Ed - Cheers, although I seem to be having a run of bad luck with technology at the moment.
The other day Google+ decided my iMac was now too old, which means I can't get at all my "on line" build photos.
It now looks like I will have to drag the Mac into an Apple store for one of their technicians to sort it out.
( As it is too old for any of the on line updates to work.
)
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Project Review - Part 1:
The other day
Mister Towed posted that his Spyder had been on the road for almost 2 years now.
Which makes sense, as I distinctly remember his "Three Amigos" photo appearing in July 2013.
( As this was the same time that I was preparing to leave my last job after 18 years. )
Well my extended break from working for a living will finally come to an end shortly.
So this is a good excuse to look back at what I have achieved during my "sabbatical".
However, this is really one of those "Is the glass half full, or half empty?" kind of moments for me.
On the negative side, I really hoped that working on the car "full time" would mean it would be finished by now.
Unfortunately, the reality was that I also became a full time "house husband" with a pile of daily domestic chores to complete.
Plus there was the usual battle with the weather and the fact I was always happy to put family stuff ahead of the car anyway.
But my real frustration comes from spending such a HUGE number of hours on this project & still having such a long way to go.
As this amount of effort working with many different types of kit would have been rewarded with a car on the road by now.
On the positive side, if I hadn't taken this opportunity to work on the car, it would have been sold as an unfinished project.
As there were simply too many problems for me to over come "part time", so this was my one chance to break the back of the build.
Now I will be the first to admit that some, OK, most, of my problem solving approaches have lead to a lot of extra work.
But I was completely out of my depth, especially as I'd picked the Cordite because it was meant to be an easier build than the Spyder.
Therefore the context for this project review should be "ham fisted amateur takes on a bespoke build that most people would walk away from".
Certainly, as I've taken the time to look back at some of the things I have tackled since August 2013, I can barely believe it myself.
So the following photos cover some of the key trials & tribulations that I've faced and, by & large, over come...
August 2013:
This was my first real attempt at shaping & welding thin sheet metal, which was a lot harder than welding thicker box section.
( I needed to seal up the cuts I'd made in the rear arches so they would "slot" around the Cordite framework. )
At least this area looked a lot better after some filler and paint were added.
The end of August saw a two week break from car building for our family "trip of a lifetime" to Florida.
Without doubt, this was one of my better ideas and I'm really glad we did it.
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September 2013:
Lost a few weeks to constant rain before I finally managed to fit the rear suspension lowering block.
My first attempts at "plug welding" as I started to repair a section of the boot floor (excuse the poor photo).
Whilst it was hardly a seamless repair, it was still very solid.
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October 2013:
First proper test fit of my Spitfire rear arches & Cordite rear framework "combo" on the rolling chassis.
Which in turn allowed me to test fit the lowered floor pans and drill fixing holes in the framework.
This combo was one of several large "jigsaw" pieces that I hoped would eventually form my "Moon Rover".
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October 2013 to April 2014:
Another key element of my revised internal structure was this 2nd hand Spitfire bulkhead, which turned out to be a very rusty mess indeed.
Modifying, repairing and re-enforcing this bulkhead until it was finally fit for purpose turned into an epic 6 month project of its own.
Some work was more straight forward than others, such as sealing off the old heater area.
Or where the windscreen supports had been cut off (obviously done on both sides).
Similarly, closing the original de-mister vents & various other surplus holes were simply a case of welding patches into place.
End of Part 1...