Rolls

These pics of the front nose look fairly straight forward. I’ve stopped counting how many times I have removed and reinstalled the pods - when I got to 30. Bonnet would be double that and then some. I can’t begin to tell you how much work has gone into getting this right. Even the professional help I’ve used along the way have found it very challenging. I will never, ever touch a damaged fiberglass car again. Even if it was a 308. A bonnet tip for anyone else that’s crazy enough to nut and bolt one of these cars. If you’re keen to keep the filler to an absolute minimum, pay a lot of attention to the adjustments on the rocker cams that lock down the bonnet at the rear of the bonnet. You can vary the up and down gaps on the front of the car by adjusting the cams at the back. Another tip: Instead of using lots of unsightly shims on the front, you can add longer bolts at the bonnet hinge plate which will push the lip slightly upwards. This is the progress on the nose so far - from this; Now it’s at this level. Very close to painting; Tomorrow night I’m going to fine tune the gaps. They look out in the pics because of the lighting. In the flesh it’s pretty close. The flickering light at the end of the tunnel is staring to burn more brightly -

Here’s another pic. Anyone know what these two holes are for please?

More work on the nose. Called in the big guns to ensure it’s perfect. Taped up the edges those spreaders cost $400 for a set Always interesting to see how much filler goes on, yet the thinnest of smears are left remaining....almost translucent.

Thanks. Yes I have the bushes sorted and installed. My query is more around the nut heads to ensure they clear each other. Standard heads sit too proud and strike.

Thanks. Next to the bung hole, there are two tiny holes that look like they are for tappers to mount something. For the life of me I cannot work out what it is for. I need to know whether I should fill them before painting.a photo would help.

Gday folks Does anyone have a close up photo of this part of the boot lid please? Trying to work out what the two small holes are for.

@Freemason hi. Do you know where I can source those nuts from please? And the dimensions? They appear to have shallow heads which ensures they clear each other when the pod rotates.

Pods; Now that the pivot pod hinge is in its final resting place it’s become apparent that the nose sloping down towards the bumper is sitting high relative to the pod. The easy option would be to coat everything with filler. I’ve gone the extra mile with everything so might as well get this right too. I cut some slits in the pod bucket to allow me to clamp down the nose so it’s dead straight: Down she goes... Clamped: Now I have have glassed over the slots from behind to hold everything in position. Once that dries, I’ll glass the front with some filleting compound. Snap. I’ve also gone around the car and filled in every screw hole with filleting compound (epoxy mixed with microspheres). I smear it in such a way that it leaves a slight indent, allowing me to easily locate them all once it dries. I will then go around the car and drill them all out. This will ensure the tappers will have excellent purchase when re-screwed. I’m getting lots of help from the chap who will be shooting the car. He is doing the final rub to ensure the body is spot on (there’s only so much I can do with my lack of experience versus his 25yrs). Interesting discussion tonight about the many shades of black. Some are watered down, have blues, browns etc.. He has also suggested that I strongly consider a solvent based paint versus water based as that’s how the car originally was painted. Interesting.

For the record, here is the s3 parts diagram. I’m still curious about whether it’s a bolt or shaft that goes through the outboard ball joint? If it was a shaft it would do far less damage to the fiberglass hole that it penetrates.

Thanks Tim. Arrived today Pods: After much deliberation I’ve decided to upgrade the pod pivot mechanism to the s3. I’m still absolutely stunned that they thought the s2 mech would last any longer than a couple of years. Virtually impossible to get a perfect contour on the nose with the pods wiggling around in a Fiberglass hole that simply pivots on a threaded nut. Crazy... So just when We think we are almost ready for a final rub down, back to the beginning we go... the whole nose needs to be done... again. Q.below is a parts diagram for an s2. For the S3, what is the upgraded part number for 13 here? A rod?

Rear bumper retention bolts.  7mm x 30 MM, with penny washers 4 MM thick, 30 MM diameter, 8 MM

Thanks. That appears to be a great product but it’s not available in Australia. The other cleaning products available here boast about not leaving any residue which worries me that I’m going to have the same issue with corrosion reoccurring. WD40 make what appears to be a good cleaner but again, no residue.

I reckon the bread hack would have to be one of the very best!

Fabians gearbox rebuild: half shaft retaining bolts - The gearbox used 7 mm and 9 mm threads, very annoying! I replaced all the bolts with new.