More Work On The Tunnel

Another 2 and a half hours spent working on the car, all dedicated to the driver's tunnel panel. Only got the rivets for the bigger "half" of the panel in place. The small part that will require taking the throttle peddle out will have to wait for next week. Also filed and deburred an edge of the panel that was a bit too big near the rear. No pictures because it would look like the ones from last week. Not very motivating.

Drilling the holes and having to make effort in odd positions made very noticeable how out-of-shape I am. For a couple of holes had to stop twice to rest before the hole was drilled. Maybe I'm also needing to sharpen my drill bits.

Next week the plan is to use some paint to mark the prop bolts to guide me later when checking for bolts coming loose. Then it's the small panel. Further away... Finish tidying up the wires on the engine bay, align rear wheels toe (maybe fronts also, if they need) and tighten the wheels correctly. Then, outside panels.

Driver's Side Tunnel Panel

First, a note on the number of rivnuts to hold the panels in place. For what I read online (should have looked for this before) was that these panels aren't structural. As such, they don't need to be spaced at 10cm. Some people even just put a rivnut in each corner. So, the passenger's side will remain with one rivnut each 20cm and the driver's side will get the same treatment.

Started the session by finishing off the passenger's side. Enlarged a bit the panel hole for the gearshift pivot bolt to get in. Took some time fiddling with the gearshift to get the bolt in, but made it.

Then tried fitting the driver's side panel but wasn't able. I've been assembling parts of the car in an order that is not the usual one. This has allowed me to drive the car sooner. It has caused difficulties in several other occasions. This is one of them: the peddles and the panel shape make it impossible to go in. Since disassembling the peddles is out of the question, I had to look for an alternative. Cutting the panel under the dash allows me to get it separately and it will go almost unnoticed. Out with the cutting disk for the dremmel, drew a line and cut the panel in two.

The big part fits nicely and still got three rivnuts pressed in the chassis during this work session. The small part still does not fit. At least now I believe the panel can get fit by just removing the throttle peddle, which is not that bad. I'll have to remove it anyway to get the scuttle permanently fixed. Below a picture of the big part in place and the hole for the small part, another with the small part on the left and how the big one looks in place.

So, this side will still take another session to get finished. And probably will postpone the small bit for when I get around to the scuttle and/or side panels. So that I can tackle the rear wheels toe alignment first.

More Work On The Tunnel

Another morning spent on the car working on the panels. This time the objective was to get the passenger's side done. But before that, I modified one value on the Digidash settings. I had the "Pulses/Cycle" as 4 and it should be 2. I'm still a bit unsure on the remaining values, must see if I can get some confirmation and then I'll post them.

There was not much of a story with the panel work. Held it in place and drilled for two rivnuts. Removed the panel, enlarged the holes, placed the rivnuts, in goes the panel again, bolted down. This helps keeping the panel in place, a few more holes, take the panel out, enlarge, rivnut, panel in and bolt down, drill the remaining holes, take panel out, enlarge, rivnut, panel in and bolted down. To be perfect, only need to fix a bit the hole I opened to pass through the gear lever bolt, since it's a mm offset. Will do that next week, today was already late for lunch.

I had pre-drilled the panels with 10cm between centres. When putting the panel, it seems that 20cm centres is enough and so that is what is done. I can later on drill the remaining holes if I get told I should do it with 10cm.

Another Tunnel Panel

After some holidays, got three hours on the car. And was wonderful, seemed all I did went well and even quickly! I'm amazed.

Started by reading some data I configured initially on the Digidash (regarding ratios) and putting them down on paper. I'm going to ask if they are correct for this engine.

Then I grabbed the dremmel with a small deburring bit and enlarged slightly the holes that got misaligned on the panel I worked last. It was all done quickly (holding the dremmel as if it was a pen...) and the panel was finally set.

Placed some tape under the second panel for the tunnel top and located the part. Realized two of the holes I previously drilled were too much to the inside, missing the chassis rail... Anyway, marked the panel where it needed some adjustments and clamped it down. This time, used the 3mm drillbit through the ally holes to start the holes on the chassis rails. Then took the panel out, swapped to the 6mm drillbit and finished the holes. Some work with the rivnut tool and part of the panel was bolted to the chassis. Redid the two holes that were offset and also placed the rivnuts.

Last work with the deburring disk and the cutting disk on the dremmel to trim the panel where it was a bit too big. In the end, the panel was ready to fit.

Next is the passengers' side tunnel lateral panel. I'll need to buy more rivnuts... Also, looking to the "finished" work, I'm getting a lot more motivated to try to cut and stitch carpets and a leather-alike interior for the car, to cover the ally panels...

First Tunnel Panel

The ebay shop replied to my email and accepted shipping to Portugal for a good price. So, last Friday, I received a package at work from Stop4Tools with my spare mandrels. Ordered 5, to be on the safe side.

Tested the new mandrel and applying a rivnut on a scrap of metal. This practice made me understand a lot better how much force to apply and how it works. This is what I should have done in the first place.

With that knowledge, I covered the tunnel chassis beams with tape, placed the panel on top, held it with clamps and marked on the tape all the holes that the panel had drilled. Then took the panel out and drilled all the marked holes with a 6mm drillbit. Last step was to put the rivnuts on the holes. Fitted the panel for the picture and then had to pack up.

It was not perfect, though... The rivnuts that came with the tool were OK. The ones I bought here were more fragile. Twice I applied a bit too much pressure and the mandrel sheared slightly the hole.
Another problem was that, although I was careful marking the drilling spots, a couple of holes were made a mm or two off-centred and now I'll have to enlarge the ally holes to be able to bolt on those holes.

Poor Man's Rivnut Tool

Went on the net looking for videos showing how to properly use a rivnut tool, to see where I went wrong. A vid's title makes me look for home made tools... And I end up with a recipe for a home made rivnut tool. What I saw was this forum post but ended up doing a mix between that and this how-to.

So, I grabbed a bolt, a nut, a washer and a rivnut. Inserted the lot on a hole in some plate, tried to hold down the nut while spinning the bolt.

It didn't work out for a couple of reasons. The first was that the nut was 7 and the wrench was 8. I only had 8 or 6... Also, the bolt had a rounded head with a Philips cut, not the best to put pressure on.

Found a different bolt with an hexa head, a bit longer. With the dremmel and a grinding disk, "converted" my 6 wrench into a 7. Another try, this time holding down the bolt and rotating the nut...

Success! It probably is not perfect, but looks good enough. It takes a lot longer than using a rivnut tool but at least I don't have to spend more money nor grieve over the fact that shops don't ship here or prices are abnormal. And I don't have to wait!

Riveting Pains

Since today I was going to start closing the transmission tunnel, the first job was to attach again the gear shifting linkage that I removed in order to fit the prop catcher. This was quick to get done and made the car once again drivable. Although I should fit the silencer and bolt down the seats before actually doing it...

So I made my first hole on the chassis to fit a rivnut. That will allow me to remove the panels to access the tunnel insides for any task needed (specially useful since I don't have a ramp or lift). Drilled, unpacked my brand new rivnut tool I ordered from the UK because here they cost 2,5 times more and... Snapped the mandrel while putting the first rivnut in.

I'm starting to believe that rivets and rivnut tools have something against me...

At least the rivnut was well inserted. And the shape of the broken mandrel tip allowed me to extract it relatively easily.

OK... I should add that I used the tool without watching some online videos. Just read the instructions on the back of the package. And in retrospective, I may have not used the tool in it's designed form and forced it too much. That's why I want to give it a second chance.

Now I have to see about buying spare mandrels. It would be easy if I lived in the UK. Most places don't ship the replacements, one that does charges 5 times it's regular price and the one that sells it cheaply charges more for shipping than the tool cost me. Waiting on an eBay shop's reply, but with my luck regarding this... And since I had to create an eBay account to email the seller, I have no reputation. Wonderful...

Spent the rest of my car time breaking the remaining wood from the car crate into smaller chunks to be burned this winter... At least vented some of my frustration.