Distracted driving

We've all had a time where we get behind the wheel of a car, get to a destination and think to ourselves..."What the....?? I don't even remember driving here!"
 Or worse get to the destination only to find out you have driven to work instead of taking your son to his volleyball game.When I snapped out of my mind fog and looked over at the face of a very puzzled teenager did I realize what I had done. The theory is that the more familiar the surroundings the less you register both time and space. Without your critical thinking being engaged you fall into the daily routine and the subconscious takes over.

I had been thinking about the wall panel mounts since the summer. I had planned and re-planned. I had sketched and re-sketched. I chose materials and then,..well you get the idea.
I think that, like absent minded commuting, I had spent so much time planning that I went on autopilot and missed a few critical turns on the journey.
It was only when I had mounted the first two 'mounting plates' and was locating where I wanted to place the rivnut did I see my mistake.

Holding a blank mounting plate up to the edges of the body rib with the rivnut approximated to its mounting place you can see the issue. I would have to drill right through the flanges of the body rib. And that, in my opinion, would be a structural no-no. I considered what options I would have, place the mounting plate over top of the wall panel creating a wider "silver strip" at the joints, make the mounting plate reveal narrower? No matter which way I looked at it, it wasn't right. The only right thing to do would be start again...

So back to the drawing board

When your focused, it's a very simple solution. Took me about 10 min really. Make a template and try it out. I needed an extra 3/4" on each side to clear the rib flange. Instead of the mounting plate being 3" it needed to be 4.5"

But all was not lost. Angie and John at 3 Fab take very good care of me, I made a plea for new material and while I waited, I started to cut new wall board for the panels....it's nice to smell the fragrance of freshly cut wood again!