Are you planning on painting the whole of the exterior of front end with stonechip?
Rebody Mittaws 250 SWB Coupe Build
- Thread starter mittaw
- Start date
Sills on this evening. Bonded and fixed. Needed to elongate the holes to enable the best fit i could. Not possible to get bonnet, door edges and sills to all align so just had to go for it aligning all as best together as possible and will make any necessary adjustments in the bodywork
Just a note about fitting the roof on the Coupe, the roof on mine, and many others I understand sits on the original front windscreen. This is ok if you don't want to ever change the front windscreen but I wanted some security in case the windowscreen needs replacing in the future, which it will do as mine has scratches all over it from the previous owner. So I needed to cut the roof line back a little so it sits on the edge of the existing windscreen frame flush enabling me to change the screen now and in the future.
Im sure there are easier ways to do this but i did the following
I should also add that I know all the cars are slightly different as they come out the molds but my roof was particularly low/sagging where it joined the front windscreen so when I placed the filler piece on the front windscreen if lifted the body too high off the chassis elsewhere, particularly the side sections and the part that bonds to the sill behind the door.
I tried cutting this long piece down a bit but it got to the point where it was just the same height as the window frame so it became redundant. So I never used it in the end and everything elsewhere sat perfectly. I've backfilled the void across the windscreen from the interior with some fibreglass matting to give some extra strength to the bond between the roof and the windscreen frame.
I will also need to reshape the roofline as it looks like this section is made from three sections of the mold and mine hasn't come out strictly true.
Just a note about fitting the roof on the Coupe, the roof on mine, and many others I understand sits on the original front windscreen. This is ok if you don't want to ever change the front windscreen but I wanted some security in case the windowscreen needs replacing in the future, which it will do as mine has scratches all over it from the previous owner. So I needed to cut the roof line back a little so it sits on the edge of the existing windscreen frame flush enabling me to change the screen now and in the future.
Im sure there are easier ways to do this but i did the following
- I placed a series of peices of tape on the window, numbered them and marked the edge of the window glass and the edge of the metal frame.
- Placed some second tape below them and drew a line with arrows to allow me to realign them later when I put them back on
- Put the body on the car so it sat on the car as I wanted it everywhere else but right across the windscreen
- Then with the roof over the glass I marked up on the tape a third line where the roof line sat now
- I then removed the body again and took off all the individual pieces of tape and put the body back on again
- I then put the tape piece back on, but this time on the roof not the windscreen aligning the third mark i made with the edge of the roof and the arrowson the othertape. This showed me how far back I had to cut back the roof so it met with window frame where the original rubber sat
- I marked roughly the line between the pieces of tape across the window with the furthest back line
- I then cut the roof back on the furthest back line which when I removed the section I cut off the roof line matched the original windscreen edge. It wasn't 100 percent but it was pretty close. I could then use some wheelarch chrome trim to bridge the windscreen and the body to give a really nice flush line against the body and the windscreen but importantly allow the window to be removed in future without having to harm the bodywork.
I should also add that I know all the cars are slightly different as they come out the molds but my roof was particularly low/sagging where it joined the front windscreen so when I placed the filler piece on the front windscreen if lifted the body too high off the chassis elsewhere, particularly the side sections and the part that bonds to the sill behind the door.
I tried cutting this long piece down a bit but it got to the point where it was just the same height as the window frame so it became redundant. So I never used it in the end and everything elsewhere sat perfectly. I've backfilled the void across the windscreen from the interior with some fibreglass matting to give some extra strength to the bond between the roof and the windscreen frame.
I will also need to reshape the roofline as it looks like this section is made from three sections of the mold and mine hasn't come out strictly true.
Attachments
I'm going to paint the underside of the whole front bonnet section with it yes. Not the exterior side. I'd rather just over do it than under do it. Just never know where water may get over time.
I'm not going to do the removal bonnet section as that will be on show when it's open. For that I'm applying a flowcoat to give a smooth finish to the rougher underside.
I've smoothed out a lot of the joins between the two GRP panels around the edges with some P40 and a small amount of P38 to smooth it off. I wanted to be able to open the bonnet and have the underside as good as the topside. Will post up some images when I've finished the underside and the bonnet scoop extension.
Busy few days to get as much done before Christmas break. Working on the sills and joining the panel gaps.
Replacement sills have been bonded in place with tigerseal and seam sealant. Over the top of that is a layer of glass fibre filler. The one for deep holes. This packed out the gaps to get it all level-ish. Once that had dried, a layer of fibreglass matting was placed all over the joins and sills panel to strengthen the join. Once sanded and leveled a layer of filler was put on top and sanded back. A draft layer of primer was sprayed over it all once sanded back to give a guide coat for later finishing.
Next up joining the sill to the rear panel to create a seamless join between the two panels. I filled the gap between the panels with tigerseal, and the some glass fibre filler to add strength to the join. To stop any cracks between the panels from movement i then overlaid this with a few layers of fibreglass matting. I also bonded a stainless steel brace behind the panels in the wheel arch and covered with fibreglass matting and filler to hide it. I need to sculpt the the wheelarch a little as a result. A very thin layer of p40 glass fibre over this. Will sand this back and a thin layer of top filler over that will smooth it all off.
Focus then onto the bonnet. TR4 hinges in place and bonnet opens nicely now. Leather bonnet straps prepped and ready to be fixed. Juts playing with the angles a bit before I fix. Now I have the bonnet in place I can see how far off the bonnets alignment is with the body....and it's quite a bit. I'll need to work up the shape of the bonnet to match the body later as well as some big variations on the panel gaps around the bonnet.
Ive also fixed the rear shelf in place. Ita a revised one thats a lot bigger as it came with the Grassbank rear window. It's been trimmed back and some fibreglass matting attached to it reaching back under the body. I need to do as much of this as possible before the car is painted and rear window gets fixed in as I have the access now while the window is not in place. Plan is to get painted in Feb/March so best to do now.
Window frames are due back from the chromer in Jan so need to get all door sills done this week as the roof will need reprofiling to match them, and generally. It all needs to be done by May 2025 so pressure is on.
Replacement sills have been bonded in place with tigerseal and seam sealant. Over the top of that is a layer of glass fibre filler. The one for deep holes. This packed out the gaps to get it all level-ish. Once that had dried, a layer of fibreglass matting was placed all over the joins and sills panel to strengthen the join. Once sanded and leveled a layer of filler was put on top and sanded back. A draft layer of primer was sprayed over it all once sanded back to give a guide coat for later finishing.
Next up joining the sill to the rear panel to create a seamless join between the two panels. I filled the gap between the panels with tigerseal, and the some glass fibre filler to add strength to the join. To stop any cracks between the panels from movement i then overlaid this with a few layers of fibreglass matting. I also bonded a stainless steel brace behind the panels in the wheel arch and covered with fibreglass matting and filler to hide it. I need to sculpt the the wheelarch a little as a result. A very thin layer of p40 glass fibre over this. Will sand this back and a thin layer of top filler over that will smooth it all off.
Focus then onto the bonnet. TR4 hinges in place and bonnet opens nicely now. Leather bonnet straps prepped and ready to be fixed. Juts playing with the angles a bit before I fix. Now I have the bonnet in place I can see how far off the bonnets alignment is with the body....and it's quite a bit. I'll need to work up the shape of the bonnet to match the body later as well as some big variations on the panel gaps around the bonnet.
Ive also fixed the rear shelf in place. Ita a revised one thats a lot bigger as it came with the Grassbank rear window. It's been trimmed back and some fibreglass matting attached to it reaching back under the body. I need to do as much of this as possible before the car is painted and rear window gets fixed in as I have the access now while the window is not in place. Plan is to get painted in Feb/March so best to do now.
Window frames are due back from the chromer in Jan so need to get all door sills done this week as the roof will need reprofiling to match them, and generally. It all needs to be done by May 2025 so pressure is on.
Attachments
Oh. That's a lot of permanent FG bonding of FG panels to steel. I'd worry it would crack along the joins. But I guess that's the way your kit is meant to be fitted.
On my 507 kit the FG panels, sills etc are just bolted on to the chassis like the originals using the same screws into the same thread holes. The screw heads are then covered by the original trim.
On my 507 kit the FG panels, sills etc are just bolted on to the chassis like the originals using the same screws into the same thread holes. The screw heads are then covered by the original trim.
Yes, I've kind of gone to town on it all. The sills fit the same way as your 507 kit but i wanted the car to have a smooth look along all the door openings. It will have some polished aluminium trim over the top later.
Cracking is a worry but I'm hoping it doesn't happen, but there will be the trim over it in anycase.
Cracking is a worry but I'm hoping it doesn't happen, but there will be the trim over it in anycase.