MadaboutKitcars

Merry Christmas every one. I am hoping to re start work on the car in the new year.

I'v finally got the car into the new garage.

Unfortunately standing in a damp garage for the last 10 months hasn't helped things. The brakes are binding badly and some of the electrics have stopped working so i decided as I will have to strip the front suspension down again I will upgrade at the same time to that end I have bought drilled and grooved front disks and EBC pads also bought a pair of nice shiny s/s top suspension mounts. I also want to change the wheel spacers as the ones I have are 30mm universal ones so I;m looking for a set of dedicated ones. on the up side I finally managed to get the correct rubber for the windscreen (only took me a year to find it) so I've started work on the screen frame again, and i have made the upper mount for the rear view mirror first attempt failed as you can see second attempt not so bad but there may be a third?

Hopefully i,ll get a lot more work done this year as well as the house restoration work.
bye for now be back soon.

Great to see you are back on the case, keep posting pics as well as the progress reports.

Barber I'll try.
Re started work on the screen frame the chrome paint I used reacted with the primer and went soft I had to use paint stripper to get it of it's now back in etch primer.

I'v also made some brackets for the boot stay.

Back soon.

Glad to see you are back working on your car.

Good luck, Paul.

Yesterday I borrowed my friends metal shrinking/stretching machine to make a lip for the boot aperture.
before.

After


Not too bad its now ready to be bonded and riveted when my new riveter arrives my old air one died a few weeks ago so iv'e sent for a standard hand one.
I also sprayed the screen frame and fitted the screen it was a very right fit due to some distortion during welding as usual I messed up and managed to mark the frame so it will need some flatting back and spraying again

Nice!

I finished the boot stay this week the load spreading plates and the bracket are simply bonded on with Tiger seal.



The one inside the boot is bolted. It all seems to work OK I wanted a nice smooth boot lid of course I'v taken it all apart again now to flat it down and etch prime it also working on the doors which are a bit of a pig I keep finding voids on the edges
I got a bit fed up with that today so I painted the Garage with another coat of ducks back

well yet again I got fed up with filling in and flatting back so i decided to have a go at the seized brakes after trying for a whole day to free up the calipers i gave in and ordered some new ones. I fitted the nice new disks crass drilled and vented, I didn't realize until I fitted the first one to the hub that these things are handed.

The outward side of the grove points towards the rear of the car.

i don't like the spacers much but the decent ones are about £200 a set and no one seems to have them at the moment anyway so i'll have to stick to what i'v got for now.
looking forward to Stonleigh tomorrow I'll try to pop over to see u if i can.
Cheers for now.

Stonleigh

Sorry I missed everyone at Stonleigh but I just couldn't find the pitch wandered round for ages but no luck just me being dull i think.
I have fitted the new calipers and ETB brake pads but haven't bled them yet (I need to rope in the wife for that)

And managed to do some more flatting down and managed to get some etch primer on the bonnet.

Though knowing this car I'll probably have to rub it all down againray2:
I also found a couple of company's that can make me some decent wheel spacers I am waiting for the quotes not too expensive I hope.

As fast as I flat one bit of bodywork I find another that needs filling and flatting I think they are breeding reggers:



It took me a week to finally get the whole car covered in a coat of etch paint from rattle cans


Unfortunately a friend who was going to spray the car for me may now not be able to so I now have to chose, find another (cheap) sprayer or invest the money I was going to spend on a decent compressor and spray gun and spray it myself something I have never done before Hmmmm

Just do it! Not that hard. Key is in the prep.

Deggsy - What kind of paint finish do you want?

I made a lot of mistakes painting my car and the tarpaulin cover has made things worst.

The only good news is that I have managed to create the 'survivor' look without really trying.

However, there are also first time painters on here who have achieved a relatively high quality finish.

Obviously, professional painters should be able to achieve a showroom finish.

But, as always, as long as you are happy with the paint, that is all that matters.

Good luck, Paul.

PS
Congratulations on getting the whole car in primer.

Thanks for the input gents I have managed to persuade my friend to spray the car for me probably some time in August he's not a professional but can get decent results hopefully it will all go to plan. until then I will carry on with all the other jobs yet to be done i will keep you updated.

cheers

deggsy

+1 from me.
Get the preparation right and you can always sand back to it.

Then- make sure the finish is not too thin- that way you can mop/polish out any surface imperfections.

Sound advice. I have been researching DIY painting for lambretta scooters. The advice is per above. Luckily, there is a lot less surface area to fix, so it will be a good start point for me. But that will not be until later in the summer.

There is plenty of advice on the internet, where to source large garden polytunnels at best prices, how to make inexpensive air extractors etc.

Thanks gents good advice I was looking into all that when I thought I would have to do it myself hopefully now with my friend agreeing to spray it I should get a half decent job? I have decided to go for a deep cream color which should go with the green seats odd that I have to chose the color to go with the upholstery should be the other way around but beggars can't be choosers as they say.

Cheers

deggsy

Cream with green seats. Nice combination!

rear driveshafts

I am back on the mechanical bits this week I am fitting the longer driveshafts from a spitfire 1500 they are about 20 mm longer than than the herald ones I replaced the wheel bearings and trunnion bushes I also had to fit the smaller driveshaft flanges for the herald diff new universal joints were fitted at the same time.

I had one small hiccup I bought a pair of adjustable radius arms off a Vitesse as the herald ones were now too short only when I went to fit them did I realize the bushes are larger so dismantle it all and start again I had to spread the brackets wider to accept the wider bush and then drill through to accept the larger bolt. If you do it the other way around the bolt holes wont line up

All done now but i will have to get the rear wheels tracking sorted when it's on the road and the front ass well of course. Ho I have to make some extension plates for the handbrake cables as they are now too short.
Until next time cheers

It must feel good to see parts going back together.

Does it feel like you have broken the back of the build and there is an end in sight?

Good luck, Paul.

Paul Yes it most certainly is I Fitted the hand brake extension plates today and bled the brakes again the car is back down on it's wheels now and the longer drive shafts make the wheels fill the rear arches a lot better.
It's just doing as many of the small jobs whilst waiting for the paint job which wont be for a few months yet.
almost there tough. phew

Just read this. Wow. That is some effort you have put in, with excellent results. Love the look of this car, especially now its primed. Well done!

Thanks for the encouraging comments almost there just waiting for the spray job then i can put it all back together.

Croeso, Pob lwc!

Hi All whilst waiting for the paint job I decided to follow Paul's lead and do some paneling namely a hard half tonneau cover if that's what its called?
I started off with a very thick piece of cardboard.


cut it to approximately the shape I wanted then fixed a piece of 15mm x 15mm mild steel folded angle as the center support

and I must admit it looks ok so far? now I have to get some more angle for the curved supports for which I will need to borrow the metal shrink / stretchy thingy again and I'll pick up a sheet of aluminium some time next week
Then I can look forward to installing hundreds of pop rivets