View Full Version : Aluminum panel install....first dumb question
As I await my kit arrival, I have been reading the manual. About ten times now. It says the panels are temporarily installed and should be marked and removed. Why cant you you just go ahead and drill them while they are mounted? Or is it just too hard to know where the frame is located?
I know it will be obvious once I begin, but my OCD cant keep my brain from thinking about it.
jlfernan
11-07-2011, 02:20 PM
I had the same question while at the build school. The consensus was, if you are happy with the way the panels fit from the factory, there is no reason not to drill them before removal. Why take them out, jut to put them back in? I did drilled mine first, with a few minor tweaks, and it all came out fine. Remember, except for the panels in the engine compartment, and a couple in the trunk, most of the aluminum will be covered by carpet, If they are not PERFECT, no one will know. YMMV.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2561/jorgec.jpg (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=111)
Good, I am glad someone else thought that way. I may follow your lead!
Jeff Kleiner
11-07-2011, 03:06 PM
Just so you know, and this is not intended as a complaint, the guys at the factory (Hi Fred! :)) tec screw the panels to the chassis properly oriented "in the general vicinity" of where they get installed. You'll probably want/need to do some tweaking and massaging of the fit before doing your permanent assembly.
Good luck with your build!
Jeff
Pierre B
11-07-2011, 07:48 PM
In my experience with these panels on my MKII, all of them need to be fitted to one another, and that mainly means changing the angle of the 3/4-inch panel edge flanges to they can rest properly onto their neighbors. This to me was a very important part of the work, because errors tend to be cumulative. In other words, if two panels misfit along a joint and get secured that way, it will be increasingly difficult getting the footbox edges to close properly against one another on the other side of the footbox. Also, I always fit the maneps first, before doing any drilling. I think it very imprudent to simply drill the panels where they set as they come tacked in place from the factory. I can think of several reasons why FFR does this: it saves them trying to box several awkward-shaped panels; it given them an opportunity to show builders how the factory intends that panels should lap one another; and it gives builders a quick early impression of how this all will look later in the assembly process. I can truly say that I never encountered any aluminum panels that did not need adjusting before mounting, except for the very smallest ones that had no bent edge flanges.
Scott7644
11-07-2011, 07:58 PM
I only had to adjust a couple panels on my Mk4. I took off the panels one at a time to mark them and drill them. Then I replaced it with cleko's, finished drilling through what it attached to, then moved on to the next panel. I had a lot of trouble with the 4.6 panels for the top inside of the driver foot box and the inside panel.