The Body Beautiful

STAGE 3 - FITTING THE BODY (198 hours)


4th Feb Body delivered by Dave Low of Lomax.

Got angle of tub right and made hole for steering pinion.

Trimmed front bottom so it would sit on chassis, not shock absorber.

Drilled small holes from under floor, then 2x 8mm to fix - not quite central - corrected later.

Cut hole in rear floor for rear wheel.

5th Feb Fitted central seat belt anchorages.

Raised tub to work on suspension.

Removed nearside can spring and rods, adjusted front higher and back lower. Problem with rear torsion bar pulling on rear eyebolt - removed.

7th Feb Removed shock absorbers, adjusted suspension levels.

Increased size of hole in tub for steering pinion.

Cut off parts of lower bulkhead where fouling suspension.

8th Feb Reversed rubber in rear of OS can, re-adjusted 'can' clearances, adjusted all 4 eyebolts to level chassis - up at front, down at back.

Took about 3mm off bottom of tub bulkhead.

Removed front suspension arms and took them to Lomax for modification to castor angle.

9th Feb Adjusted front l/r suspension.

Foam strip put on chassis (under body).

Angle ground front suspension arms, cleaned and repainted with black Hammerite.

Fitted carburettor pump (part missing).

10th Feb Adjusted body height.

Replaced front shock absorbers.

Replaced modified suspension arms - found steering arms could not join, so removed arm from axle, joined steering arms and then replaced arm to axle.

Replaced (and greased) drive shafts and gaiters.

Cut hole in a spare wheel and tightened hub nuts with Lomax tool plus extension tube.

Fitted Lomax stainless steel steering rod adjusters - and adjusted until distance from middle of front and rear of front wheels were parallel.

Lowered tub on to chassis again.

11th Feb Centred steering.

Checked for rear wheel fouling body - suspension disconnected, rubber stops for rear suspension both sides, peened steering nuts on hub and rear axle/cross-member fixing.

Increased size of space under rear wheel arch. Cut out space over fuel tank feed exit etc.

Fitted fuel feed pipe and earth wire.

Refitted rear suspension and shock absorber.

Increased size of steering pinion to accept clip/nut/bolt. Replaced steering column. Steering centred again.

Holes marked for petrol tank access, holes in floor drilled and fixed.

Centre seat belts fitted.

12th Feb Temporary fixing of pedal bracket using very small nuts and bolts.
14th Feb More work on pedal bracket (hole for end of brake spring, space for brake switch, re-position) and hole for master cylinder.
15th Feb Collected anti-roll bar and fuel breather.

Made cover for hole over fuel sender.

Fitted anti-roll bar, hole for filler cap, holes in rear floor for filler and breather pipes.

Fixed breather pipe to tank with Jubilee clip.

16th Feb Fixed fuel pipes to tank with Jubilee clips.

Made clutch pedal clevis alteration - lowered hole and remove top.

Rear mud-wing would not go on - needed more flexible hose.

Lowered body height.

Discovered on jacking up, suspension touched the body - so lifted tub and angle ground redundant protrusion on suspension arms and excess at bottom of front of tub.

17th Feb Fitted foam strip under mudwing.

One bolt to secure mudwing.

Bought and fitted 10" really flexible fuel filler pipe.

18th Feb Drilled remaining holes for bolts in mudwing, applied sealant to wood edges and pipe/floor joins.

Bolted mudwing to floor.

  Made a temporary fitting of pedals/steering wheel to get seats right, seat runners fixed to floor after careful measuring pedals, wheel, seatbelts, l/r position etc.

Fitted runners on seats.

Made metal plate for steering U bolt.

Painted (Primer and BRG) plates, mounting brackets, rear seatbelt plates and clutch cable housing and scuttle frame.

Fitted 4 Jubilee clips for fuel pipes.

Corrected seats and runners.

Removed mudwing (easier to fit seatbelt tubes) and made holes 8mm and applied sealant by foam strip.

24th Feb Made steel plate, drilled holes to receive pedals.
25th Feb Tried bending accelerator pedal to fit - snapped.

Tried fixing clutch cable housing - wrong angle. Made clutch cable bracket.

13th Mar Cut new hole for clutch cable - direct with no bracket.

Fitted base of scuttle frame

Removed steering column, refitted with rubber grommet and shortened bolt on lower U bolt.

Put coils in brake pipes and clamped.

14th Mar Made bracket for choke and fitted it.

Assembled steering lock mechanism.

15th Mar Inserted brake pipe rubbers to rear wheel and union and fitted all connections; put on reservoir.

Bent and shortened seatbelt rods and made holes in floor.

Made holes in top of body, bolted through rods.

Drilled holes for seatbelt brackets.

Completed seatbelt fixings

17th Mar Bled and adjusted brakes.

Cut hole for, made bracket for and fixed handbrake.

20th Mar Fixed top quadrant assembly of seatbelt rod apex by filing down stepped spacers.

Filled holes with fibreglass filler.

Made top plate with holes for handbrake ratchet.

Worked out accelerator pedal/cable arrangement and found spring tensioner plate (replacement pedal from Lomax).

21st Mar Fixed handbrake quadrant to welded extension plate.

Fixed throttle cable/pedal (had to bend pedal).

Fitted new longer bolts in seatbelt reel.

Bolted rear part of cockpit through side chassis plates.

23rd Mar Fixed number plate box with self tapping screws.

Greased suspension knife edges and shock absorber bushes with (grease) brush.

Greased kingpin nipples.

Lubricated (with oil) choke and throttle cables.

Filled engine with oil.

27th Mar Removed air cleaner, alternator, gear lever to make fitting bonnet easier.

Gradually cut back around cylinders until bonnet went back - still 15mm to go.

Greased driveshaft nipples.

Made plate for centre seatbelts and fixed.

28th Mar Filed away bonnet by cylinders until achieved the right gaps length and height.
30th Mar Worked on bonnet/scuttle to get length right - and parallel.
31st Mar Replaced alternator and tried exhaust to see where fit with bonnet.
  Tried to get anti-roll bar on - prevented by clutch cable (removed) and body (undone all bolts and handbrake!).

Still problems - cut some of nearside wing ready for fixing.

Will need to make curves in bonnet over wings.

1st Apr Sanded down, painted and fitted front anti-roll bar.

Replaced all tub/chassis bolts.

Replaced handbrake.

3rd Apr Fixed exhaust pipe - very difficult to avoid floor - scuttle frame needed repositioning.

Tried positioning nearside wing - impossible to get 4-inch clearance.

Need to cut front of bonnet to accommodate front exhaust headers.

5th Apr Fixed clutch cable.

Removed exhaust pipe, disconnected anti-roll bar.

Raised body to 7" ground clearance in order to make suspension vertical travel not affect wing.

Fitted exhaust manifold header (left first, then right) and cut bonnet to fit it.

Discovered the back of bonnet over scuttle needed about 1 cm off in order for the alternator to fit inside its housing on bonnet.

Where the curves were, the bonnet stood proud - so ground down thickness of GRP from curve downwards ½" deep.

Fixed rest of exhaust system using existing holes.

Fitted nearside wing (after cutting more around track rod and driveshaft) with about ¼" below silencer and 1/8" between wing and pipe, using square section without alteration.

Used small bolts to secure at bottom (under floor level) and top of triangular piece (level with swage line).

7th Apr Removed right engine exhaust header to make cutting easier.

Drilled and bolted wing in 2 places at rear to hold.

Cut back bonnet around cylinder, alternator, exhaust exit and wing by degrees until it was flush with exhaust pipe and wing - took most of the day!

Bent rectangle section tube, cut, drilled and bolted through chassis at bottom and 2 places in wing at the top (strong enough to maintain height and prevent horizontal movement).

Bent and drilled small 90 degree bracket and fixed top rear of wing to bulkhead.

Replaced right engine exhaust header.

8th Apr Cut bonnet to accept offside wing.

Also took more off various other parts of bonnet - including reducing depth of GRP around curves to bend better.

Fitted headlamp bracket, passenger seat, scuttle frame.

17th Apr Fixed edging strip around cockpit.

Experimented with 'hinges' on bonnet.

18th Apr Fitted handle on passenger side.

Fitted floor-mounted gear lever.

19th Apr Made extension to handbrake (handle too far away from driver) - made two extension rods from rectangular steel strip and fixed from existing holes/steel sheet in bulkhead at one end and fixed with 6 bolts to handbrake ratchet at the other end; made extension link (from quadrant lever to handbrake lever) from rectangular steel strip.

Made hole in bulkhead bigger to accommodate.

21st Apr Fitted bonnet hinges (after dummy run using cardboard) - middle bolt extended into bulkhead due to wide flange - so square holes cut.
22nd Apr Drilled holes for front bonnet catches through chassis single plate section - but would be better on flat area of GRP - needs holes in box section - if can access nut.

Refitted choke.

Watch the transformation from 2 CV to 223 in 5 'easy' stages

Click on each stage to watch it develop!

Scrap Happy Nut's'Bolts The Body Beautiful Fitting it out Ready for the Road Home