Bodyshell Fitted

After making sure I had done everything on the chassis, I organised for some friends to come along to lift on the body - hopefully permanently this time!

I removed the bolts from the radiator mount and held the radiator back using some bungee cords to give as much clearance at the front as possible.

Everything was ready and so it was just a case of rolling the shell outside, spinning it around the correct way, and then lowering it onto the chassis.  I obviously supervised, while the 4 others lifted and guided the shell in place.  My son was the first to sit in to try out the passenger's sitting position.

It has certainly cleared a bit of room in the garage, basically going from 2 cars down to 1.  I do now have a spare bodyshell trolley........

Once the body was lowered, I fitted the windscreen.

I then passed the ECU connector and loom in through the from bulkhead into the back of the dashboard.  It was a bit tight getting it through, however I think the finished product is very neat in the engine bay.

I then fitted the air filter prior to re-bolting the radiator mount in place.  I actually dropped the radiator from its lower mount to get the filter in.  The filter is held in place with the rubber hose and stainless jubilee clips whilst being pushed up against the body by the radiator.

An excellent milestone!

Nuts, Bolts & Washers

With many things to do around the house, and painting windows etc. the car progress has suffered a bit.  I am still scouring the web regarding power steering requirements and some more wiring required.

In the meantime, I finally bought some wall organisers for holding all the A4 stainless set screws, nuts, washers that I had been keeping in plastic compartment boxes.  I bought 3 different types - a 60 drawer, 48 drawer and a 24 drawer.  There is room for one more organiser which I will buy later once I know what size will be the best.

Body Frame

A big thanks to Dale who I stole all the measurements from for my body frame.

I made it just as his blog which you can find here

I still have to glue on the non-slip rubber matting, but other than that it is finished.

I still have to have a final clear out of the garage and container ready for the body / chassis arriving on Saturday.

A friend of mine is coming up from the mainland with a truck and he has kindly offered to collect the car / parts.  It is quite a long journey:

414 miles to Aberdeen
12 hour ferry trip
11 mile trip to my house!

648 miles in total (According to Google Maps)

I have tried to buy a lot of parts in one go just to save on shipping costs.  As you can see it's a bit of a trek!

Garage Renovation

With the decision to build a GD427, I thought I'd better have a big tidy-up in the garage and make it a lot more "fit for purpose".  I bought a 20' shipping container to move everything out of the garage to be able to overhaul it.  A lot of the bits and pieces won't be going back in.  I plan to use the garage as a work area only, and the container as the storage area.

The garage is relatively small, but it is essentially sound and just basically required a clear out, re-wire and a lick of paint.  I am waiting on a new sectional door to arrive then fitted, but this can be done once the car is here.

The proposed delivery date for the bodyshell and chassis is the 31st of October.

Installed a substantial beam to be able to remove a centre pillar

Old kitchen units installed, and walls and floor painted.