Time To Tape The Bonnet

 

I’m still halfway through writing another blog update covering the steering column install, however I need around £200 to order some parts and I just don’t really have the spare funds yet, so will have to wait a few weeks until I can finish that update. However this is a great little progression step that I have had planned from the early stages of the build. I don’t want rubber or neoprene seals round the bonnet and engine bay as I wanted a more vintage look to the car. So I have opted for a thin seal of bonnet tape to stop the bonnet rubbing against the body. This acts as a cushion between the bonnet and the flange on the body and will look extremely period when fitted. 

In order to fit the tape I don’t want to use adhesive or clips really, as in my opinion with adhesive it’s just a matter of time before it fails and makes a mess of the paint and bodywork and whilst clips would work they would also potentially scratch any sections that are in contact with them. So I have opted for my own style of installation, weaving the tape between small slots cut into the body, zero risk of any scratches and impossible to work its way loose when installed.

I started off making a template of the correct size slot/hole I needed for the tape with some thin cardboard. Then with some masking tape on the mounting flange I started to measure and mark where I wanted my cuts to be. I have spent some time on this planning the route of the tape, and measuring so that each section is consistent in its spacing and more importantly symmetrical from offside to nearside. This was relatively easy and just took some time planning the tighter curves in the panel on the lower edge and was easy to just continue my way round the full perimeter of the body tub. 

Once all the marks were made I used my dremel multi tool and a small drill bit to make the openings required for the tape to pass through, by drilling two holes at either side of my marks then elongating the holes to make a small oval cut in the body. 

With the tape woven in and out of each slot it was looking really cool and I was extremely pleased with such a trivial issue that now looks superb, and will look even better once the body is painted…. Another tick in the box of “attention to detail” 

I still need to find some bonnet hinges (same as the boot) so I can fit the bonnet but I’m keeping my eyes peeled on eBay for another bargain as they are around £80 from S&J new which I don’t really want to spend when the same boot hinges cost only £15 on eBay….. patience I suppose. 

 The bonnet tape came from Woolies and only cost £15 so not expensive whatsoever for the overall finished effect. I used a total of 4 meters which has given ample excess to cut and secure at the start and end point at the front centre of the engine bay. I will be securing these ends with a small rubber bonnet spacer and fixings once I get my hinges and can actually start fitting and spacing the bonnet.

Last on this update I want to show you why you must measure and check everything for symmetry when working with kit cars and specifically fibreglass kit cars. You can see on the image here the flash line in the moulding of the body, which could easily be presumed as the centre line for the body tub….. it is not!

When I measured a centre line from between the end of each side of the bonnet tape you can see the mark on the masking tape is easily a good 2cm away from the flash line, so if using that flash line as a centre point it would knock everything cock skew off centre and really fudge things up! Granted there is a small tolerance within this because of the nature of fibreglass and its shrinking whilst curing (which takes a year or so technically to fully cure) but it’s much easier to be conscious of these potential pitfalls during the build and act accordingly. In this case I can confirm the centre line by placing the bonnet in situ and the masking tape line should be central to the bonnet scoop opening give or take a millimetre or so….. and it is, boom!! In fact it only accentuates further, how far off the flash line actually is!

Bending Again… Attempt Two!

 

I’m trying to push this project on a little with limited funds currently due to life, but hey ho I’m always looking for a bargain or a nice cost saving alternative without compromising quality. So to totally contradict that statement slightly I’m spending some more money on some steel tube to redo the front support frame. The first one I did I was a tad overzealous with the gauge of the steel tube and it just wasn’t working well. 

I picked up a 3 meter length of 2.5mm 1 inch tube and I spent some time mimicking the bends of the previous attempt. This time I started with the near side section, slowly bending each bit using the tube bender. This was working nicely and the smaller diameter tube was working just as well as the previous attempt. However this time I wanted the offside section to follow the contour of the body tub so that involved starting to bend one half up first to follow the radius of the cockpit body.

This was a little time consuming but after lots ant lots of little adjustments here and there it was pretty good really and fitted well. You can see here how it now follows the full shape of the body and will give me more space when the dash is fitted to fit the gauges, without them voiding on the frame. Next I moved on to some lower fixing brackets that will be bolted onto the outer chassis rails, these were made from offcuts of 2mm steel and welded onto each lower leg of the new brace support. I’m also going to fit a tube section from the top middle to the front bulkhead which will add even further strength to the whole setup. 

The centre support section was simply made using an off cut of the tube cut to length and welded into place on the frame and a plate section the other end which is aligned and drilled for the bulkhead fixings. All of this might seem fairly trivial and straightforward, but it takes a huge amount of time fitting, removing, trimming, measuring, welding etc… etc… however when all sorted and finished it will all be hidden from sight behind the dashboard with only me really knowing how much work was involved getting it right. 

I am however this time around 100 times happier then my last attempt, and this will be more than sufficient to support the steering column, when I weld in the horizontal brace also. This will have to wait until some further mock ups of the steering column and extension shafts have been done as these will dictate the height and position of the brace bar. I’m going to remove all this again soon to prepaid it to be painted, as I want everything uniform and looking professional. 

Another bonus is that I can now play around with my dashboard setup and positioning of the gauges before I commit and get a sheet of steel to actually make the dash itself. It will be good to get the steering column in now and I think this is going to be a tad tricky in regards to the rack position and getting the steering column sections aligned nicely without creating tight spots from lock to lock…. But this is all next on my to do list!

The Cheapest Flange I Have Ever Had!

 

Well it’s been a while since I last did an update, but you can rest assured I have been scratching about and keeping my eyes peeled for bargains and auction specials. So we’ll start this update with my fuel system. I managed to find a Brasscraft fuel filler flange with locking insert for the grand total of £25. Granted I still need the Aston style cap (like on my Cobra) but this flange piece alone is easily over £100 and ticks all the box’s for me. I specifically wanted a locking insert on my fuel filler as this acts as a seal to the fuel tank, along with the main cap. I also wanted the flange to bolt to the panel as opposed to just a classic mini style fuel cap that just grub screws onto a filler neck with no support other than the 50mm fuel hose onto the tank itself. Granted this fuel flange does have a little trauma damage to one of the thread holes but I’m hoping to be able to file/polish it back enough to totally disguise it…. Fingers crossed. 

So to fit the fuel flange I first of need to prepare the mounting position on the body. The body tub has a raised area which is considerably smaller in diameter than my chosen filler cap, but luckily I am just going to use this as my cutting diameter as my flange is big enough to overlap and give me a secure fixing point and enough movement to align with the fuel tank below. So out with the multi-tool and a simple cut out and neaten off the edges. Then I dropped in the filler flange and got everything central and measured up correctly so I could mark the bolt fixing positions keeping them symmetrical. 

The fuel flange dropped in perfectly and I was able to mark and drill the fixing bolt positions. I need to get about 6” of 50mm fuel filler hose to fix the filler flange to the fuel tank still and more importantly now I need to start to hunt for a 3 1/2” filler cap that will thread onto this. I will if i have to buy a new one but I know about 10/15 years back when the Cobra was getting built, how much i paid then, so with inflation etc… etc… it could be a tad eye watering for a new cap from Brasscraft. Still I’m in no hurry as such so I can keep my eyes peeled and hunt every auto jumble I go too and see if I drop on. 

I bolted the filler flange into place and I have used the same machine screw stainless fixings as on the bulkhead and peddle box  as so to keep the theme of the build consistent and the attention to the detail. 

I also just borrowed the Aston cap from the Cobra for a second so I could visualise how it would look and it looks bloody terrific in my opinion. On the Cobra, with the filler neck being recessed it hides the cap slightly and whilst it’s clearly visible here it is top and centre and a real feature point for the car, so I’m pleased with that. However in true kit car building process, you venture away from the build manual and you create further problems… but only little in this case. You can see here that the filler cap latch sits fairly far back and so when the boot opens now I am going to have to restrict its fully open position and so the boot lid won’t void with the filler cap. The boot opens more than sufficient for normally use but it now can’t move past the vertical position and stay open on its own, still easily solved later on down the line with a boot hold latch which are easily obtained, or I might consider a nice bit of chain or rope whichever looks best.