Monday, 4 October 2010

Aluminium panelling (nearly) completed

All alluminium panels have now been cut to size, drilled and attached with Sikaflex and rivets. The only exceptions are the upper sides of the upper rear quarter panels, the transmission tunnel top, transmission tunnel passenger side as well as the battery tray. These will be attached later, only after access is no longer needed, e.g. to mount the gearbox, bodywork, etc.

The aluminium was cut using standard, new (sharp) tin snips, filed where necessary and then deburred using the pen style deburring tool. Rivets were spaced at 75mm intervals, or less where the distance was divided to provide an even spacing less than 75mm. Sikaflex sealant was used relatively sparingly, making sure the drilled holes were covered, prior to rivetting.

After fitting the panels I ran a bead of Sikaflex along the joints that needed it. Masking tape was applied about 5mm each side of the joint, a thin bead of Sikaflex was run along the joint, before smoothing out with a very sticky finger and finally removing the masking tape.

Overall I am quite pleased with the finish. There are few bits where I would do it differently if I were to do it again, but isn't that's always the way.





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