May 2005
| Hopefully, this will be the last we see of the front sheet metal. This month will be my last opportunity to do any sort of primering as it is getting colder by the day. My goal is to have it all safely stowed away so I can work under the body to seam seal and primered by the end of the month. Winter is the best time to do the mods to the chassis. Hopefully, I will be assembling a painted chassis by the end of winter. |
| I am still not happy with the guards. After
the primer was sanded I could still feel some ripples. I was taught that
there is no way of filling individual low spots. The only remedy is to
wipe the entire area with a thin layer of bog and sand it back. Both
guards received the same treatment in the same areas. The trick is to
apply as evenly as possible and sand back with good cutting sand paper. I
use 80 grit and a cork block. I sand diagonally in both directions to
achieve a uniform cut. This worked out very well and I cannot detect any
more ripples.
The next pic is just after the primer was applied and I was about to close the garage door at days end. |
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| I had stuffed up when I made the "U" latch for the bonnet but instead of tossing it away, I used it on the boot. Compared to the original bracket on the right, it looks a lot neater. I had to weld up the extraneous holes and grind them back. |
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| This is the view behind the dash where the
latching mechanism for the drop down panel used to hide the MP3 player
sits. I finally fitted the solenoid and pull bar to the latch. I used
Araldite to glue the solenoid and a paper clip as the pull bar. It works
very well. The hole just above the solenoid is where the push button
switch that actuates it will live. The big hole is where the clock will
be. It's a tight fit around there.
Next pic is the dash with all the minor repairs completed and under primer. Last step is to wet rub it back with 800, wrap it in plastic and store it until paint time. The guards will receive the same treatment. |
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| That's about it for May. I said it will be a bit shy on progress. Reality is, I have been playing with the mounting brackets for the hood sides. I had trouble lining up both bonnet and skirts. The problem all stems back to the gas struts altering the angle the hinges are now working at. Since the side skirt bracket is incorporated into the hinge it makes it difficult to adjust both independently. I have now made separate brackets and am now toying with making grill brackets that incorporate the bonnet skirt brackets. That will be seen if its feasible. Stay tuned. |