Photos - Fitting out the interior

The original MX5 auto transmission selector required reworking and modification to suit the clubman. The indicator quadrant was originally attached to the MX5 centre console and required modification to mount directly onto the shift mechanism.

Hazard light switch, instrument cluster and auto-trans shifter all came from the MX5 donor car. The auto-trans shifter provides manual shift options for the tiptronic auto (in addition to the steering wheel paddles) as well as the standard automatic function.

The centre console "buck", fabricated from plywood to enable a fibreglass mould to be made.

The buck after layers of fibreglass have been applied to form the mould from which the centre console will be made.

The mould - trimmed and ready for use in making the centre console.

I decided to experiment with carbon fibre for the centre console. This was my first effort with this rather expensive material. The mould was painted black (I had the paint in the cupboard) and polished to a high lustre, this helps to achieve a high gloss finish on the carbon fibre.

After the carbon fibre mat was trimmed to shape, masking tape was applied to the edges to stop the woven mat unravelling during laying up. The carbon fibre mat was expensive, about 20 times more than fibreglass mat, and the epoxy resin is double the price of fibreglass resin, so this was an expensive option.

Masking tape was applied to the edges of the mould to prevent the resin from sticking to the sides and edge. Several coats of wax were liberally applied to the surface but it still required a lot of effort to remove the final product, probably due to the complex shape in such a small area.

All laid up and waiting to harden. I didn't take further photos of the inside but after trimming to shape I applied fibreglass to the inside of the edges to stiffen them. The carbon fibre is very light and strong but was flexing on the edges and as the carbon fibre is very expensive it made economic sense to brace it with the cheaper fibreglass.

The finished product in place. Quite pleased with my first effort with carbon fibre. Due to the high cost of the mat and resin I doubt that I will be making other parts. It's difficult to get a perfect finish straight out of the mould. At least with fibreglass you can repair any faults and then paint the surface. The only advantages of carbon fibre in this application are looks and lightweight, but you pay a high price for these advantages.

Interior starting to take shape. The leading edge of the scuttle will receive a padded addition to meet ADR requirements and stop the passenger from head butting all my hard work.

The interior aluminium panels were 1mm sheet and cut using a variety of methods including tin snips, hacksaw, angle grinder and air powered nibbler. Lots of detailed hand finishing, filing and sanding resulted in well presented parts that were eventually covered and hidden from view! But at least I know how good they are!

The inspection plate below the centre console allows access to the gear selector lever to enable it to be disconnected when removing the engine and transmission.

A small inspection plate was fitted on the left side of the transmission tunnel to allow access for topping up the automatic transmission fluid, which will be an awkwartd task but shouldn't need to be done very often.

The handbrake bezel holds the leather boot in place and was hand fabricated from 6mm aluminium plate and polished before final assembly.

The floor of the "boot" area has a 2mm aluminium removeable panel which was later covered in marine carpet during the final assembly.

After the chassis was painted the aluminium interior panels were fixed in place using Sikaflex 227 adhesive and rivets.

Pity all this hard work was eventually covered with marine carpet.

Footrest is bolted to reinforced area of cabin floor. Expect the passenger to apply a bit of force to this footrest during spirited driving sessions!

Simple, but strong footrest provides the passenger with something to brace their feet against.

I originally fitted a pair of aftermarket bucket seats, but during the build the ADR's changed and the seats had to be changed to meet the new standard. The Whitepointer fibreglass seats were the only ones on the market at the time that would fit the narrow clubman and had ADR 3/03 compliance.

This is how the seats looked when they arrived. The measurements may be of interest to other builders. Whitepointer custom made a wide seat with higher sides to my specifications. The sides were left unfinished so I could shape them to suit my needs.

Whitepointer Fibreglass were in Queensland and made a number of parts for Locost clubman. Unfortunately they are no longer in business.

To take advantage of the larger drivers compartment in my Locost, and assist with entry and exit, the seats were mounted on sliding adjusters. The other advantage of course is that passengers and drivers of all sizes can comfortably fit into the car. Adjustable seats are not common in clubman vehicles and most are very awkward to enter or exit, especially for taller people, as the cabin is tight and the seats are usually fixed in place.

The all important ADR compliance sticker fibreglassed into the underside of the seat. Unfortunately it can only be viewed by removing the seat.

Even though the seats were ADR 3/03 approved, I found the mounting points to be rather light, so for safety reasons I applied addtional fibreglass and installed steel reinforcing plates to spread the load further into the seats.

The sides of the seats were supplied larger than required (at my request) so I could custom finish them to suit my needs. The wider sides increased strength but I also added layers of fibreglass along the inside edges to further improve rigidity.

Shaped to suit my needs and provide improved lateral support.

Ready for installation. Basic foam inserts were fitted for registration and then the seats were later professionally upholstered.

Slots were cut into each side of the seat to allow the seat belts to be tightened over the person rather around the outside of the fibregalss seat shell. This modification was made at the request of my engineer.

After researching the correct density foam for the scuttle crash padding, a sheet of EVA350 Closed Cell foam was purchased. The smallest sheet available (much more than required) in the correct density (350) and desired thickness (25mm) was 920mm x 820mm. This high density foam is waterproof and meets the ADR for impact protection. It feels rather hard and has limited flexibility over short distances. However, with a bit of practice it can be bent, machined, cut, drilled and sanded. A router was used to produce the required inner rebate and outer profile.

The EVA350 foam was machined to the correct profile, cut to length, recesses drilled for mounting bolts and the corners sliced & glued to assist with bending. Heat was applied to assist with bending the sharp corners. An aluminium strip was fabricated with nutserts for fastening to the fibreglass scuttle. The EVA foam was then glued to the aluminium strip and carefully sanded to provide the final finish.

This close-up reveals the design of the inner rebate, outer profile and aluminium insert.

And this is the end result. The foam was eventually covered in marine grade vinyl, but for engineering inspection and registration the raw finish was quite acceptable. The EVA foam is waterproof and looks and feels a bit like suede leather.

After the Locost was registered the motor trimmer upholstered the dash crash pad in the same material as the seats.

The donor MX5 steering wheel airbag had deployed and ruined the plastic centre cover. A replacement was needed that not only looked good and allowed the horn to function, but also satisfy the engineer for impact protection. I wanted to retain the MX5 leather bound steering wheel as it provides paddle shift control of the 6 speed auto and the factory cruise control which still function. How many Locosts have these modern day features???

The plastic centre cover had to be replaced and the mount for the horn button altered to suit.

Sometimes the simple things work best. Found a flower pot with a base that was the right size and shape to act as a mould for the fibreglass cover replacement. Covered it with mould-release and laid up a few layers of fibreglass.

The fibreglass was sanded and shaped with the help of a bit of body filler. The original mounting plate and horn mechanism were modified to suit. The horn button was recessed inside the new cover

Added 50 mm of EVA350 Closed Cell foam to the fibreglass base. It's the same material used for the crash padding on the scuttle. A 50mm long, round tube of foam was also made to sit on the horn button.

The final step to complete the centre cover and horn button was to have them covered in vacuum formed UV resistant vinyl. The finished item looks like it came from the factory. The centre-press horn works perfectly and the modified item met the engineer's impact padding requirements.

Once the car was registered and driven it was obvious that the instrument cluster in the centre of the dash was not practical. It was difficult to view some of the display eg speed, temperature and auto trans gear position, so the instrument cluster was moved to behind the steering wheel.

Moving the instrument cluster to behind the steering wheel required a substantial makeover of the dash and supporting structure, including fabricating some new steel framework.

The refurbished dash structure in primer and ready for repainting.

Repainted in two pack and ready for final assembly.

The clubman lacked storage areas so a glovebox was fabricated from aluminium and lined to reduce rattles.

Glovebox in place. Centre panel contains a dual USB port power point, universal power socket and heater fan & temperature controls. I couldn't locate suitable heater controls in Australia so obtained them from T7Design in the UK (refer to links page), which is where the heater came from as well.

New dash panel fabricated from 2mm aluminium sheet.

Aluminium dash panel covered in carbon fibre wrap.

The refurbished dash completed with instrument cluster now behind steering wheel. Ready for the scuttle panel to be fitted.

A new shroud for the instrument cluster was made in fibreglass using the original MX5 unit for a mould.

The fibreglass was smoothed and shaped to suit the instrument cluster and scuttle panel.

The fibreglass instrument shroud was covered with carbon fibre wrap to match the dash.

To provide a more professional, finished appearence to the drivers compartment, marine grade, waterproof carpet was installed. I selected a carpet without a pattern or ribs, which made it easier to cut and install with very little waste. Templates were made for the various areas and the carpet cut to suit.

This marine carpet does not fray or unravel at the cut edge and as most of it fitted against structural areas it did not require stitching along the edges. However along the top of the transmission tunnel and the rear bulkhead the carpet was edged to improve the finished look.

A close up of the edging that was stitched along the exposed sides of the transmission tunnel and rear bulkhead.

The bare transmission tunnel and rear bulkhead before the marine carpet was glued in place. All that time consuming aluminium fabrication work will now be hidden by carpet!

The completed drivers area. Personally, I think it looks much better carpeted than the exposed aluminium.

Even the boot area received the carpeted look. Makes it a bit quieter and stops items from rattling on the aluminium floor.

The motor trimmers skills were utilised to provide a new handbrake boot.

Just enough storage space in the glovebox for a pair of sunglasses, a wallet and condoms.

The completed dash area and carpets.

The fibreglass seat shells went to the motor trimmers to be padded and fully upholstered. They were finished in marine grade vinyl to ensure they could withstand the harsh summer sun and occasional rain shower.

Very pleased with the final product. Looks pretty special for a home built vehicle.

Locost Clubman build

A comfortable place to enjoy your day

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