First Modification from Kit – 1 Hour

After fitting the firewall it still appeared flimsy for the application and so after researching the thoughts of others I decided to manufacture my own firewall support bracket from the redundant foot box vertical front wall (FFR 10904), the bottom of this panel already has a 90 degree bend.

After installation is does improve the rigidity of the firewall especially in the area were the master brake fluid reservoirs will be mounted.

Patience and 320 Emery Sheets – 3 Hours

Have read many methods of fitting the front hubs to the spindles (heating the hub, freezing the spindle, brute force), I decided to be patient and use 1” strips of emery to reduce the spindle shaft diameter to provide a fit requiring hand pressure only.

I plan on keeping my car for many years, inevitably during that time the bearings may need replacing and as such I would like to be able to remove the hub without destroying the spindle.

Some would say there is a possibility to cause ovality when using emery to reduce the spindle shaft diameter leading to premature bearing failure, however working at 90 degree intervals and counting the sanding strokes provides consistency during the reduction process.

Getting into a Rhythm – 4 Hours

Starting to get into a rhythm when installing panels; fitted the firewall and front driver’s side foot box wall. The firewall as envisaged remains flimsy and so I plan to fabricate a panel to brace this around its midpoint.

Also reconstructed one upper control arm to make a true left and right mirror image, these were then mounted temporally to the chassis along with the steering rack.

The steering rack was mounted using the Breeze bump steer kit, this definitely provides the flexibility for eliminating this condition, time will tell once the front suspension is fully installed and aligned.

Limited Progress – 4 Hours

With so many items on backorder (hopefully these will be filled shortly), only limited progress can be made, basically this consists of fitting, drilling and temporally mounting of the aluminum panels.

Started today by working out the front caliper jigsaw puzzle, the first picture shows the various parts, fasteners, seals and pads included in the kit and the 2nd picture shows the completed assembly.


Also fitted both F-Panels experimenting with 2” and 3” rivet spacing (2” is the upper horizontal row, 3” is the lower row), I have decided moving forward I will use approximately 2” spacing.

As these panels are behind the wheel at the back of the wheel arch the riveting will hardly be noticed once fully assembled.

These panels, as with all engine compartment panels, will be powder coated black, although I am still undecided whether to use black rivets or natural aluminum.

First Day of Build – 6 Hours

Had a good first build day, it was encouraging to find the drivers side to passenger side 4” chassis frame geometry (front to back) was all within 1/8”, also the rear and front wheel arches were also within 1/8”, indicating the body was mounted squarely from the factory.

Spend most of the day removing the body mounting hardware and major components (doors, hood, trunk), with that completed the body was placed onto the body buck for the first time, and with a sigh of relief it fitted. Before the body was removed a sharpie was used to mark the panels with a cut line 3/8” from the body, this will require trimming prior to the panels being finally fitted

After photographing and marking the aluminum panels these were all removed with the exception of the firewall and F panels. After spending most of the day removing body work and panels the first part was officially installed, this being the A-Frame transmission mount (1/2 bolts set at 75ft/lb’s torque, 3/8 bolts set at 30ft/lb’s)

Santa Came Early

Well the big day arrived, Stewart Transport delivered the car this morning and we were completely off-loaded in less than an hour. Rest of the day was spent checking inventory of the 20 plus boxes, each one was like a Christmas present.

After a year of planning it seems a little cereal, keep looking for an excuse to go in the garage just to make sure it’s really there.


Pleased I raised the body buck those extra few inches, it clears the car perfectly with 6” to spare and so will probably raise the axle stands higher to give a more comfortable working height.