Bulkhead

 This weekend has been very productive already (even though the temperature in the UK has dropped like a stone!), I got the full body on and was able to see how the two halves lined up. Well, I say 'lined up', it's nowhere near lining up!! I knew that already though, the whole body is designed for a different chassis layout.

What it did show me was how far it overlaps, and it's looking really good from that point of view. I have to trim down the bonnet to bring it in line, but then I'll just need some edging trim to get it to fit with the body. 

It also means I can start work on the front hinge as I know where the bonnet needs to end up. But then something occurred to me;

This photo shows where the front of the body fits... right in the centre of the scuttle section! For reference, with the standard seven body the cockpit section finishes at the first crossmember. The part of the chassis in the photo is essentially part of the engine bay, and usually hosts the battery, coolant tank, that sort of thing. Here's an example from Skov's build;

As you can see, that's quite a bit of surface area that I don't currently have access to. So I need to regain that area.

As a secondary benefit, both the body and the bonnet need support at that position. The bonnet in particular needs the rear latches/fixings so it can close and lock. So I need to make a box essentially. The front of the box will be bounded by the chassis bar on the bottom, then continuing the sides of the chassis up to a cross member that will follow the profile of the bonnet. The rear of the box will be the same process, but coming up to the body at the top. 

Once I have the edges in place, I can then box it in so it isolates engine related things from person related things. That'll be the same as how Skov has it in the picture, but I'll end up with an extra hoop for bonnet support. 

It doesn't have to be overly pretty as it's more structural than decorative. However I do need to follow the curve of the body and the bonnet. And both need to be strong enough to keep things in place, as once it's in place I'll need to remove the rest of the material from the body. 

Ah, trimming the body... what a delightful job to look forward to! I want to keep at least some of the material in place, but maybe only an inch or so. Here's a few measurements I made of the front face;

Even retaining an inch below the recess I still need to trim nearly a foot of material, and recreate it further back in the car. Oh, and it needs to be adjustable... while I've taken a few measurements I still need the option of fine tuning, so there will need to be some movement somewhere. 

(Edit) Does it really need to be adjustable? The bonnet I think yes, I'd want some fine tuning in order to get it to fit well against the body. But I'm not so sure about the body itself. I think I'll get the bonnet one done first, because I can get the hinge sorted at the same time. Then get the chassis lowered, get the body on and work with that. 

And I also need to trim the rear of the body where there are triangular parts that come down the side of the chassis. They're in the wrong place in my car so are as useful as a chocolate teapot. I'll need to trim them and design a replacement profile that will fix to the car. Hmm, that is going to be a pain in the back side, it needs to be done with the body on but with the body on there isn't much space in the garage. Well, one step at a time.