In my other post today, I outlined the disappointment this morning when it became clear that we would need to cancel the SVA test on account of having no engine!
I will not dwell on it now but I still had a full day at MAC#1 to get on with some of the other jobs that needed doing prior to SVA but to be honest, progress was slow and my heart was really not in it.
So here is what I did.
Nose Cone Grill
The nose cone grill sits in front of the radiator and is supposed to guard the fan and grill but as the mesh is fairly large gauge, I suspect the effect is largely cosmetic.
I stared with a square sheet of mesh which I cut the corners off and then offered up to the inside of the nose cone.
The edges are then bent over around the hole in the nose cone. The mesh will eventually be bonded on place using the edges bent over the lip of the inside of the nose cone to secure the mesh.
Although not difficult, it is a bit fiddly. Luckily, Richard (BigRich from Locostbuilders.co.uk) was on hand to help out with his experience.
Once it was all correct, I painted it black, applying several coats through the day. I did not get time to bond it to the nose before I came home so I will need to do that next time.
Hockey Trim For Cockpit
The hockey trim fits along the inner edge of each door aperture to provide a nice, safe edge. To fit the trim, you just offer it up, trim a little from the arched end as necessary and then drill holes along trim and through the top chassis rail.
I did not rivet the trim in place at this stage as I want to get it powder coated black. So I drilled all the holes in the trim and chassis and then left the trim with MAC#1 to be sent for powder coating.
The other area where the Hockey trim is used is along the top edge of the central transmission tunnel.
As you can see, at the front end of the cockpit, the trim needs to be bent out to follow the transmission tunnel. We did this by holding it in place and hitting the bit that needed to bend with a rubber mallet. Again, I drilled a couple of holes and then added it to the pile of bits to be powder coated.
Transmission Tunnel Side Panels
This is another big part of the final look of the car that, for some reason, I had been putting off doing. I did not have enough aluminium at home and so was kind of hoping the MAC#1 would do it, but with guidance From Mark, I managed to get the job done.
One of the advantages of doing anything at MAC#1 is there there is always help around. In this case, another customer called Paul was working on his car at the same time and he already had transmission panels cut so I was able to use his as a template for mine.
Here are Paul’s panels.
I used them to mark out my own panels in plain 0.9mm aluminium.
Next I got to show of my jigsaw skills to everyone in the factory. I don’t think they were that impressed!
Next it was a case of trimming as necessary and then drilling some holes to allow me to screw the panels in place.
When the side panels were combined with the Hockey trim, it looked ok.
As you can see, the top panel on the transmission tunnel is still missing because I did not have time to do it.
So, some progress today but overall, not a great day. As I left, the car was hoisted high on the ramp to allow MAC#1 to get all the cars in a neatly as possible.
Kitcarbuild's Blog 