August 2, 2025
After a lot of measuring and grinding, the strut towers now fit neatly, squarely, and level in the car. Time to weld them in place. In the photos from Gemini Racing, the strut towers are only secured with a series of tack welds. I double-check to be sure. Less welding of course means less heat transfer, which will help prevent excessive stress in the bodywork. The experts agree that tack welds every 1 to 1.5 cm should be sufficient. Ok.
The welding went smoothly; in about an hour, both strut towers were in place. Next, the reinforcements need to be welded in place. That’s something for another time.
August 10, 2025
Before I start on the reinforcements at the base of the strut towers, I first make the crossbar. I choose to TIG-weld the flanges supplied by Gemeni Racing to the crossbar. That looks just a little bit better.
August 17, 2025
Today it’s finally time for the reinforcements. After checking that everything fits properly, I remove the paint from the shock absorber towers where the reinforcements need to be welded. Then I spray the back sides of the reinforcement plates and the parts of the shock absorber towers that will be covered with stainless steel spray. Finally, I weld the reinforcements in place. Unfortunately, I ran out of welding wire halfway through the second side.
August 21, 2025
With a new reel of welding wire in my welder, the other side is finished quickly.
August 24, 2025
I’m not finished reinforcing the bodywork yet. Reinforcements still need to be added on both sides between the inner fenders and the cross member in the bodywork. Sometimes I wonder how these reinforcements were ever developped. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guys at Renault started with the standard bodywork and discovered the hard way where it wasn’t strong enough. Fortunately, I don’t have to go through that process.
It won’t be long before I have to weld the underside of the car as well. I bought/made a rotisserie for this, time to give it a try. Now that the strut towers are securely welded into the bodywork and the other reinforcements are also finished, I’m confident enough to lift the car by the longerons and the mounting points of the lower front control arms.
The rotisserie works perfectly; With a cordless drill, it’s easy to lift the car off the axle stands. Using the second spindle, I place the car’s center of gravity on the pivot point of the rotisserie. This is also very easy. It only takes a moment before I can rotate the car on its axis with one hand. This will be very convenient!
August 30, 2025
Today I’m continuing with the rear of the car. A lot of material still needs to be removed from the rear, but not before I’ve applied the new body parts. It takes some trial and error to get the correct shape in the sheet metal parts supplied by Gemeni Racing, but in the end, it works well.
A major change still needs to be made to the rear of the car. The engine needs to be inserted through the tailgate. The rear structure of the car is quite in the way. Therefore, the section of the rear between the longons will be removable. First, I make two new pieces in the rear:
