BE 646

[Klassik Metall]

Sorry Peter, I cheated (inside knowledge) but do I still get a prize.[:)]

[dkp_cobra]

quote:Originally posted by Klassik Metall
   
Sorry Peter, I cheated (inside knowledge) but do I still get a prize.[:)]
   

   
   Well, not really cheating just the advantage of an insider. Your price is a cup of tea at my home. Whenever you are in north of Germany let me know you'll be very welcome.

[dkp_cobra]

A further inside look
   
   
   
   after gluing and riveted (with countersunk heads for the front rivets, not shown in this picture)
   
   


   and in its position
   
   front-side
   
   

   and back-side
   
   
   
   As Luke mentioned originally this panel was made of wood. I think not an optimal material in a section with a lot of water. Here you can see what was left from the original panel. The rest was rotten.
   
   

[Klassik Metall]

Hello Peter,
   
   Yes, plywood isn't the most suitable material here but I guess these cars were not really for everyday use, or built to still be around in fifty years time.
   
   I may well take you up on that cup of tea one day!
   
   Regards Luke.

[dkp_cobra]

There is one problem with this panel construction: the heavy weight.
   
   
   
   I think I over-dimentioned the construction a little bit. A next try with 1 mm panels instead of 1.5 mm and much smaller u-profile:
   
   
   
   The result is 600 g lighter.
   
   On the right side:
   
   
   
   (inside)
   
   
   
   and the left side:
   
   
   
   (and inside)
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

The original cover of the door sill is two-piece:
   
   
   
   
   
   I thought a one piece construction would be much nicer. To make a quite long story short it was a horror. It took several attempts to get these covers fit.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   especially the curve in the front section
   
   
   
   
   
   If I have to do it again I would do it two-piece.

[dkp_cobra]

The old tank straps: dented and a lot of holes to fit the new tank.
   
   
   
   
   
   I made new straps. Seems like little work but takes some time to get the right measurement with the tank an the new sub-frame.
   
   
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

Maybe you remember my new B-column covers:
   
   
   
   The outline of these new panels were taken from the old panels and the outline of the rear wings.
   
   The outline of the new sandwich plates were taken from the old panels. Not surprisingly these two outlines are different:
   
   
   
   
   
   So I decided to make the covers again. This time I took the outline of the new sandwich panels. Now, the outlines are identical.
   
   
   
   Also, I modified the lower part of the covers. Now, they fit better at the rear end and also cover the inside part of the car down to the floor.
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   and from behind:
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

My rear window was quite scratched.
   
   
   
   After polishing it looked much better ...
   
   
   
   ... but there were still a lot of quite small scratches. Not visible when you look straight onto the window but in a certain angle it looks like the window was froozen.
   
   
   
   I wasn't able to remove these scratches so I decided to buy a new window from Geoff (thank you very much for your help, Geoff).
   
   The new window has the same width as my old window ...
   
   
   
   ... but is higher.
   
   
   
   That's good because my old window was too short. It worked only because the old rubber was much bigger than the new one. With the new rubber the old window cannot be installed.
   
   
   
   
   
   Nevertheless, the new window was a little bit to tall. After cutting 5 mm from the lower lower edge (the upper edge fitted perfectly, the lower not) it looks quite good.
   
   
   
   Maybe I have to remove one further millimeter from the lower edge to install the piping.

[dkp_cobra]

With a professional tool installing the piping is a task of minutes
   
   
   
   So, the test was successful the window can be removed again.

[dkp_cobra]

The mounting brackets for the rear right lower wishbone were placed at a wrong place. There was a gap of 5 mm when the wishbone was mounted. I removed the front mounting bracket, built a new one and now everything is fine.
   
   
   
   The construction of the front lower wishbone is sub-optimial, at least for my examples. In the past water was collected in the stiffening plate resulting into a lot of rust. Also in the past there was a bad attempt to repair this but I guess the person tried to do this without disassembling the wishbone.
   
   
   
   
   
   I removed the complete stiffening plate and built a new one.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I think the old design wasn't bad. What was missing was a little drain hole.
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

The wall behind the seats was cut into two pieces in the past. I guess in order to repair something on the rear left side.
   
   First step: cleaning
   
   
   
   laminating
   
   
   
   closing all the old holes
   
   
   
   and finally painting
   
   
   
   Today, some parts arrived from powder coating. I love this look.
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

Start working with wood. Some wood parts in the hatch don't look good.
   
   
   
   
   
   With the new struts:
   
   
   
   I guess the purpose of this block of wood
   
   
   
   is to provide some possibility to mount the hatch lock, right?
   
   
   
   

[dkp_cobra]

Following the concept "why spending 1 hour for making a new wood block if I can do something similar out of aluminium in less than 10 hours" I made a new bracket for the hatch look.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Maybe, that's an explanation why my timeline went a little bit into pieces. I wanted to use the car for the first school day of my daughter. That day was today  :o

[dkp_cobra]

Stripping the doors. As expected they are in a bad condition.
   
   
   
   
   
   I found my chassis number. These doors really belong to the car.