Center Console

Hi

Yesterdays paint was nice and dry this morning so I nipped out for a couple of sheets of 1500 and had a go at the polishing.

The dried clear coat did not look too good at first, especially after sitting in a garage with dust in the air to settle on it so I cut a bit of the 1500 and started rubbing it down. The 1500 must be kept wet and gently take the top of the clear coat while holding it up to the light to see where you have missed. 

Once all rubbed down then its time to start polishing, I used fine cutting compound with the 3" pad and a microfibre cloth to buff.

It took 3 goes of polishing and buffing before I was happy with the finish.

After the polishing I started on the glaze, this can either be applied by hand or by machine, unfortunately I only have the one 3" waffle for the machine and I don't want to mix the polish and the glaze but I have a huge stack of hand foam applicators.

Its hard to believe how they do it in Hong Kong as I bought 20 of these for £4.99p including free postage and they arrived within a week. Amazing.

The glaze gives an extra shine to the paint and seals.

You only need a pea sized dab on a small item like this light and the finish is great.

Next it was the turn of the wax I bought, this is great wax and very easy to apply, just a good rub and wait around 15mins for it to haze over then buff off with a microfibre cloth, I gave it 2 coats and it gleams.

I have fitted the lamp and put it away until the body has been waxed.

I rubbed down the paint repair to the car wing and gave that a polish but shall wait to glaze and wax until I am ready to do the whole body.

I was up early again this morning and gave the dash veneer its last coat of lacquer and it was nice and dry when I had finished the headlight and the wing so while the polish was out I gave it the same treatment. 

I made sure the dials still fit before using double sided foam tape on the back then stuck it on.

It may not be up to the Rolls or Bentley standards or even a Lada Riva but for a first attempt I think it came out just fine.

The other side is not ready yet as I had a bit of a scare with it, I had a bit of veneer loose on an edge so I put on a drop of superglue and clamped it down. I came back after making a coffee and removed the clamp, luckily I was only away for 5 minutes as the fumes from the superglue had started to react with the lacquer and it was turning white. I gave it a rub down with 400 then 600 and it looks like I saved it so it has had 2 more coats and I shall leave it overnight to harden off and see if there is anymore reaction. Phew.

The new brushed stainless blank has arrived so hopefully tomorrow I shall get it drilled and stuck in place to hid them holes.

Now that the dash is mostly finished I have started looking at the center console, I ordered enough veneer to cover both the dash and the centre so I got my router out and started cutting. The console is a bit of an odd shape but fortunately the angles are around 45 degrees and I had a router bit to suit. I measured of the pieces and made it in 5 sections then glued them in place.

I had originally planned to make the substrate out of steel plate and tack weld the sections together but thought I would have a go with the plywood first so while away I ordered the best glue I knew off and that is Gorilla glue. 

This is a polyurethane glue that uses water to activate and expands into any cracks or gaps in the wood and sets like rock. After the plywood was cut I used paper to cover the console and clamped the main sections of the substrate in place.

Without the paper in place I would never be able to remove it from the console, at least this way the paper will peel of then be sanded to remove the rest. I then sprayed with water and glued both edges of the filler sections and stuck in place.

I kept an eye on the glue and after a while it started to activate and to expand, while doing this it started to push out the filet pieces so I pushed back in position and shall leave overnight to harden of.

Pretty amazing how much it has swelled, I have trimmed of most of the swelling as it is easier while it is still relatively soft to remove it. I shall start making the cut out's tomorrow and hopefully get the veneer on.

The top section will have the vent controls, the middle will have the start button in the centre and the fan and fog light switches either side and the bottom section will have the choke pull and the Panther carving stuck on. I have a lot of the dental inlay left so I shall be using that up to give a little interest.

I was starting to solder the wire leads onto the new press button switches I bought to replace the old style switches and it wasn't until I put the meter on the contacts to see what was the switch and what was the lights that I realised that the fan is 2 speed and the old switch has 2 positions so another waste of money as the new switch has only on/ off. 

Looks like I shall be replacing the old switches, still a bit of retro won't harm.

See ya Paul