FroggyMan, Mister Towed & DaveCymru - Thanks for your replies gents, I'll try to cover the points below…
Engine Re-start - I think I am going to just leave this for now & concentrate on the body work instead.
As you say, it was driveable a while back & nothing fundamental has been changed since then.
( However, I will add double checking that the vacuum hose is still connected to my check list! )
Fibreglass Split: - My fault I know & I even posted a link that recommended avoiding square edges.
Driveway: - Unfortunately, my sloping drive makes working out what it straight / level quite hard to do.
So I will try to prop up the chassis into a horizontal position before I finalise the fit & bond the body shell on.
Cordite #007:
I really do appreciate all the encouragement on here to just build my car in whatever way works for me.
The reality is there are only a handful of these kits in existance & Ribble HQ have now abandoned this design.
The new Navigator will have wholesale changes to both the internal framework & the fibre glass body shell too.
If the kit supllier can't make it work as originally supplied, then I shouldn't be too hard on myself when I struggle.
But I am very conscious that I need to make the most of whatever dry weather we get over the next few months.
As there is still a lot of welding, rust treating, painting & fibreglassing to do to get any where near a re-body inspection.
So I will remember
SeaNick's post about knowing your limitations & I will look for the path of least resistance.
Which leads me neatly to…
Overall Stance - Without doubt, this is the area that is giving me the biggest head ache at the moment.
As regardless of what I do at the rear of the car, or even with the bonnet, the bulkhead position can't go much lower.
This only occurred to me after I had another look at this photo where I checked the brake master cylinder location…
The "lip" in the body shell for the bonnet is around the right height relative to the horizontal bulk head "shelf".
So if the body goes any lower, then even the standard size clutch master cylinder wouldn't fit under the bonnet.
( Note top of clutch m/c would be higher in this photo if the base was resting flat against the bulk head. )
But this set up leaves the bottom of the Cordite body shell sitting above the lowest part of the Spitfire bulk head.
This will be the situation whether I use the whole Spitfire shell, or just the bulk head & Cordite rear frame.
As using the Spitfire bulkhead removes so many other challenges I am reluctant to return to the original front frame.
Therefore if I lower the rear of the Cordite body shell too much, it will effectively be pivoting around the Spitfire bulkhead.
And I may end up with a body shell that appears to be "sticking up" in the middle & a bonnet that will not sit squarely at all.
So if I can't get the body any lower, I may simply* "extend" the sides of the Cordite body work to cover the low points.
* Obviously I am using the word "simply" in an ironic sense given how much work is required on even the "simple" jobs.
I will put some more thought into this at the weekend when I hope to spend some more time test fitting the body shell.
The other good thing that came out of Stoneleigh was the fact these cars are already a bit different from the "norm".
So what if I can't get mine to look as good as some of the completed Spyders on the road (or currently being painted
)?
It will still have a large chuck of the original idea going for it and it will definitely stand out compared to most cars on the road.
Cheers, Paul.
