Body Building
I started fitting the body myself but ended up paying someone else to complete it. You almost have to assemble it off the car on a jig to mate up and fettle the joints then fit it to the chassis and adjust the position to fit the metalwork.
The first bits to fit are the dashboard and the arch behind the seats, fit this with tape to start with because you will not know how how it needs to be to start with. Remember the dashboard groove for the window screen may need to be trimmed and fettled to make the window screen fit properly with the best fit gap at the top to the top surround, I did that first then the body panels with the screen fitting to be done last job of all, perhaps even after IVA. Some kits need to raise the front of the dashboard by 12mm to reduce the gap at the top of the screen.
The side panels are next but don't fix them yet as you may have to move them forwards.
The front clam is key, it should not touch the window screen surround but should be fully supported by the two side panels and the hinge. The gap round the front edge with the outside of the window screen should be as small as practical but not touching or you will need rub pads on the touching parts. I fitted large dowels to the panels at the clasp points and holes in the clam to locate accurately when closed. (make sure the clasps are IVA proof, sprung retained racing type and with the option to fit a pin or lock)
To get the gap at the front I needed to take off 12mm at the joint between the side and the dashboard a bit of each so the panel was not too far forward.
Marks comment to me was if the joints are within 1/4inch its a good fit.
That's about right you can get it better but its very fiddly.
Dave Gallop got mine closer for me and the body shop are getting it nearer to a really good fit.
The rear clam is easy if you have got this far. The arch behind the seats is the key, once you have the clam lapped correctly over the lip and fully home forward, lock it down on the hinges. Then the arch can be fixed to match the height of the rear clam and the side panels.
I got it assembled and roughly fitted but with limited space in a single width garage I lost patience and figured I had better things to do with the time.
I wish you luck, I would rather remove and strip an engine from the crank up and refit the engine than fit the body work again, but that's a personal choice.
So basically nothing is fixed to a known point, everything moves to take up the slack and if you move one bit you may have to move everything along or up or down! You will end up with spare holes if your not careful.
You compromise in the end to make it look good and then remember is a kit car and all will be well and sanity will return, that's when I started spending the money on other people.
JohnC
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