Lola T-70 Mk III

[denilsonvm]

That´s a big one!

[malscar]

OK, I'm in, time to learn more tricks of the trade.

[Scale-Master]

First test fitting of the front clip. Fits pretty well out of the box after the seams were cleaned up.

[360spider]

Yup, looks good!

[Scale-Master]

The rear bulkhead. It doesn't fit very well or positively so it needs to be fastened to the tub in a similar fashion as the cowl was. It also needs to be installed so the doors will fit too.


A flange was added to the bottom of the bulkhead and reinforced with a dozen buttresses.

[Scale-Master]

Two more brass flanges were made and added to the rear side of the bulkhead.

[mike@af]

Loving the progress Mark! Those little bits of brass are too cool.

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Mike! Here's more...

The windshield frame is very fragile and the way the kit is designed the center of the roof holds it to the rear bulkhead and the doors are hinged off that little center section too. In order the shore up the greenhouse and be able to fill in the seams and allow the doors to operate (and to make it safer for the occupants…), I decided to add a simple roll cage.
The first hoop was made from Plastruct 3/16 tubing to replicate 2.25 inch steel tubing. I found a roll of tape that was the approximate diameter to match the arc of the roof & doors and clamped the tubing to it while heating with a hairdryer.

When it cooled, I spot heated it again with the hairdryer to make it conform to the inside contours. Steel pins locate it to the bulkhead and brass receivers were installed into the tub for the roll bar to slide into.

[Scale-Master]

There were gaps in both door sills and under both sides of the rear bulkhead where it meets the side pods. I guess I should consider myself lucky that the gaps were consistent side to side. Strips of sheet styrene were used for filler.

[Scale-Master]

The engine cover does not fit as well as the front clip by a long shot. At least the top of the leading edge lines up with the bulkhead fairly straight.

But the insides of the scoops are about 0.055 taller than the same spots on the bulkhead.

And the gaps where it meets the side pods are off in a different way on each side.

[Scale-Master]

To fix the discrepancies at the scoops the outside of the bulkhead was built up with sheet styrene.
I also trued up where the bulkhead meets the side pods.

[Scale-Master]

After dry-fitting the engine cover and massaging the fit, I averaged out most of the ill-fitting areas and then shimmed the bottom edges with a couple blocks of styrene that were shaped to fill the gaps.

[Scale-Master]

I hand filed the opening and reshaped where it meets the bulkhead. Better, but still more fine tuning needed.

[Scale-Master]

The right side of the bulkhead needed to be fattened up too, both to thicken the cross-section and to bring it up to the height of the engine cover. I used .018 sheet styrene.

[Scale-Master]

I thinned the left inside of the bulkhead with a Dremel and hand sanding for continuity then added some .010 sheet styrene to bring it up to the engine cover. At this point I'm using the doors as guides to shape the body line in the bulkhead as well as the engine cover.