It's been a hot second and again I have not updated this thread.

I am actually no further along, but I hope to take another look at the roof this weekend. Wayne suggested I take a look at the fit as it may be there is interference in the fit, possibly caused by a thicker than intended layer of paint. As there is nothing in the contact area that will be visible when the car is finished, I may sand those areas and try again.

I am also waiting on the cushioned pad that Wayne uses in his videos. I have bought one from Partwork Upgrades, and it should be dispatched in the next few days, possibly received by the end of next week. This will mean I can cover my entire work area and not have to worry about scratching paint.

I will be busy in the early part of next week anyway preparing for an interview, so will not get anything posted before then but I will get some more updates posted as soon as possible after that.

OK, so that was a headache for nothing.







This was the damage to the paint just attempting to get the roof section on the frame. I found my rotary tool has a milling tool for it, so I installed that and gently took a very thin layer off the areas of the posts pictured above, and the holes in the rear frame where they also seemed to be binding.





Now the entire roof fits well. So here I am, continuing on with what I have done. Some of this involves some of the wires from stages 67. I am using these as necessary, keeping the rest in the box. I will finish off the wiring over the next week or so, I need to install the Powermod before I secure the interior - which I should have installed before now.



I also realised I had missed two screws securing the front frame around the engine to the front of the main frame section. I installed these now as there is quite a bit of turning the body on the roof to screw thins in and I didn't want any more stress on that join than necessary.

Stage 74.

This stage is just adding the chrome strip to the wheel well and adding the clips for the wires from the headlights.







I think the chrome trim looks great against the gloss white of the wing. The paintwork on this vehicle is looking great so far - the damage noted in this post will not be visible as it's on the upper side of the frame and the underside of the roof section.





The two clips will hold the wires from the front lights. The front clip (second picture) is easy to install. The rear one not so much. The screwdriver has to go at an angle due to the hinge mechanism on that side.

Stage 75

This stage we will install one of the chrome trims that run along the outside of the hood, one of the switches, and the fender we put the trim on last stage.





The trim is placed into position along the side of the hood and screwed into place with three screws from underneath.



This switch, from stage 66, is now installed in the frame. When wired, it will turn on the interior light when the door is opened.





The switch is placed into the location, and secured in place with the clamp. There is a small notch in the clamp which secures a peg on the side of the switch so that they can only be installed the correct way.



This blue wire, with the twin interior light LEDs on, is placed to run through this area like this. The front fender is then placed over the top, the frame turned over, and secured from behind.





We then move on to making the "Unity S6 Spotlight".





The blue lens is placed into the front of the light. There is a slight notch in the lens so it should be easy to place it in the correct orientation. I found my lens fell out every time I turned the unit over, so I just used some Micro Kristal Klear and glued it in. For those that don't know, Micro Kristal Klear is a white glue that dries completely clear.



The back is screwed to the spotlight, and then a plate is pushed in to hide the screw.





The spotlight is screwed into the mount from underneath. The spotlight will be installed in a later stage.

Stage 76



Stage 76 is installing the chrome trim on the other front fender.





Stage 77



This stage we install the other hood trim, switch, and fender.



First the trim gets put in place and screwed in.



The second interior light switch is installed in the same manner as the first.



The second fender is a little more complex than the first. The first addition to the fender is a mirror support.



This is installed and will then be secured from underneath.



The mirror support is the small, flatter item towards the left under the fender. Also added from underneath in this picture is the base for the short antenna. This is pushed through the frame and fender from underneath and screwed to the front frame from underneath. (This is the rounded rectangle in the picture. The round section will be for the long, base-mount antenna that will eventually be attached here and have the long aerial which connects to the equipment frame on the roof.)



This is what those installs look like from above.

There is also the piece that fits under the windscreen.



I installed that earlier by mistake. The front bumper section should also be installed, but I am leaving this of for a short while - it should be in the next update - as I have not installed the front lights and the two cross braces yet.

Stage 78

This stage we install the windscreen and its surround.



There is a protective film on the windscreen. It doesn't fully cover the windscreen, being rectangular, but does a good enough job. I peeled the film back a bit at the corners, just enough to clear the surround.



This is placed into position and fits snuggly into place. The frame holds the back of the windscreen, and the surround will sandwich the screen in place.



The surround is screwed in from underneath with 6 screws, and that finishes issue 21 for now.



And yes, she's a long one. Getting taller and will be taller yet once the equipment pack is on the roof.

Notes.

The chassis is not secured to these frames for the foreseeable, so I'm going to hunt up the front bumper assembly and get that installed next rather than working on the powermod. She'll look even more impressive as the doors go on. There are some slight problems with the doors coming up that I am aware of. The logos are slightly too large, are stickers despite having been promised that no stickers would be involved in the build. I already have correctly sized waterslide decals to replace them, and a 3D printed alignment jig to install them. The second front door also has a problem in that early versions were sent out with openings and fitments for a door mirror it shouldn't have. The message has gone out that people who have been affected by this will have a replacement door with stage 104, but will then have to remove all the fittings from the first version if they have fitted them. I will not progress my build past that stage if I end up in that position. I see no point in installing door furniture that I know I will have to remove later.