This is about the way I mount the body to the frame and chassis. I went a different way with this. If I'm correct, the general idea is to box the interior with plywood and bonding paste. I'm sure that treated plywood and the bonding paste could give a strong result and it is a fast and relatively easy way of achieving results. But I saw some disadvantages in that and that is why I tried an alternative.
Firstly I made a hole in the back off the body that would be my boot lit. After that I got acces to the frame underneath from above. Because I have a lenghtened tail, I have a longer frame that reaches the end of the outriggers at the back of the car. This Picture shows the extra frame length I'm speaking of.
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I placed the body on the chassis and frame and outlined it just the way I want it. Basically by choosing the right hight bewteen the rear wheels and the top of the wheel arch. (difficult to choose because how much would it still drop with extra weight, usage and time?). I took suitable size blocks and layed them on top of the rear wheels supporting the body. Then I prepared the frame by using tape.
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After this, I used woven glass mat to pack the frame tubes creating a contra shape. The woven mats are stronger the standard glass fibre mat and keep the fibres together after using resin.
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After curing, I cut the edges back. With carton I made some moulds that I duplicated to glass fibre pieces I had no use for anymore.
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After cutting them out, I glued them in. Using a bonding paste (based on strong Epoxy) with chopped glass fibres.
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In the end I could remove the body again. Turn it on it's back and take the time and effort to laminate this structure until it was very strong. The box shape makes it very stable and rigid.
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The box section at the rear carries most of the weight, but offcourse isn't enought. I made stainless sills at the sides of the frame/chassis.
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With the body in place, I used the same technic. Using woven glass fibre mats to laminate a GRP lip that lies on top of the sills and is attached to the inside of the body. Some thread ends make it possible to mount a stainless strip on top of it, making a sandwich construction, fixing the lip firm.
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It all works. I will add extra support under the dash, side of bulkhead and the back of the interior by glueing in some profiles which will be bolted to the frame/bulkhead. When I make the doors, I will add a upper sill aswell. That way I creat an other box like shape at the side sides.
Michiel