The Other Arch And Electrics

Based on prior experience, today I tackled the other arch. What took 2h30m for the right side took only 1h15m for the left side. I was amazed! And it looks a lot better! Well, on the pictures both sides look nice, but "on the flesh" it is different.

Next step was to finish the electrics. Spent some time considering the best way to pass the cables from inside the arches to the boot. Final decision was to drill a hole, with the 12mm drillbit, on the rear panel, hidden by the arch. Put some rubber pipe to "line" the hole, avoiding chaffing the hires. Then get the wires through the hole.

All wires crimped and connected. Just needs testing, which I couldn't do since the battery was not fitted. Next session will be lights testing and to fit the buttons for the boot cover.

One Arch In, One To Go

My session started with a dying light. Four years ago when I bought my lamp, I also bought a spare bulb "just in case it blows and causes the end of a work session". It took some time, but turned out to be a wise move :)

The process of fixing the arch was not simple. Drilled on the arch two holes on the front-facing side and one on the rear facing side. Positioned the arch and marked the car where to drill to match the holes on the arch. Took extra care to centre the wheel correctly. Marked, drilled, bolted slightly in place, marked the inner of the arch where other holes should go, took the arch out, drilled it, masked the car, bolted the arch back, marked the masking tape, took the arch out, drilled the car, bolted it all back in... Through this process, had to do a couple of extra holes: one because behind the rear end there was a rail and I would not be able to fit the bolt. The other because of a marking error, hole should be 3mm to the side...

Then the hard task started... When I was trying to bolt permanently the arch, it would not fit nicely near the top chassis rail. There was a gap between the arch and the side of the car. Had to undo most bolts, file down the arch a bit to make it sit better and tried bolting all back in. The self-tapping bolt that holds that seems to be too short for the gap and the "stress" the part is in... I will either have to get a longer bolt, undo it all and file a bit more or just forget about it.

Lots of lessons learnt for when I get to do the other side. And yes, the light wires were not crimped nor connected. Next week or so...

Rear Arches With Lights

Some hours on the car to finish off the rear arches. First offered them to the car to validate that the lines drawn last week were level. Using the mobile phone app, it seemed perfect.

Using the circular adapter on the drill, prepared to cut the holes. First one was quickly done! This blade, that cuts aluminium, went through fiberglass like through butter. Adjusted the blade to make the next hole a bit larger. In the end, all four holes required different amounts of "enlarging by sanding" with the dremmel and a sanding cylinder.

When all light pods could fit, placed some masked tape on the arches again and marked the holes for the bolts that hold the light pods to the arches. Had to improvise some bolts and nuts (leftovers from the tunnel panels) and only bolted two (instead of three) because the third one had what it seemed like an earth connection above the hole that was preventing me from putting the bolt. Anyway, two seem enough.

Both arches were done, although I only picture one. Just need to make the holes through which bolts will go through to fix the arches to the car. Next session will be on the car, fitting the arches and the buttons for the tonneau cover.

Marking Wheel Arches

Had a small work session. Spent the beginning of it trimming down the cuts I did previously. This allowed the arches to sit better on the car.
Then took a LOT of time trying to place the arches on the car to mark where to drill to fit the lights. It was a job that, if I had a helping pair of hands, would have done in less than 10 minutes. Alone, it took me almost an hour. In the end, I have two spirit-level-drawn lines on the arches and centres for the holes I'll be cutting next session.

Rear Wheel Arches Trimming

Small session working on the car. First task was to tie-wrap the extension wires I did last week to wire up the fog light on a LHD position. I had forgotten about holding the wires down and this got fixed.

Then spent some time trimming the rear wheel arches. After some looking into it, the trimming does make the arches fit a lot better. The picture below shows one arch trimmed and the other one yet to be trimmed so that the difference is visible.

I've heard that Steve at Aries now has new moulds for the rear arches that do not require trimming. This could be nice although this trimming is not hard and didn't take long.

Next time I'll have to make the holes for the lights and then fit them to the car. I still have the boot cover buttons to fit, but today I didn't feel like doing that.

More Work on the Rear

Another couple of hours on the car advanced the rear. No pictures because it's not quite visible.

Jacked the car up and riveted the rear panel to the chassis. Used 4 rivets under, two on the sides also under and two nearer the top against the chassis rail where the upper side of the coils fit.

Then used a bit of old wire and crimped an extension to the fog light wire. Connected it to the light pod and closed it. Just forgot to cable-tie the wire to the chassis, will have to do it next time.

Last job was to drill and fit the filler cap. This took a bit more work because the bolts were 4mm in diameter and I only had 3,5 and then a 4,75 drillbits. So I drilled with the 3,5mm and then used a file on the fiberglass to enlarge the holes to fit. Some time later, the fuel cap was in, bolted to the fiberglass and the ties on the hose also tightened.

Also removed the battery from the car and charged it in preparation for a drive soon.

Next session will be the buttons for the cover and then start on the rear wheel arches.

More Bodywork Done

Got to the car and something was niggling the back of my head. I still had the rear loom in one roll on top of the fuel tank. So, my first task was to lay out the wires and fix them in place with wraps, ensuring there would be no chaffing. Tried several layouts, specially because photos I saw had the loom between the rear panel and the fuel tank. In the end I opted for having the loom between the diff and the fuel tank. Now I just need to buy some more electrical wire to make an extension for the fog light wires to reach the fog light on a LHD position. Used one of the fuel tank bolts to attach the earth wires to the chassis.

After this, opened up the sikaflex and grabbed the front wings. It was a bit messy but not much of a story to it. Wings are wired, sikaflexed and bolted into place. I haven't tried the indicators to confirm all is well, need to recharge the battery, but at least it looks nice.

Then it was time for the rear panel. A lot of sikaflex around the top and bottom, to hold it in place. Left that to dry, will put the rivets underside next time.
Crimped the plate light wires, connected them and closed that light pod. Also put the filler cap in place, although it is not drilled and bolted to the panel yet.
Finally, fitted the boot cover just to see how it looked and where I would need to drill to install the buttons the cover attaches to. Not bad... Not bad at all...

Next session will be mostly drilling the rear panel to rivet underside, fit the filler cap and the boot. My driller's vacations are about to be over!