Aluminum (... waste of)

Imagine how many Seven one could have build with all that aluminum. What a waste! :-)
Cheers.

Da booty 's ready

For once I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out. The goal was to have a boot with a hard cover, wide opening, but keep the rollbar and struts. With the fuel filler moved to the top, another challenge was to integrate it into the look. Talking looks, I wanted it to be close to the tonneau cover the car originally had. The result shows the upper edge of the bodywork covered with leatherette. The carriage bolts simulate the press studs you normally see there. Two chromed hinges are used to fix the cover to the rollbar basis. A cabinet latch is used to lock. A nicely chromed escutcheon covers the hole for the square drive.
Cheers.

Roll bar and struts

 

One of my goals is to build an aluminium hard cover for the boot. It composes of two fixed side panels and a center section that can be opened. The struts supporting the roll bar have therefore to go through the fixed side panels. Carefull measuring and then the hole cutter came out.
Cheers.

Bonnet fitting

The bonnet, as some other parts, is from Caterham. It comes with a protective foil (blue) which is a PITA to pull off, especially around the edges. During TechnoClassica in Essen yesterday, I bought adhesive rubber seal for the bonnet's locating surface. Some minor adaptations still have to be made.
Cheers.

Bootlid - adapting the panels

The bootlid will be made of three parts: two fixed panels (left and right) and the center panel can be opened. When the chassis was stripped, I welded small brackets to the upper rails and cut 8mm thread into them. Now I can fix those panels to the brackets.

The Marelli sensors arrived from Emerald. As always I was quite impatient to receive the parcel. Everything is there and next time I will manufacture a bespoke bracket for that nice italian crank position sensor (Maseratis use the same !!!).
Cheers.

Bootlid - aluminium panels

Some more work done on the front cycle wing pattern.

Aluminium panels cut and bent to build the bootlid.
Cheers.

Cycle wing pattern

One of many challenges "on top" will be the DIY aluminium cycle wings. Today I started to build a pattern. The models are the original Caterham PVC cycle wing and a very light carbon fibre alternative. I chose beech because it is quite hard. This will be important when I wrap the borders. I'm curious to learn how to do it, but will probably stop doing it if it is too time consuming.
Cheers.

Rear numberplate

Looks easy, but if you want to have it in the middle and level, you have to spend some time doing it right. The licence plate light is a classic Hella item.
Cheers.

Front numberplate

Not a lot done tonight 'cause car not starting, maybe a sensor issue ... i'll investigate when frustration has waned. Numberplate is on, though.
Cheers,

Small jobs Sunday

Waiting for the brake parts to be delivered gives time for small jobs. A panel joining the nose and the lower chassis rail was missing, out again with the panel tools! Another job was mounting the air temperature sensor inside the airfilter housing.

Rivnuts and Allen bolts to keep the battery cover in place.

Cheers.

Lights

Lights and indicators connected and tested.

Windscreen and mirrors mounted, all covered in 18 months storage grunge.
Cheers.

Start of final assembly

Doesn't look like much, but two more days of work were needed for the next steps. Indicator brackets to mount the indicators at some distance from the body ...

... nose fasteners riveted to mount the nose ...

... middle console bolted in and connected and with the scuttle and wiper motor in, it was possible to attach the water tank. Plus a lot of little things like the fasteners for the bonnet a.s.o.

Cheers.

Surface finish

It's quite difficult to get a finish on new panels without making them look new on an old car. After 240 and 1200 sandpaper, I gave it a rub with grey scotchbrite. Although the result is matt, this process leaves some of the handling traces.

The (new) workshop watch should tell me when it is enough, shouldn't it?

Cheers.

Bulkhead

Cut and drilled a panel this evening to replace the bulkhead. The original panel had been riveted, but this one is bolted and can be removed to access the rear side of the dashboard. Recently I found quite a nice lid while recycling some stuff at work. I cut out where the steering column goes and adapted it to the bulkhead. This will be a nice and dry place for electrics with a rubber seal going all around it's bottom.

 

The lid is made of aluminium and I still have to find a solution to fix it to the panel underneath. The sign says: "This cover screw to be released before transporting by air" ... nice touch.

Cheers.

Aluminium cycle wings

Although this is only a project, I had the opportunity to buy some tools last weekend. There are different ways to DIY aluminium cycle wings and youtube gives quite a few hints, both amateur and professional. Some enthusiasts give their knowledge and publish it on dedicated sites like locostbuilders. That's where I found this tutorial (.pdf 412kB). My approach will be a mix of what I saw doing people here and there, but be patient, a lot of other things have to be done first.

Bead roller and 3 roller bending machine now in my workshop.

English wheel, maybe one of my next acquisitions, depends on success (or not) of the DIY route to aluminium cycle wings (and on budget of course).

Cheers.

Bonnet line

Test fit of nose + bonnet + scuttle. The bonnet fits flush front and rear.

The bulkhead will be bolted to the scuttle via rivnuts. This allows to unmount it and have good access to the rear of the dashboard if needed. But I first had to fabricate an aluminium angle which is now fixed to the panel underneath the steering column. 

Cheers.

Union Jack Joiner

Joining the old panel with the new one with some help from Jack.

Washers and screws underneath the car to fix the passenger's seat.

I'm off for holidays now until mid September.

Cheers.

Wheel #2

The inner side panels on the driver's side are in. There is a cut-out in the footwell to leave more space for the clutch foot. The hole is where the lambda sensor cable comes in.

The left rear fender completes the bodywork at the back end (except for the boot cover). Some little things to do like the number plate and it's light. The exhaust bracket must be screwed in before the inner sidepanels are fitted because the screws that hold it are hidden between the inner and outer panels.

Cheers.