30th July 1999:

Spoke to Paul yesterday and he was having problems with the front arches - couldn't get the shape right. Went over today to find this. Major progress this morning obviously. The arch at the front looks a little big but the Integrale track is actually 1" wider at the front. It doesn't help that the top half of the Y10 wing slopes inwards thus making the arch look bigger than it actually is. I would estimate that the car is about 2" wider each side at the front although it looks a lot more here. Note that the wings were only welded this morning and still need final filling and shaping to get them just so!

Detail shot of the front arch - the wheel is still sitting nice and central. The body is nice and low over the wheels but look closely and you can see a lot of air below the sills. Looks like a job for side skirts to me. Not sure if we'll cut down a pair of grale skirts (no more sacriligious than cutting down the complete grale!) or make up a custom pair in steel. But doesn't that brake disc look small!

Gives you an idea of how the front should look with its 'smiley face' as my Dutch friend calls it! Look closely and see how far out the wheels sit, and thus also the arches. The bumper will be made up using two bumpers to get both the extra width needed and also to help get some more curvature into the front to match the way the new front grille sits. You can see the front crossmember (Integrale) has had some metal removed to help get the front spots lights to fit. What you cannot see yet is the work that has gone on underbonnet. The bonnet still does not shut down, but slowly the gap is coming down. The engine is sitting high and will probably need a bonnet bulge - Evo style - to clear it. Thank heavens I didn't go for the 16v engine - but one day maybe.....

I got a little concerned when Paul said he had taken a bit off the headlamps! He meant that excess plastic inside had been removed but still the timing belt pulley is too close to the headlamp for comfort - them round ones in the grale must be a lot slimmer. Gonna need some air vents or louvres or something as well, need to replicate the slots from the grale bonnet to get the right airflow.

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