DIY: Engine Panel Stiffeners

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...Continued

Steps/Process:

1. Cut all of the stiffeners to length.
2. Cut or sand down the 90-degree ends of the brackets so that they are not sharp.
3. Using the center punch or sharp object, mark off three, equally spaced holes on the template. (I left about four inches on either end of the stiffener for my specific setup) (Be sure to account for the diameter of the lock-nut on the backside of the aluminum angle when locating the center-width of the aluminum stiffener) (Do your best to make sure the two holes at the ends are equally distant from the ends of the stiffener and the center hole is equally distant from the two outer holes)
   
4. Using the 1/16" bit, drill the three holes in your template. (do not enlarge the holes to the 1/4" diameter)
5. Clamp your template to the next stiffener and drill the three 1/16" holes using the template as the guide. Repeat this for all stiffeners.
6. Decide on the spacing of the stiffeners on the panel. Pay careful attention to the location of the thumb locking hardware on the existing panel. It's also important to note if the 3/4" stiffener will interfere with any engine components in the engine bay so double check to make sure you have proper clearances. (one way to easily create equal spacing is to measure the width of the panel and divide that width by one more than the number of stiffeners - in this case, five. So if the width of the panel is 30", 30" / 5 = 6". From the edge of the panel, measure and mark 6". Do this 3 more times and you will have four marks and five separate gaps) (to complicate this even further, I decided that I wanted the two end stiffeners to be 4" from the sides of the panel and then created equal spacing for the two inner stiffeners)
7. Once you've marked out the spacing of the stiffeners it's a good practice to draw a line on the engine panel to make it easier to align the template before you drill. Be sure the line is square to the side/top & bottom so that all the stiffeners are parallel to one another.
8. Be sure to note how far from the top and bottom the stiffener needs to be placed on the panel. For the 2017 Mondo, there needs to be a small space at the bottom where the panel slots into a frame. I left approximately one inch from the bottom, about one-half inch more than needed.
9. Once you are happy with the stiffener locations, align your template with the first line you want to drill in the panel. (one easy way of aligning the template is to locate the line on the panel through the three, 1/16" holes you drilled in the template). Clamp the template in place and use the three holes in the template as the guide to drill the holes in the panel. Remember to use the 1/16" drill bit when drilling through the template into the panel. Do this for all of the stiffener locations.
10. After you have drilled both panels and all of the stiffeners using the template, go back and re-drill all of the holes with a 1/4" drill bit. Take your time to assure that you are enlarging the pilot hole right down the center.
11. Painting. If you plan to paint the stiffeners, read on, otherwise skip to step No. 23.
12. Prepping the aluminum is important. If you have a drill bit set, use one of the larger drill bits to deburr all of the holes in the stiffeners on both sides. If you don't have a larger drill bit, a utility knife will cut the burrs off the aluminum as well. Otherwise, sandpaper will knock the burrs down.
13. Lightly sand the entire stiffener, using 400-600 grit wet/dry paper or a brillo pad. You want the surface to be smooth, free from obvious burrs and misc imperfections.
14. Wash the aluminum stiffeners, dry and then using rubbing alcohol or similar cleaning product to clean the stiffeners of oils, and other debris before painting.
15. Hang all eight of the stiffeners for paint. (I ran a line from which I could suspend all eight stiffeners to be painted at once. Use old wire hangers to create a hanger that will suspend each of the stiffeners from the line. All of the stiffeners together are heavier than you might think so make sure the line is tight and taut and that there is enough spacing between the stiffeners to get your hand and a can of paint between them to get paint on the stiffeners from all different angles)
16. Apply one light coat of primer. I can't stress enough how important a light coat of primer is. It will bond to the material and dry much faster than a medium or heavy coat. It's not critical that every inch of the aluminum is covered. A light coat will be somewhat transparent.
17. Wait 10 minutes and apply a second, light to medium coat of primer. This time, you should see mostly full coverage. If not, don't worry about it as it's not critical. Some transparency of the primer is OK.
18. Wait 20 minutes and apply a light coat of the color of your choice. (black seems like the obvious choice here but this could be a bling opportunity)
19. Wait 20 minutes and apply a medium color coat. By now you should be getting full coverage.
20. Inspect your work. Look for areas that you may have missed, including the bottoms that may not have been easily accessible to paint. Don't worry so much about the holes, they will get covered by screws and nuts.
21. If necessary, wait another 20 minutes and apply another medium coat to pick up any areas that you may have missed.
22. Let dry per the paint instructions. (I let dry at least a few hours before I handled them, then 24hrs before I installed)
23. Installation. This is pretty straight forward. I'm not sure there's much I can add here besides being careful of your fresh paint job as you screw things together. Install all of the screws and nuts finger tightened before doing the final tightening to make sure you are able to get all of the screws in the holes.

I know there aren't many photos of the process so hopefully, my descriptions are adequate. If not, feel free to ask any questions you might have. I'll be happy to respond.

The final product certainly does the job. I do see some minor deflection of the panel but only slightly. The OE panels that sit next to the newly reinforced panel deflects a lot comparatively.