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Look closely and you will see it is an electric patio heater. They promise much but are absolute rubbish outside. It was a big waste of money until It starter using it in the garage
Sticky plate on the front. Square on the back. Both black and silver. Show plates only of course with the real ones 'always' displayed when on public roads.
Silver wheels look okay in pictures but in real life they always just looked dirty grey.
I can't afford to get chrome unless someone else wants to pay and to clean them each week ;-)
The sun was out, well it wasn't actually raining, so I went for a blast around the New Forest. Somehow I ended up at the classic car garage at Beaulieu. I was admiring the stock through the window when the owner came out. He remembered my car from last time we met and was pleased with the progress (loved the door handles).
I explained I was trying to decide what to do with the interior. Possibly retrimming the door cards but the centre console was giving me a head ache as it is one piece from the rear of the cabin to just below the air vents at the front. I have covered the back half with carpet but don't know what to do at the front where the buttons and heater dials are.
He took me into the showroom and we looked at a very nice series 1 e-type. The centre tunnel and switch board were a slightly patterned aluminium with leather detailing. Perhaps I could fabricate a switch panel that I stuck over the top of the plastic?
Off to b&q for a £7.20 panel of aluminium. Park in the garage which is war. For once and I hit my first snag. The heater dials won't pull off. They have to be removed from behind which means removing the centre console which is what I was trying to avoid. I was about to go inside and think it through when it started raining so I grabbed a screwdriver and started removing the centre console.
Ever get to the point when you think - I am not sure I can put this all back together?
Never mind, let's plough on and remove everything we can.
I hate clever German electrical connectors so broke this one.
Now the console is out I have loads of room, perhaps a wine rack? The photo is to show the space available.
My current thinking is to create a hidden box behind a nice aluminium switch board. All the modern switches will be inside the box. The false switch board will have a nice analogue clock, a chrome hazard button and a chrome 'Launch Rockets' button, assuming I can find the appropriate buttons.
Wire wheel cleaning tip.
I have chrome wires on an old MK2 Jag, I use a babies bottle brush with the end trimmed off. I then insert it into a battery drill and it slips between the spokes a treat and 5 minutes per wheel is all it takes. The normal brushes that are supplied to clean wires are too thick to do a good job.
I've had the chrome wire for about 10 years and they look about a year old, cleaning them really makes them last longer.
WCA, a tip on the connector you broke... press the very middle of the top down, then the sticky-up bit to the right works like a hinge, swing it to the left..
(from the angle of your photo..) Hope this helps..
total disregard to health and safety twaddle I am sure you would love watching me sharpen pencils on the bench grinder then.
Latest update.
I put some bracing wood in place becuase every time I tried to tighten anything it seemed to move
I found the culprit, the passenger side dash board and glove box was being held in place by one loose screw and some dirt. I refitted the three missing screws and tightened everything up nicely. Shame the side template didn't fit properly anymore :-(
more template making. This time for the gear surround and another comedy Ikea pencil. This time as you try to write, the lead pushes out the other end. Gosh how I laughed
Well this is sort of the expected end result. I will cut a flap in the most upright bit of wood through which the modern buttons can be reached.
Bonus points if you spot a straight line or clean join ;-)
Now I need to decide which bits to do in Oak faced ply and which bits to do in metal.
I also need to decide if I want dials, switches or just a clock showing on the false dash. I think I shall google some '50s dashboards to see what might be suitable
3rd and final instalment before I retire to the batch with a car magazine and a bottle of Pinot Grigio...
I decided that I should make the hazard warning button and window switches accessable. Previously they were hidden under the carpet.
Cut some holes
Spray black
Dry
The rest of the time was trying to decide between wood and steel for the gear surround and dash. Whichever I go for will be stuck to the hardboard structure so I cut out some precise templates for the two pieces require out of some old floor vinyl. You can also see where I have fitted the hazrd and window switches. Reasonably discrete but still accessible. The wiring loom was too short to hide them in the false dash
Looking at the dash in the white tiled effect is steering me away from the steel which would be similarly light and go for the oak instead. Still a light finish but not as big a contrast as the steel would be. It will also match the wood panels at the sides of the foot wells.
A quick mock up I prepared during this mornings copnference call. It iwll be a wooden dash with a wooden raised panel wit5h the clock mounted in it.
The clock is going to be real but the toggle switches will be dummies. Probably sprung moment switches so they are always in the up position. I 'might' put a little battery behind them linked to a kids sound effect toy so when you press the button down you here machine guns / rocket launchers etc. Depends how the next conf call goes.
Not much achieved today because I have had to do my day job. I did manage to get the basic shapes for the dash frame cut out. I started with a particularly large piece of ply so had to get the car out of the garage for the first few cuts.
Notice the grey foam matting on the floor. it was a pack of 6 tiles I picked out of the bargain bin in Halfords for £5. When kneeling on the cold concreete floor trying to get the dash together and apart the mats are a god send.
I had all that wood and I still made the cutting difficult for myself by dqeezinf the peices up together. Actually this was partly so that the bits of the dash that butted up to each other had continuous grain pattern flowing through them.
First peice cut from the hardboard template and the standard trim piece fitted. I was pleased with the result.
The other pieces were more challenging due to the differences between hardboard and plywood. Hardboard bends more easily and little bits of plastic trim are hard enough to dent hardboard whereas ply needs cutting. You can use a stanley knife to cut hardboard but you need a saw to cut play. Ply is thin and fragile and will snap in a really annoying manner some times.
The first person who says 'It doesn't look any different to yesterday' will get a slap. Actually, the second person will as I am not in the habit of slapping my wife ;-)
I still need to put the flap on and add the switches and clock but have stopped after taking that lot apart again to varnish it. I am now waiting on the varnish to dry.
The plan is to stick a carefully cut pair of pieces over the top of what you see in the photo. The idea is that everything in the photo is structural to the dashj and the two extra bits will purely be cosmetic cladding.
I could have left the hardboard for the structure bits I suppose but I wanted to practice with the ply before doing the bits that really show. Now I wonder how many coats of yacht varnish I should use?
When doing the varnishing, LOTS, what I used to do was varnish using a soft cloth which does not leave pieces behind, 600grade wet & dry, soaped and wet lightly over to smooth, varnish, repeat for atleast 10 coats,doing one nightly then go to 1000 grade soaped and varnished a few times, and one very dilute coat at the end. A job done inside in the warm over a few weeks and fitted later, the result will shock you as to how good you can get it and the depth of the look is worth while.
Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated. The bits done so far won't actually show, well the side panels will a bit. I will definitely take my time with the cover panels that willl be on show.
