Morning all

Someone here is bound to have an easy solution for this.

I'm fitting the outer inside panels and want to attach them in various places to the chassis rails using rivnuts and button set set screws.

I'd like to make the positions of the rails onto the panel with it in situ but as the body work is alrerady in place I'm having trouble coming up with an easy but accurate method.

Any ideas much appreciated as someone on here always comes up with something really obvoius that has passed me by

Cheers all
Nigel

I'm fitting the outer inside panels

eh?

anyway what about using cardboard, you can push it against the rails and mark them in the card then transfer that over to the actual panel.

[Edited on 4/8/08 by Mr Whippy]

by outer inner panels I mean the panels on the opposite side to the trans tunnel

I take it you want to mark the position of the rails on the panel then drill the holes in the panel when it is out of the car?

If so why not smear a bit of moly grease or similar on the edges of the chassis rails, push the panel on, then, when you remove the panel, enough of the grease should have transferred to the panel to give you a good enough idea of where the rails go?

Not entirely sure I understand what you mean.

How about you clamp the panel in place and they drill your small pilot hole through both the panel and the chassis rail.

Then remove the panel and enlarge the chassis rail hole to suit the riv-nut.

I just riveted my panels on with black rivets so they didn't show against the vinyl covered panel. When I wanted to remove the panel I just drilled out the rivet and replaced it when the panel went back.

HTH,
James

Mr Beddow's understands what I mean. When the panel is fitted I can't see the rails to know where to drill the panel.

In the past I've tried transferring measurements from the rails to the panel with it out of the car and to say that some of the rivnuts have been close to the edge of rails is an understatment.

So I'm after ideas of how to work out the position of the rails with the panel fitted .

Hi

This is going to be a little difficult to explain......you need to make yourself a 'back marker'.

With this tool you can drill the chassis members where you want to and then accurately transfer the positions of the chassis holes to the panel.

Basically it is a piece of thin ally or steel strip folded in half. Drill through both layers of strip close to the ends with the fastener size drill. Open out one of the holes to the size of the rivnut. Make sure that the holes are still concentric and place a rivnut through the hole, (from the inside out). Insert the rivnut and 'tool' into the hole in the chassis and place the panel in the required position but with the other leg of the 'tool' on the exposed side of the panel. You can now mark on the panel where the hole needs to drilled to allign with the rivnut that you will fit later.

Clear as mud........

If you need more let me know and I'll try top come up with a photo.

Regards Mick

Hi

Use 25mm masking tape.

Stick the non sticky side to the chassis using tiny pieces of tape.

Press the panel into place and remove.

The masking tape should now be stuck to the panel.

Mark and drill the panel and remove tape.

You can now drill through the panel into the chassis.

HTH
Paul G