Steve's GKD Legend

Steve's GKD Legend
Still, On the road again!

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Sunday 11 March 2012

A bit of body and glass

Spring feels just around the corner so there's pressure to get the essentials finished at least before April arrives. I picked up the windscreen glass a week ago as well as the panels so I had a few things to keep me busy. I got the welding guy to cover up the holes from the old rear lights and then I marked and cut out the holes for the round LED fog and reverse lights. The lights are only 22mm deep with only about 10mm protruding out from the panel. Hopefully it will look okay as it's too late to go back now! 
The lights shouldn't effect the rear sensors. 

I asked to have the side panels welded to the rear, it looks okay, better than not welding and hopefully will look better when powder coated!
  
It was quick difficult to get hold of 5mm laminated glass so I ordered two to be on the safe side. They cost around £45 each so less than my insurance excess would be.
The edges were a little long for the side screws to go in so I took away a few millemeters with  the Dremmel.
Before the glass went in I drilled 3.2mm holes for the press studs for the soft top. Then put them in using short rivets, which means the glass can go in without hitting them.
Press studs in place as well as glass. Ready to go back on once the scuttle has been filled, sanded and painted.

I wanted the heating pipes to go directly from the engine in/outlets under the battery, through the aluminium bulkhead and into the heater. Thought about making an alumium box to lift it but the had the idea of simply using one of those plastic floor tiles which are about 6mm thick to lift the battery up slightly. It's possible to cut them quit easily and stacking two should give enough space to get the water pipes under.  
The battery clamps should keep everything together nicely

Another small job but still very important is to find a way of attaching a clutch foot rest. I bought a readymade one from CBS but there is no way there is space enough for it. At the moment I've bolted on a jubilee clip just to get the position right and then maybe weld a small plate to it. That way I can always adjust it if necessary.

It can be seen bolted round the frame. Has anyone solved this problem?

5 comments:

  1. No idea how to fit a foot rest in there, I've wondered this myself but generally just stick my left foot on the floor in-between clutch and brake. I will be interested to know if you are able to find a way to make space...

    I like the welded panels, looks good. Not sure I would raise the battery up. I'm looking at places I can move mine to lower the CoG. I think there is probably space on the inlet side on the bottom of the engine bay. That said I'm sure I'm not anywhere near good enough to notice the difference...

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    Replies
    1. I don't want to make too many changes if I can help it and the battery will only be lifted 20mm so the difference in CoG is minimal. I'm going to lower the seats by 20mm so that's that'll lower CoG

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  2. Oh, while you have the panels off (if you still do) - I would recommend tapping all the holes and using little allen-head bolts instead of rivets when you put them back. It's a huge pain but you will be glad you did it next time you need to take the panels off.

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  3. Good idea but as you say it's a huge pain. I'm really hoping that once I put the panels back on (black rivets for black panels) it'll be the last time they need to come off!

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  4. I dunno, my view is that every time any panel etc comes off, I look at ways I can make it easier to remove/re-attach in future. That means replacing all rivets with bolts, etc - it's been 100% worth the effort.

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