Build 2004
So now I am close enough to think I've got it straight enough. The proof will be the guide coat. After a rub down with a block and 180 wet and dry, I found my hands  must have been blind, cause there were a lot of highs and lows. Strangely, the door with the most repairs was the better of the two. A few touch ups and its close to perfect.

The doors are back on and are ready for alignment. I have also made up the mechanism to operate the bear claw latches. There was 3 days work getting it right. I only had 3/4" between the handle drive shaft and the bear claws latch. I made 3 separate mechanisms before I had one that fits in and still operates correctly. I also made it so both inside and outside handles are independent of each other. This required using pull bars and cables and a bell crank to combine all aspects. It turned out rather well. The inside handle is off an early Sigma. Later, when I dismantle it all for painting I will show the mechanisms in more detail.  Update, click HERE to see mechanism

Trying to retain the original handles in the original positions was a lot of work but something that I wanted and was prepared for the extra work. The doors are still not adjusted quite right in the pictures

Here was an unforseen problem when fitting bear claw latches in the original position. The indent in the pillar for the original latch made the latch pin too short. Luckily, my mates son is a tool maker and he made longer pins in stainless steel. He also made the hex drive in the front like the original pin. Very clever stuff. Apparently he used a machine called a wire cutter 

The seat cradle had to be modified to suit the floor. Also, the runners were not parallel and the seats would not roll smoothly. I repositioned them and redrilled the mounting holes. I also positioned the cradle  more forward so the rear passengers have more room for their feet. Seat belt mounts for the stalks are welded in using large washers

I thought it was opportune to see how the heater would fit. This is a unit out of a mini moke. I bought it sight unseen for some ridiculous amount of money ( a word of advice, don't tell wreckers it for a hot rod, they will rip you off at every chance ) When I got this, it was missing some minor parts, like the flap inside to change between demister and room heating ! It had been modified over the years to be basically useless.

This is the side view. It is a nice compact unit so I will persist in using it. After a bit of work and a trip to the wreckers, I came up with this final creation.

The front unit is off a VN Commodore. It has an integrated flap and air flow direction vents. I removed the original mini  mechanism and blocked off the section with a piece of scrap plate. I then opened up the lower vent and self tappered the Commodore unit  in place. I also welded the side vents up completely. With the Commodore  vent  completely closed, all the air is directed to the demister ports. When you want air to come into the passenger compartment, its just a matter of rolling the vent control knob to open. It is now possible to control the bias by the knob. 

And how does it look, well I like it and more importantly, its very functional. The mini moke demister vents fitted in just fine as well. I will, however, need to make a custom glove compartment to clear the demister pipe. You may have noticed also that the heater unit pipes are now in a new position. That was due to 2 reasons. Firstly, the mini core must have had a leak and rotted out a lot of the fins. Secondly, the outlets were in the wrong position. I had another heater core out of a Datsun 180b ( I think ) that was just about the same size. So with a bit of coaxing and soldering the pipes in the required positions, they are high up and out of view. I have also been given a compact  inline water cock  that will be hidden under the dash. It will be just a matter of reaching under to turn it on or off. 

Well its been a while since I updated the site. I've been busy doing house stuff...new kitchen and a lot of handyman stuff. I had to build my brownie points back up so I can work on the rod. So this is what I snuck in while she wasn't looking. I was thinking ahead to what sound system I'll put in. I knew I wanted a MP3 player, I don't like stackers. I have one in the 34 and its a pain to swap out disks, especially when the back seat is piled with  stuff and I need to get at it. So the first priority was accessibility and the next was not to be visible. Seems a bit hard to accommodate both but I think I came with a solution. 

OK, a bit drastic but bare with me. The ash tray was not needed and the space can be used. I used the face plate from the Kenwood system in the 34 to work out dimensions. I folded up some sheet steel and cut out the area in the dash. I had to have it as low as possible so it wouldn't foul the vent mechanism. I also cut the lower section of the dash and formed it into the new recess panel. The front flap is just a piece of sheet with the edges folded over to give it strength.

So now I have a hole in the dash that accepts the CD player. How will it function?..Well I intend to have a solenoid operated flap. The switch will  not be obvious ( I still haven't worked out what yet ) but will only be functional when the ignition or accessories are on. The next problem is I needed the flap to be spring loaded but also needed it to be governed so it doesn't come flying down. I ratted an old cassette player for the components I needed. I got the torsion spring and a neat governor that seemed to be capable of doing the job. The only problem is the levers, latches , hinges I had to fabricate from scratch. That took quite some time to work out but I'm pleased with the end result. The picture doesn't do it justice but the torsion spring and governor work just fine. The flap drops at full speed for about 1/3 of the distance, then the governor takes the slack and it drops gently to the end. 

Between the last phase and this is about 16 hours of stuffing around. You see, I used the face plate off the 34s cassette radio to work out dimensions....Well I had a thought. What if the MP3 player I eventually get is not the same dimensions?. It bothered me enough to go the local car radio shop and look. It seems my worries were justified. All of them seemed to have a thicker face plate. I bit the bullet and bought a Pioneer MP3 player. Even though it won't be used in the rod for a long time yet I thought I'd get some use out of it and put it into the family hack after I was sure it fitted into the dash of the 37. What you see below is another recessed panel. The Pioneer needed another 1/2" depth...so out with the cutting disks and angle iron and I folded up another one and grafted it in.

The Classic gauges look good and keep to the era rather well. So now you know why I went to a lot of trouble trying not to ruin the theme with a modern CD player permanently on view. I'm not sure what I'll do with the drop down flap. I'm thinking of attaching a period style V8 badge in the centre and maybe some pin striping that extends beyond the perimeter of the flap. Keep in mind that the dash will be black and will hide the gaps rather well. The pin striping will also help to blend it in. While I was at it, I cut the widow frames and welded them back up. I toyed with the idea of getting them re chromed but  soon thought, better to paint them. So a bit of a rough up with the DA sander with some 120 to get the glaze off , then a squirt with some self etching primer should stick well enough. I did give the dash a bit of a rub with some 280 wet and dry to check it out for minor repairs. I did rub through in a few spots. That can be seen just above the flap. No big problem as there are some small imperfections that need doing so it will get another coat of primer later on. I also spayed the rear of the dash and the CD cavity so I don't need to pull it apart again. The dash and flap will be sprayed together. I filled up may holes from years of changes and I will need to add some of my own later on when I get the switches sorted out. The ignition is on the right side 

 

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