I know I've mentioned it before, but the marine environment here does create a lot of extra work for me. I have to at least primer bare metal unless I'm going to work on it within a day or two. So, I'm constantly wire brushing material to remove the primer, work on it, then repaint. Ugh! It makes tasks 2 or 3 times as labor intensive.
This is why it's slow-going often. I did get my driver's removable pane in place. I decided to use my self-developed tab/weld nut method. It's labor intensive, but not expensive in terms of hardeware. I'm using standard #10-32 machine screws and 20 gauge steel for the tabs.
This is where the metal brake for the vise comes in handy. It will bend these small parts easily. The big brake totally mangles them.
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To get the weld nuts to lie flat, the hole has to be clean and round. It only takes a few of minutes each, but when you have 20-30, that's an hour or so.
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And, here's what you get.
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I did take care to get the transmission tunnel pretty straight on it's sides when building. That allows me to have a flat panel here. So, here are the tabs in place. The black lines represents where I will contact cement rubber strips to the chassis to for a panels seal.
These removable panels were a recent decision, and not in the original plan. Other infrastructure is already welded into the tunnel for wiring, fuel lines, brake lines, etc. I have to make the best of that and put tabs where I could weld them in.
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The above photo shows the panels done with sealing washers. Unfortunately, they are pretty bulky. I plan to cover the panels and tunnel with thin carpet without insulation (it will be in the tunnel) and they may not work. I put in some button screws and flat washers to try that out. It should work fine then.
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So, now I have all the panels built for the driver's side. I'll start on the passenger side removable panel tomorrow.
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Cheers