Ally tonneau to SLR?

[fergus]

Does anyone think an ally tonneau (a la caterham part number 74544) would NOT fit on a 1998 SLR?

The Caterham parts website suggests it's for >2003 cars. Other than a bar to mount the horizontal section to (i.e. running fore/aft through the middle of the cockpit) does any one know any other mods which need to be done prior to fitting? How does the side section fasten to the car?

At the moment, I have MOG half doors and a full SLR cage if that helps?

Many thanks

[Epimetheus]

I have one on a 1992 chassis . . .well, that part of the chassis is 1992 anyway.

I don't use the central support, I use the passenger seatbelt bolts, some holes on the scuttle and a brace bar (10mm ally tube) that goes from the passenger side floor pretty much vertically to a bolt of the inside edge of the tonneau. It's solid . . not 'as' solid as when a central bar is used, but I can remove/fit it in a couple of minutes.

The side bit is held in place by a bracket that sandwiches the side of the car with the tonneau.

Obviously, you can't use this with a MOG side door (I also have these).

[fergus]

thks. How do you attach the tonneau to the scuttle? Is there a large overlap between the two?

[sfaulds]

The Ali tonneau doesn't fit *any* chassis in my experience

It goes under the lip of the scuttle at the front, and the bottom of the side is a U shape which sits over the sill. They're easy enough to remove once you've fitted it properly and got the knack, but you *will* lose paintwork at some point.

[fergus]

sfaulds said:

The Ali tonneau doesn't fit *any* chassis in my experience

It goes under the lip of the scuttle at the front, and the bottom of the side is a U shape which sits over the sill. They're easy enough to remove once you've fitted it properly and got the knack, but you *will* lose paintwork at some point.

OK. thks. Got to keep Tony @ TSK in work though!

[Dave J]

it will fit on a 98 SLR as thats what my chassis is. But I used the caterham one a template and then made my own.

You will find that the front lower curve is not correct, the support bar will clash with your guages and the boot support bars are wrong.

I remade all these bits and redesigned the boot cover fixing method for mine.

pics:

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/278964077005487100...

Edited by Dave J on Tuesday 21st July 12:02

[bse]

There is normally a Dzus fastener at the front and back too. Mine has small support brackets for these rivetted on the rear bulkhead and the dash, not a very nice solution though, especially if you want to have the tonneau removed at times as the brackets are obviously left there. Incidentally, for racing in series other than official caterham series, the scrutineers can get a bit upset by the ally tonneaus. I think the wording in the blue book is that you must have a deformable structure next to the driver. Clearly it's debatable whether the ally cover and support bar are 'deformable'.

[fergus]

bse said:

There is normally a Dzus fastener at the front and back too. Mine has small support brackets for these rivetted on the rear bulkhead and the dash, not a very nice solution though, especially if you want to have the tonneau removed at times as the brackets are obviously left there. Incidentally, for racing in series other than official caterham series, the scrutineers can get a bit upset by the ally tonneaus. I think the wording in the blue book is that you must have a deformable structure next to the driver. Clearly it's debatable whether the ally cover and support bar are 'deformable'.

You may want to ask them to look about 18" below the tonneau and ask how much they think the prop shaft tunnel will 'deform' against your pelvis in the event of a large side impact?