Factory Five Roadster Heads Off For Paint - Project Snake Charmer- Part 14

The inboard panel for the driver's foot box is secured last. Make sure you have everything wrapped up in the foot box before installing this last panel. Some people cut an access panel into this top, but we decided to go one better by making the complete panel removable in the future. We did this by riveting the panel only along the engine side (where the Clekos are in the first picture).

The top of the panel, where it meets the 3/4-inch frame member and the outboard panel, and the rear of the panel, where it meets the firewall, are sealed with strips of adhesive-backed foam. If we need access in the future, we'll simply drill out a few rivets and pull the entire panel out of the way.

On the Mk III chassis, these cockpit corner panels are installed with the support bar on the inboard side. Some people rivet the panel to the crossbar, but we used a bead of silicone to prevent rattles and "oil canning" of the panel. The upper corner won't be installed until the painted body is put in place for the last time.

While most seams and gaps between the various aluminum panels and the frame were small enough to seal with a bead of silicone, others were too large. We used small sections of scrap aluminum for those, such as in the foot boxes, but for the trunk-floor area where the rollbar mounting stubs pass through, we opted to use some of our left-over DEI Reflect-A-Cool (from when we insulated the foot-box panels) to seal these rather large open areas.

The front and rear splash shields are usually installed once the body has been fitted and bolted securely to the frame. We took a chance with the front splash shields and drilled the mounting holes for them with the body off. Later, when we refitted the body, we discovered the splash shields needed a little trimming for the best fit. It's not the end of the world, just one more thing that will have to be done.

We've planned to carpet the trunk area from the start, and we read a good tip online: With the body off is a good time to create a template of the trunk floor and sidewalls to use as a guide when cutting the carpet for installation. Unfortunately, the only material we had at hand large enough was a cardboard box. The stiffness of the cardboard made it interesting to work with, but we made the templates.

Since our project will be heading to two different shops-neither of which has worked on an FFR Roadster-we felt it would be beneficial to call out the various mounting points of the body and what needs to be removed for it to be safely separated from the chassis.

We threw in the build manual (with a bunch of notes and ID tabs added), but nothing beats a little painters' tape and permanent marker to let them know where all the bolts are.

The doors and trunk lid were bolted on to the body for transport and secured with duct tape. We did not mount the hood itself because the attaching method is by rivet and we want the hood painted before the hinges are riveted on. We laid the hood into place on the body and secured it with more duct tape around the perimeter.

Reliable Carriers arrived on a Saturday to pick up our project and headed north with it the following Monday. Reliable's car carriers are a great way to transport projects or finished cars with secure handling and fully enclosed, climate-controlled transportation. Well-known for transcontinental transportation of concept cars, corporate prototypes, and engineering vehicles, Reliable has four locations throughout the United States.