Sunday 23 April 2017

Shiny shiny

Argh,  still can't get the VIN number stamped,  even using the lump hammer. Going to have to do the weld option...

For those following this blog,  you'll notice I'm not very good at presentation - my build doesn't look very neat with quite a few gaps, scratches etc. Maybe not obvious from the pictures but trust me,  it's not a work of art.

Most of the time,  I'm not too bothered by this but one bit that is currently looking pretty yuck is my tunnel top piece,  where the gearstick and handbrake go. I stupidly bought mottled vinyl to cover the panel but then I'd already bought the GBS handbrake and gearstick gaiter,  which are plain black. Putting them together looks really horrible.

I've tried to buy a metal chrome surround for these bits but I just can't find anything that would fit. So,  I thought I'd have a go at making something - how hard can it be?

Actually,  pretty hard is the answer.

So, first step was a wooden former (I got this process from a thread on the Locostbuilders forum) and a disc of ally. Used a pliers to start bending the disc round the former and then a hammer to finish:


Lots of hammering,  filing, sawing and sanding later:


Again,  close up it doesn't look quite as good but I'm very proud of it and it makes the panel look much better:



(I've ordered some more stainless steel dome head bolts - the black ones are just to check the look).

I've started the wood former for the handbrake surround.

Saturday 22 April 2017

Dig that booty

I bought the GBS boot cover and what a great move that was - a superb piece of kit that fits really cleverly around some complex shapes. It's so well done that fitting only took an hour.

The cover has little white dots painted around the edge so you don't have to do any measuring - fit the cover,  drill through the white dots and the rear panel and then rivet half of the press studs:


The only issue is that it isn't possible to get the rivets tight against the rear panel due to the design of the press studs,  so they all spin round and might be a bit rattly on the move - we'll see...

With the aid of a £3 kit off eBay,  fitted the other half of the studs through the cover and on it went:


Looks good and should keep the boot mostly dry in the rain.

My current concern is the darn VIN number that has to be stamped into the chassis. As mentioned previously,  I tried stamping and made hardly any impression (literally) on the steel rail. I then tried engraving - disastrous:


A kind member from the RHOCAR forum has offered to weld a stamped tab on but I would need to cut away some of the side panel and then there is a fuel line very close to where it needs to be welded - all a bit dodgy. I've tried practicing stamping again but this time with my big old lump hammer and that seemed better - I actually made an impression. So I think I'll give that a last try tomorrow...

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Ears to go with the eyes

Short session to finish off all the mirrors:


The centre mirror probably won't give much of a view but that doesn't matter for IVA - it just has to exist.

After complaining about the difficulty of trimming the stainless steel cockpit edge trims,  they do look very good when the plastic is taken off.

Removed the runners off my current seats prior to putting them on eBay. Annoyingly,  Intatrim say my seats won't be ready until the end of the month. They specifically said previously that they would be ready this week because they were a cancelled order so less work to do.

Monday 17 April 2017

Mirror, mirror on the scuttle

Despite having a nice,  long Easter break,  I had to do family stuff so only managed a brief garage session this evening.

I wanted to try put the side mirrors in the existing windscreen bracket holes but the mirror stalks won't work at that angle,  so I've had to drill new holes in the scuttle higher up,  on the curve. I added a small square of ally behind the scuttle to try provide extra support for the mirror,  an extra penny washer and I replaced the small nut that comes with the mirror for a nylock:



Seems pretty sturdy :


IVA application almost ready to go,  just waiting for a couple of invoice copies from GBS and I should hopefully get my seats sometime this week.

Tuesday 11 April 2017

Feeling horny

Fortunately,  the main beam flash problem was just a blown fuse and the horn was simply the fact that it only works when the ignition is on full - it doesn't work on ACC despite everything else being able to. Took me 3 sessions to work this out though...!

So finally got to tighten up the dash and fit the aux panel for the,  hopefully,  last time. Also removed plastic off the scuttle and fitted the edge trim - looks quite good apart from the painfully ugly column shroud - that has got to go one day soon:


I'd also like to thank the God's of Hindsight for ensuring I did NOT choose stainless steel panels for the car. I bought a couple of trim pieces for the cockpit edge which are stainless steel and, man,  are they a pain to trim! It took me an hour per.  piece,  using a Dremel and hacksaw.  When I think of how many times I've trimmed the ally panels...