Elio Type Vehicle Resurection --- AKA the BEX

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX .....

Back again.

Trip to Beijing was for 2 reasons, and one of them was to help secure the BEX's financial future of which talks went well.​

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

I've always liked the concept of rivnuts, which are tube nuts that are crushed fitted into a hole, but in the real world they have a tendency to work loose and spin in the hole while tightening them. It's also a big issue to remove them when needing to repair, as drilling them out is a pain because they spin with the drill in the hole and damage the hole.

However, recently I noticed hex shaped rivnuts that can not spin in a hex hole, and you all know the ease I have with producing parts with the laser cutter, so it's logical to move to these as a joining method, and here is my test of this method today ..​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H7UxBs6Qf8

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

The hex will allow me to use Loctite on the bolts for extra security, whereas I would never use Loctite on a bolt in a round rivnut, that's just courting disaster.

I've repaired my fair share of spun rivnuts, it's painful, that's why i have never considered using them until I noticed the hex type.​

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Anyway, another slight delay in the process, I'm off to Australia for a couple of weeks for both business and see my family whom I haven't seen in 3 years due to Covid.

I apologise for the delay, but I got the chance to go so I'm taking it, I will still be in contact here though.​

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Yes, I'm back, and refreshed, well, as fresh at the moment as one can be after being in airplanes for 15 hours ....

I haven't seen my daughters and grand daughters in over 3 years, and my Dad has serious heart issues for which I wanted to find out more, so we did extend the stay a bit in case it was the last time I got to see him.

So back to it tomorrow​

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ...

Been spending the last couple of days re-orientating myself, taking a few measurements, and working out how to start on the bodywork.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Getting to the bodywork a bit, and as I won't need rear doors, I cut out the inside panels of the doors mostly to get rid of weight for handling while doing the bodywork.

I then took those gutted doors and the rear side skins around the corner to my laser welder guy to create one piece rear sides to work with.​

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

After joining the front and rear sections of the left body side back together again after I had cut them apart, I lined it up on the chassis again. (top picture)

I then put the picture into Paint Shop and blended it in to get an idea of what it will look like.​(bottom picture)

Do the right hand side tomorrow ..

[JEBar]

When asked, "Have you made any decisions about how you are going to shape and construct the rear wheel well/arch?"

Mark responded, "3 of 9,999,999 options ... "

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Pretty much like the Elio's, but much longer