(Author: ikom Monday April 12, 2004,
Apr,12,2004Apr,12,2004
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Monday April 12, 2004
I decided that the rear bulkhead panels both on the cockpit and engine side should be constructed of full aluminum sheet material. The factory pieces are only 280mm high off the floor pan and the rest of the cockpit is protected from the engine bay by nothing more than a fiberglass (GRP) skin. This bothered me and I ended up buying two nice sheets of aluminum from my local "Metal Supermarkets" to be custom cut by me to serve as a double skinned firewall.
The inner cockpit side panel would be constructed of a single piece of 0.050" (16 gauge) 5052 aluminum sheet (36"x48") and shaped to fit the contours of the chassis hoop. The outer engine side panel would be constructed of a slightly heavier single piece of 0.063" (14 gauge) 5052 aluminum sheet (36"x48") and would go a long way towards making me feel safe within the cockpit especially since a 500 horsepower engine would be breathing literally inches behind my neck and head.
"Metal Supermarkets" are a chain of stores all over North America that specialize in selling small quantities of metal and will cut and sometimes even bend material for their customers. They are very convenient for buyers like me because they will accurately custom cut metal to my exact requirements.
I started on the rear bulkhead panel today, (Monday holiday) and got as far as trial fitting it. This bulkhead is cut from a single piece of 0.063" (14 gauge) 5052 aluminum sheet (36"x48") and it was an absolute bitch to maneuver into the cockpit. I wanted to cut the panel with the openings for the roof chassis framework as small as possible initially and progressively enlarge them so that I would end up with a near perfect fit. Metal is however, very uncooperative and unlike a cardboard template the cuts have be generous and with larger tolerances to enable it to be trial fitted. Even though I had lots of protective duct tape on the chassis tubing, I managed to nick the powder coating in several places while I tried to pry it back out of the chassis. The cardboard template was precisely drawn and cut before I did anything with the metal sheet but I am learning rapidly that metal has its' own very special characteristics.
