When to drill

[RP Cobra]

As I understand it, when kits are delivered the aluminum panels are installed by Factory Five. Is it best to drill the rivet holes before disassembling, or drill them when the panels are refitted during the assembly process?

Thanks,
Rich

[KDubU]

Take them off after marking them where they are installed and trace out the various parts of the frame they will be attached to. Remove and then mark the holes using then rivet marking tool every 3" if on frame or every 2" if another aluminum panel. Then drill each hole, optionally powder coat/paint/shark hide, etc., install F panel first and follow build guide from there. That's at least how I understand it. Other more experienced guys may have better ideas.

[JIMOCO]

i think it will be much more difficult drilling while the panels are still attached. Your will need to know exactly where the frame and crossmembers are behind the panels. The manual says to outline the frame on the back side of the panel and drill your holes from the back. That worked for me. Before you silicone, I would set the panel with the holes drilled and use those as the guide to drill the frame. I used the self taping screws to hold the panel until all of the holes in the frame were drilled. This way any metal bits can be cleaned so they don't mix into the silicone. Once all of the holes were drilled, I siliconed the panel/frame and riveted it in place.

[Edgeman]

I did the same as JIMOCO. Mark panel on the backside - outline the frame, then marked the hole spacing, drilled from the back, held the panel with screws to frame, drilled the holes in the frame, removed panel cleaned all the drillings off then put silicone on frame and riveted. I used 3" spacing and also 2" spacing.

[christenfreedman]

I do both depending on the panel, location and accessibility...

[edwardb]

The large panels that are hung on the car when shipped are in roughly the right position, but I would't take them as the final position. I don't start drilling until I'm installing all the pieces, fitting as I go. You may find the final position is slightly different.

[skullandbones]

Hi Rich,

Just to add to the advice: It is so easy to misalign a panel even when it looks like it's perfectly fitted so as advised, keep that original reference point with the self taping screws as that reference point. As Edwardb mentioned, there could be a slightly misfitted panel that you might want to adjust a little. The point is this is not plug and play. The panel has to fit on the frame and then all the panels in various applications have to fit together as well. So it's a little like an adjustable jigsaw puzzle. The two foot boxes are examples of how the panels need to be fitted correctly to the frame and to each other. I like the idea of trial fitting everything before drilling. I didn't do that so I can tell you from experience you could run into some panel to panel misalignment if you don't trial fit them. The other thing is, if you have a powdercoated frame you may have some spots where you will need to grind weld splatter or where a joint weld is a little larger than planned. Trim the panel or grind the frame and touch up. You can, of course, be as picky as you need or want to be but just remember there is a variability with many of the fitments. Some are more straightforward like the trunk floor and side panels of the trunk.

Good luck,

WEK.

[RP Cobra]

Thank you!