Another Cordite Is Born ...

[Jaguartvr]

Much better than bog bolts!

[deggsy]

That's how I plan to do mine and with the added security of a key sorted.

[Paul L]

Jag - You were never going to buy the "pit lane modification" / "Lancia D24 tribute" story were you?

Deggsy - Given all the time I wasted on the boot lid, you'd think I would remember what I did there?

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Struggling Tuesday:
It kept spitting rain occasionally, so I restricted myself to sanding duties, but I am running out of steam.

It took me ages to get the boot lid this far.



But at least I remembered to take a photo of the original etch primer acting as a guide coat.



So on all areas like the above, I just keep going until all the grey has disappeared.

I finally finished the sunny side of the boot lid after lunch.



As Jag pointed out the other day, I do have a tad more filler and GRP than most.

Next I finished off sanding down the bottom section of the bonnet.



I ended up ordering some Panel Wipe, which should be here in a few days.

In the meantime, I decided to test my theory about why the BRG paint reacted.

So, once again, I wiped the boot lid down with White Spirits.



But this time I left it to fully evaporate a very long time, just to be on the safe side.

However, I was still very nervous when I applied some of the high build primer over the repaired areas.



I ended up covering quite a large area, just to make sure of a good overlap.

The good news is that there has been no reaction so far. < Touch Wood. >

I then started putting some etch primer on the headlight rim from the passenger side.
( The lower section will get done again when I flip this over to do the base of the rim. )



My final job of the day was to etch prime the bottom of the bonnet.







As, by now, the dark clouds were rolling back in and I was getting fed up of the will it/wont it rain debate.
( Plus I am heading out this evening and need to get everything packed away before I go. )

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[paul_n]

very nice.

When we used white spirits at work for cleaning stuff we always considered it left a greasy deposit and wipe the surface down with meths to remove it ?

Although we were not painting on the surface.

regards Paul-N [ yes another one !]

[Paul L]

Paul – At this rate, I might start using Meths for ‘self-medicating’ purposes!

As, despite only starting the final ‘prep for paint’ on the 7th May, it feels like I’ve been sanding for ages.

I know there is still a long way to go, but at least I am slowly breaking the back of the work.

I am also taking a lot of comfort from my painting ‘experiments’ on the inside of the boot lid.

As these give me hope that I will be able to transform the car with a half decent BRG paint job.

Cheers, Paul.

[molleur]

I'm sure that you will make a credible job of it!

[Paul L]

Molleur - Thanks.

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Wednesday - Part 1:
In the absence of any work that actually pays, I've been pushing on with the car…

I started by looking at possible locations for the bonnet locks.



Note: I think I will use the big washers on both sides of the hole to help spread the load more evenly.

I also won an Ebay auction this afternoon for a pair of interesting cam locks, so they will be on their way soon.

Then I continued the seemingly never ending 'Whack-a-mole' pin hole putty game.







The last photo shows that I started the car up again today, which is always good for morale.

However, I also wanted to reposition the car more to the centre of the driveway.



At this point, I also loosened the wheel nuts, so (eventually) I can get the car on blocks and remove the wheels.

The next job was to remove the mirrors, aero screens, etc.

I made sure I kept all the various washers together.



But was a bit gutted to find one of the Brooklands' mounting brackets had broken.



Whose dumb idea was it to have the rear view mirrors bolted behind the dash?



I numbered the bolts for the wind deflector, so I can trim them all to size before refitting.



It all looks very bare now, but it had to be done.



Next up was repairing the bonnet lips, which started off looking like this on either side.






End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Wednesday - Part 2:
I was planning to add some fibreglass to the underside of the bonnet anyway (as it still 'dips' despite the previous matting I added).

So I figured while I was making a mess, I would use matting to start building the bonnet lip structure.



I made sure that matting covered both the existing and extension sections.





I will then add fibreglass filler to both sides of this for the final shaping.

I also 'beefed up' the underside of the bonnet, juts below the line of filler.



Next I made a complete dog's dinner of adding fibreglass matting around the stop/tail light holes.





And a marginally neater job covering a few gaps on the repaired rear wheel arch.



Thankfully, I was able to sand the filler into a more discreet shape.
( Just needs a quick skim of normal filler to finish tidying it up. )



But this provides a flatter surface for the light to be mounted to.



Last job of the day was sanding down the finishing putty.





So the good news is that I'm definitely getting there, albeit slowly.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

PS
I double checked the boot lid today and there is no sign of any adverse reaction.

So I just need to wait for the panel wipe to arrive, so I can test that with the top coat.

[molleur]

Looking better every post! Well done.

[Paul L]

Molleur – Cheers.

The way I look at it, if I can keep making small improvements each time, they will all add up overall.

I just need to remember that this car was never going to stand up to a very close (critical) inspection.

As even just looking at options for locating the bonnet locks reminded me of various mis-matches.
( Cockpit sides, wind deflector lip, aero humps, etc. )

The good news is that I am not actually looking for an invite to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Instead, my ambition is simply to build a car that would not look out of place on the grid at Goodwood.

So provided I get the ‘Big Picture’ right, I should stop worrying about every little detail not being 100% perfect.

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John Noakes – RIP
I’ve often talked about Blue Peter’s influence on me during this build.

And I was reminded of it again yesterday, as I was cutting up a cereal box to make formers for my bonnet lip repairs.

So I want to include a photo of the John in his prime, which takes me back to my childhood.



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Not sure if I will be working on the car today, so until next time, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Belated Update...
I managed to grab a few more hours on the car yesterday, so more forward progress has been made.

The bonnet was left propped away from the body shell the other night, due to this strengthening 'rib'.



As until the bonnet lips have been trimmed to size, they are in the way.



So I marked up where the edge needed to be cut.



Despite the heat, I still put on my safety gear before using the angle grinder.



Then to ensure I didn't accidentally cut the wing off, I stopped short of the bottom.



Then I carefully completed the cut using a hack saw blade.



So now the bonnet can fully close.



Note: I have removed the rubber locating cones, so the bonnet is sitting lower than normal.

Sanded down the repair to the rear wheel arch.



Then I tidied up the fibreglass on the bonnet lip, including grinding out this join on the inside.
( Sorry, it is not a great photo. )



Then I covered both sides of the bonnet lip with fibreglass filler.





End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Thursday - Part 2:
After both sides were sanded down, they ended up looking like this.





Note: These both look rougher than they actually are.

I got some etch primer on the bottom edge of the headlight rim.



And on the sunny side of the boot lid, including the front edges of the humps.





Whilst I always wish I had achieved more, I am still happy that more jobs are being ticked off.
( Especially the time consuming ones like the bonnet lip repairs. )

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[molleur]

Better and better each session!

[Jaguartvr]

Nice to see the bonnet sorted, the bonnet gap on the Sammio's does seem to be poor area of finish.
Must have made a nice change from sanding.

[Paul L]

Molleur - Cheers, I am hoping the next fews days will see some significant progress.

Jag - In fairness to Sammio, there was very little left of the original bonnet lip after all my butchery!



So far, I have found it a big help to have lots of different areas at different stages.

Because if I had just done all the sanding as the first stage, without doing anything else, I think I would have gone mad.
( Plus I would have lost the use of my arms completely, as the sanding is seriously hard labour. )

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Weather Warnings…
Now I haven't had much luck with weather forecasts recently, but I put my faith in today's.

So I just did some simple sanding down work, starting with the front wheel arch return edges.





I also removed my temporary bonnet seal arrangements.



There was also one small section where the bonnet & bonnet lip were rubbing together while I drove along.

So both sides were given a quick 'rub' with my angle grinder to ensure a better clearance.





Finally, I made a start on sanding down the front section of the scuttle.





Note: This is another area off the body work that is going to end up smooth, but undulating.

At this point, my 'Spider Senses' were tingling, so just to be on the safe side, I packed up and put the covers back on.

As it turned out, I might have got away with working a little bit longer, but when the rain finally came, it absolutely hammered down.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[Jaguartvr]

I use a mini belt sander to get rid of any undulations, at £27 delivered it's a no brainer
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Evolution-...8AAOSwsXFZLVnD

It may seem like overkill but with a fine(ish)belt in it it make quick work of getting rid of the wise areas. Great for finishing of the edges of wheel arches etc.
I actually bought mine for shaping foam motorcycle seats and it works brilliantly.

[Paul L]

Jag – Thanks for the link, it certainly looks like a useful little tool.

Funnily enough, I was thinking about what you wrote on your build thread yesterday when I was sanding the scuttle down:

”Front clam all flatted down and ready for topcoat, smooth as a babies bum!”

As each time I sand off an area of the ‘on the road’ etch primer I am quickly reminded this really was a ’Frankenstein Hillbilly’ build.

However, the good news is that this is actually helping me to become much happier with all the imperfections I have created.

Because all the ‘lumps and bumps’ tell a story about the long and difficult journey I took to get this car on the road.

Obviously, I reserve the right to change my mind when the first coats of high build primer go on.

But if I can do a decent job flatting back the ‘undercoat’ layer, I have half a chance of pulling off the BRG.

Cheers, Paul.

[Paul L]

Saturday Slog - Part 1:
I've grouped today's work together, rather than follow a strict timetable…

Bonnet & Body Shell
I cleaned up all the previous sanding work, which includes all the finishing filler too.



Then added etch primer to the 'fresh' areas and 'topped up' the primer on previous prepared areas.





Note: I will do the rest of the wheel arch return lip after I have removed the wheels.

Unfortunately, there are reflections in the primer than make it look like I missed a few bits.









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Bonnet Inside
Once the etch primer on the sunny side was dry enough, I cleaned up the inside.





Before the bulk of it was given a coat of etch primer.





As I still need to add some filler over the 'nose job' joins.



Obviously, the etch primer really shows up the fact that this is not a smooth surface.

But as I am going to be using textured black paint, it is certainly going to look better than it did when I've finished.

End of Part 1…

[Paul L]

Saturday Slog - Part 2:

Boot Lid
Used the new panel wipe stuff to clean this up & added some masking tape around the edges.
( Despite the fact that there is already some BRG paint under the tape in places. )



Before giving it another coat of BRG, which looks much better in real life than it does in the photo.
( Due to all the reflections. )



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Bonnet Locks
This job started off well enough, when the cam locks I got from Ebay arrived.



They also came complete with a square key that I thought was in keeping.



I also liked the wide arm that would slot under the bonnet lip.



I temporarily fixed a bonnet seal in place to allow me to check things.



The good news is I actually remembered to check what was under the dust sheet before I started drilling holes.

The bad news is that both the brake master cylinder and the choke cable would be in the way if I located the locks in a 'wide' position.



Unfortunately, things only got worse from there as the more I looked at the new locks it was clear they were no good for this job.

There was simply not enough resistance in the locks to prevent them turning by themselves.

At which point I may have uttered a few choice words before heading off to Screwfix to get yet another set of locks.



Then I started looking at options for locating these more 'inboard'.

Initially, I started using tape measures, but quickly realised that where ever they went would not line up with something.

So this was the best option I could find that looked reasonably OK and wasn't going to catch on anything under the bonnet.





I ran out of time to start drilling holes as we are going out for a family meal shortly.

I also spotted that having the rubber seal across the full width was actually lifting the bonnet ever so slightly.


So I will take a close look at that tomorrow too.

Until then, take care, Paul.

[Jaguartvr]

Having the bonnet lift slightly might be a blessing. It should make they locks tighter and less prone to undoing. The straps at the lower corners should also pull the bonnet down which in turn should prevent rattling.
Boot lid looks ver presentable.

Had you thought about flow coating the inside of the bonnet? You can get a pretty good match with the paint, it is so thick it evens out the Finish and looks much smoother than paint ever will.