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I just plastered a thick coat of a rubber type underseal paint on the underside of my bonnet and inside the rear wheel arches. Serves a dual purpose of giving the finish an 'I meant it' look and preventing stone chips as I never fitted arch liners. So far I haven't had a stone chip come through from underneath in almost 3 years and 8,000 miles driven so it seems to have done the trick.
That's the best picture I have I'm afraid. It was black when I put it on but it got a coating of fibreglass dust when I cut through the bonnet to add a clearance blister while it was still tacky. I've still got the tin somewhere, I'll dig it out and let you know what it was.
Paint looks superb btw, great job. Does it look as dark a red in daylight?
Paul L The bonnet was also on my to do list later but as i haven't got the stick on number plate sorted just yet which means i am unable to book an MOT i thought i would make good use of the good weather plus once its on the road it will be hard to get round to doing jobs like rubbing the under side of the bonnet which i can definitely say was mind numbing and i did have a few moments of "why did i start this".
Mr T Spraying with a thick rubber coating was probably the way to go, less hassle plus good protection. I do intend on fitting front ally wheel arches to protect against stone crazing on the front arches but this is on my to do list.
The paint colour is lighter in normal light, the close up rear end shot was taken when the sun was going down plus the garden is surrounded by large trees hence a diffused moody light, before i started this car photography was my main hobby so i like to play around with the camera.
Today the bonnet under side was sprayed so one more job ticked off.
Under coat on which reveled a few small hollows so skimmed over with filler then a quick sand ready for the top coat.
Top coat on just need to cut the mask lines back in around the bonnet edge. Its not perfect but a far sight better than it was.
Next major job to do is the tonneau cover, Ive had a few quotes from local companies and to be honest they are expensive the cheapest quote is £750 for a tonneau cover and two head cushions.
I am now looking at making my own and found Woolies to be very helpful and i reckon it will cost me about £120 all in, just need to see if the missus can make one.
Brockwell's in King's Lynn charged me £130 all in to make and fit the full tonneau cover in red Mohair with white piping. They needed the car for an afternoon, it took them about four hours start to finish.
Swifty's asked me to take some pictures of the underside of the covers, so here you go -
All the edges are double thickness, presumably for strength -
There's a fillet let into the driver's side which creates a bulge for the steering wheel to sit in -
And the fixtures are 'lift the dot' fasteners front and rear and press studs along the sides -
I take my hat off to you if you can make your own cover Swifty, but I've got to say I can't recommend Brockwell's highly enough. If you're not happy with what you end up making, rather than paying through the nose locally, it'd probably be cheaper for you to stay overnight in a King's Lynn hotel, leave the car with Brockwell's for half a day and maybe visit one or two local attractions, like the classic car auction made famous by Clarkson et al -
Or maybe get the wife to make a quick pattern version using a cheap fabric and post it to them to use to make you a nicer ' no offence Mrs Swifty !! ' version ?
They could mail it back to you ?
If they don't or won't do the mail order thing perhaps a local Sammio-ista could help out with the postage side of things ?
If it was a Spyder not a Nav. they could have used an existing Norfolk example as a pattern ! but the Nav underwent a few changes in the body dept. so they wont be the same ...
mine and barrys tonneau also from brockwells of kings lynn think they was 115.. for mine and 120 for barrys its was getting on for 5 years ago now ..toweds is mohair very nice... had work done from them over the years and there been doing car triming for classic hot rods bikes u name it for years 750 a joke
Cheers Mr T for the pictures very helpful. I think making a good template is the key to a correct fitting cover but will do a little research first and see what i can dig up you never know there may be a guide on how to make a tonneau cover on the net some where.
Cheers Phil for the pictures, it looks like you have a zip in the middle, i was thinking of may be using Velcro in place of a zip, have read that the water can drip through a zip where as velcro holds the water back.
Lancelot Link i have spoken to brockwells and they said they would only make a cover if they had the car, i did offer to send a template and take full responsibility which they declined.
Now need to do some online research on ways to make a Tonneau cover, on the face of it it does look pretty simple.
Made from stainless, tig welded, cleaned with pickling paste then polished. The shaped bar was formed by heating to cherry red then placing in a jig i machined to be sure both were bent to the identical shape, the other parts were turned and threaded on a lathe.
This picture has the catches fitted to the bonnet in the top right hand corner.
Also been to see a local guy i know who does sign writing etc and he is going to make and apply the decals to the car once it through the mot.
I agree they look fantastic.
I have attached a link to show how much these go for - you must be able to make a profit selling them £248.95 ea
Wow, i had not realized how much they go for, i did do a quick search before making them but came up with nothing that was why i decided to have ago and make a pair.
I suppose i could squeeze a small profit out of that one. LOL
Well booked the car in for its MOT this Saturday, does any one know the age of a vehicle that only requires a visual smoke test for the emissions, i seem to remember reading that cars up to 1971 only require a visual.
Cleaned up engine bay ready for this weekend outing.
Can anybody recommend good insurance companies who understand a re-body build.
Can anybody recommend good insurance companies who understand a re-body build.
I've used Classic Line for all my hot rods and trucks, and now for the 250swb. They may not be the cheapest but they've always been very helpful and understand non standard vehicles.
You car looks great, look forward to seeing more photos.
Hi Swifty, take a look at Adrian Flux I just got quoted £126 yesterday for fully comp for the mx250 I'm building. Had my Jag XF insured with them found them really helpful and good service.
Final major hurdle completed yesterday, the car passed its MOT. Went for a quick spin and it certainly does turn heads plus we got a few smiles on the way.
Called into a local petrol station to fill up and two separate guys stopped to talk about the car so it looks like this will be the norm. Think i will need to add a little time on a journey just for the crack.
These are some photos of the car yesterday before it goes off for decal work, its been just over two years since i first posted on the forum, i did think that when i started the build would take me a year but due to the major body work required to get the car to a reasonable standard its taken two enjoyable years, now looking for my next project.
Next update will the decals, got a local company fitting them for me just have to wait a couple of weeks to arrange.
Finally opted for Adrian Flux for the insurance, £140 for the year which considering Ive no NCB to transfer over is not to bad.
