This shows a closeup of the rear hatch latch right after fiber-glassing for reinforcement.
New glass is being added in the corner of the tail piece.
The start of the hatch hinge system.
This shot shows just how flat this portion of the extension is as this point.
The *gap* between the tail piece and car body is being opened up to match the rest of the car.
This is a side shot of the hatch hinge assembly.
And smoothed out.
Another view. It was at this point that I realized the hinge was simply too large and bulky. Time for a redesign!
Here's the start of a smaller hinge assembly. Notice the holes in the body work for the older and larger hinge?
And another view of the smaller hinge.
Now that the latch fiber-glass is setup, the latch can be cut apart. It was originally made in one piece to keep alignment between the two halves until it was glassed into position.
Now we have two holes to plug in the bodywork.
And here is the much smaller hinge for the hatchback.
Now the hinge is glued into position on the bodywork.
And the two sets of holes are now plugged.
The hatchback hinge is fiber-glassed, as well as internal support ribs.
The shows the edge of the bodywork is now glassed with very thin cloth.
The hatch hinge is being glued to the hatch itself.
A large wood screw is used to control the gap on this side of the hatch.
And the same on the other side.
Now the last 10 inches or so of the total length is being added.
Here's another couple shots.
A nice tail shot.
Here's an assembly that was made last February when the CAD model was pretty much finalized for tail shape. Notice the incandescent bulb fixture and orientation of the Jeep tail lights.
I really had hopes of the tail looking more like the Aptera, but the current shape is how things worked out. Let's make this work!!
This is the newly oriented tail piece being glued into position on the extension. The tail lights are tipped sideways to occupy a wider space since this is the primary shape of the tail here.
The incandescent bulb is being replaced with an LED assembly, since space is so limited here.
Jim.