Body work

Hi

I made a number of purchases while away in preparation of the re-build.

I was not happy with the way I had edged the step with the wing piping, it just didn't look right.

So I looked around the rubber extrusion section on the Woolies site and came across the tee section R942, I ordered 2 metres for around £11 inc p+p and it looks great quality.

 I haven't got round to fitting it yet but hopefully it will cover the join between the wings and the step nicely.

I also found on ebay a nice set of Lucas L516 side lights.

The chrome is quite good and should polish up nicely or would have if my plans had come together, what may change my plans for lovely chrome is the cost of chroming itself. I have also bought a pair of matching L516 side light plinths.

I managed to get these for 99p plus p+p with the idea of getting them re-chromed, I have received replies to 2 quotes so far, the first was £80 plus vat and postage and the other is for £120 plus vat and postage, not a chance in hell of me paying that, so a change of plan.

The plinths haven't arrived yet and the idea was to shape them to fit the wing by either filing away material to make the curvature or bending the small amount required to fit the wing, if this is not achievable I shall then buy the rubber mounts available on eBay for £13. If they fit the wing and look good then I am going to have them and the side lights colour coded to the white pearlescent I plan to have on the car sides.

The chrome will come from the headlights I bought, these are used but the chrome is in perfect condition, I picked them up on eBay for £65 and they look great, I was going to have the original ones colour coded and have even sand blasted one of these but after spotting these I put a bid in and won them. 

The pickup truck finally arrived yesterday, 4 hours late which made it a wasted day as far as the paint prep was concerned but it gave me a chance to clean the engine up a little as it has become a little dusty.

I had asked for a pickup with a winch just in case, but the engine picked up with a little choke and I took the car out to turn it around in prep for there arrival, I had to fit a seat first but that was no problem. 

I was very pleased with the driving experience although I will have to get used to no power steering and basically just the power. A V6 2.8 engine driving something that weighs less than a pair of shoes will take some getting used to.

The pickup arrived at 2 in the afternoon and I got another chance to drive it, this time it was onto the truck, up what seemed very narrow ramps.

I lined it up behind the ramps and promptly stalled the car as I tried to get the speed just right, so I backed off gunned the engine and flew up the ramps, just like to say I made a damn good job of overhauling the brakes as the car stopped perfectly, thankfully !!

I followed the pickup down to the paint shop and because it is a private industrial estate I had a good drive around and it was great, just like a go kart.

I was down at 9 this morning and got straight to work, it may seem strange to some seeing as I am paying for a respray to be done and doing a lot of the work myself, but I want not only to learn body work but also to  be a part of the spraying of the car.

I've been given a spot at the back of the shop on the ramp and got started on the back end with 180 paper on the DA sander.

Not much wrong on the back end, a dint or 2, the wheel arches and where the spare wheel rack bolted on was a little dented. 

I sanded the paint off and filled with the Dinitrol aluminium filler then sanded down until all was smooth.

I am really just doing the rough work as the pro's will finish of my work to get it perfect.

When finished here I moved around to the side, I removed the scuttle so as to get the engine bay edges sanded, I am also having the scuttle colour coded to the body, I had painted it with hammerite but they are happy to spray this as well.

Apart from the lower edges where the wing meets the body there were only 2 main parts that required attention, I always new the front where the headlight was resting against the body and rusting was a little bad but after feeling all over the side I found an area around by the door that was a little dented. I think maybe the door may have been opened a little to much and bent the body a little.

I sanded down these areas, filled and sanded.

Not much more done today, I moved around to the front and got started ready for tomorrow, I managed to sand most of it and have a couple of areas that need filling, these are the damaged areas I made when removing the grill brackets.

A  good start today and I shall finish the rough work tomorrow and the lads can get on and do the fine filling and sanding.

see ya Paul