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June 2003
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Made some headway this weekend. First job was to finally fit the dashboard.
Having dressed the welds and painted the bare metal, the dash could be positioned and attached. For now I've just used five of the copper rivets until I have the scuttle in place. I can always add more later |
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The next item was to start the rear side panels. These run from the rear
chassis upright to the spare wheel at the back. First job was to accurately measure from the front of the upright to the edge of the spare tyre on each side, as the rear panels are overlength; this is so that if you use the original 2CV wheels the metal can encase the wheel, however as I was using the larger crossplies, the metal had to be cut so that the metal almost butted up to the tyre, only leaving space for some edging trim.
The two sides were exactly the same, which is good as it mean't that I could
work on one side, and then just transfer the cut to the other. It took ages clamping the panel in place, measuring the lengths at various points to calculate the angle at which to trim the panel down (as the spare wheel is not vertical). After lost of trial and trimming we had one side right. the other side took a couple of minutes. Note that this was covered in masking tape first to stop scratches.
Next thing was working out where the bulkheadflanges went to rivet the panel
to (the picture on the left shows the markimngs on wide masking tape. Lots more measuring and re-measuring before swallowing hard and committing the drill. Decided to use 2" centres for the rivtes, on the basis that I canb always add an intermediate one in later if necessary.
I also used those copper rivets that I have mentioned. I'm not sure about
these now as I think the heads are probably too small - I'll have to see if I can get larger ones. |
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I also have to say thanks to Stuart next door, poked his head in to see how I was getting on, and left four
hours later an expert on fitting rear side panels! Seriously, this job is a lot easier with two people. |
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One thing I forgot to mention is that the rear of the rear side panels get tucked under and butt underneath
the car. I can't do this until I have a) fitted the fuel filler hose, b) fitted the rear seatbelts and c) extended the wiring for the rear lights.
Tonight I started by clearing the garage. I have got sufficiently on now that I could chuck a lot of the
remains of the 2CV that I was holding onto, as well as clear floor space now that the old 2CV engine had gone. This will give me plenty of space to work on the side panels which are long. I've said it before, but I do feel lucky having double garage space (especially as I am quite a messy worker) and I have real respect for those builders that can do this in a single garage, sometimes even without power.
After that is was connecting up the instruments which took plenty of time as I used multiplugs to connect the
speedo and tacho. The result was a working tacho and all the dashboard lights. I doid take a photo with the garage lights off, but it didn't work - I guess the camera doesn't have a slow enough shutter speed.
The only problem is the fuel gauge. It shows full and I know the tank isn't. I guess I'll have to have a look
at that. |
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Not much progress since the last update, I spent a week in Helsinki, was away for the weekend then went to
France for the week. In the meantime I did manage to order a load of bits from Stafford Vehicle Components including headlights and seatbelts.
The seatbelts are proving to be a pain. Because I am trying to put rear dickey seats in, I am moving the front
seat forwards by 8". I don't want inertia reel as they will clutter the rear footwell, but getting seatbelts long enough even with the diagonal belt mouted at the top of the "B" post is difficult. Of course, it would be easier if I wasn't so fat.............. As well as this, I need to consider the rear seatbelts. Three pointers are not an option as the upper mounting height will fail SVA, but if the seats are "removable" they only need to be lap belts. I was wondering, however, whether I would be better to not submit it at all with rear seats, and add them later. It all depends how the car will be described on the V5 as I don't want it described at a 2 seater if it is a 2+2. I guess I need to call the local Vehicle Inspectorate and find out what the registration rules are. |
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I did do some work today though. I finished the dash and tidied up the wiring behind the dash, mounted the
voltage regulatro and re-routed the speedo drive cable under the battery tray. My father-in-law also had a copper water tank surplus to requirements so we butchered that for the cowling and took the rest to the tip.
My camera batteries are flat, I'll take some more tomorrow.
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