. Then I bought some sheets of 1mm half-hard 1050A sheeting, for about £30 an 8'x4' sheet. I did most of the cutting with the 1 mm disk on the angle grinder. Pretty acceptable if you don't have a power nibbler or something like that. I bent the edges of the side panels before trying them on, but the right way is to clamp the panels in place and then bend the flaps around the chassis. Don't put the bend in the middle where there's an angle in the chassis, let the panel find its own line, it's much neater that way.

I did the same with the back panel: a template out of thick paper, cut out with an angle grinder and 1mm disk, filed off the edges, attached to the back with two self-tapping screws (clecos would be nicer), wrapped the side bends, riveted the sides into place, then replaced the screws with rivets, then bent the top and bottom. The compound bends on the top and bottom rear corners are hard to do neatly, but even if they're crumpled a bit they're normally covered. I saw a film on youtube how Caterham does it, they mangle the sheet into place, too, and later sand it flat.

I didn't have to anneal half-hard 1050A, it's malleable enough without it.

I agree, I could do that but, I couldn't cut a sheet out as neatly or accurately as a cnc laser. And as its on the exterior of the car and always visible I think it could be worth pushing the boat out.

As I've built to saturns plans and omitted the rear panel rails I'll need to back track and retrofit them however the appeal of ally bodywork is growing...

I wouldn't worry about neat and accurate edges. Most of them are hidden from view. Also, whatever marring you put onto panels from the blocks of wood when bending the panels, it will pale in comparison with the damage you'll get when using the car :-)

Well, at least it could look nice once!