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23.1 Lift The Dot Fasteners

The hood and side screens are secured with "Lift the Dot" type fasteners. These consist of a stud which is fixed to the body and a socket (in two parts) which is fixed to the hood material (photo 1).

 

Studs

It makes sense to mark the positions of the studs and drill the holes before the body is painted as it is easier to see the markings and avoid damaging paintwork. The positions are detailed in the NG build manual but considerable care should be used to measure them. Once the holes are drilled and countersunk, the studs (with self tapping threads) are simply screwed in place (photo 2).

Note: The stud which is near the bottom of the screen pillar was later moved down 50mm because it fouled the reinforcing bar in the side screen.

Clips

To position the clips, the fabric was marked with tailor's chalk. This is easy to do with the studs in place (photo 3). Then a special (very expensive and not very good quality) LTD punch was used with a block of hardwood underneath. Care is needed to position the punch and a hefty whack is needed to penetrate the two layers (photo 4). Even then, I often needed to trim out the centre circle with a pair of small scissors.

The outside (dotted) part of the clip was then lined up and the 4 tabs fed through the 4 holes (photo 5). Then the plate was held down on the inside while bending over the tabs (photo 6).

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