Wings on

Hi

Snowing again, wonderful

 

I have managed to get the sills fitted to both sides of the car, the sills are made of galvanised steel which is steel with a thin zinc coating to protect it. Zinc can also act as an anode due to electrolytic action when in contact with other metals and water especially salty water which causes the zinc to dissolve protecting the steel. I have made and fitted many of these over my years in the engine room at sea so hopefully to prevent this happening on my new sills I have (I hope) given them lots of protection by separating them from the steel of the chassis with lots of coats of paint, silicon sealant and the inside where there is no silicone I painted with waxoil. To protect the outside from the elements I have glued on a covering of neoprene rubber.

This serves two purposes, firstly to give extra protection and secondly to bring the step out that little bit more to add to the thickness of the sill, with the two added together it brings the step in line with the body and allows the piping to run parallel.

When all painted and fitted I shall spray everything with rubberised underseal the same as the rest of the underside so no chance of water ingress.

 

Once the glue was dry it was time to test fit the wing piping and steps with rubber separators between the wing flanges and the step edges.

 



The wing piping fit nicely between the steps and a few snips on the inner curve allowed the piping to bend around the rear wing then I marked off the rivet holes and popped a hole in with the hole punch, this allowed the skin pins to go in and to be ready for the rivets.

I am very pleased with the look of the piping, I guess it would have looked better with the vinyl piping but what the hell the rubber still looks good.

 

I have had a bit more work to do on the drivers side as there was a rather large gap where the rear wing mated with the step, I have given this a couple of coats of filler until it was flush with the rubber.

I then test fitted the rear wing with the step before heading of to the powder coater's.

I did say a few blog's ago that because the steps are hidden and I was just going to paint and waxoil then underseal but decided that as I had other bits to be powder coated I may as well have these done as well.

I picked them up from the powder coaters today and they look great.

I fit the steps and wings with the wing piping and they are now ready for the paint job, the finishing prep will be done by the paint sprayer.

The rear wing fit very well where I built it out with filler although it still needs a lot of work before painting.

 

 

I am quite happy with the two sides and they will look great once finally painted but that's still a bit away.

 

I got a few other items powder coated, unfortunately after searching the house and garage and loft I could not find the door stops. I remember taking them off and even have a photo but can I find them, not a chance. I have no doubt they will turn up at some time but not when I needed them.

I still managed to get the hinges and backing plates done also the supports for the headlight, The hinges need a bit of work to get them moving but I decided to get them coated first before putting any oil on them.

Well happy with progress so far, even had the engine running today, just to keep it oiled and the cooling water circulated, nothing to do with just listening to its V6 and revving it up.

 

See ya Paul