This afternoon’s job was to finish up the front mounting boxes for the hood. These are similar to the ones near the gun doors but in this case I already had the steel mounting point available on the chassis.
To start I cut a piece of 1/2″ plywood to cover the mounting plate. I made sure the bolt was centered in the hole and then tightened it down with a nut and lock washer. I also placed 1/8″ steel under the plywood to account for the aluminum plate that I’ll attach to the bottom of the box later.
I then cut a piece of plywood large enough to center the box and provide an extra overlap for fiberglassing it into the hood. I used a screw to hold it in place and then cut some sides to fit the angle. This process was replicated on the passenger side as well.
I traced the edges of the sides of the box where they met the larger piece which was screwed to the hood. This way I could take everything out, build the boxes, and then put them back in place.
The boxes were then glued and screwed together for strength. They’ll also end up being covered with a layer or two of fiberglass for extra strength and to seal the box from water.
Once the boxes were constructed, I raised the hood back up and bolted the boxes to the frame. I covered the back side of the larger top piece of plywood with a bunch of construction adhesive and then lowered the hood back down into place.
After a little bit of wiggling and twisting I had the boxes sitting as flat against the hood as possible. I then drilled and screwed from the top side of the hood down through the fiberglass and into the plywood. This will hold the boxes in place until the adhesive cures and I get a chance to fiberglass them into the hood.
Here’s a couple of shots of what they look like on the bottom of the hood once it’s raised back up.
Last step will be to bring the hood down, flip it over, and fiberglass the front and rear boxes into the hood.
The Fab 12 
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