This weekend I got the eyebrows and hatch-back hinges installed. The hinges have been giving me nightmares for weeks. Glad that’s finally over. The only thing really of note with those is that they need to be parallel to each other and that means that they won’t just sit flush with the top of the shell. I turned the teardrop to be in-line with the slope of my garage floor then used a level to get the hinges straight.
I have some fit issues with the hatchback. It wants to contract inward like you can see in this next pic. I will be gluing a lip around the sides of the opening for the door to come to rest upon. If I don’t, there will always be a gap like this. In the meantime, I braced it up with some foam-core board so everything would be flexed into the correct shape for the hinge glue-up. A weight at the top of the hatch also helped to align the top edge.
In the end, they came out great! Opening the hatch back is smooth as butter.
Next up, eyebrows! The doors hit, because of course they did. A little careful eyebrow trimming (ha) and it’s no issue.
I am a huge fan of pre-wetting the fiberglass tape. That technique works SO well! One more coat of epoxy on the eyebrows and exposed bits of wood such as hinges tonight then I can sand the entire mess tomorrow and be ready for varnish on Wednesday. Road-worthy by next weekend? Unlikely, but possible! I want to get this thing in service and worry about interior finishing as I’m using it.