| Side Panels | ||||||||||
| Nov 03 | ||||||||||
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| On to the side panels which as a job that I was not looking forward to as one mistake would show forever!! First thing to work out is where the back long panel will fit. Now to try and ensure you have enough front panel, you need to try and fix the back panel as far forward as you can without seeing where it 'starts' from when the rear GRP is an place. So its a simple case of loosely fitting the GRP and making a note of how much it will cover up. Top-Tip here, the GRP is not symmetrically so you need to measure the shortest side to make sure all is covered. For my build this was 14 cm from the rear diagonal strut of the chassis (that inner wheel panel is attached to). Once that was established you also need to cut the panel diagonally as the lower part of the back of the panel will need to clear the rear suspension. Once you have done that its a case of clamping in position. I used 5 cm to bend over the top rail and over again into the cockpit. I also used the method described in the manual of taking time to bend little at a time working up and down the metal to be bent. First completed the back section on the top bend: | ||||||||||
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| Next was to move onto the front. Had to cut a slight V out of the panel where it changes direction again taking time to ensure all would look neat when complete. Bend a little harder as there is a longer section but results are good if time is taken. I chose to bend into engine bay area, lots choose to cut off so only have one bend onto top of rail. Pictures below: | ||||||||||
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Now that the panel had the upper surface bent into position, it was time
to consider the suspension holes and front panel. I therefore took
time to get the front suspension ready to fix to the chassis at this
stage. This was mainly ensure old bits were refurnished and that the
new bushes fit. The bushes supplied by Tiger took some cutting down
to size and I also found I needed to source some nuts and bolts (Tiger
didn't seem to supply right quantity of the right bolts for my build and I
have had to source a few myself). I then took some time to figure
out how big to make the suspension holes. For the hole in the long
panel (at the back for Tiger leg) I used a o-o shape. Template as of
link:
For the front I again installed the suspension arms and used a cardboard template to ensure I got the holes in the right place. It was then a simple case of using the template to cut the holes out. I use a jigsaw for the holes then U finisher to make a nice edge. Again more pictures:
To finish off it was a simple case on bending under the bottom edge of long back panel. Rivet into place. Final assemble suspension. Rivet front panel into place. Note, as I still have exhaust hole to cut-out, I am waiting to put engine in before I can check on hole position then rivet drivers side. I wanted to have car on 4 wheels before engine installation.
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