The Doors:
Frames: The first job was to trim and neaten up the inside edge. Using the rubber trim as my guide, marked up and cut the unnecessary off with the Dremel and then finished with a light filing. I did notice the GRP varied slightly in thickness and bobblyness along the edge, so had to file some down in places to make it more uniform
Fitting: Fitted the hanging bracket and the door hinges. Bolted the door loosely in place and adjusted the positioning. Not too fiddly, but had to adjust and move the body hanging bracket to get the ‘swing’ right, which took the time; and I did have to round the top outside edge.
After it was in place I marked the frame and door with a dab of paint to show what lined up and where… Don’t need to go through this again in the future if I have to take it off for some reason…
The Boot:
Hanging The Boot Lid… Roughly fitted the boot with no spacer/packing washers in place on the hinge bolts; this to make sure there was enough slop to move the boot around to centre it properly. I decided to do it this way because, with the boot [loosely] bolted in place, it was easier to line up and secure it in its proper place without having to faff around too much.
- Centred up the boot (rechecked with the latch in the closed position)
- Put a couple of corresponding marks on the body and boot as reference points
- Propped the boot open and measured, aligned and fitted some hinge-bolt spacer-washers where necessary
- Adjusted for flatness by altering the hinge angle i.e. to get a smooth transition line between the boot lid and the shell
- Tightened everything up
- Job’s a good’un
Boot Hinges: The hinges are a work of engineering art. Couldn't resist them. Quite a straightforward fitting; just trim the spacing flange to size, adjust the hinge spacing with packing washers, bolt them in place, attach the boot and adjust for flatness as necessary.
Boot Stay: Very fiddle job... To firm everything up a tad, I fashioned and contoured a piece of stainless steel "stiffener" around the inner lip. This I fitted to the inside edge to spread the load and to minimise flexing.
Now... In that theme, and because I didn't go for gas struts i.e. one on each side, I got thinking about the positioning, the weight distribution and the stress at the lower fixing point... So I got the kitchen scales out and I measure a 2.1 Kg downward force difference at various points just by moving [simulating] the fixing point by an inch or so. This value is the weight of the boot lid on the lip fixing points at different positions along the lip.
