Thank you, Vincent, Stevenski, Mike, godfather23, and Rodrigo for your nice comments!!
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Originally Posted by gionc
Ramon: superb! Plastic jobs has the same precision as metal machined parts: great.
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That would be great! So I wouldn’t have to be saving for a lathe!, LOL thanks!
And well, after more than a week without updates here I come with some more…
After finishing the modifications on the chassis, next are the modifications to the body, trying to do something different for a change, I started thinking about opening the doors, and before giving it a second thought, I started cutting ith my photoetched saws until I got both doors separated.
The next step is doing the required parts to fill these new gaps, so everything around have to be assembled…
Using thin plastic sheet in 3 layers, the parts of the body that support the door latches are made.
Testing, bending and sanding until I got the required shape, the horizontal marks simulate the vents in the real car, they are not very convincing, so something has to be done.
The same thing is done with the running boards.
Some other minor modifications as the exhaust tips grills/screens which will be replaced with photoetched screen, later the rear bumper will be modified in the top to make the opening to handle the trunk.
Corrections in the front hood consist of extending lines, at the front, around the headlamps and at the rear, extending the longitudinal line up to the door.
The side vents have to be enlarged a little, and the side blinker receptacle is drilled.
The door also require some work, to begin, the door is extended to the front adding a thin plastic strip, this is aimed to reduce the gap between the body and door.
Then the rest of the door is made with plastic sheet, bent and cut to shape, the rods that appear on the picture are used to locate the interior door trim panels.
The left door, here, is easier to see the door extension and the hinges made with plastic tubing and plastic rods.
The interior door panels, the ones included in the kit as we all know, are the 575 version, so new ones have to be made, using parts of the originals panels, some plastic sheet and epoxy putty for the window switches.
The interior tub requires minor modifications, only some extensions to fill the gaps between the dashboard and body, the seat supports were eliminated as well as the handbrake lever which will be made later.
Several pre-assemblies are made to verify and adjust all the components.
The hinges are also tested to ensure that there are no interferences that can cause damage to the finish, the gaps between the doors and body are also verified considering even the future paint thickness.
Also the hinges are verified to ensure that the doors won’t hang or fall once opened, and that the angle of opening is the same for both doors.
Now that all the modifications to body, interior and chassis are done, it is time to start painting, this on the next update...
So, thank you for watching, and as always: comments are welcome, criticism is highly appreciated and corrections and help are thankfully received.