I don't want to interrupt the discussion on panels under the hood, but I think it is time for an update on my progress.
Panels
I have fabricated almost all of the panels and drilled and deburred their holes. Here is what I am doing for the panel under the hood between the nostril pit and the wheel well. I will probably do something to seal the nostrils so all of the air goes out the nostrils once I get the front clip installed.
I have placed vertical panels on either side of the engine compartment. I also have horizontal panels on the bottom of the frame between the engine area and the sills (not shown). I will use some of this area for the fuel pump and fuel line routing so I don't want water and road dirt to get in that area.
Rear Bulkhead Braces
I purchased the bulkhead braces from Tornado. Notice that the foot on the back side of the brace interferes with the battery box. The braces have a large square foot that extends over places that have nothing underneath them; therefore, I trimmed them to only have footing to go over the 1.5" frame tubes. I trimmed the left (battery) side more and it still required that I remove the corner of the battery box. It seems to me that if it is ok to not have a brace, then a 1" diameter brace with a trimmed footing would be better than a 1.5" tube in the brace; however, I didn't fabricate my own.
Sill Stiffeners
The aluminum panel over the side sill has too much compliance if you were to put some weight on it getting in and out of the car. I have welded in two cross members to support the sill panel. This further increases the protection from a side impact. Since the fuel tanks are under the sill, there is very little protection for a side impact. This will help that protection.
Front ARB Mounts
In the normal location for the mounts for the front anti-roll bar, there is a large part of the ARB that is cantilevered from the mount to the connection to the wheel and can bend up without twisting. Not only does this cantilever not contribute to torsional stiffness and reduce the effect of adjusting the ARB, it also could put more friction in the plastic mounts. I have moved the mounting point from the normal vertical plates (notice the two holes in the picture) to the outer vertical frame member. This frame member is welded in at an angle, so I had to make tapered inserts to get the surfaces square with the frame. These have a 9.5 degree taper.
Throttle Housing Mount
The cable housing would normally mount to the aluminum front bulkhead panel. I wanted more stiffness than the aluminum sheet would provide, so I welded a vertical steel plate in the frame in front of the throttle.
Frame off to Powder Coat
I have drilled most of my holes for rivets, rivet nuts, and items that bolt to the frame. I have taken the frame to powder coat and it should be back by this weekend or early next week. It fit in the back of my little pickup.
I have chosen a gun metal grey for the frame. It is Tiger Drylac Iron Glimmer P7.
One problem that I realized just before taking it to sand blast was that all of these rivet holes would catch sand. So how clever was I to do the powder coat last after I drilled all the holes? However, chips from drilling are inside the frame as well and I would like to get all of the debris out of the inside of the frame anyway. What I will do is turn the frame upside down so all the holes are pointing down and insert a flexible plastic 1/8" pneumatic hose through a hole on one end and try to blow out all of the debris. I could also use a vacuum to help encourage debris to flow to the other end. I'll let you know how well this works.
Engine
The engine is complete and I will bring it home soon. I will give all of the specs for the parts as soon as I bring it home. I will also run a engine dyno simulator to estimate the power I expect to get.
For now, here is the valve cover. I machined inserts for both ends of the cover. One end has M33 x 3.5 threads for a screw-on oil filler cap and the other has 3/4 NPT for a breather. My machinist milled GT40 in the middle.
-Bob Woods