September 2016 and the body goes back on. Fresh high tensile nuts and bolts provide a bit of integrity whilst large stainless penny washers are used on the floor to ensure the bolts do not pull through the fibreglass. Aligning the body took a bit of wriggling and it was a real problem trying to lift the body over the radiator. Looking at the room within the engine bay, it made so much sense to do all the engine commissioning whilst the body was off ! Now the remaining body repairs can be worked on.
And after a lot of writhing beneath the car and swearing the handbrake is fitted and functional. The leather cover is an after market item as the 3/25 was not fitted with such a luxury.
The air filter box seemed to foul the back of the engine bay. This could be down to the body alignment on the chassis, or the off centre nature of the box fitting being orientated incorrectly by me. However, to provide a bit more room in the bay, I sourced an alternative air filter. This NOS wire mesh type filter was another option on the early 600cc engine. I have also fitted Dynamat liner to the engine bay area to help reflect heat and also to absorb engine and road noise.
Using card spacers the bonnet is laid down to make sure the hinge mounting holes are correct.
With the body having been sat around some of the repairs had suffered some shrinkage. There were also bits to repair after the body lift. On investigation some of the GRP repairs were found to be wet so needed digging out & replacing.
A selective coating of flowcoat resin was applied over the areas of major repair. Now its time to start prepping for the paint work.