Some progress to report - at last.
 

Put the body on this afternoon.
Some pics here : http://picasaweb.google.com/kennmorton/BodyOn02

Just a couple of things not quite to plan.
After measuring all the holes needed in the body for things like seat belt anchorages on the back and steering rack spigot then ploting them on the body about the centre line and also for/aft then drilling them oversize some don't line up. The pick up points for the seat belts on top of the frame especially - one is spot on but the other is out longitudinally by about 10mm. Havn't been able to look at everything yet 'coz it was too dark by the time I finished.
How did everyone elses line up ?

One bit was my fault though - forgot about the gear lever. It managed to poke an extra hole in the tunnel, had to lift it back up and feed it through the proper hole I had so carefully cut out for it so just hope no damage done, something else to check in the daylight

Nice job Ken, it's a massive milestone in the build! Unfortunately subsequent jobs seem so minor in comparison I had a bit of a lull in enthusiasm.. Coming back to me now tho' :-)

Rich

Did a bit more tonight and it's sitting a lot better now.
The back end of the cockpit is wedged tight against the outside seat belt anchorage brackets and the front is fairly solid as well but I can't see if it's touching anywhere.
Rear bulkhead is as far back as I can get it - must be touching the ally firewall I think.
The chanel around the engine bay opening is actually sitting on the rear chassis cross member and just about touching the rear chassis supports under the rear light mouldings.
The rear wheels and tyres are not sticking out past the body but are only in about 2mm each side.
The front tyres on the other hand stick out past the body by about 15mm on the drivers side and just over 20mm on the passenger side ! I might be able to pull/push the body slightly but I think the passenger side will still stick out more than the drivers side. Is this the "normal" amount that everyone elses have stuck out ? It almost looks like I might need some bolt on wheel arch extensions (a la Escort rally cars)
All these measurements etc. are without the 3mm rubber washers (which I can't find - not sure now if Norman actually gave me any) or packers in place. Most of the mounting points are fairly close to the frame so might only need the rubber washers for most of them but the gap between the frame and the body where the seats fit is more like 10-15 mm.

I guess it is due to your wheels/offsets Ken. Most cars I have seen with the standard wheels only just fit within the body, I would certainly prefer more coverage that's for sure..
Rich

Hi,
It's a good feeling when the body goes on, even better when it fits.
Mine was about 20mm high (with the 3mm spacers) where the seats go because the rear chassis support arms were in the wrong place, I got some measurements from Norman and checked the chassis and found the rear arms were too high, I cut them off, reshaped them and welded them back to Normans measurements and the body fitted perfectly.
My front tyres are 205's, they stick out about 4mm each side equally. I altered the camber for the SVA test to bring them inside the arch, I put them back after the test and they look fine.
I found it took a lot of time to get the body position spot on, I had to take it off a few times to get everything to fit which is why I'm glad I did it before I had it painted because on the final fit everything just bolted on and I didn't damage the paint that's why it took me a few years. Good luck.

ive got quite a gap between my rear bulkhead and the body, maybe 1" ?
i did have my body on and off a few times as well before i was completly happy with the fit.

Bolted the back and front to the frame - 3mm + rubber at front, 8mm, 12mm + rubber at the back to give body about 3mm clearance over the rear frame crossmember.
This has resulted in the engine cover lid which was carefully adjusted when the body was sitting on pallets being totally out of shape now.
Tried to get it back by altering the packers under the main body mounting points but no joy. Looks like I'll have to try and adjust the cover but I doubt I'll manage to get the gaps as even as before.

have you got the rubber seal on the engine cover yet? ive now put them under mine and its made a huge difference to the panel gap.
The seal is basically an offcut of the door seal.

Well things are moving on quite quickly now, but still of the 3 steps forward 2 steps back variety.
Had the car sitting at idle yesterday trying to get the idle/static ignition timing somewhere near despite the fact that with my new fabricated throtle body backed right off it still leaked enough air that it wouldn't idle below 1000 rpm and it overheated and blew all the coolant out ! ( I have already had a problem with coolant pipes which cost me a weeks delay - story for another time )
So today was spent testing the thermostat - perfect - and refilling the system and making doubly sure there were no air locks. 4 hours later and now the rad gets hot and the fans turn on. Idle is steady but whereas yesterday the oil pressure when I looked was about 70 psi ( but not sure if I bothered looking when it was hot ) it is now down to 25 psi hot idling and 45 psi hot at 2500 rpm. Hope this is just down to the nice fully synth thin oil I've used and not because I've shaged the engine.

Anyway post is really to ask a question about wheel/tyre projection outside the body. My front wheels still stick out quite a bit so am concerned for SVA. Has anyone used the temporary extensions that Norman made up ?
Did they need any beading added for the minimum radius ?
If anyone else has protruding front wheels do they throw a lot of muck up the side of the body ?

I don't think the tyres projecting outside the body look too bad, in fact I quite like the slightly retro butch stance but if it means I have to mess about with temporary extensions for SVA and then the sides are always dirty when they are removed then I would rather form some proper wheel arch extensions now and have done with it.

Ed - just read your previous post - what engine cover seals ?

Havn't got any, Norman has never mentioned any, havn't seen any drawings with any on ( but still missing about 50% of the drawings anyway ) and can't realy see anywhere you could fit them .

Have now repositioned the engine cover but the gaps are not equal anymore. O.K. maybe I am being a bit anal but I might add a bit of filler and do a bit of sanding in the future to get the gap symetrical all the way around.

Another question - what axle weights did everyone use for SVA?

Another long weekend.
Headlining done, quite pleased with that.
Started on the carpets, pretty sure this is going to be beyond me so could do with a good trimmer to make up the carpet sets for me - any sugestions ?
Wiring all finished and working.
All the dash bits in and fastened down - what a PITA ! Easy to fix all the bits and pieces on thier own but now everything had to go in together it was almost impossible to get to some of the fixings. Also part of the loom to the lower switches which was made up on the car and fitted perfectly was suddenly rather short in a few places when it had to bend past the heater controls which wern't there before - dohhh!
Anyway it moved for the first time under it's own power and even managed to climb onto the trailer ready to go off to get the ECU mapped at tomorrow.

Sounds like Stoneleigh should be easy the rate you are working now!

As for trimmers, I used the regular Phantom guy, Buddy Holsten at Car & Coach, Coventry. He did excellent work at reasonable prices..

Rich

Great news to hear its driving. Well Done, will be very interested to know what power you get on the rollers as well :)

Well worth using that trimmer Ken as i beleive hes got patterns for a lot of the phantom panels, including the carpets etc.., you might even be able to order a carpet set in the pattern you want and pick it up when you come to stoneleigh?

A pillars - I havent managed to get hold of Norman yet, he hasnt answered his phone the couple of times ive tried, ill try again at lunch time today.

I spoke to Norman last night, he might be over looking at engines for me...