Saturday 24 October 2009

Yet more drilling ... but finally it's time to attach bits

Saturday 24th October - Work time = 8.5 hrs ... Build Time To Date = 14.5 hrs
More drilling for the interior panels today.  Started off with the rear bulkhead ... I was not looking forward to this as I had read on several forums how difficult it was to get it fitted due to the need to bend the panel.  I flattened the top bend a little in the middle, masked off the interior rails so I didn't scratch them and after that it was pretty straightforward to bend and slot in.  Here's another "hedgehog" shot showing the panel drilled and rivets in.




I continued with the near side exterior panel and also the scuttle.  I decided to leave the off side exterior panel until after I'd fitted the pedals as access would be easier with it off.

At last the time had come ...I could now change to fitting and rivetting instead of drilling.  First on was the back panel, closely followed by the tunnel panels.  The lazy tongs rivetter made things a lot easier once I'd worked out the how to eject the spent rivet shanks.  However there were many places where it wouldn't fit so I had to resort to the traditional hand pull rivet tool.  Fair play to other Westfield builders who only use a hand pull rivetter for all the build rivets ... they must have a stronger grip than me!

So finally some pictures where I have added something to the chassis ... demonstrable progress at last.



Spurred on by the sense of achievement I continued with the front bulkheads.  I thought it best to put some washers under the rivet heads on the fibre-glass clutch pedal panel to spread the load a little better.





Finally it now looks like I'm making some progress ... not a huge amount to show for 14.5 hours effort though !

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