Interior Cockpit Panels

Probably the most straightforward job of the paneling process because the panels just fitted. I did have to tidy them up with a file quite a bit, and where the holes were laser cut was pretty rubbish as well.

The biggest issue was removing the burnt on plastic from the laser cutting. I tried the gentle approach with a plastic scraper and some IPA (not beer.....), but because these will be hidden by carpet I got a scotch pad out and made short work of it. In any case, I can always polish if I decide to keep it bare.

Plenty of glue and clamps, cleco pins as I drilled the holes off e.t.c. Wiping up the glue immediately afterwards of course (the bloody stuff is very sticky).

Afterthoughts were mainly focused on whether my fat arse is going to fit in there OK...

Alternator

I was hoping to use the massive 80A alternator from my Mazda MX5 donor, but once I had the steering shaft was in roughly the right place it was clear that wasn't going to happen. I read the Facebook group posts on it and there were many suggestions. Some apparently made the large alternator work, but perhaps my tolerance for clearance is different.

So I sold the Mazda alternator and took the easy / expensive option of the offering from GBS which comes with a shiny alloy pulley. It works with the standard drive belt from the Mazda (865mm length if memory serves), and due to its diddy size (only 45A I think) the clearance to the steering shaft is more than ample even if I end up spacing the steering rack upwards. I could use a shorter belt in future to tuck it even closer to the engine.

The only bit of real work was making an adjuster bracket. I tried using the old one and adapting it but I wasn't comfortable with how much material was left. So I made a new one... Despite doing a whole materials module at university as part of my aero degree, I made a bad choice in using stainless steel. I got it to work in the end, but was hard work and made quick work of my drill bits......

Anyway, here it is....

From below all torqued up

From the front

Scuttle

Since I have the second generation zero and a standard width chassis, the scuttle comes pre formed with a nice lip for the bonnet. There is still the task of fitting the dashboard mount that doubles as a former for the rear part of the scuttle. This involved bending little tabs to around 90deg and then finding the plane in which the former sits snugly in the scuttle. At first I thought I had the wrong part, but with limited filing and fiddling I managed to get the mount to sit inside the scuttle and used lots of clamps! I found the mini ratchet clamps from Amazon to be better than the spring clamps.

More clamps required!

There are lots of opinions on the forum about how to fasten the mount. Some riveted and bonded, some just bonded, some used countersunk rivets, some liked rivets as a feature.

I decided to use 3.2mm countersunk rivets spaced 2D from the edge of the panel. I first clamped it all together to ensure alignment (there's a useful pip to ensure centralisation of the mount with the panel. Then I used masking tape and measured and marked the location of each hole. Once drilled, each hole was clamped using a cleco pin before moving to the next one until all 25ish were done (I worked from the centre outwards). Then I disassembled and deburred. Then reassemble and very carefully countersunk. Finally, hand rivet ensuring a good seat for the rivets in the countersunk hole.

Cleco pins! (And a very untidy garage.......)

The finish is nice, but the mounting doesn't perfectly align with the contour of the scuttle. No worries as this won't be seen once the dash is trimmed and in place. I'll run a bead of sealant at the back to add a bit of strength when I open the next tube.

Contour looks OK and I can still see my ugly mug in the reflection

Riveting looks tidy - the trusty finger test (developed in the Wind Tunnel) confirms

Next, onto the dash itself!

Aug 2025 update.... Actually, maybe better to get the firewall and engine bay panels sorted before the dash.

With the side panels now in place I could see that the engine bay panels were not a good fit off the shelf. This required cutting over 1cm in places (at least I could use a saw) followed by some careful filing. I used the firewall in position to ensure the pedal box panel lined up. Once satisfied with that, I then set about putting the rivet nuts in the chassis for the bonnet pins.

An aside on bonnet pins.... I was told that the Mazda only needed 5 bonnet pins (and that was all that was sent). Every Gen2 Mazda build I have seen uses 6...... need to speak to GBS again. Another frustration is that the rather unround holes pre-cut by GBS for the bonnet pins are really not the right size. Given other areas of similar frustration, I am beginning to think it would be better for GBS to only provide pilot holes to allow a cleaner drilling to be made.

Although not done yet, I have decided to bond the pedal box (as per GBS instruction) but leave the other engine bay panel unbonded. I will use small rivnuts and screws and try to make a feature out of them rather than hide them. There are so much of the systems under that panel (brake lines, fuel lines, wiring looms ....) that I think it will pay to make it detachable since access to there with the engine in would be very tight.

Next, I lined up the scuttle. With the provided holes, the scuttle to side panel shut line was decidedly wonky, so I needed to enlarge the holes to allow the scuttle to bend in a bit more. I also found that once the shut lines were good, the firewall needed a few mm off the side radii to form a nice shape with the scuttle bonnet lip, and to not overlap.

I have decided to bond and rivet the scuttle to the firewall. At the moment it is just held with skin pins. Not sure if I will use countersunk rivets or dome rivets, but in any case I will try to be as neat as possible.

The results on the car........

It's beginning to take shape.....