More bodywork and tail light recess
Stripping back paint and repairing gelcoat cracks is still continuing, but we’re now up to the A-pillars and both sills have also been done. Thank God for the use of a mate’s pneumatic orbital sander which speeds up the progress no end! The underside of the sills (where I’m presuming the floor and upper fibreglass sections join?) is fairly untidy and will need some filling and reshaping before I’m happy with it – you can’t see it unless you’re laying on the ground; but it’d be nice to have it done properly.
Being a bit tired of working at the front end, I’ve made a start on the rear. All the old tail light and number plate holes were filled and sanded back making a nice clean flat panel onto which I could position the Fiat 850 tail lights that I had in storage. Unfortunately these lights need to be recessed into the panel about 20mm to make them look right, so using an old enamel bowl as a mould, I fibreglassed up a couple of circular dishes and then glassed them into the rear panel. I would have liked to make the recesses deeper, but any deeper than what they are runs into interference issues when fitting and removing the petrol tank. When test fitting the tank, I noticed that the hole in the floor extended beyond the flange at one point leaving a gaping hole through to the ground! So, while the place was littered with fibreglass debris, the hole in the floor was filled to more closely match the shape of the tank.
The engine bay has now been sanded back and some attempt made to smooth out the rough spots, especially where sections are joined together. It’s not going to be a mirror smooth finish under the bonnet, but hopefully it will be better than when it left the factory.
Mini Marcos GT 