Leather

I set on the leather pieces to try and see how they interact with the carpet pieces.  These are leather covered fibreglass and so are pretty much fixed in size.

These were set in with the tunnel and rear carpets in position.

The rear carpet has piping on the bottom which needs to fold onto the tunnel because of the size of the carpet.  With this length the leather topper either needs to sit underneath the piping, or on top.  A bit of a play around to see what looks best.. 

Since the leather tunnel topper is a fixed size, I marked and cut out for the gear lever.  I used a hole saw to go through the fibreglass and then a knife for trimming the leather.  I sealed the cut using a hot glue gun as I didn't want the leather's stitching to undo - although the gear lever stainless ring should hold it all in place.

Carpets

I thought I had better set all the carpets in to try and figure out what piece goes where.  There are a lot of different pieces!

Everybody else seems to start with the tunnel - so I thought I would start with that.  It was too long to fit in my cockpit, so the first step was to cut it to length.  I had to figure out where the taper fitted the tunnel best, then I could get a measurement to the rear to be able to cut it.  Once this was done the front and sides could be cut to length.  I then cut out the hole for the gearlever.

I laid in the side carpets and also rear caprpet to see how it was all going to line up with each other and also the fibreglass bodywork at the hinges and door closer.  Not going to be easy!  

Some of the piping appeared to be different to other builders, and the rear panel appeared slightly big.  I do have the sound deadening installed, but that shouldn't make it too different.  A bit more head scratching required.

Seat Runners

I fitted the runners to the seats.  The mounting surface was uneven due to the leather folds of the seat so I spaced off at the mouting bolts using penny washers.  This then allowed the runner to be perfectly straight with no chance of being stiff due to distortion.

I also decided that it would be neater and easier to get the bolts out in future if they went up through the body.  Here in Shetland any exposed bolt thread will corrode very quickly meaning that it is much harder to get bolts undone.

I made threaded insert blocks which fit inside the runner where the bolt from underneath will screw into.  The block has a small retainer screw to hold it into place.  This was done for all 8 fixing places.

Door Switches

Before fitting any carpets, I decided to fit door switches in case I wanted footwell lights.  The GD loom has wires for it.

I decided to use microswitcehs so I had to make a small stainless bracket to be able to fit them to the door hinge mount.  The mount was drilled and tapped and the switch mounted.

To trigger the switch, the simlest solution I could come up with was to drill and tap into the hinge itself and screw in a button head set screw.  This is slightly rounded and easily presses on the switch to trigger it.

The wire was run from the dash and a small cable clip was screwed to the pillar to keep it out of harms way.

I also fitted the same type of switch to the handbrake for the brake test circuit.  This was bolted directly to the handbrake bracket - I don't seem to have any photos..

Door Open

Door Closed

Headrests

The headrests and stainless brackets were supplied by GD.  I screwed the headrest onto the bracket and placed the headrest so that it was in the centre of the hoop's radius.  I then marked where to drill the holes and tapped the hole out to M5.

I wasnt too happy with the weld finish where the threaded boss is for the headrest, so I added some weld using the MIG, and then filed, polished back the bracket so it was smooth.

The headrests were then bolted in position using threadlock.

Footwell Update

I sealed around the clutch footwell extension using some black sealant and bolted it up.  Hopefully no water will get through.

I also covered the pedals using non-slip grip tape.

Door Handle Return Springs

After fitting the doors and handle mechanism (GD had marked out the cut lines), it was clear that these need return sprins to aid their return.  Before fitting the machanism I drilled small holes ready for the springs.  Now that they have arrived, I had to partially remove the handle to get the springs fitted. 

The springs were fitted and the mechanism bolted back in place.