Body drilling

So this post brings the build blog up to current date. The body has been removed to get on with the fuel lines and brakes etc and then put back on with the aid of a couple of mates. I've now drilled the holes after spending about an hour making sure everything is absolutely square with plumb lines over the wheel arches. I then ran bolts through the seatbelt anchorage points to secure it before drilling through the scuttle hoop base in three places each side and lacing bolts through these holes too. 5mm holes for riveting - about 150 of them! were then drilled.

The body is now back off again and I've taken the paint off the chassis in the correct places ready for bonding with Wurth adhesive. 

So with the body now off for hopefully the final time I've fitted the pedal box and drilled the holes in the bulkhead required for the Servo and Master Cylinder. The pedal box itself is supposed to 'practically position itself' according to the build manual. This is true of the back plate only. After marking the right position for the clutch arm in the top of the footwell I set to with a Dremel and opened the hole out. All went well until I tried to actually fit the clutch pedal and discovered that you can't get the back plate in with the pedal attached and you can't get the bolt through to hold the pedal when the backplate is in place! After some head scratching and resisting the urge to set fire to the bloody thing I finally bit the bullet and drilled a hole through the side of the foot well to allow me to feed the bolt in from the engine bay. I've put a rubber bung into the hole for the time being but I'm going to put an aluminium plate over it eventually. So with the pedals in I then discover that the clutch fouls on the corner of the top part of the footwell - bugger! Took everything out again and placed a small bend in the pedal itself so that it clears. The pedals are now sorted but it has been an eye opener.

One of the things that is becoming apparent with this build is that it isn't a case of simply bolting parts together and hey presto you have a finished car. At virtually every step so far I've run into an issue that has to be worked around before the job in hand can be completed. Still it does lend itself to a greater sense of satisfaction when the job is done I spose!