just decided to have a look at the transmission tunnel cover tonight, see what needs notched/holed etc..

it seems to be a tricky blighter to get into place, rotating it under the scuttle bar is particularly troublesome as the front lower corners get stuck. 'flaring' it out helps on the passenger side, but you cant do it on the drivers side as the welded in pedal box is in the way.

now, i'm trying to be gentle with it as i dont want to snap/crack it, do i just need to be more heavy handed or is there a trick to getting it in?

i was actually thinking of shortening the driver side panel quite a lot, as i want more room for my feet and it would make fitting easier if it was shortened, and it would seal nicely against the vertical chassis bar. does this seem like a good idea?



any ideas appreciated!
cheers!

Hey Rog,

I would have thought that would be the most obvious way to mount it. But maybe Marc made it that length for a reason. It may at some point replace the aluminium panel in the tunnel? Would that fit? It looks like what you are suggesting is how Marc had it mounted at Stoneleigh...



But again I'm sure Marc will be online at some point to clarify!

Update your build diary too! Very interested to see how things are going as I'm counting down the days 'til my start day!

Chris

[Edited on 19-7-05 by Winston Todge]

hi rog

yep youve got it spot on, remember when notching for the handbrake to do with the handbrake in the fully upward position to keep the cut out as small as poss you should only need a 3 1/2 inch long slot max as most of the handbrake is below the tuneel cover

best regards

marc

thanks chaps, I didnt notice that it was shorter on other pics!
glad i was on the right track though!

ps chris, i keep meaning to update it but i've been doing it in such a haphazard and piecemeal way that it doesnt make much sense at the moment!
ive also done very little 'on the car'. the rest is sort of temporarily fitted just so i know what goes where!
i have pipes and cables, and the fuel tank fitted. bodywork next to go on.

also marc has a new build manual that is based on the one i made lots of pics from. if youve got a kit on its way im sure you'll get a copy

before i start carving a large hole in for the handbrake, does it need to be large enough to get the fat round handle part through, or does this come off so you can just do a slot?

I havn't taken the long front pieces off. I cut a rectangle out of the bottom on the driver's side so that it goes over the pedal box chassis rail and I cut a section out of the top on each side so that it would go under the scuttle. you can't see the top of the "foot well sides" unless you stick your head down in the footwell. It looks neater this way as the tunnel cover goes all the way to the end of the foot weel. I had to cut the front ends off a bit as they were too long but they go all the way to the front aluminium panel.

I cut a narrow slot for my handbrake so that the lever just fits through. I cut it quite far into the "dish" so that I could get it over the handbrake after I'd tightened the cable. I'm struggling to find a good way to trim the hole though.

If you cut the hole so small that you have to have the handbrake handle all the way up, how do you adjust the cable tension?

Have you got a handbrake gaiter already? See if you can cut the hole smaller than the bottom of the gaiter.

One thing I found was that the tunnel cover is a bit tight and the further down you push it, the wider it splays the bottom edges out.

ADVICE: cutting the hole too small and enlarging it a bit at a time is more work than making a huge hole in the wrong place but it's worth it.

just pondering here (its dangerous when that happens..)

... was thinking about removeablility of the tunnel cover which let to the inevitable 'rivnuts' appearing again. or as an alternative, drilling a hole in the chassis and tapping it.

then i thought about short strips of velcro under the bottom edge !

im thinking that it'd look neat with nothing visible, no rivets or bolts showing.. and since its a single piece GRP cover its not contributing anything to strenght being fixed on properly, just needs something to hold it on steady...

good/bad idea?

Marc mentioned to me that to fit them he usually pops a few rivnuts on either side of the lower edge of the tunnel and then puts a couple of lines of the squidgy foam strip (like on the fuel tank retention straps) on the lower edges of the cover to cut out vibration and give a snug fit.

Having had a lot of experience with velcro (don't ask!) I would have thought a nice long strip either side would hold it on nice and tightly... (?) I'd just be a little wary if the worst happened and you rolled the car and possibly created a big flying tunnel cover?

Chris

if ive rolled it, i'll have plenty other things to be worrying about!

might just give it a whirl with the velcro then, its damn snug even with nothing but if its likely to come loose i'll pop a couple of bolts in to be safe

VELCRO! I was going to rivnut it but was worried because mine flares out towards the bottom. 1 or 2 rivnuts plus velcro = a solution! Where do you get long pieces of velcro from?

I'm pretty sure I saw rolls of velcro for sale in B&Q.
Failing that, try yer local haberdashery shop.


Andy.