Back seat Panel

The next part of the build was to put in the large panel that sits behind the seats. We used the same technique as the foot well panels in terms of setting up and riveting.

Things you may need for this job -

A drill
Measuring tools
Marker pen
Ruler
Hand clamps
Rivet gun
Cleco Inserter tool
Files
Nibbler tool (If needed)
Bench saw/ Bandsaw
Soldering iron
Portable sanding belt

A sharp (preferably new) 3mm Drill bit
3mm rivets
Cleco clips/clamps
Polyurethane sealant (Available form GBS)
Wood

We learned a few valuable lessons from riveting our first two panels on. One of them was not to rivet over the protective film covering the aluminum. The reason behind this is because the film gets trapped under the rivet and is hard to peal away when you want to take the film off. To avoid this problem we used a soldering iron and a ruler to burn a thin line through the plastic about half an inch either side of the rivet hole. This was much better than using a blade to cut through it and potentially leave scratch marks.

A set distance was measured from each end and a rivets where placed accordingly. The same distance was then used to place the next and the next rivets all the way along the sheet of ally.

Upon setting the panel in place we noticed that the sheet of ally was sitting at an angle to the bar that runs across the top of the chassis. We investigated this matter further and found out that if we riveted the sheet to the chassis the ally would distort and create a pressed effect almost like the look of a press studded sofa, which looks messy and unprofessional. We measured the angle of the gap and cut a piece of wood to this degree and length. It was then stuck to the top bar using the black poly sealant stuff. Once dry the wood was sanded using a sanding belt to remove any sharp edges and to make it smooth.

The ally was then placed back into position to see how it now sat. This time round it sat beautifully with no bend or play when it was pushed up tight against the chassis. After seeing how well this technique worked we used it to create 4 more pieces to fill in angled gaps between the two bars that run from the corners to the cross section that supports the top of the tunnel and the bottom of the rear floor pan.

Finally the pieces were sprayed with a black paint to protect them.

The aluminum was marked (for rivets) and placed back onto the chassis ready to be finally secured. We riveted across the top piece, along the diagonal bars, across the short middle bars, down the sides and along the bottom. We didn't rivet the round supporting bars because it would be fairly hard to get a rivet in the center without slipping to the slide. We added some poly sealant to the bar once it was riveted to double secure it.

Made an oopsy, the wood slipped down when drilling holes so had to re-drill. As you can see the angle inst huge but by using this spacer we avoided horrible warps in the metal like we have seen with other builds.  

 

Final rivets going in the sheet, looking good, metal looking as straight as an arrow!

 

 

 

 

The Differential

One of the first major jobs to be completed is fitting the differential to the back of the chassis.

Things you may need -

2 People to lift and secure the diff in place
A few simple straps
Sanding belt
Set of spanners
Mole grips
Torque wrench
Regular Lithium or Copper grease
Spray paint
Thread lock

We unwrapped the differential from its plastic packaging and spent a good 10 minutes figuring out how it lifted and bolted in place. At first we thought of using a step with a trolly jack to lift it up into place, after looking at other blogs and photographs. The only jack we had was very old and the handle connection was slightly broken so it couldn't be jacked to its maximum height, which was a problem.
We both lifted it up and decided that the task could be done with some good old elbow greece and some straps. Together we lifted and aligned the unit which we secured with a strap to the top bar of the chassis. This technique worked and the diff stayed in place once we had let go.

In total there are 5 holes you need to secure the diff to the chassis.

The first two are the long bolts that run from right to left. Both these bolts need washers and spaces to fill in gaps. The bottom bolt connects to the chassis through a long vertical bracket. This needs to go in first so you can allign your diff to put the top bolt in.

We had to use a belt sander to make some of the spacers smaller to make then fit between the diff and the bracket.

Our final bolt arrangement was as such;

Top bolt: Bolt head, washer, bracket, spacer, diff, spacer, washer, bracket, nylon nut.

Bottom bolt: Bolt head, washer, bracket, washer, spacer, diff, spacer, washer, bracket, washer, nylon nut.



Note: We sprayed our mild steel spacers with black paint to prevent rust

Note: All bolts should be lubricated with copper or lithium grease to help push through and rusting.    

You may have to fit the front holding bolts before the top one, what ever aligns the easiest.

The order for the front holding bolt is as follows:

Bolt head, spring washer, washer, diff.

Apply some thread-lock to the bolt before finally screwing it in.

This applies to both sides.



The 5th and final bolt goes on the back of the diff and a hole needs to be drilled out of the chassis to allow the bolt to connect, I'm pretty sure the bolt is 10mm. Finally a spacer needs to be fabricated to fit the distance of the hole and the diameter of the bolt. This process isn't immediately essential to hold the diff in but does need doing for extra security.

Finally once everything was bolted in place we tightened up the bolts with a torque wrench. We used the torque settings from Pauls GBS blog which where very helpful.

Here are a few spare images we have from the diff placement.

Spacers and washers between diff and bracket
we cut the spacer down and used a washer on
the inside to spread the pressure evenly
between the diff and the narrow slot

The securing bolt now drilled and torqued in place with the spacer
As you can see my dad put about 10 coats of paint on it to make
sure it wasn't going to rust. 

    

The first footwell panels

The first panels we decided to install were the driver and passenger footwell panels. One of the main reasons we did this was A. they where the smallest and B. we where informed that these panels could be fitted without any problems or interference with any other components.

Tools you may need for this job -

A drill
A vice
Measuring tools
Marker pen
Ruler
Hand clamps
Rivet gun
Cleco Inserter tool
Files
Nibbler tool (If needed)

A sharp (preferably new) 3mm Drill bit
3mm rivets
Cleco clips/clamps
Polyurethane sealant (Available form GBS)

The first thing we did was line the drivers side foot panel up with the chassis to make sure it fit in place.  After clamping it in place we realised that the panel wasn't sitting completely plat against the chassis. When we pushed the panel in you could tell that it was bending. Turns out that some of the corners were interfering with the welds on the chassis, which was understandable. We marked where the edges needed to be cut shorter, took the panel off and went to work initially with a file.

We repeated the process of clamping the panel on and off and filing it down until we, mainly mr perfect Kev, was happy with it. We did use a nibbler tool for certain sections such as where the top left piece of the sheet bends down to make a semi circle for the steering column hole.

Another technique we used to get it was to bend the left side edge to lay flat on the chassis. This was performed in the vice and just meant when the ally sheet was riveted it didn't warp around the edges to make that awful puncture mark press effect.

Once we where happy with the position the sheet was sitting we marked up how many rivets we wanted both horizontally and vertically. After some complex measuring and dividing we marked it up and started drilling the sheet (while clamped to the chassis) with the 3mm drill bit. One thing that we made sure not to do was hit the other side of the chassis bar when drilled through, this would blunt the end of the new, sharp drill bit.

We inserted the the Cleco clips as we went along to pull the sheet the chassis together. In the end we decided to go with 5 rivet holes down, 3 across the bottom and 2 on the top, either side of the steering column cut out.

When drilling had finished the panel was taken off for the final time, the holes in the ally sheets were filed to remove any excess metal and sharp edges.

Next it was time to put the polyurethane sealant on the panel before final fitting. This just ensures a waterproof barrier and gives the panel a proper seal. WARNING before using this stuff make sure your have scruffy clothes on, its a proper bast***d to get out of your clothes, as I found out with wearing a decent jacket. All you need is a thin bead around the edges of the panel.

Finally we placed the panel back onto chassis, clamped and Cleco'd it back up and started punching rivets in. Try and make sure your rivet is flat to the sheet when you punch it in, this will avoid them being angled. After it was riveted in we waited for the sealant to dry and cut off the excess around the sides in the morning.

This same technique was pretty much used to get the passenger side panel in except it took us a lot less time because we knew how to do it this time.      


 

Master cylinder

Master cylinder

The second thing we bolted to the car was the master brake cylinder. The refurbished unit (originally from a sierra) cost us about 80 quid from GBS. We unwrapped it and placed it in front of the two sliding slots above the steering column. We wondered which position it needed to be (higher or lower) so just bolted it loosely.  The nuts want to be going on the back side of the mount and you will need an Allen key to tighten them, The washers want to be on the Allen key head slide also. 

I later learned that the height of the cylinder is apparent to where and how you are routing your brake lines so do not lock your nuts until all your brakes are routed. Make sure the bolts are slack enough to enable movement up and down the slots. This will come in handy later when bending the brake lines.    

The master cylinder is in place, started to roughly route the rear brake lines

The brake plunger has been assembled, more about this is the pedal box post

Mounting position at the moment

 

The first job

The First Job

The very first thing we installed into the car was the steering column flange.

Things you will need for this job...

-The three piece steering column flange

-Vaseline
-Flat head screw driver
-Good hands

It needs to be put together in the order you see in the image.

The three sections split into each other easily, use some Vaseline to make the job easier. Once they are together use a flathead screwdriver to lift the lip of the rubber flange back over the plastic piece.

Once this is done it simply fits into the steering column holder on the chassis, again if you are struggling to get it in use some Vaseline.