April 8 & 9, 2011
Worked on the hatch striker mount yesterday and got the top fit today.
Also, it is Moment of Truth day!
I was able to positively determine today the conversion will work. Thank goodness. After all of the work I have done to get this far, it is a good thing everything fits. I will have otherwise successfully destroyed a GT6 and tore a Spitfire partially apart.
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I have the shape right, but I can go no further on this part until the top is welded in place. It needs some adjusting, but can only be done at the time of final fitting.
The dash top. The holes to the frame nearly line up. (The bonnet needs to be adjusted too, but that is another project.
Drivers side window post, dry fitting the top.
Inner top support
Rear view of dry fitting the top. The little shelf on the back there is aligned properly! See all of the damage to the emblem area? More on this later.
Passenger side window post, dry fitting the top.
Passenger side inner top mount.
Also note how the wheel-well has been cut out. The previous owner wanted to add flares, but the inner wheel arch was destroyed in the process. This will need to be repaired as well. I'm hoping the wheel arch from the old GT6 tub will be salvageable. More on this later.
I have a small issue with the driver's side window post. You can tell the metal coming down that gets welded to the B-post is extra short. I did not cut this short. It seems there was an existing crack and when I cleaned up the unwanted metal it just fell off. (Compare to the passenger side)
The notches cut in the top of the old quarter panel are so I can clamp (and when the time comes, weld) the top to rest of the body.
I left most of the quarter panel there for strength and form. This of course will be replaced later.
Retapping the threads for the hinge bolts to clean them up. Dirt, paint and rust tend to get in the way. I try to retap everything. Makes it much easier to thread the bolts in.
I have installed the doors to check for alignment between the door and top. Here you can see the bonnet and rocker. They do need a bit of adjusting.
Drivers side rocker panel needs to be replaced. See the holes drilled?
Looking sharp. Everything fits and will line up. With a bit of proper adjusting everything will work out just fine as planned.
Pop quiz. How many different kinds of paint or primer do you see?
(I will answer this later, hopefully!)
Just waiting in the garage. Looks like it wants to pounce on something...
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