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Good news! Module 3 has now arrived so I can now start thinking about body work too. Most of it looks fairly straight forward in terms of fitting though time consuming but the rear tub seems a bit of a mystery. What's the best way to attack it. My plan was
- get doors on and aligned as a reference point.
- cut the bumper holes in the back based on the tried and tested measurements off the number plate and fog light
- run some bars through the holes into the chassis to set the height correctly on the rear
- lower the front of the tub down trimming excess of the bottom and sides till the doors backs and the line of the tub are parallel with a sensible shutline
- drill through in several places in the side of the tub under the wheel arch area and bolt it to the chassis (M8 rivetnuts I think)
- fit the door striker plates based on that positioning
how does that sound?
I can't help feeling that it should have more fixings along the rear rather than just under the arches though from looking through other peoples photos, I can't see any evidence of this or work out how you might do it anyway.
Any suggestions welcome as once I have this mounted I can get on with the boot floor, fuel filler hole etc
Sounds perfect to me! That is exactly what I did and it worked just fine.
You need to fit the 'A' post covers first and align them with with the scuttle. You then line up the leading edge of the doors with the covers. You'll probably have to put packing pieces behind the hinges to get them right.
For fixing the rear tub, I think I used SS M6 nuts and bolts through the body and the chassis.
Have fun....(...and count the number of times you fit and remove the rear tub :lol
Also fixed to the chassis uprights that support the strike plates. Of course that is another story as many of us with earlier cars had to cut these off and re-make them as they were in the wrong place. I assume you have these uprights? I beleive they are now supplied loose to be bolted in place.
Tub is quite solid when in place, even when taking the weight of a spare wheel. I guess because of its shape.
One other thing I remebered. Be carefull when cutting the hole for the fuel tank filler. There is/was a little dimple on the tub but in the wrong place!
OK, cool. If everyone else has just bolted on to the sides with no trouble then I'll not try to over engineer extra fixings down the back unless it becomes a problem.
I had some separate striker plate things. Kevin explained there were issues in the past so now they just throw them in regardless in case you have one of the chassis' in question.
To do the filler hole I'll probably line up the hose underneath, mark it then spot drill through from the back before attacking with the hole saw from the front just to be 100% it's in the right place.
The price list mentions something about "2x door internal brace panels" that I don't appear to have but neither am I sure I need. Can't see anything extra on anyone elses build either. Any ideas? I've asked Terry too. I suspect it's something that used to be pre-welded in or something like that.
My biggest problem now is where to put all the new bits I've acquired because there's not enough room for them, me and the car in the same garage at the same time.
The price list mentions something about "2x door internal brace panels" that I don't appear to have but neither am I sure I need. Can't see anything extra on anyone elses build either. Any ideas? I've asked Terry too. I suspect it's something that used to be pre-welded in or something like that.
There should be a kind off 'L' shaped steel strip inside the doors that supports the hinge bolts. It could mean that??
Am I correct in thinking that the only fixings are under the rear arches? I just wonder if it's going to flex a bit
Great progress Ian.
And now you're on to the good bit. The bit where all that hard work starts to morph into the shape of a proper car.
I put one fixing point behind the rear wheels. I think there's a web protruding downwards from the part of the chassis around the tank. I drilled through there for another fixing (with SS M6 as Peter suggests). Having said that, it's still under the rear arch so youy may already have planned for that one.
Have fun. There's a few hours of cutting and filing and trial fitting though, and cutting and filing and trial fitting (and probably some colourful language) before you get to drill the fixing points................
