And more than a month again between posts.
Here’s etching primer on the inside of the tub.
rivets
Firewall details (more rivets)
Past few days rigging up the throttle cable, a bell crank and some other stuff that will be attached to the back of the firewall.
Dust shields
I unpacked the wiring harness last week and started marking the wires to their respective fixtures. I got what I guess is the easy half. Looking for some color-coded early VW wiring diagrams now to aid with the rest. The car came with the early Bug (6-wire) signal switch (which does not have the high beam switch integral). That’s cool; I already bought and installed the foot switch, but it’s just one of many potential differences between the way the car is going to go together and the Thunder Ranch instruction manual/pre-made wire harness. So to avoid mucking too much with that this week I finished off my inner dust shields instead.
Belly Pan
My hands hurt from turning the screwdriver and squeezing the rivet gun. Also, turning the 1/4-20 tap. Rivets, and also screws now adorn the Spyder’s bottom. Now the old adage “keep the shiny side up” is pointless.
More details
Tub Aluminum, Part 1
With the frunk area well in hand I turned my attention to the cockpit. These Beck-design (and the Vintage Spyder variant) replicas are a bit more than three and a half inches longer than the real deal, and most of the extra real estate is in the body tub, mainly to accommodate taller drivers. Making the cockpit look authentic is a challenge just because of the added length. The curve of the inside rocker panels is another giveaway: the original cars had a crease between two straight panels.
So I kinda sorta made my own:
Along Came A Spyder 