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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 11:50:25 GMT
Slow progress due to having to finish building the driveway (which we started in lockdown) and decorating the lounge (which we started last Christmas)! As of yesterday though we now have all the parts. Panels ibb.co/C7sQC5SRoll bar ibb.co/tqjndQCRear cover ibb.co/bvRvgNZRear bulkhead panel with Perspex window. ibb.co/Nmt0szy
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 11:50:59 GMT
Will have to redo the phots as that didn't work :-)
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 11:55:15 GMT
Panels Roll bar Rear cover Rear bulkhead panel with Perspex window.
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 11:57:16 GMT
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 11:59:38 GMT
We then put the second side panel on and tried all the other panels. Rear cover in place Roof in place The cutouts still appeared to be in the wrong place but it was hard to tell without having fitted the suspension. The side pods seem to fit only in one position due to the shape of the middle section, no room for moving it back or forward unless we cut away at the top lip. It looks like it’s going to be tricky getting everything to fit together, particularly the windscreen surround. This was the underneath.
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 12:01:36 GMT
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 12:02:27 GMT
We’ve fitted the brake pipes ok. The coolant pipes are waiting for me to buy some suitable clips as the ones I bought turned out to not be the diameter as advertised and the pipes wouldn’t have been held securely.
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Post by alison on Oct 14, 2020 12:03:14 GMT
Next step is get some flexible coolant pipes to connect to the aluminium ones along the sides of the chassis, so that I have them in place when checking where each panel sits. Angus kindly sent me a link for a possible Coolex Polo radiator www.coolexperts.co.uk/product/vw-polo-derived-westfield-aluminium-race-radiator-2/ . It seems you can choose where to have the input/output pipes. The one in the build guide has both pipes at the top but some of the build logs have gone for both pipes on one side. Is there any advantage to either in terms of available space?
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Post by buildityourself on Oct 14, 2020 19:15:10 GMT
Hi Alison,
Good progress. Very wise to try the side pods now, as will give you a good idea where everything goes. We didn't do this and it was an error.
Your suspension holes look the same as mine, although our rack hole is linked in to the lower wishbone hole.
The plumbing is easier if the radiator pipes are on different sides, but you want the output pipe at the bottom not the top, as you want cooler water from the bottom coming out (heat rises). Ours is a standard polo rad with both on one side.
Stu
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Post by alison on Nov 15, 2020 10:39:24 GMT
Yesterday we started the 3-d jigsaw puzzle of trying to fit the panels. We put the side pods on and placed the dash and the bonnet in place. The bonnet didn't fit very well with the dash where we placed it and we had the added complication of the windscreen surround butting up to it which needed to be at the right angle.
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Post by alison on Nov 15, 2020 11:08:07 GMT
We decided to start with the windscreen. We laid the parts out on the floor, and filed the windscreen surround until the angles worked, so that the edge of the glass sat in the correct place all the way round. Quite a bit of filing - more so on one side - just to do with the way the edges had been trimmed. This is the end product - If you imagine this a one fixed unit, then in order to get the angle of the edge on the side of the windscreen surround to line up with the top of the body panels, the angle of the whole thing tipping front to back needs to be right - if the windscreen is tipped too vertical for example the roof is never going to fit. This needs to line up with the top edge of the side pod: Also we have the dash too high compared to the top edge of the side pods: Out with the hacksaw.... We cut a chunk off the back of the side pod flanges so that they could be moved backwards and forwards. We cut a bit off the sides of the dash. We cut a bit off the bonnet supports: Everything was looking better then. We could adjust everything back and forward. Testing this we moved everything about 5cm back, but the side pods were forced apart slightly at the front by the limitation of the width of the front of the chassis, so then the front section of the car was too loose and we couldn't pull the front of the car together to touch the grille. We moved the whole thing forwards again a couple of cm and then the grille fitted and the bonnet looked better.
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Post by alison on Nov 15, 2020 11:28:08 GMT
The next step was to fit the sloping back and the roof. The sloping back has to meet the rear of the side pods correctly. The rear partition goes next, then the middle piece that makes the top of the roof. This is the aim: The sloping back fitted fine once we'd cut a couple of cm off the rails to allow it to go far enough back. The rear partition had us thinking though. This is what it looks like with the body where it is compared to the chassis. It is sat on to of the cross piece of the chassis which is too high. This either means it needs the bottom cutting off it so it sinks down, or it needs to go behind or in front of the cross piece. Because of the aluminium bulkhead which has the rolled edge it can't go in front. If it goes behind it's out of the way of the roll bar as well as the rolled top of the aluminium rear bulkhead. It will need notching out to allow it to drop down. When we put the windscreen surround back on along with the middle top of the roof it appears it will all fit together OK, but the whole lot will all need moving back so that the rear partition is behind the cross piece of the chassis. Because we have the roof, the position of the body panels to each other is fixed - each roof piece has to fix to the next, but we can still migrate the whole lot backwards and forwards.
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Post by alison on Nov 15, 2020 12:00:51 GMT
Slightly concerned about the roll bar, not only in case I ever roll (!) but also as it will be important for IVA. The chassis has two metal plates to bolt the roll bar on to, and two point to fix the struts that stop it tipping forwards. The square plates on the roll bar don't match up to the ones on my chassis. And closer up - How much of an overlap do they need? Also I can't find any guidance about the struts that stop the roll bar tipping forward - how has everyone made these?
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Post by buildityourself on Nov 15, 2020 21:28:09 GMT
I hate to say it Alison, but I think you might have problems later on.
Where you look to be fitting the side panels is in the older rearward position on the chassis? This might cause you problems with the suspension holes and drive shafts etc. Where does the front of your dash panel currently sit? on top of the chassis or behind?
I encountered similar uncertainity with the dash, but the solution for me was to move the dash forward. This is covered in our build thread. The concensus for the side pods is place the folded engine bulkhead in and line up the side pods with these. The rain lips are inline with the top of the alloy. The build manual talks about measuring the dash to the grill, but my recommendation is engine bulkhead to dash at 1120mm.
For the roll bar struts, most just use a flat steel bar with holes, we have yet to do this.
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Post by alison on Nov 15, 2020 23:27:09 GMT
Thanks for the warning! We actually had a rethink this afternoon and decided to change plans and put the aluminium bulkhead in, and then move everything forward so that the rear partition drops down just in front of it. This means the side panels are now pretty much back where started. With the side panels in this position we were able to put the front grille on OK as the sides pulled together better. The side panels are no longer in contact with the sides of the chassis. We will need to trim the ends of the dash so that it too slides forward to some extent. There may not be much room to play with the position of the dash as it has to be the right distance forward for the roof and windscreen so they fit to it, and at the same time has to not be too far back from the front of the car so that the bonnet meets it. This morning (before we moved the side panels forward again) the dash was resting on the chassis. If we move it forward to match the amount we are moving everything else forward it will hang over the front of the chassis cross-piece. Having said that a lot of build guides show the front of the dash open - so like ours but with the front cut off. The next step is to put the rear bulkhead in, and either trim the top corners of the aluminium bulkhead or trim the bottom corners on the rear sloping back panel, as they clash slightly. I'll measure engine bulkhead to dash then and see how it compares to your measurement. After that I think we can see how far forward the roof ends up and then see where that means the dash needs to be given the issue of getting the windscreen surround to meet the dash and the roof. Hopefully the placement of the sides will mean the holes are correct for the suspension etc, but the holes in the side panels aren't symmetrical so adjustments might be needed. Thanks for your help.
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