Build time today 4.0 hours - Total build time 165.0 hours.
Man time today 5.0 hours - Total man time 188.5 hours.
Decided to fit the bonnet.
When I discussed this with Westfield on a visit they said that the hinges could be fitted on the inside but after much looking and fiddling I decided that it would not be possible in my case, When looking at the bonnet fitting I could see that it was catching in the area around the head lamp fittings so the first task was to ease that area a little. I took about 1cm of the return edge depth away in this area meaning that it no longer touched the chassis.
Next to the hinges, to fit flush I needed to cut out the body work to allow the hinge to sit flush with the chassis and bottom of the nose. I masked up the area and marked out where it need to be cut before using a diamond cutting wheel on my Dremel.
To line up on the chassis I put a piece of masking tape across the chassis rail where the hinges will fit.
Trouble was that the bottom edge of the nose (where it hinges) was not square with the chassis. After much checking, prodding, pushing etc I decided that the side that was slightly higher would pull down to make it level. So with the bonnet and hinges in place I marked the bottom line and hinge sides and checked several time.
I then drilled and riveted one of the hinges on to the chassis before putting every thing back in place to check the positioning for the second hinge. All looked OK so that was ready to fix in the same way.
Before fixing I considered how they were to be fixed to the fibreglass nose. Rather than using large washers I made a couple of aluminium plates that mirrored the hinges, these would then be used on the inside to spread the load.
It was then straight forward to secure the second hinge mark, drill and secure to the nose cone.
Once complete it was then a matter of refitting the radiator. A task that took longer then it ought. I could not get one of the bolts used to secure to the chassis to bite. Off the car everything fitted OK but on it no luck. Eventually I found a slightly longer bolt and thankfully this caught the thread and tightened OK. Part of the problem is that you are bolting into plastic and therefore it is easy to strip the thread if over tightened.
When I discussed this with Westfield on a visit they said that the hinges could be fitted on the inside but after much looking and fiddling I decided that it would not be possible in my case, When looking at the bonnet fitting I could see that it was catching in the area around the head lamp fittings so the first task was to ease that area a little. I took about 1cm of the return edge depth away in this area meaning that it no longer touched the chassis.
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| Bonnet hinge cut outs |
To line up on the chassis I put a piece of masking tape across the chassis rail where the hinges will fit.
Trouble was that the bottom edge of the nose (where it hinges) was not square with the chassis. After much checking, prodding, pushing etc I decided that the side that was slightly higher would pull down to make it level. So with the bonnet and hinges in place I marked the bottom line and hinge sides and checked several time.
I then drilled and riveted one of the hinges on to the chassis before putting every thing back in place to check the positioning for the second hinge. All looked OK so that was ready to fix in the same way.
Before fixing I considered how they were to be fixed to the fibreglass nose. Rather than using large washers I made a couple of aluminium plates that mirrored the hinges, these would then be used on the inside to spread the load.
It was then straight forward to secure the second hinge mark, drill and secure to the nose cone.
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| Hinges secured to lower nose cone |
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| Inside view showing the aluminium plates |
Once complete it was then a matter of refitting the radiator. A task that took longer then it ought. I could not get one of the bolts used to secure to the chassis to bite. Off the car everything fitted OK but on it no luck. Eventually I found a slightly longer bolt and thankfully this caught the thread and tightened OK. Part of the problem is that you are bolting into plastic and therefore it is easy to strip the thread if over tightened.
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