Noob with a new mx5 Saturn build.

[norton]

One side panel is coming along.







I'm a bit stuck on the lower arms rear mounting hole. I was naive in thinking I didn't need to put a fold in the panel where the front most lower rail kicks more inwards than the top rail. I saw various grp panels that didn't but I can't see how that won't interfere with the lower arm. Bawlz.

[voucht]

Hi,
First congratulation for your rear tube: it looks excellent !

Second, as you say, some GRP panels are straight, as mine are. It does not interfere with ther lower wishbone, as the pivot point is 25mm (bottom rail) + 30mm (bracket) = 55mm higher than the lower face of the bottom rail, so it allows a bit of downward movement to the wishbone.

2014-08-07_15-42-02 by Sylvain ROIG, sur Flickr

2014-08-07_16-36-22 by Sylvain ROIG, sur Flickr

The main question for you, is how are you going to attach the front of your rear panel to the bottom rail ? That is also the reason why there is a fold in the book's ally side panels. My GRP panels have a 90° return underneath the panel.

SidePanel-NoDims by Sylvain ROIG, sur Flickr

[norton]

I should have said I've used the mx5 plans which includes a bar between the lower arms inner pivots. They're a lot more substantial on the inboard side. Having thought about it I can chop out a big window from the side panel to allow for them. I don't have much choice I think. Regards to mounting I was planning to make some brackets to go between the rail and panel. Annoyingly, in hindsight I should've made the ally panelling user the engine a lot wide to bridge that gap.