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Body Fitment
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:36 am
by Pete&Matt
We have now fixed the body in place on the Stylus with a couple of strip of fibre glass on the front and rear.
What is the best thing to do next? Shall we now rivet the sills in place before fibre glassing the rest of the body in place? We cannot find anything in the build manual on riveting the shell, so are a little unsure.
Also, would it be a good idea to put some sikaflex where the sills contact the aluminium floor extensions and also on the bulk head?
Is it a good idea to fibreglass around the inside of the door opening? i.e. where is rests on the inner body. (i have a pic, but dont know how to display it)
We are a little worried that the body may move around a little after settling down and start to squeak where you have fibre glass to fibre glass contact.
Any help is appreciated.
Matt & Pete
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:22 pm
by peteb
Hi Pete & Matt,
I have just fibreglassed the door seal edge to the inner body and it makes a massive difference compared to rivetting. I can now stand on the sill without the cracking noises that I used to get. I used 50mm fibreglass tape rather than the chopped mat stuff. The tape is a woven cloth available in different widths from 1" to 4" wide and about 50m on a roll, search on ebay for it (its about £10 for a roll). It's much better than chopped matt as it gives a much better finish and doesn't leave sharp edges. The only problem is it's quite thin so you really want to put on 3 layers of it.
It's not a bad idea to put a couple of rivets in the sills just to make sure it doesn't move whilst youre working on it and also a couple of rivets in the bonnet recess into the the bulkhead. I glassed between the outer body and the inner body bulkhead on the cockpit side and this stiffened the scuttle area a lot.
As for the sikaflex thing I would say use it wherever possible to stop any potential water ingress.
Pete
Re: Body Fitment
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:56 pm
by stylussprinter
Pete&Matt wrote:We have now fixed the body in place on the Stylus with a couple of strip of fibre glass on the front and rear.
What is the best thing to do next? Shall we now rivet the sills in place before fibre glassing the rest of the body in place? We cannot find anything in the build manual on riveting the shell, so are a little unsure.
Also, would it be a good idea to put some sikaflex where the sills contact the aluminium floor extensions and also on the bulk head?
Pete --- where the body sills rest on top of the 50mm alloy extentions , I drilled and stainless steel bolted with penny washers inside plus nylocs , along the total length about 8 inches apart. Wasn't easy but makes an extremely rigid body . Bolt from underneath then hold the nut with a spanner tied/strapped to a long piece of rod. 
Is it a good idea to fibreglass around the inside of the door opening? i.e. where is rests on the inner body. (i have a pic, but dont know how to display it)
We are a little worried that the body may move around a little after settling down and start to squeak where you have fibre glass to fibre glass contact.
Any help is appreciated.
Matt & Pete
Edited by Werner making Rob's edit more visible
Re: Body Fitment
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:54 pm
by stylussprinter
stylussprinter wrote:Pete&Matt wrote:We have now fixed the body in place on the Stylus with a couple of strip of fibre glass on the front and rear.
What is the best thing to do next? Shall we now rivet the sills in place before fibre glassing the rest of the body in place? We cannot find anything in the build manual on riveting the shell, so are a little unsure.
Also, would it be a good idea to put some sikaflex where the sills contact the aluminium floor extensions and also on the bulk head?
Pete --- where the body sills rest on top of the 50mm alloy extentions , I drilled and stainless steel bolted with penny washers inside plus nylocs , along the total length about 8 inches apart. Wasn't easy but makes an extremely rigid body . Bolt from underneath then hold the nut with a spanner tied/strapped to a long piece of rod.
Is it a good idea to fibreglass around the inside of the door opening? i.e. where is rests on the inner body. (i have a pic, but dont know how to display it)
DEFINATELY
We are a little worried that the body may move around a little after settling down and start to squeak where you have fibre glass to fibre glass contact.
Any help is appreciated.
Matt & Pete
ONE MORE THING ----- drill through the bonnet gutter in each top corner left and right side of car where it sits above the upper inner body bulkhead . Use penny washers both sides and stainless steel bolts/nylocs . Once this is done just seal off with sikaflex . These things combined will make the body part of the chassis --- door bottom f/glassing --- sill bolting --- bonnet gutter bolting. I'm assuming you already glassed the D sections on the A frame.
Edited by Werner making Rob's edit more visible
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:24 am
by Pete&Matt
the D sections we have glassed in place with a few strips. We will be bolting the frame pivots to it at the weekend. Then, when we cut the flipfront, we will remove the front and glass the D sections in place then, when we can get some proper access to it! We will bolt through the bulkhead too then! Were going to seal it with sikaflex and fibreglass it too!
We have decided not to bolt the sills in place, instead we will put penny washers on the rivets. Reason being, the access into the sill is very restricted and its easier to drill a rivet out.
Matt
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:18 am
by stylussprinter
Pete&Matt wrote:the D sections we have glassed in place with a few strips. We will be bolting the frame pivots to it at the weekend. Then, when we cut the flipfront, we will remove the front and glass the D sections in place then, when we can get some proper access to it! We will bolt through the bulkhead too then! Were going to seal it with sikaflex and fibreglass it too!
We have decided not to bolt the sills in place, instead we will put penny washers on the rivets. Reason being, the access into the sill is very restricted and its easier to drill a rivet out.
Matt
Personally , I would bolt the bonnet gutter corners to the bulkhead before cutting the ' flip '
and temporarily bolt the d's to the A frame too
Then it will all line up nicely -------- what does Tim say
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:58 pm
by Pete&Matt
we will be bolting the A frame to the D sections before cutting the flip front.
I have sent Tim some e-mails about it on Monday, but had no response! Were wanting to start this at the weekend, hence putting the question up on here!
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:26 pm
by hearbear
It may be worth making the horizontal cut for the flip front to line up with the bottom of the door as this made a better look on mine. I have seen some that are higher and it spoils he side look a little of the car. Also glass the D sections in first and mount if you don't do this you will struggle to get the nose all lined up afterwards. You can then glass the D sections in fully when you have the nose of and have full access.
Hope this helps a bit.
George
Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 4:48 pm
by Pete&Matt
they are glassed in enough to hold them securley with the frame, then will do the rest when the front is cut. Will have a look at lowering the cut line too
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:25 am
by Pete&Matt
the whole of the back is now fibreglassed in place! Havent done the inside of the doors yet as were awiting some fibreglass tape to arrive.
Has anyone had problems with getting the fibreglass to stick well to the inner body? We roughed it up well before doing it, but some has curled up a little for some reason. Its in place with some rivets and sikaflex too!
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:53 pm
by Bikenuts
I've found that if you give the panels a quick wipe over with Acetone (don’t be to liberal or you’ll dissolve your car) and then glass as soon as it’s flashed off you get a good bond. The black gel coat can be particularly difficult – I think it must have traces of mould release or similar still on it.
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:04 pm
by Pete&Matt
we went over it with brake cleaner and did all the parts we were bonding. it probally has some mold release or somthing on it
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 4:31 pm
by alecmartin19
yeah get yourself some acetone. not only is it a hell of a lot cheaper than brake cleaner but you can wash your brushes in it after fibreglassing too. your hands too if you are a bit messy. its also good for yer missus nail varnish removing too! smells better too!
(don't sniff it. its bad for you and you'll fall over!)
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 5:37 pm
by Cerberus
alecmartin19 wrote:
(don't sniff it. its bad for you and you'll fall over!)
Thats the best bit
Phil
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:09 am
by Pete&Matt
we have done around the inside of the doors now with 2" fibreglass strip. made a nice neat job of it! highly reccommend using the stuff! Like you say, you need 3 layers at least though.