My main concern is safety. Therefore, leading up to this test I focused on making sure the car was safe to drive at speed. I installed the roll bar (I can't imagine flipping over, but I'd be really disappointed if it happened and the roll bar was sitting safely in the garage). I checked all the steering and suspension bolts for the proper torque. I also had to install the floor pan, the seat and the harness.
Before I could put in the floor pan, I had to finish some other fabrication and prep some of the parts. First, I had to make an enclosure for the parking brake mechanism. Next time, I'll do this before installing the transmission because I barely had room to work.
It starts (as usual) with a paper template (with lots of trial and error)
It fits around the brake handle
I flattened the template
Traced it onto an aluminum panel and cut it out
I bent the panel along the dotted lines
And installed the finished product
Actually, it was not as easy as it looks!
Then is was time to install the floor pan. I put an undercoating on it to reduce road noise.
I applied silicone on all the contact surfaces so it won't rattle.
Here it is temporarily held in place.
After all the rivets are installed.
The completed floor pan.
Then I installed the driver's seat and safety harness, and it was ready to go.
Early yesterday morning, I trailered the car over to the local mall with its huge parking lot for my test drive. Here it is right before the test.
The driving was great! The only problem I had was that with no fenders, I got showered with pebbles the whole time. I'm glad Laurie came along to watch even though she had just gotten a cast on her leg.
I wish I had gotten more video but I do have one to share. The actual ride was much smoother than the shaky video would imply.
Shortly, after completing this run, the security patrol came back to tell me the car was very impressive, but I couldn't drive it there. I packed up and went home very satisfied.
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