Sunday, June 24, 2012

More on the Firewall and Broken Rivets Pliers

Went early in the morning to get some car time, since last weekend I had none. Started by opening the PU adhesive and putting it on the chassis and firewall. Put the ally firewall in place and held it with clamps. Then drilled on the corners and riveted to get a stronger fit and a better chance that the PU would glue the ally to the chassis.

When trying to rivet a corner I had to place the pliers in a odd position trying to get a good angle for it. Failed to put the rivet in. And the pliers broke. I might not be using the tool in the best way, but would never expect a proper quality expensive tool to break so easily. I didn't get to 100 rivets with it!

This made me fail my morning objective of getting the firewall done. Drilled all the remaining holes and inserted the rivets on the holes. When I get pliers, I just have to go pop those rivets to get the job done.
Now I need to go to the shop where I bought the tool to see if there is some warranty on it. Otherwise, check at the place where I got my prop catchers made if they can weld the pliers to fix. Or, as last resort, buy new ones. But besides the grief and cost, this will delay me further, specially if I have to go look for a fix, since that will have to be done next Saturday morning.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Rear Bulkhead (Firewall)

Spent the morning working on the rear bulkhead. First drawing up where the chassis rails go so that I can then drill holes for the rivets. By drilling on the ally first I get some "guides" for the final drilling. After marking it all up drilled some of the rivet holes and bigger holes for the bolts that hold lower suspension arms and the rear brake line "T". Trial fitted and when happy packed up. Next time I'll bond it to the chassis and do the riveting.
I'm not very concerned on how it looks, which explains why I haven't painted the ally black. When I get the car done (maybe even after legalization), I intend to cover the rear bulkhead with some "leather-like" material, to make it look nice.