Thread: Tiny bit excited

1. cutting 1.6mm with my snips was a nightmare - as you need to bend the alum for the snipe to work its way fwd. then tried the cutting disc on grinder - did an average job not cutting as i expected (was a disc for steel). need to find a better option of cutting alum - too thin for the jigsaw i think but have not tried - suggestions please

2. top capping had to come off, lots of rivets removed for the 2nd time, if i knew i was going to do this job would have left all the cappings off when i removed them all prior

3. just noticed my etch primer has a pic of a Landy - got to support SCA just for the pic.

4-5. this angled steel i thought was added under the capping on either side for additional support i guess, thought previous owner did this, BUT can someone confirm this is factory fitment or not? Looks factory the more i look at it!

6. finally this flat piece went in dry to ensure it all measures up. really has transformed the rear of the tub in the S1. just need to remove and apply adhesive and fix for good. i also have more alum to spare for the piece behind the seats so what the heck lets just keep going.

Re cutting thin aluminium with jigsaw - you could try clamping the aluminium to a piece of thin (sacrificial) ply or timber and cut the aluminium & timber together. The ply/timber will give the aluminium some rigidity while cutting.
If using angle grinder, there are special cutting discs for aluminuim that don't clog up like you would have experienced with the steel cutting disc.

1. so the panel in the tub is done and glued into position. its not perfect but the best i could do. I do need to get some silicone to finish the edges up but i have run out of supplies. i did spray a coat of etch primer as well so ready for paint.

2. moved onto the spare wheel mount, was very rusty in lower section, in the process of cleaning her up. It had two more tabs to bolt to the floor which was rusted out so cut them off.

3. gave a quick clean underneath and spray my normal primer - i thought this panel was alum but its steel

4. gave the top a better clean, then spray primer. I would think this panel should be galvanised from factory but not sure it was. It was saved, which also saved me either finding another or making one up from scratch.

1. excess alum was taken back to supplier for that professional cut, this will be the two piece panels directly behind the seats which are two pieces from factory, not one long piece

2. quickly realised these damn seats need to come out to fit properly, not a big deal but kinda feel already done that when i cleaned them up for paint. so out they came to make room for a better fit n finish.

3. bought some alum flat piece to replicate the factory look in the tub, wasn't happy how clean it looked then realised i was missing these tabs which on the original are folded over on the panels. these took ages to cut, grind back and measure up to look original.

4. purchased a new cutting disc which worked really well but only tried on the small angled cuts

5. in position with the square look but LR have an angled cut to them

6. so replicated the angled cut look, just need to secure into position when im ready

7. finally back to the seats, seats removed, panel in rough position, will need some minor cutting to slide into position

1. silicone the gaps, all coming together finally for the rear tub. my new cutting disc is working perfectly, doing some fine cuts in the alum. bit fiddly work but rewarding when the silicone kinda finishes it all up and looks as original as i can get it. just will need one final etch primer before paint. not sure i want to spray paint, thinking maybe using a small roller instead much easier to apply and can throw out the roller afterwards. just gotta keep going i guess.

1. so one the weekend i thought i would try and paint the corners of the tub forgetting to use 'paintable silicone' and this was the result, crap. paint will not adhere to the silicone. forgot to use the paintable version, so only option was to remove

2. here i am hard at work undoing previous work i had undertaken (what's that saying, one step fwd two steps backward) comes to mind.

3. here are the tools used the spinning wheel, mostly the knife and a screwdriver, razor and a lot of digging to remove the old silicone to re-do in a paintable silicone to come.

also need to pick up some cold gal to spray on the spare wheel bracket, not happy with the brushed on silver paint. more to come.

1. ok so got some 'paintable silicone' though forgot to order some more sandpaper which is taking forever for click n collect at bunnings, must say supercheap is so much faster and easier for collections. also got some cold gal to spray on the bits needed

2. woke up at 4am couldn't sleep so measured up (quietly) and cut the corners of the tailgate out in prep for this mornings bend of the tailgate

3. my two small clamps were not up to the challenge, had spirit level on top and piece of thick wood underneath for the bend

4. needed to pop over to parents house to get the bigger clamps which did a far better job, and had a longer reach as well which helped

5. base done and folded up, some fine tuning will be needed, fitted the side panels in green seems to line up ok. not sure these 4x support panels are supposed to be painted (green) or in cold gal? need to look up some pics of other S1

6. trial fit to the S1, seems to fit ok though it does have other supports missing which get rivetted to the sides and top. measured the base and with the bending of the sides has a very small bow which i will need to address. need to fill in some holes in these frames before securing otherwise coming along ok.

1. tailgate on bare, did manage to drill out the 4 holes which hold the swinging arms which are not perfectly aligned but still works, it is so hard to align when making a new tailgate (thought it would be easy). I should of measured centre hole to centre hole for the latch.

2. tailgate etch primed and allowed to dry

3. these two bracket seem original to me so cleaned them up for paint. they are steel. so cold gal for these

4. a number of items cold gal and allowed to dry incl the spare tyre bracket - got another coat

5. these holes all needed to be drilled through to the other end, bit tricky to do hoping the holes were in the perfect location - job done

6. onto the inside of the seats, this panel now cut to measure, etch primed and will prob paint as well prior to fitting (will make it so much easier rather then painting later on)

7. finally more silicone removal, sanding etc its as clean as i can get it, vacuumed as well. will apply another coat of etch primer, then paint the inside tub (can't wait).