Build Officially Started!

[Tatey]

I've now finished my right hand side tunnel panel and fitted my OBP passenger footrest, I was going to start the rear tub and other panels this weekend but have decided that I will wait until my 10m of corrugated cardboard arrives (only cost £5 so I think it should be worth it. I've also ordered some rivnuts and some more nuts, so I should be able to start fitting bodywork shortly.

[Tatey]

Quick update, I've been working on the rear panel as of late and it's safe to say I need some more practice at sheet metal work as I'm not that good at the minute, but hopefully by the time I've finished all of the alu work on the car I will be a dab hand...I just need to sikaflex the panel and roll the bottom end and it will be complete.

My new exhaust has arrived as well, it is one from CBS that a member on LB sold to me for £110, it's in really good condition and has only covered about 3,500 miles (he bought a bigger one for his BEC install), it is also repackable and the mounting system can be hidden so it should look a lot better than my original silencer. I am hoping to make up a bracket for it this Saturday.

My propshaft also arrived late last week and has now been installed, which has also allowed me to tighten up the rear hub nuts so my rear wheels no longer wobble about like no ones business, they still need torquing up but I won't be able to do that until I run the handbrake cables.

I will try and get some pictures this weekend as it is starting to look a lot more car like now.

[Tatey]

Another update with pictures! I've now installed the clutch cable which is nice and secure, but it seems that the cable is slightly too long as it is off the adjuster when in the correct position, I need to look into this and decide what I'm going to do, worst case I can cut the end of the cable and shorten it using a solderless nipple.

I'm in the process of fitting the handbrake cable, I have got it fitted on side I have now created an adapter to go from the handbrake to the half moon on the cable, I am just trying to figure out what length I want to cut the cable to, knowing me I'll end up cutting it that bit too short. I may also need to modify my rear uprights to give clearance between the handbrake cable and the upright as at the minute there isnt enough space to allow the handbrake cable to sit flush against the back plate, I am going to see if it will be possible to install the handbrake cable to the back plate first and then install the back plate to the rear upright.

I have also started fitting the bodywork, the nose cone is now bolted in place by the use of rivnuts, I made a tool using a couple of nuts and a bolt instead of buying a rivnut tool, I am sure it is a bit more fiddly than a proper tool as you need really need 3 hands to use it, but I'm not planning on using that many rivnuts. My next job on bodywork is to finish the rear tub which requires a few rivets to get it in the correct place and then I will roll the bottom edge and rivet that. I then need to put the scuttle in the correct place and buy some bonnet catches, I am planning on using the lockable flush fitting type which are about twice the price of the usual ones but stop someone trying to steal my bonnet and I think they look a lot better.

After this I will continue making more transmission tunnel panels and the side panels and then I can start mounting lights to the bodywork and then finally vinyl wrap it all. I am starting to get better at vinyl wrapping and I have discovered why the edge of my wrapped rear wheel arch lifted, it was because there was an excessive amount of tension left in the vinyl when wrapping and to alleviate this I just need to apply some head to the edge using a heat gun. I also bought a teflon coated squeegee which works wonders with the vinyl.

Here are the pictures so far (excuse the mess of the garage):

[voucht]

It looks great Simon. I've always looked at your build thread with great interest, and we can see you are really going forward.
Congratulations and keep on the good work

[Tatey]

Scuttle is now in place with rivnuts and fasteners, the holes in the fibreglass just need tweaking slightly to get a flush finish with the side panel, but this will be done when I've made and fitted the side panels. My next job is finishing off the rear tub which I still haven't gotten round to doing yet, at least now my bodywork can sit on my car instead of being propped up against a wall.

[jps]

Originally Posted by Tatey

Scuttle is now in place with rivnuts and fasteners, the holes in the fibreglass just need tweaking slightly to get a flush finish with the side panel.

Having not worked with GRP so far - is it a bit flexible - hence you can sort of (gently one assumes) push and pull it into position...?

[alga]

My scuttle stretched to abont an inch too wide before I fitted it. I clamped it to the chassis in summer, it flexed to 1 cm too wide in an unstressed state within a couple of weeks, and it easily flexes 1-2 cm more without much strain. Looks like NTS bodywork was made out of a single layer of 600 or 400 g/m^2 CSM, it's pretty light and flimsy.