Jim - I had a brief look at the plastic battery boxes, but they were bigger than the space available.
( I want to re-use the Spitfire brackets above the box for the electrics. )
Plus I need all the practise at metal working & welding that I can get!
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Another inch...
I did the final trimming around the edge of the battery box hole in the bulkhead.
I then needed to make a few fine tuning "adjustments" to the box itself to ensure it fitted into the hole.
( In other words using my small lump hammer, not the big one.
)
Finally I was left with this gap in front of the battery box.
This gap will make painting this area on the inside much easier to do.
But I wanted to provide a bit of extra support, so I welded in a section of small box section.
Then I marked up where the battery box met this bar & bent the front tab to match.
I just need to hammer out the left & right side edges until they touch the bulkhead before they are welded in place.
I will start welding from the bulkhead and work my way forward.
That way I can trim the front edge when I know how it all fits in place.
I've started preparing the battery box for the small rust repairs I need to make.
I also welded up a small slit in the bulkhead where I was a little too enthusiastic with the grinder cutting the old box out.
My final task of the day was to start playing with the heater control value.
This was the original Spitfire set up.
So I plan to reuse the bracket with my new heater control value.
I just need to trim one edge of the bracket to allow the hose to sit tighter.
I also need to add an extra hole in the bracket to mount it to the raised section of bulkhead.
Plus trim off the front edge & original mounting hole where my thumb is in the photo.
I may also need to replace the self tapping screws with nuts & bolts, or make sure the return hose on the left does not hit the screws.
Note: I still need to work out the route for the heater control cable.
This will allow me to weld up some more of the original bulkhead holes that I will not need.
Cheers, Paul.
