Build Diary 9

Build Diary Page 9

• Rear tub section.

A hole needs to be drilled inside the tub to gain access to the near side suspension bolt. When we trial fitted the rear tub we found that the hole did indeed give us access to the the bolt, however the rear suspension coil was fouling on the rear tub. It isn't a problem on the offside as there is a larger space to make way for the fuel filler neck. These are the little things they don't mention in the build manual! So more modifications - a section was cut out of the rear tub, turned 180º then fibre glassed back in place, thus creating a larger space.

• Rear lights.

The rear lights were the next candidates for modification. The manual says to fit the rear lights by dismantling the light and fitting the lens on the outside, and the bowl of the light on the inside, thus sandwiching the fibre glass body in between. Fare enough, until you come to change a light bulb and the back of the light falls off as soon as you take the screws out. The simple and cunning solution was to keep the light together as one unit, and file out the hole in the fibre glass until the bowl slipped in and sat on a ridge already molded into the bowl. The light was then secured at the back with a bracket, just like the ones that hold the dashboard instruments in place.

The same was done with the fog and reversing lights, although a different design of bracket was needed.

• Rear tub section continued.

The rear tub section fits over the top rear chassis rail, and is held in place by the seat belt harness bolts. When we trial fitted the seats we found that the anchor points were too far apart, we could have just left it, but it wouldn't have looked right. So four new holes were drilled in the top chassis rail and nuts were welded to the rail. The holes in the fibre glass were made big enough for the seat belt bolts to be tightened up against the chassis rail, and not onto the fibre glass itself. The four spare holes would now be used to hold the rear section in place, using some custom made aluminium stepped washers.

An aluminium extrusion was then attached to the rear chassis so that the edge of the fibre glass would sit into it, giving a neat finish, and also help to hold it in place.

The fixings on the bottom of the rear tub were beefed up from the original two M8 bolts, to a stainless steel bracket which the rear tub actually sits on. A piece of neoprene rubber was placed between the two.

Before the rear tub could be fixed permanently, the trimming on the rear section had to be done.

There is a gap under the rear wheel arches that needs to be filled in, to stop any dirt or water getting into the cockpit area. My Dad made two aluminium panels that were bolted to the chassis.

Finally the rear tub section could be permanently fitted. It's amazing how much it transforms the look of the car. It actually looks like a car now, (instead of a boat, as some of my friends commented).