There are 4 fabrication tasks that I've been putting off, but I've got to the point where they are the 4 main fabrication tasks left:
1) Make a grill! mumblemumblemumblemumble.....
2) Fit the chrome mesh to the side vents
3) Fit the door locks properly
4) Do something with the filler cap
Seeing as I've been doing bodywork and seeing as it could have been the most involved task, I decided to get no.4 out of the way!
So on the Miglia the fuel tank sits much further back than my Spyder, so the fuel filler is in a much more angled section of bodywork.
My initial idea was to sink it slightly in order to keep it horizontal, either with:
A) a lowered, bonded and melded in fibreglass section
or
b) a fabricated metal panel that would angle from the front to the back but would bolt on top of the shell.
In order to get the filler cap low enough and still able to open here's the hole I ended up with!!
I didn't like this!
So I've gone with option
c) Make a panel to allow me to bolt the filler on at an angle and use flexible filler hose! This is CONSIDERABLY simpler than what I was planning!
So some scrap steel was found, a hole cut at the right point and trimmed roughly to cover the big hole I'd made. BTW that hole is, by accident, perfectly sized to access everything on the fuel tank should the need ever arise!
Initial test fit looked good! It allowed the filler to be angled just right without putting any stress on the fibreglass
Any visible bolts on this build are going to be Allen headed, so I drilled some holes at regular intervals and dropped in some bolts and I was very chuffed with the result as it is right in keeping with the look of the interior!
A quick test showed that the plate allows the filler to open without fouling the body shell and it kept everything firmly in place
And here's a good shot demonstrating the angle everything is now at:
Obviously I will tidy things up and then paint it the same colour as the car, but I'm tired now and it's cider-o'clock!
But given what a faff I could have had with fibreglass or welding something, I'm quite chuffed with what I've ended up, how relatively simple it was and how it looks