December '04 Still waiting
for an Auto Electrician to come and look
at it. Might have to do it myself at this
rate!
Im also waiting for Sam to come back and
look at the selectors, but he's away so
I just have to wait...
Put the flairs on to see how they'll look,
and discovered that the side trim for the
flat section between the two wheel arches
is not long enough for the van. Its short
by about 50mm, so I will be off to see what
trim I can find that will do the job in
its place.
I bought a battery for it this week. Connected
it up in the hope that it might key start,
but no such luck. After looking at the fuse
box I realise that surface rust to the terminals
makes a spark pretty much impossible, so
I'll have to pull the fuse box out and sand
the terminals back to bare metal in the
hope that I can get a key start. If that
fails, I wait for the Auto sparky... I may
even tow it down to their workshop, at least
then he'll be able to have a look at it.
I also polished the bumpers this week, and
straightened a bit of a kink in the front
bumper. Its not perfect, but its not bad
either. It will do for now, but I'll be
on the lookout for a perfectly straight
front bumper. Ideally Id like to get all
the bumpers rechromed. One day.
Mirrors
I also bought the mirrors (from Auto1, but
they are also available from Supercheap
- slightly dearer and they didnt have 2
in stock). They are Black plastic and match
the flairs and Clubby shape perfectly. Mounting
was a breeze, screw holes in the mirror
mount match the existing holes perfectly
(one is a slider, slides along the mount
to where your other existing hole is) Fits
snug, very happy with them.
The mirrors, flairs and
battery :)
The front end shows how much the wheels
stick out past the flairs, damn I love that,
just how I wanted!
Licensing will be a problem, but I'll be
looking to borrow a set of plain 12"
rims off I don't know what, to get me through
licensing.
Weber
The weber, freshly reconditioned and replaced
the 40mm venturi with 38mm to give me more
low to medium range torque. It used to run
a little rich on the 40mm, not that I ever
minded that.. but this will give the better
mid range performance, which will suit the
hillclimbing better.
After the work and money already put into
the project though, I am having second thoughts
about racing it. This car has a huge sentimental
value, so it will only be going racing if
it feels as strong and reliable as it previously
was.
But I will have to give it a go on the track..
sometime :) who am I trying to kid?
Sunday
19.12.04
Decided to primer the front end. Pic 1,
as it was in the morning, dirty, dusty,
lights in tact.
I sanded and recoated the front fenders
also as they were covered in grease from
the engine rebuild. I didnt redo the bonnet,
it was fine, and it'll get another hit of
primer when I give the entire car a once
over before paint.
By
about lunchtime (a couple of interuptions)
I had the indicators off, headlights out,
horn off and all sanded ready for primer.
Mid
afternoon and she was all grey in the front
end, ready for paint.
Later that afternoon I sanded a couple of
small dents that Id found (on other parts
of the car) and applied the filler to those.
Hopefully I'll get to primer the rest of
the car (both doors) and reprimer the repaired
sections in the next few days (or next weekend,
more than likely)
The
lower half of the front end after primer.
and after another day of
sanding, minor filling, more sanding and
then more primer.. the body is looking good.
There are still a couple more tiny little
imperfections that Id like to remove before
hitting it with oodles of red paint.. it
won't be long now :)
I really need to fit the flairs (with screws)
before paint, as that will ensure a clean
fit after paint. That means finding suitable
trim to fit between the two wheel arches.
Not a difficult task, but one I haven't
got around to yet...
The rear window fillins look great, very
happy with how they've turned out. Still
a couple of areas that need minor work,
but almost there.....
I almost got to the point where I said oh
f@ck it, thats good enough! But Im still
at it.. I have to get there, eventually..
and soon :)
Next:
Still have to replace oil pressure guage
feed line and tacho wiring
Still have to replace any other wiring crucial
to run (and fix the fuse box).
That should see it being able to key start
and take it for its first drive!
Then:
Still have to replace borrowed exhaust system
with hotdog and pipe and fit the weber (after
I know it key starts).
Paint engine bay, interior of doors, floor,
etc.
Then it will be time to apply numerous coats
of luscious red paint followed by several
coats of clear. Fit the new flairs.
Refit interior trim, carpet. Fit a radiator
overflow tank.
Refit bumpers and chrome trim.
