Rear Panel Part 3

Before I started to look at the rear panel again, I thought I would tackle a couple of little jobs.  The first was the pedal box.  This needed 6 rivnuts fitting to enable the cover to be fitted and removed as required.  It was a simple process as can be seen in the images below.

And with the top fitted in place.  

This all still needs fitting to the car, but I can't do that until the scuttle is in place and I don't want to do that until the engine is in as there is a lot more access without the scuttle fitted.

Also, whilst the rear panel if off, I thought I would just tidy up the wiring a bit so used some P clips to secure the wiring to the chassis rail.

I also had a look at the boot panels, just to see how they would fit.  3 are OK but 2 just don't seem right.  I might take them back on my factory visit, just in case they are the wrong ones.

So now back to the saga of the rear panel.  After trial fitting and getting some advice from some other Zero builders, the next stage was to remove the dry fitted rear panel and start to finally put it together.  Between the main panel and the U shape former (for want of a better description), you need to add some 'tadpole' beading.  It is called this because if you look at it side on it looks a bit like the head and tail of a tadpole.  Anyway, this needs fitting and drilling and then the whole lot carefully riveting together.  I worked from the middle outwards, alternating sides, to try and keep it all as neat and tidy and flat as possible.  I don't think it looks too bad.  It will all get covered over with a tonneau cover later but that is no excuse for doing a poor job.

This is later in the day when I came to dry fit it  .... again.  Expect to fit it and remove it several times during the process until you are ready to take the final plunge to bond and rivet it to the chassis.  I think this is the fourth or fifth time it has been on the car!!

The last stage is to drill all the required holes in the chassis so it can be bonded and riveted in place.  This is where my day came to a halt as the 3.2mm drill bits have finally given up on me and it was too late to get to the DIY store to get some more.

I have another trip to the he factory planned soon for some more parts and to get answers to lots of questions that are building up.  I will probably hold off from finishing the rear panel until after the visit, just in case I have missed anything.

Now this is really where a proper build manual would be invaluable.  As mentioned earlier in a post, I once got part way through the build of a Westfield and there was a brilliant build manual with that.  So come on GBS, pull your fingers out, you have a great car here that is let down by the lack of a build manual. 

Rear Panel Part 2

In my last post, I had just reached a point where I had an issue with the rear panel as it was not fitting correctly.  A quick phone call to Richard at the factory and all became clear.  During the welding process, the heat can cause the stay arms to move slightly.  They need a little gentle persuasion upwards with some kind of lever.  I used a 1 metre length of 1" x 1" tube rested under the rear cross member and applied a little upwards movement.  They both had to come up about half an inch.  Once I had done this it all started to fit a bit better, but still not brilliantly.

The next stage was to start to put the thing together properly, but I didn't want to rivet it all together just yet so I use self tapping screws.  Getting some nice clean bends and corners was just a case of taking my time and putting in 1 screw at a time, then bending the panel round a bit more, lining it up, clamping, drilling and adding the next screw.  The picture below shows the progress.

I still haven't gone the full length of the sides as I need to be able to get the panel on and off at the moment.  This is the view from the back with both sides done.

Next thing to tackle was the bottom of the sides.  Again I have only used self tapping screws to hold this together. 

This is the view from the inside.

There is still a way to go on this, but it is getting there and now the bottom of the panel is in place and lined up with the chassis at the back.  Patience is the order of the day with this panel and I have just been doing a little after work each day and not rushing it.

Stoneleigh, the Wiper Motor and the Rear Panel (part 1)

In my last post I mentioned that I bought an engine.  The day after getting it home, I had to go and hire an engine hoist to get it out of the car.  It took about 5 minutes.  It is amazing how easy things are when you have the right tools for the job!  I also managd to find a type company that would fit the tyres to the wheel and balance them.  The main tyre companies won't fit tyres for you that you haven't bought from them.  As you can see in the picture below, the new wheels look really nice.

Sunday was spent at the National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh.  It was a glorious day and apart from the entrance fee and some lunch, I managed to keep my wallet firmly in my pocket!

Bank holiday Monday and another glorious day.  First I had to remove the brake callipers as I realised they were both for the nearside meaning that when fitted to the offside, the calliper was upside down.  I will need to take them back to the factory next time I go for parts so they can be exchanged for a correctly matched and 'handed' set.  I also decided it would be good to get the car down on to its wheels and get it out of the garage so I would have some room to work.

The initial intention was just to move the car out so I could sweep the garage floor and have a tidy up, but I ended up having a go at the rear panel.  This is the panel that probably causes the most amount of worry amongst builders so I did approach it with a certain amount of apprehension.  First task was to de-burr all the aluminium where it had been laser cut.  This was the same process as for other panels earlier in the build.  It takes about an hour or so with some fine files to clean it all up and then the next process is to bend over all the tabs.  Again this is the same process as I used with the rear crescent in-fill panels.  I used a small piece of right angle strip which I clamped to the bench and then bent up each tab against it.  You have to do them one by one so it is not a quick job.

This is the finished panel with all the tabs bent over.

Next job was to fit the large U shaped panel that forms the shape of the top of the rear panel.  I am lucky as on the later kits, this is all ready drilled with the holes for the rear frame stays so make this bit easier to fit.  This is dry fitted to the inside edge of the panel and this is then used to make the shape of the rear panel.

Once this is done the panel is put on the floor and there is nothing left to do but put the bend in it.  You could go and have a cup of tea first, but you still have to make the bends!  The advice I was given was to hold what is going to be the side of the panel on the floor and then lift the rest of the panel up to form the bend.  Here you can see the bend on the panel.

Once there was an approximate shape in place, I thought I would trial fit it to the car.  This is where I hit problems.  When the panel was fitted to the rear stays, the sides would not fit over the side infill panels as they should.

I decided not to force the issue at this stage and have fired off an e-mail to the factory with some images to get their help.  I'll add part 2 when I know more about how this should all fit.

This left me some time so I decided to fit the wiper assembly to the scuttle.  This is a fairly straight forward task.  The only thing that you have to do is to put a bend in the tube that holds the spring type mechanism that makes the wipers work.  You also have to cut this to fit between the two wiper boxes and also after them.  These need to be flared so they don't move.

This is the finished install from the inside of the scuttle.

And this is from the other side.

It is all starting to take shape now and I really feel some good progress has been made.

26th April Update

No progress as such to report on the car but I did take a trip to the factory today to get some more parts.  I wanted to get front brakes, track rod ends and wheels so I can get the car to the rolling chassis stage next.  However, I ended up getting a little bit more than I had planned.

Yes, sat behind boxes and between tyres is the engine.  A brand spanking new 2.0 litre Ford Zetec engine.  It took 3 people and an engine hoist to get it in the car and there is just little old me to get it out!!  It should be fun .... not!!

Anyway, I also took the scuttle I had built up to be checked out as it didn't look quite right to me, but it is OK.  It just needs some counter sunk rivets putting in to give it some strength and then the inside painting black and some vinyl adding to the edges to finish things off.

All in all it was a good day and I am looking forward to getting more done on the car in the next couple of days.

Fuel Tank

Not a lot of progress over the last couple of weeks due to other commitments.  However, today I bonded the fuel tank in place.  Once that is set I will add some tank straps to make sure it all stays put.  I am told I don't really need to do this, but it is just a bit of extra security.

Before I did this though, I had to fit the fuel filter and the fuel pump.  The first thing to do was to make a couple of triangular mounting plates to fit the filter and pump to.  These were cut from some surplus aluminium I got from the factory and then bonded and riveted in place.  The filter is held in place with an exhaust clamp.  The pump has its own fittings.

This is the filter and pump in place.

15/11/2012 - When fitting the brass fuel line fittings to the pump, please remember to use some PTFE tape around the thread as this will prevent petrol from dripping out of the joints.  I forgot to do this first time round and spent a lot of time wondering why the garage always smelled of petrol.  Also the petrol drips out on to the rubber mounting bobbins and they end up coming apart, meaning the fuel pump is no longer attached to the car properly!

The second high pressure pump, for the injection system, is mounted to the off side footwell panel and is again held in with exhaust clamps.

Once all this was in place, I moved on to clean out the captive nuts for the seat belts.  I used the required sized die to tap out the captive nuts as they were full of the powder coating that is applied to the chassis and they need cleaning out before any more of the interior is fitted in place.  I should have really done them before the side panels were fitted, but I forgot.

I have also been looking at wheels to see what I can get in the required size.  Although they are a standard 108 PCD for Ford, the off-set, or ET, is only 15, which is for a Peugeot, the Ford Sierra is usually ET38.  I know I can get the correct fitment from the factory, but I want to see if I can get any other designs.

Next thing will be a trip to the factory for more parts.  I need the front brakes so that, along with the wheels, when I get them, I can get to rolling chassis stage.

Front Near Side Suspension and Dashboard

I finally got the last 2 bolts I needed to put together the front near side suspension.  The method to put it together was described when I fitted the off side, so I won't go in to any details here.  Suffice to say, the car looks more balanced, with all four corners now having hubs ready to take wheels.  Here is a picture from the front of the car.

  
I can't go any further with this at the moment as I need to get steering rod ends and brakes before the front can be considered finished.  I also have to make a decision on what wheels to fit and this all depends on the final look I am going for.  I do need to decide this fairly soon and I am hoping that a trip to the National Kit Car Show at Stoneleigh at the beginning of May will give me lots of ideas.

Next I thought I would have a look at fitting the dashboard to the scuttle.  First job was to take the scuttle back off the car, then trial fit the dashboard to the dashboard mounting plate.  This is when you realise that you haven't fitted the mounting plate quite as 'sqaure' as you thought you had!!  Oh well, I am sure it will all "pull into place' as things are tightened up!!  From the back, I marked through where the allen bolts would fit and drilled pilot holes.  These were then re-drilled with a 6mm drill to take the bolts.

You can't just fit the dash, you have to cut some of the fibreglass moulding away to make room from the steering column casing.  This will have to be cut away in small steps as i don't want to cut away too much.  Below you will see the dashboard in place, with markings where the instruments will roughly go and also where I have started to cut away the space for the steering column casing.

I tried to fit it back on the car, but it needs more to be cut away.  At this point the 'Sharpie' pen I was using to mark the cut lines dissappeared, and even though I looked high and low, I couldn't find it.  I took this as a sign to stop for the day and not to try and do too much.  I might come back to it during the week, but it is most likely going to be a job for next weekend.  

    

The Scuttle

This was not a task I had been looking forward to, but one that I knew that I would have to tackle at some point.  I spent some time looking at other blogs and photo accounts to get some ideas on how to do this and there are several ways to do it.  A quick phone call to Richard at the factory and he gave me some ideas, I also put a post on the RHOCar forum and got some more.  Finally, I decided to put the kettle on and think about it even further!  Now this step in the build process cannot be over looked.  It stops you from rushing in and making a pigs ear of the job.

Once the tea was consumed, I got started.  First thing to tackle is the 90 degree bends at the end of the scuttle that sits flat on the top of the chassis rail.  My problem is that I don't have a sheet metal bender and I wasn't going to go and buy one just for this job so I had to rely on a clean 90 degree edge, some clamps and a hammer.  Definitely not the neatest of jobs but it will be hidden in the final build, so it is only something that I know about, and anyone who happens to be reading this blog!!  Oh well, ces't la vie!!

The next stage is to line up the tabs on the scuttle panel with the tabs on the firewall.  Now I am lucky that these panels have been refined a bit and the tabs now seem to line up correctly, which I think on some of the earlier Zeros, they didn't.  At this stage is it also a good idea to form the rough shape of the scuttle by gently bending the panel as this stops the panel springing back to its original flat state.  Once the tabs are lined up, they can be screwed together with self tappers, making sure you keep things aligned.

Now this is where I decided to be different.  I am also fitting the inner dashboard former as I am going to use a fibreglass dash.  This panel helps add shape and rigidity to the scuttle.  I decided that I would tackle the job in a couple of stages.  The first would be to bond and clamp the tabs that run across the front and back of the scuttle but on the top, almost flat part, leaving the bends until later.  I marked out where the tabs would be fixed and applied the Sikaflax.  I used self tappers and clamps on the front edge and an array of clamps on the back edge.  The next couple of photos show the process.

Front edge.

Back edge. You can also see a bead of Sikaflex along the joint.

This then all had to be left to cure and go off over night.  The following day I was able to repeat the process but for the curved sections of the scuttle, applying the Sikaflex and clamps, but this time I also fitted the scuttle to the chassis to maintain the correct fitment and shape.

Another view of the scuttle in place waiting for the Sikaflex to go off.

The following day I was able to remove all the clamps and I had a nearly finished scuttle.  All that remains is to cut off the excess tabs and think about whether to apply some rivets to the joints as a belt and braces measure.  I am not sure they are required to be honest. 

I am pretty happy with the finished result and although I have not built it the same as others have, I think it is a viable build solution.