Building a Special Body

[Ian Williams]

A bit more progress and time to rivet the fire wall bulkhead together, I am using AN470 rivets which are set using a pneumatic rivet gun with a bucking bar held behind. It is a comparatively easy process, but you must ensure you keep everything square and don't over clench the rivets, there is plenty of information online for those keen to give it a go. I would stress that when first attempting this I purchased a cheap air chisel but found it unsatisfactory for the job, I then purchased a proper 3X rivet gun from a retired Aircraft engineer which gave excellent results. I have found that the grade of aluminium the rivets are made from is also important, you need to match your rivet to your body material, most aircraft panels are made from a quite hard Alloy and the commonly used rivets are correspondingly quite hard, car body panels are made from a softer grade aluminium and so need soft rivets for a good result.

  DSC06313.JPG (Size: 249.01 KB / Downloads: 1,084)

  DSC06316.JPG (Size: 222.51 KB / Downloads: 1,085)

  DSC06314.JPG (Size: 230.47 KB / Downloads: 1,083)

  DSC06315.JPG (Size: 189.32 KB / Downloads: 1,076)
The firewall was then reassembled for checking and adjustments, I also could not resist having a play with the CAD to template a blank for the bonnet panel.

  DSC06319.JPG (Size: 283.96 KB / Downloads: 1,073)

  DSC06329.JPG (Size: 259.3 KB / Downloads: 1,079)

  DSC06327.JPG (Size: 269.31 KB / Downloads: 1,068)