Aluminium Panels
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The first panel to be fitted was the passenger side floor panel. Drilled and riveted every 50mm and sealed to the chassis. I didn't rivet the outer edges as the side panels will fit over these and they will be riveted then. |
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The next panel to be fitted was the drivers side floor panel, then the chassis was turned over the right way. |
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Then the passenger side triangular engine bay panel. |
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And then the drivers side. |
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I was following the build CD that I had ordered from Chester Sports Cars and the next panels shown on the cd were the two footwell panels. These looked like a nightmare to make up, the top chassis rail wasnt in line with the bottom one, and the end strut on the tunnel side wasnt level either. I ended up fixing it from inside the footwell rather than the engine bay as shown on the build CD. This seemed to give quite a good fit, the top and side of the panel was persuaded in place with a hammer and some rivets. The same was done on the drivers side. |
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I then fitted the drivers side tunnel end panel, this was done from the tunnel side. I havent riveted the top yet as I am going to run the brake pipe along the top chassis rail and that will hold it in place. |
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The passengers tunnel end panel and sealed/riveted in place. |
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The passenger side rear seat back panel fitted. This was a pain in the a*"£ as none of the chassis rails line up. Still, a few rivets and a larger hammer later and it was in. |
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I Wasn't sure how to fix the inner wheel arch panel that Tiger supply. Its huge and bears little resemblance to the shape of the inner wing. So, I cut the panel into 2 pieces and basically covered the bits that I thought looked like they needed covering! This triangular section above the axle... |
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...and this section to the side of the seat back panel. The 'pigs ear' (that piece of fibreglass that covers the suspension mount) then just drops in over both the panels, held in place with copious amounts of sealant (this car will float when I am finished!) and rivets. |
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Then the rear parcel shelf back panel was fitted. This is made interesting by Tiger using 2x1 box section on the top and 1x1 at the bottom, both sharing the same centreline. I found that it was easier to rivet along the top & down the sides first. I then worked out from the middle using the rivets to pull the panel into place. |
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This shows the corner of the panel where it is pulled inline. |
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The parcel shelf bottom panel was then cut to shape. |
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This will be fitted at a later date with Riv nuts so I can remove it for easy access to the fuel pump, filter, and brake lines etc. |
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The n/s tunnel panel fitted in place. |
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Which would have been made so much easier if Tiger supplied either a larger seat back panel, or a longer tunnel panel. As it was I had to bend up an off cut of ali to seal between the seat back and the tunnel. |
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Next was the drivers side seat back. This is larger than the passenger side and I would have liked to have bent the sides round as I did on the passenger side but the panel wasn't big enough. |
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Again, cut the inner wing panel into 3 pieces, used one to seal the side where the 'pigs ear' drops in... |
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And the other to seal between the seat back and tunnel side. |
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Drivers side tunnel panel fitted |
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Roll hoops fitted. I managed to get 7 out of the 8 bolts on each hoop fitted. Apparently you only need 3 on each side for SVA anyway. Make sure you use bolts that have the tensile strength marked on them, these are 8.8 which is ok for the SVA (I think!) |
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Spoke to Paul at Tiger who is going to paint my side panels in black to match the car. He suggested only bending the top once, rather than the 2 bends - this will make them easier to remove from the car for painting. The top bend was achieved by clamping a piece of wood along the outside and gently bending the panel over by hand. |
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It will be tidied up when they are painted and fitted. Notice the cut out for the suspension mounting. |
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This is one of the holes for the front suspension arms. |
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This panel was a pain to fit. I had to cut out a slot at the top for the rocker arm, a hole for the steering rack, a slot for the lamp mounting, and a slot for the lower suspension arm. Top and bottom were bent over same as the longer panel. |
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Drivers side front panel cut and bent over top and bottom. |
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Followed by the main side panel. These are now ready to be taken off and painted. |
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Now the gearbox is in I could fit the battery tray panel. The outside wasn't riveted yet as I need to fit the side panel first. |
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The tunnel top panel marked out before cutting. |
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Tunnel top panel in place. This is being fitted with rivnuts and M6 allen headed bolts so I can remove it for access to the prop. handbrake and gearbox should I need to. |
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I get my side panels back this weekend from being painted. Since I sent them away I have fitted the engine. This means I will need to make the cut out for the exhaust headers once I fit the panels. I made a template from card. |
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Which I will leave in place whilst I place the panel in place. I can then draw around the hole, remove the panel, and cut the exhaust hole out. (at least that's the theory!) |
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Picked my side panels up today from Tiger after they had been painted. The passenger side was first to go on, the cut out for the exhaust was marked, the panel removed and the hole cut. The panel was then fitted in place with sealer and many, many rivets! |
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'U' trim was used around the exhaust and suspension holes.. |
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The side panel was left with a single bend in the engine bay and will be trimmed with some 'U' trim. |
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The time has come to finally fit the rear end.... |
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There are 2 panels that need to be made before the rear end can be fitted. These fit at either end of the parcel shelf and stop all the road crud flying up into the car. I made templates from card |
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and then transferred onto the ali sheet. |
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This shows the n/s one fitted in place. |
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This shows the o/s panel in place with the rear end fitted over it. |
