Hi Jim
Just thought I'd let you in on the cutting of the aluminium... The guillotine guys couldn't do it because they can't hold it, then I spoke to a cnc guy and asked how much to have it milled off - basically wanted around $20 per piece !!! So tha was that, I was back to start again.... I started googling, and amzed to find this is a common issue all over... guys suggesting plasma cutters, band saws, jig saws, radial arm saws, nibblers etc etc etc.... all of which left a lot to be desired in terms of ease of use vs cost vs resultant cut finish.... and then I cam across a comment on one of the forums where a fella mentioned that he used a steel ruler as a straight edge, clamped down to the (1mm or 2mm) aluminium, and a Stanley knife.... Well that brought back some memories from 15 years ago when I had used a Stanley knife on ally too... So, I got my knife and a piece of waste ally, and set about testing the usefulness.... after about 15 or 20 strokes down the straight edge with some pressure, I took the piece out and was delighted to see I had scored a groove about 0.8mm deep... so I flipped the ally over and set up to cut directly along the same line from the opposite side... again 15 or so strokes, and the to pieces practically fell apart - I was cutting 2mm ally - It was thin enough to easily bend and on the return bend action it came apart... so cutting is now solved... dead easy.
Next, I dropped in on the CNC guy doing the radius on the trims,and he reckons I'll have them early next week... He says the finish should be good enough to go directly to the buffing wheel, which is very encouraging. He will also be doing the holes and countersinks for the screws which is very satisfying... So it'll be just the buffing, and then off to the plating guys...
Again, my screws are sitting at customs... I called them today and "maybe" by the end of the week or definitely some day next week... And finally, I am not going down the OE clip in system, mainly because when the leather boot is fitted you can't access the clips to release them if you need to get below the leather boot.... So, found a supplier of double sided foam tape 0.8mm thick.... one side is very sticky - "permanent" which I will fit onto the inside face of the sub frame...the other side is a "removable" stick surface, to which the leather boot will be stuck. That means, one will be able to remove the leather boot, and then re-stick it again and again and again...
So, everything has become so much simpler and more effective.... fitting will need the OE leather boot and plastic frame to be separated from each other, the new sub frame will need an epoxy on the face which fits up against the plastic in the console hole... and then peel off the release paper from the double sided foam tape and stick the leather boot into position, and finally lock the top trim to the sub frame with the 10 screws... Obviously you'll need to wait for the epoxy to set / dry so the sub frame stays locked in the console... But all in all, shouldn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes to fit, and no fiddly procedures...
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