Removing panels on roadster

[OregonDave]

As I'm removing panels, I wonder if it would be easier just to drill for rivets while they are still in the "factory position", then pull them, and then simply silicone and rivet them on later when it's time. Am I missing something or is there some reason not to pre-drill the panels before removing them for the build?

[frankeeski]

Dave. I did not pre-drill one panel. What I did was to wait to install panels til I was done in a particular area with plumbing and wiring and install just a few panels at a time. I know allot of guys pre-drill and fit panels and then install them all at one time but that didn't seem like allot of fun to me. I also hand pulled all of my rivets. Since I wasn't installing a bunch of panels at one time, pulling them by hand was quite easy and I didn't tire of it.

[jlfernan]

I asked this same question at the build school. Their answer and what I did was, if you are happy with the fit of the panels now, there is no reason not to drill for rivets before you remove them. I driilled all of mine with no problems. In fact it seems kind of silly to remove them just to put them back to drill them.

[OregonDave]

Thanks Frank. Sounds like it wouldn't be an issue to pre-drill. I was just thinking about it more and I think I'd rather get real work done on the car rather than pre-drill all weekend! Good advice on doing one section at a time though. I got a harbor freight air riveter for $27 on sale and with a coupon on top of that. Still planning to hand rivet a few of them where needed.

I will try not to get too OCD and paint the inside of the rivet holes in the steel frame to prevent rust. Again, I'll try, but no promises!

[OregonDave]

Thanks Jorge. Looks like I didn't refresh before responding. If I get tired of one area or run into backordered part shortages then I will drill a few panels ahead.

[cwrandolph]

In many cases you don't know exactly where the supporting steel structure is behind the aluminum. If you mark the back side of the panels, you can remove them, mark the spacing on the back side & drill them in a comfortable position (drill press is great) and then put them back on to drill the steel. Applying silicone between the steel and aluminum is also a good idea. If you don't pull the panels off after you drill them you're going to end up with chips under the panels.

[gwnorth]

I marked the panels on the underside for the tube locations when the kit arrived, removed the panels, drilled the holes in the aluminum, deburred the holes, replaced the panels to the correct location, drilled holes through the steel while maintaining location with clecos, completed all the holes into the steel (adding clecos as required to maintain position), removed the panels, degreased with alcohol, applied RTV and after locating with clecos proceeded to do the panel rivetting with an air riveter.
Are you guys saying I didn't need to do this?
It makes sense to think about brake and fuel line routing before doing all the panels but I pretty much followed the build manual sequence and didn't have any major access issues.

[BigLeo69]

i marked all the panels with tick marks
and the silicone was only used on the front footboxes, i used a hi-heat silicone but hated the thought of all the cleaning up for paint, and bedliner coating. so after the fronts were done i used seamsealer and polyurethene sealant it paintable.
but i recommend doing your chassis install first
then run your hard lines (fuel, brake)
i still have the side panel off of the drivers along with the 2 top panels that fit that, they will stay off till go-cart is done.
if you are in the beginning stage of panels, remember somewhere along the way something will change and you will come up with a better mod. so go slow at the panel final install.
oh the painting of all the engine panels was done and 2 years later i cut and changed them and covered all of it with heatshielding material. looks great in the engine bay and makes sense to keep the heat out in lieu of being painted up pretty and all

[NicksPapaw]

The only concern I would have is that you are reading this forum! Doing so will cause you to want to do mods to your car. Some of those mods might require you to tweak a panel one way or another. Just another opinion.

[3kcarbon]

Another builder talked me into prefitting and drilling all the panels. I didn't enjoy it but he pointed out some good reasons to do it. Now I'm glad I did. One of which is you can clean out all the drill debris from behind the panels. You won't believe how much gets stuffed in behind as you drill. Cleco panels back on and don't install any until you have to. Put some on too soon and its a problem just as putting them on too late can be.. Think it all over and work smart. Get familiar with the wire and tube routing. If I had it to do again I would run all the plumbing first and then rough hang the wire harness to see if it works with the panels. If the panels are clecoed on and need trimming or something its a easy fix.

[Pierre B]

I wouldn't drill the factory-supplied panel position. FF installs their panels that way principally to demonstrate the relative positions (i.e. what lays over what) of the panels for the buyer. That's handy of course. What I learned in the panel installation is that in virtually every case, I needed to adjust the angle of the edge bends, and I could only do that accurately when I had the mating panels adjusted similarly as well. The factory cannot take the time needed to make fine adjustments like that. Also, in more than a few cases (my car in a MKII), the initial fit of the panels 'out of the bix' made me really wonder if in fact they were really intended to fit where I was trying to position them. That process taught me to trust FF, and I learned that if I worked with them long enough, I could get all of the panels to fit just right. IMO, that cannot happen nearly as well if the factory panel positions are locked in early.

[Cobradavid]

I marked the panels on the underside for the tube locations when the kit arrived, removed the panels, drilled the holes in the aluminum, deburred the holes, replaced the panels to the correct location, drilled holes through the steel while maintaining location with clecos, completed all the holes into the steel (adding clecos as required to maintain position), removed the panels, degreased with alcohol, applied RTV and after locating with clecos proceeded to do the panel rivetting with an air riveter.
.....

I did mine similar to gwnorth. I marked all the panels before removing them. I removed the panels and drilled them, then re-installed and match-drilled the steel. Then I removed the panel, cleaned up the frame, applied silicone and riveted the panel in place. I used this process on all the attached panels, but I did not do them all at once. For example, I recall that the F-panels get installed pretty early, so I did the above process on them, but left the cockpit panels alone until later. I ordered my frame powder-coated, so I kept all the attached panels as they came from the factory until I needed to install them permanently. This helped me keep track of where the panels go, plus I didn't have to store them somewhere else in my garage.

Of all the panels, only one (driver side F-panel) needed to be "adjusted" from the position the FFR guys put it in when the frame left the factory. It was off by ~3/4". All the rest of my panels were aligned well from the factory.