Windscreen Footwell Covers

I wasn't sure how to deal with the windscreen that protrudes down into the footwells.  Since I have power steering, this differs from the standard GD frame which will differ from the usual covers that I think they can provide.  I will just make ones.

Using card, I created templates so that these could be made out of stainless steel.  My friend created these from my template - only a small bit of welding required.  The edges are nicely rounded.

I prepped them and sparayed them semi-gloss black, along with the heads of the bolts.  The bolt that holds them on is the lower Windscreen bolt.  I felt that was the neatest way to fasten them on.  Fairly finishes off the footwells.

Wipers

I re-checked the wiper park before fitting the blades - the wipers wipe the wrong way!

For this you need to take out the wiper motor, and swap over the inside mechanism to the other side.  Not too difficult, just a bit of a pain.  While disconnecting the plug I thought it felt a little loose so I also closed the terminals a bit so they fully gripped their opposite in the wiper socket.

Once the mechanism was swapped, the wiper blades were installed.  Job done.

Windscreen Vents

GD supply fishtail windscreen vents which I found were quite big and used up a lot of space in behind the dash.  I decided to manufacture my own to minimise space taken up.

I made a cardboard template and passed this to a friend who converted it into stainless steel.  By using this design means the hoses are well out of the way and allows plenty of room for the wiring and possible glovebox.  I polished the stainless escutcheons before bolting them to these vents using polished button head set screws.

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!

Windscreen Escutcheons

I formed the windscreen escutcheons in the vice using a plastic hammer, and also used a rounded piece of wood to try to form a neat curve to match the bodyshell profile.  The body curves in many ways, so it took a little bit of fettling to get it to look neat.

I then finally polished the escutcheon edges and M4 button head set screws on the polisher before fitting.

I added some extra sealant around the plate prior to fitting, and then cleaned off the excess.  I will polish the escutcheons and surrounding areas once the sealant has cured.

Power Steering Column Brace Fitted

I received my power steering column brace back from being hot metal sprayed and so I decided to fit it.  I had pre-fitted it prior to painting and so it was just a case of bolting it in place.

Once fitted, I then mounted the windscreen with the 930mm distance from the top of the screen to the rear bulkhead.  I then measured each side of the screen to the rear door opening to ensure it wasn't twisted.  The mounting bolts were then fully tightened up.  The screen was then removed and stored in a safe place.

I used some black sealant to seal around the windscreen stanchion and I will add some more when I fit the stainless escutcheon to ensure no water runs down into the footwells.

I drilled and tapped M4 threads into the body to hold the escutcheons in place.

I bought a new polishing machine to polish up the brightwork some more.  The provided finish is pretty good, however there are still a few machining marks remaining.  I plan to use some P1200 wet & dry on the edges and then polish to a high sheen.

Windscreen Wipers / Vents / Mount

I removed the windscreen so I could mark and cut the demister vents, centre windscreen mount and wiper arms.

I first ensured that the windscreen was sitting correctly, 930mm from the back centre to the body behind the seats.  The screen sits roughly 3mm above the scuttle at the corners.  This made the rubber seal look correct over the width of the car.  I then made sure that it was sitting with even spaces at both sides.  This was all tweaked and setup ok.  The centre bracket was positioned against the pre-drilled holes in the screen and slight adjustments were made to the bracket to allow it to fit.  The holes were then marked in the scuttle and drilled.

I used some measurements from Dale for the demister slots, however I mis-interpreted his description, but it is well within tolerance of the GD build notes:  30-40mm from the back of the screen.  I used 80mm from the roll of the scuttle to the centre of the slot.  Dale's measurement was actually from the rounded edge extremity ie furthest rearward of the scuttle, where I assumed that it mean where the rounded edge met the flat piece of the scuttle.  The outer holes were positioned 220mm in from the windscreen mounting slots.  The stainless escutcheons were used as templates and the holes / slot was drilled and cut using a Proxxon angle grinder.

The windscreen wiper spindles were drilled using the build notes - 415mm in from the outer edge of the windscreen stanchion and 3mm clear of the windscreen rubber.  The cowlings were used to drill the holes at the correct angle, and then were filed out to ensure the spindle fitted through.

I plan to sand down the scuttle polish it before bolting the escutcheons down and fitting the screen.