Inching Along...
Managed to sneaked a little bit of car work in today...
Cleaned up the rubber seal for the boot lid.
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Made some cardboard templates to "bridge" the horizontal gaps from the cockpit framework to the body shell.
These will eventually be cut out of one of my original fibreglass floor pans (avoiding the "wobbly" bits).
Then some fibreglass matting will added to the edges to hold the body shell in position.
( Until the vertical plywood panels are added. )
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I had a brief look at how I could bridge the gap between the rear edge of the boot floor and the body shell.
This panel (when complete) will be keeping the boot water tight, rather than supporting the rear shell (see below).
Note:
I fear there will be a lot of fiddly work at the corners and where the tail pipes are held in place.
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I wanted to quickly paint the underside of mounting points for the boot lid lock latches.
So I propped up the back.
I couldn't get a decent photo of the paint underneath, but at least I can now refit the latches.
I also removed the masking tape and newspaper from the sunny side of the boot lid opening.
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Supporting the rear section of the body shell:
The rear of the
Spyder body shell is supported by the Herald's outriggers, this is
Mr T's.
Whereas, the original combination of
Cordite framework and Spitfire chassis left "thin air" at the rear.
Thankfully, I now have a boot floor / tail pipe support bracket to play with.
Although re-reading
Swifty's build reminded me that his rear sub-frame/boot area provides more support for the body shell.
I also liked the way
Michiel added sections to the rear of his body shell, that then rested on the internal framework.
#47
So I am going to use a variation of that theme, that will involve adding panels along the sloping sides of my bracket.
Plus adding some panels from the angle iron running across the rear of the boot floor up to the body shell too.
Note:
I will make proper templates after the body shell has been bonded on at the front & the "middle" (between the humps).
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Until next time, take care, Paul.
