Hood and Side Tips

These tips are from Rumbles page on the ffcars forum:

I now have the hood and side covers installed. It took about as much time as the doors to complete because there are 5 separate body elements to fit together and align properly. The FFR manual is a bit sketchy on the panel fitting details and sequence, so here are some additional hints and tips.

Overall, the sequence of steps is:

1. Install the hood latch and release handle

2. Rough trim the side panels

3. Fit the nose cone and align the grill

4. Fit the hood panel

5. Install the prop rod, hood hinges, alignment pins and striker

6. Install the side panels

7. Install the headlights

Install the Hood Latch and Release Handle

It is much easier to install the latch and release handle before the rest of the panels go on. The FFR manual has good detail on this step, but here are some additional pointers:

- Install the hood release handle so the cable points forward. This orients the handle 180 degrees from what the FFR manual suggests. This will ensure the cable operates smoothly and it provides lots of cable length to route to the latch.
- Instead of drilling a hole in the middle of the firewall for the cable, drill the hole next to the where the round frame tube comes thru the firewall in about the 8 o’clock position. That hides the cable from view and maintains a clean look on the firewall.
- Ensure the hood latch does not rub with the radiator. In the battle between steel and aluminum, the latch will win and a leak will eventually leave you stranded on a road trip. If it does rub, do not try to bend the latch. The latch is made of very brittle metal and will snap off. You can grind off the latch lever or bend the mounting bracket to gain the clearance you need.

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Rough Trim the Side Panels

- If you have not done so already, attach the forward most portion of the body to the chassis, near the front suspension.
- Lay the side panels against the body so the bottom is against the horizontal part of the body. Use some duct tape or gorilla tape to hold it in place during the fitting/trimming process.
- Trim the rear of the side panel to match the contour of the body. Also note the forward to rear position of the side panel to ensure that the openings for the front suspension are aligned.
- For now, leave the excess fiberglass on the front of the side panel until the grill position is adjusted.

Fit the nose cone and align the grill

- Install the nose cone so it butts up to the front of the body and its angle is aligned with the bottom of the side panel. To temporarily hold the nose cone in place, tape it to the other body panels and put something like a small box under the front
- Align the angle of the grill to the nose cone.
- Next stand in front of the car and ensure the grill is vertical when compared to the rest of the car. I don’t think there is a way to measure this, so just eyeball it.
- The nose cone should fit pretty well as is, but you may want to do some minor trimming.
- Attach rear of the nose cone to the chassis brackets.
- Drill and install a screw from under the nose cone into the radiator shell. This important for 2 reasons. First it gives you a tight seam between the nose cone and radiator. More importantly, it keeps the nose cone from catching on something down the road and folding up under the car. If that happens at cruising speed, it would cause allot of damage and could jam the steering mechanism.

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Fit the hood panel

- Rest the hood panel between the radiator and body cowl.
- Start at the front and trim just enough of the hood panel so it fits the contour of the radiator
- Then trim the rear of the hood panel to fit the contour of the body cowl. Most of the excess hood length should be trimmed off the rear. If you trim too much of the excess length from the front, the hood will lose is curved body line and it will be too wide where it meets the radiator (due to the triangular shape of the hood).

Install the Hood Prop Rod, Hinges, Alignment Pins and Striker

- Remove the side panels so you can access the underside of the hood during the hinges, alignment pin and striker installation.
- Install the hood prop rod. The FFR manual has good instructions here. A couple details are:
  - - Be sure to mount the top of the prop rod pivot ball as high as possible, but ensure it will not contact the body cowl when the hood is closed.
    - Per the FFR manual, mount the prop rod retainer clamp so it is horizontal when closed. If you mount it in the vertical position, the prop rod will fallout of the clamp on bumpy roads.
    - You will probably have to cut a few inches off the bottom of the prop rod so it will clear the radiator.
    - To hold the hood up, I find there are some solid spots on the intake manifold to place the prop rod.
- Install the hood hinges
  - - Completely assemble the hood hinges. Pay particular attention to the orientation of the brass bushings.
    - Install the hinge assemblies on the radiator. Ensure they are midway in their adjustment slots, they are vertical and they don’t interfere with the side panels.
    - With the hood panel in place, extend the hinge assembly and mark where they contact with the hood.
    - Remove the hood and install ¼” rivnuts in the center of your marks.
    - Place the hood panel back in place and attach the hinge assemblies. Operate the hood to ensure it opens/closes properly.
- Install the rear alignment pins
  - - Install the alignment pin brackets on the rear of the hood
    - Close the hood and mark where the alignment pin holes in the brackets contact the firewall.
    - Drill holes in the firewall and install the female receivers for the alignment pins.
    - Round off the square tips of the alignment pins. This helps them slide easily into the female receivers and compensates for minor misalignments.
    - With the hood closed, install the alignment pins. Operate the hood to ensure it opens/closes properly.
- Install the striker
  - - Place the striker and bracket assembly into the latch and lock it in place
    - Close the hood and mark where the striker bracket contacts the hood
    - Remove the hood to drill the holes. Do this by removing just the hinge pivot bolts so you don’t lose your hood adjustment.
    - Install ¼” rivnuts in the center of your marks. The cavity where you install the rivnut is quite shallow. Ensure you have the depth you need to clear the rivnuts and mounting screws.
    - Reinstall the hood
    - With the striker assembly locked in the latch, mount the striker bracket to the hood.
    - Operate the hood to ensure it opens/closes and latches properly.
- Install the gas shocks

Install the side panels

- Lay the side panels in place and temporally hold them with duct tape or Gorilla tape
- Trim the front of the side panels to fit the contour of the radiator.
- The FFR manual suggests that you screw the side panels to the radiator, the cowl and to body at the bottom. That works, but if you ever want to run without the side panels installed, the ugly screw holes will be exposed. The screws at the bottom are also difficult to remove when you need to do engine maintenance. I went a different route:
  - - I cut off the raised flanges on the side panels where they screw to the radiator and cowl.
    - At the cowl, I fabricated an aluminum bracket that is hidden under the top lip of the side cover. I drilled out one of the existing rivets in the firewall and replaced it with a 10/32 rivnut. When the side cover is off, I reinstall the screw so it blends in with the other rivets to maintain a clean look on the firewall.
    - At the front of the side panel, I cut a hole just large enough to fit the headlight connector thru. The hole doesn’t show when the headlight is installed because its smaller than the headlight chrome mounting bracket. On the radiator mount, I cut a slot where the headlight mounts. This allows the wires to pass thru, so the headlight can be easily removed.
    - The bottom of each side panel is held in place with a series of 4 pins that slip into holes in the body. The 4 pins keep all the individual panels sections in good alignment.
- As a result, the side panel comes off in flash since there are only 2 fasteners holding it on (headlight nut and 10/32 screw in firewall).

Each pin is made up of a sheet metal screw that thread tightly into a neoprene spacer. The neoprene spacer allows some flexibility when aligning the side cover pins to the holes in the body.