Fortunately, all was not lost. Peter was dropping some parts off today, and very kindly brought us a new bracket, and didn't laugh at our basic error. We should be able to drill holes in the new bracket such that the diff is properly mounted now without any difficulties.
Lesson: measure carefully before drilling.
Peter also spent some time helping us get the wishbones in. I was worried that they were a bit too tight and that the brackets were not right, but Peter demonstrated how they could be fine tuned using a large hammer. Personally I'm not totally comfortable hitting my shiny new chassis with a hammer, but fortunately I didn't have to do any hitting, and hopefully no further bashing will be necessary.
So we're now well on the way to getting the front suspension built up, and to having the diff properly in. Big thanks to Peter for his help - can't fault the customer service. He also gave us some tips on correct riveting technique, and seemed impressed by my (apparently) non-standard interpretation of how to fit one of the gearbox tunnel panels - apparently this might become the new standard way of fitting this panel.
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Good to get some tangible progress done.
ReplyDeleteOn hitting things with hammer, I have a handy supply of cardboard and various shaped pieces of wood handy.
Cardboard against the surface avoids marking, the same for clamps, then the appropriate piece of wood and then tap away ;)
That old saying of measure twice cut once, is wise, I tend to be sure to be sure to be sure measure and even then sometimes get it wrong.