[Chuck]

Body Panels – Rocker Panels, Spider and Front Clip

Following RCR’s directions, the rocker panels were secured first. They were spaced as far back as possible. A small notch was cut out of the front lower portion of the rocker panel to assure this objective. Make sure the front wheels will clear the rocker panel when they are turned

One small metal screw was temporarily placed on each rocker panel, about five inches from the front edge, to secure it while the other panels were placed. An elongated hole was used, so it could be adjusted in and out a bit. The leading edge of the rocker panel can later be moved to achieve a better alignment with the front clip and doors. This hole will be filled in with glass filler once the final alignment is completed.

Next the spider was set in place, but not secured. Only a single 1/16” washer was used on the leading edge, which will later be replaced with a foam gasket seal. We had a reasonably good alignment between the spider and the front clip. Keep in mind our dashboard was already in place (although not screwed down) and it fits tightly inside the front lower edge of the spider, so the position of the spider was fairly well defined. Only a small amount of movement of the dash – spider was possible. No screws were used on the spider at this time so that fine adjustments could be made once the doors and front clip were placed.

It is best to have the dash in place when locating the spider, since they fit together tightly in a left hand drive car. The right hand dash is different, so we cannot comment on its affect on the spider alignment.

The forward edge of the spider B pillar was pushed tight against the fire wall so that the rear edge of the spider B pillar was about 15” from the end of the rear rocker panel. This measurement is only a guide, since final fore and aft alignment will not be possible until the doors are fitted.

The front clip was set in place, lining the rear of the wheel opening with the rocker panel. The bobbins were then adjusted to achieve an appropriate height and to assure a parallel line where the clip meets the rocker panels. Here is the interesting part, which Tom pointed out on his visit. Adjusting one bobbin by rotating it up or down slightly will cause the clip to shift left or right. By careful adjustment one can achieve a very good and uniform gap with the spider just by manipulating the bobbins.

The front corners of the spider, rear top corners of the clip, and upper front corners of the doors should all come together reasonably uniformly on both sides. Once the front clip is aligned, one can twist the front of the spider slightly from the driver’s side to the passenger side, or vice versa, to get the corners to line up with the front clip. Then a screw or two may be placed to hold the spider. Keep in mind that as one skews the front of the spider left or right, it will cause the opposite rear portion of the spider to go up or down, affecting alignment with the rear clip.

The doors can be set in place to get a rough idea about the alignment of the rear of the spider. The fire wall may have to be pulled back a bit. This will be more apparent when the doors are fitted. We ran long threaded bolts from the fire wall to an aluminum angle bracket which gave us a bit of adjustment (details appear on an earlier post, Perma Link 61, 11/13/07). http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/22083-chuck-ryan-s-rcr-build-4.html#post209590

It is amazing how tiny adjustments, perhaps a sixteenth or an eighth of an inch, can have such a significant affect in other places. Patience is the buzzword. There was lots of putting on and taking off before we got it right.

To secure the spider we installed quarter inch Nutserts, two on either side, at the base of the B pillar. This was more secure than the over-used metal screws. The spider was spaced about an eighth inch above the rocker panel with a suspension mounting plate, which made an ideal spacer. This will provide a uniform clip between the rocker panel, clips doors and B pillar. More thickness was required on the driver’s side, since the front edge of the rear clip extended a noticeable distance above the top rear edge of the spider on the driver side. (See photo). This was accomplished by lengthening the B pillar with a 1/16” thick piece of modelers plywood, fiber glassed in place, after all the body panels were fitted. (Details will be noted in a subsequent post)..

There was a small alignment problem which we could not solve by manipulating body panels. With the spider, front clip, and doors in place and aligned as best as possible, the rear portion of the front right wheel well was forward of the rocker panel about 3/16 inch. This minor problem will be addressed when we reach the sanding and body filler stage.

The gap between the front right door and the front clip, a seam about 3 inches long, was about a quarter inch plus wide; more than we want. Adding about an eighth inch of material to close the gap should not be too difficult in such a small area.

With the rocker panels, spider, and front clip in place, the doors were next.