November 2011

Now that the cockpit side panels have the insulation attached, when you tap the cockpit panels the sound is a much duller thud. I have decided that I will remove the rear bulk head and soundproof that also. The bulkhead is a bit of a job to remove and once removed there was a small amount of surface rust that had blistered the powder coating.

Rear Bulkhead before

 

I sand this back, rust treat it followed by coats of Zinc Oxide primer and then 2K satin black paint.

Rear Bulkhead painted

 
Once dry I cut and fit the foam rubber, since there is space and I had enough I apply two layers.

Rear Bulkhead soundproof

 

This is then followed by the heat reflective matting. Not sure if that will have any effect, but as I had some left I though what the hell.

Rear Bulkhead heatshield

 


The rear bulkhead panel was then refitted.

Rear Bulkhead refitted

 

Next the radiator was refitted with new expanding foam strips down each side, again since I have plenty of this wonderful foam I place a strip along the bottom sealing between the radiator and aluminium double skin. This should force more air through the radiator.

Radiator refitted   Additional expanding foam at bottom


 The next job was to fit the lugage containers. On other builds there have been various methods to provide capacity for additional wiring between the front and rear of the car. I choose to cut holes in the luggage containers and feed throuh a piece of plastic electricians conduit.  Screwfix stock the conduit in black, so once installed, it blends in with the lining.
Conduit for additional wiring   Conduit for additional wiring

 

I secure the luggage containers with rivets to the chassis and then seal around the ends of the conduit with black RTV. Its a little bit fiddly to do a good job but you need to move the conduit to locate the containers into place. I fit the heater control valve and cable and then the aircon and heater hoses are secured in the luggage containers using the large ali P clips.I find that an old car wing mirror is useful for this job.
Mirror

 

The gap between the luggage container and chassis outrigger is filled with some of the expanding foam tape. Not necessarily required, but since I have plenty.

Expanding foam

 

Since my build is a slow  one, I am concerned that I may lose track of, or forget to torque some key fixings. I have bought some paint pens and after torquing the suspension fittings I paint a line on each nut or bolt.

Paintpen