Build Officially Started!

[Tatey]

I've now finished wrapping the scuttle and I am liking the red now that there is more on the car. There are a few imperfections in the wrap on the scuttle, mainly around the corners with the lip at the front, I am sure I will eventually be able to crack this but for the moment it will do, it will be completely hidden when the bonnet is on and isn't that noticeable when it isn't.

[Tatey]

I've now finished the bracket for the brake reservoir, I originally made it out of the same ali as the rest of the panels but it was a bit too flimsy and I wasn't happy with it, so it has now been made out of the same ali as I used for the floor, which is 2mm thick and hardened was a bit of an arse to bend as you can see on the bottom edges which arent flat, I think I will give it another seeing to with the hammer to see if I can tidy it up a bit. I now just need to buy some 10mm to 8mm push in reducers for the master cylinder, cut the pipes to length, and then put a couple of rivnuts in place for the two t-pieces and the brake system will be complete.

[K4KEV]

bit by bit Simon ...it is coming together....I would put a grommet or piece of rubber tubing on the cable tie that holds the reservoir as it will cut through with vibration from the engine, just an observation bud

[Tatey]

I honestly didn't even consider that Kev, thanks for the input, will get a couple ordered later on today.

I think the next job now is to make a bracket to mount the polo header tank you can see on the right of the second picture, cost me £6 brand new including postage and even comes with a level sensor so I could implement a low coolant warning on my dash. However it didn't come with a cap and the cap has just cost me £6 to buy... Then once that is mounted I can decided how I want to route my cooling system and then buy all of the silicon hose, joiners, clips and the like, looks like it's going to cost a fair bit but buy cheap buy twice...

I've also looked into the cost of getting my bonnet and nose cone vinyl wrapped as it looks like it will be beyond my ability and I got a quote back for £140 with them providing the vinyl, which isn't too bad and will be a last resort after attempting them myself.

[ayjay]

I vinyl wrapped arches ,scuttlle ,bonnet and nose. The nose cone is a nightmare to do well and although it looks ok would not pass close inspection due to small wrinkles at the compound angles. Its ok for now and gets the car looking good for very little money.
However it will def. be a professional spray job when I get the dosh together.

[Tatey]

Ayjay, what was the bonnet like to wrap? If it wasn't too bad then I may wrap the bonnet myself and get the nose professionally wrapped to get the best of both worlds.

I have now finished the bracket for my header tank, however it does oscillate a bit if you pull it down and let go, I am hoping once the hoses are on they will act like a damper to stop this from happening, if it doesn't then I'll make a new bracket with more than one support arm.

[ayjay]

The bonnet is easy compared with the scuttle. There were no compound angles visible on the outside surface so no wrinkle potential. However your power bulge complicates things .Make sure the surface is nice and warm before starting as well as the vinyl. The little vinyl smoothing tool that you can get on ebay works better than any other sort of squeegee.

Hope this helps

[Tatey]

I'm guessing it will be a case of applying it to the middle and working back first and then move forward onto the scoop and apply heat to the vinyl to stretch it around the scoop?

I have a Teflon squeegee that seems to work quite well, however I have seen in a video on YouTube of what was essentially a nylon wheel with a handle that allows you to push the vinyl into concave surfaces like the edges of the scoop after applying a bit of heat, it looked like a brilliant tool but I can't find it anywhere.

I've now provisionally placed an order for some of my cooling system, I've gone for silicon hose and polished aluminium lengths, however I have only ordered the hot coolant hoses and the expansion hoses to start with as the cold side of things is a bit complex as you are joining 4 different hoses together that have different diameters and point in different directions so I'm going to have a go at the easier side first to get the hang of dealing with the silicon hose.

[ayjay]

Originally Posted by Tatey

I have a Teflon squeegee that seems to work quite well, however I have seen in a video on YouTube of what was essentially a nylon wheel with a handle that allows you to push the vinyl into concave surfaces like the edges of the scoop after applying a bit of heat, it looked like a brilliant tool but I can't find it anywhere.

I think plenty of stretch is the trick, then when its cool heat it again to reset its "memory" otherwise it shrinks over a couple of days

[Tatey]

Quick update, I've now finished applying the body filler to my bonnet and I've hosed it down to remove all of the fibreglass dust so I should be able to attempt wrapping it on Wednesday when I have a day off.

I have placed an order for 2/3 of my cooling system and when they arrive this week and I fit them then I will place the remaining order for the rest of it now I have decided what I want.

I've also managed to remove the large bubbles in my scuttle on the flange that the bonnet sits on, this was done by applying a lot of heat and pushing it into place, it now looks a lot better, its not perfect by any means but has been a good first attempt and will happily see me through IVA.

My header tank cap arrived however it turned out I ordered a mk4 polo cap instead of a mk3 so a new one is now in the post and I will be sending the wrong one back.

I have also started making the passenger foot well end panel out of aluminium and should finish it by tomorrow morning if all things go to plan.