front cover

[pimms]

My front and rear cover came pre-fitted to the tub, but the front cover seems to be a bit to much forward. I am thinking of refitting it but that means cutting some bodywork were the cover meets the tub near the windshield. Has anyone had the same problem :confused:

[chris.richard]

The Hawk panels are made oversize to be trimmed back for a close fit.(Unlike the Lancias!)

[Chris J]

Pim

I wouldn't worry too much about this.

If you were to undo the over centre catches and take away any fixed panel locating devices from a lot of finished cars with good panel fit, you might be surprised how the panels don't line up when left to their own devices.

I've never heard of anyone having to take some of the rear edge of the front panel away, but if they have, I'm guessing it would only be the odd millimetre?

I'll be interested to see what other people say on this matter.

[Chris J]

The Hawk panels are made oversize to be trimmed back for a close fit.(Unlike the Lancias!)

Well, there you go.

My only experience of the oversized Hawk panels aspect so far has been the door aperture on the tub section.

[guy mayers]

Hi Pim, as has been said the panels are oversized so they can be trimmed to fit. There is a series of steps to go through to make sure it all lines up properly. Assuming you've fittted the inner arch panels and rubber seals:-
1. Mark the centre line from the tip of the nose up the front panel, throught the wiper mounting panel in front of the the screen and over the roof.
2. Find the narrowest part of the wheel arch return edge (the vertical one) on the nose panel and trim the rest of the material around the arch to the same distance each side to give a nice raduised curve on each side.
3. This curve is used to align the front/back position of the nose panel using the little panel on the tub behind the front wheels. The arch should flow smoothly through to line up with this on both sides.
4. Next fit the overcentre catches to locate the panel, ensuring that the centrelines still match.
5. Fit the doors so that the swage lines down the door/tub line up and the surface of the door ABOVE the swage line is at the same level as the outer surfaces of the nose panel. This may show that a skim of filler is needed on the little tub panel between the door and wheel to acheive a flush fit, usually the left side if anything needs it.
6. Raise or lower the nose of the car, rotating it around the overcentre mountings until the top surface of the nose panel lies evenly with the tops of the doors.
7. Trim back any excess fiberglass to acheive the neat shut lines around the trailing edges of the nose panel.

The rear panel is fitted in the same way, centrelines and swage lines are your reference points. You may need to trim material for a neat fit but always think twice and cut once! And always make sure you've fitted the ruber seals when aligning panels! Otherwise the rough mat on the undersides will chip away at gelcoat edges. That only creates more work.

Regards
Guy

[stableblock]

I had to take around 3mm off the rear of the front to get mine to fit. This was a very early moulding and chassis though.

Peter

[rutthenut]

The main panels are generally made to be slightly oversize, but not by much.
If it seems like you need to remove more than a few mm then check again with all available reference points (wheel arch curves, body swage lines, adjacent panel surfaces.

Guy's comments sound very useful in getting things lined up correctly.

Gerry also supplied an article in the club newsletter that describes the approach he uses to get the panels lined up correctly. Search through the CD and find that - it may also help. Can't remember when this was, but it was whilst I was newsletter editor...

Cheers,

[pimms]

Guy, thanks for youre description,
John, I will brouse through the CD for the article.

Cheers