The upended chassis and Bond seal between floor pan and chassis

(Author: ikom Saturday May 8, 2004, May,08,2004May,08,2004

Saturday May 8, 2004
After making sure that the panels were perfectly positioned and securely clamped onto the upturned chassis once again, I pulled out the big half-inch high speed, high torque drill equipped with a new 3.2mm cobalt bit and proceeded to drill into the chassis members. The cobalt bit seemed to be best for quickly cutting into the mild steel of the chassis, much better than the ample supply of titanium bits that I was using for the alloy panels. The factory supplied (ten) skin pins were substituted for clamps as the drill holes progressed to secure the panels onto the chassis. I ended up doing half the holes and my son did the other half. One broken drill bit, and a sore arm from holding the heavy drill and all of the holes are completed and de-burred.

The front most panel required two additional (step drilled) half inch holes for accessing the bottom bolts for the radiator (anti-vibration) rubber fittings. I had previously purchased two stainless steel cosmetic covers for covering these holes from the plumbing department of my local "Home Depot", which will be snapped in place after these panels are eventually riveted in place.

With the help of my son we turned the chassis upright and placed it back on the dolly. I started work on the interior double skin floor panel of the cockpit. The factory cut panel is sized pretty close to the parameters and confines of the chassis; the only preliminary adjustments required are for clearing the centre mounted gearshift lever mounting column and a slight shaving of the two acute angle corners.

The panel is pre-fitted for size, marked and removed for cutting out the 270x270mm pedal footrest area. After carefully reading the factory manual and accessing a build website with photos to validate the process, I am clear as to what is required. The 270mm cut is carefully made with the air shear and trial fitted onto the chassis to confirm the relative location of the 20mm square tube chassis diagonal where a corresponding 20mm fold is required on the panel. It is imperative that this 20mm fold/bend is exactly adjacent to the chassis diagonal because this dimension is critical to successfully locate this foot well. The perimeter folds/bends in the panel were done with the help of my son (couldn't have done this without his help) to position the panel in our vice equipped with the "Lee Valley" metal bender to slowly start the bends and to gradually work our way across to form the footwell. A final shaping of the bends on the edge of the workbench with a dead blow hammer and a soft piece of wood and a pre- fit concluded the day's activities.