Fitting body panels - Seatback (74 rivets)

The seat back is quite tricky to get in place as you have to flex (bend) it and it has a fold that runs across the top. A tip from the guys in Westfield was to flatten the middle 6" of the top fold. That way the panel will flex without putting a permanent crease in it.

Aligning the panel was quite tricky as every time I tightened the clamps at the top where the fold was it moved. I had a couple of fitting issues:

The rectangular holes (I assume for the seatbelts) were not quite central and the corner rivet hole was covered by part of the chassis:


The RH side of the transmission tunnel where the diff is mounted seemed not to be trimmed back quite enough:

Fitting body panels - LH tunnel side (59 rivets)

Clamped and aligned the LH tunnel side.

The build manual talks about having to fold a return at the front of the panel. Again, it seems they have changed the design so the panel does not wrap round the chassis strut:

With the panel held in place, I marked the holes on the diagonal with a pencil to make sure they were central. With the panel in the correct alignment on the chassis, the holes for the seat belt bushes did not quite line up:

So I used a file to make the holes longer:

Drilled the holes. Although I don't have any Cleco fasteners (see FM Westfield build diary), I placed rivets temporarily in place as I went to make sure the panel did not move:

Drilling the holes on the centre back upright was a bit tight but okay using a standard electric drill:

Fitting body panels - starting

The first step in the build is to attach the panels to the chassis. The basic procedure is: G-clamp the panels to the chassis, drill holes in the chassis (the panels are pre-drilled); repeat for all panels; apply silicone sealant to chassis and rivet.

Here are all the panels layed out as they fit onto the chassis:

The first panels to fit according to the build manual were the seat floor pans. It seems since the build manual was produced they have changed the design and the seat floor pans are now an integral part of the chassis:

Dismantling - Day 8 (the end!)

Tried to remove the drive shafts using a hub puller but they would not come loose. Decided to remove the rear hubs with them attached. Removed the front hubs.Removed all the remaining trim. The donor is now completely bare and ready for scrapping.