MadaboutKitcars

i have never said "the paintjob is bad"...you have mis-interpreted that from my posting

i´m shocked / angry about such botching spray-shops not doing their job right.

the builder of the car has invested a lot of time building the car in a proper way, with a clean chassis etc.

now such a sprayshop is "destroying" everything and the builder has to invest further time & effort "correcting" the sprayshops mistakes.

and its doesnt matter if he has paid 300 or 3000 pound...its a clear botch!!!

Spray Job

As I'd never paid anyone to paint a car before, I decided to go by personal recommendation and got three. I'd already bought the cellulose paint from a couple I know from the Beaulieu Autojumble.

The first guy came to mine to have a look before committing. He was a typical know it all: in his 20s; tattoos; body piercings and a 'look, I'm a twat'. haircut. He told me that "nobody uses cellulose any more, you want it done in water based two-pack mate". I explained to him that 'He who pays the piper calls the tune', but he just wasn't listening. I was relieved when he roared off in his hot hatch: tinted windows and 'The Best Jungle CD - Ever', unsurprisingly.

I had high hopes for the second, he was recommended by the bloke who does my tidy welding for me (I do the untidy bits that can't be seen). He listened carefully, ran his hands over the project and quoted a reasonable price. Unfortunately he was in the throes of having new premises built and was unable to commit "anytime soon".

The third was recommended by a friend I met when we both had Dutton Phaetons back in '82. I went over to his place to discuss and was impressed. There was a scattering of MGBs, Minis, A35s etc in the yard and a black Porsche 911 in the booth (read 'concrete floored Cotswold stone outbuilding). We spoke the same language and I liked the way his eyes lit up when I described the project - he'd already asked me all about my Mk1 Marlin Roadster I'd arrived in. As the project wasn't in front of him we danced around the price a little before agreeing a slightly elastic ball park figure.

After removing the lights; screen; tonneau cover studs etc another of my kit car friends from the early 80s towed me over there, sadly not behind his very early and beautifully patinated Westfield XI.

I'm not one to chase and my mind was partly on my impending S. America trip, so it wasn't until about three weeks before I sailed that I gave him a call: it was a sort of "It'll be ready on Wednesday" moment. I realised he hadn't touched it but he had my trust and we agreed a pick up and pay date.

It was around the back when we arrived and I can honestly say I couldn't believe it was my car. I had a good look over it and saw that there was DIY work to be done. In his office (read barn) he agreed to my paying him 75% of the above mentioned as there was overspray in places. We parted on excellent terms - he's looking forward to painting my S4 Lotus Seven .

I got very good VFM; Nitromors is cheap and I have plenty of time. Had I not been under time pressure with the trip I would have gone and had a look first, discussed the (in my book) minor shortcomings in the job, and agreed the way forward (my 'Bullshit Bingo' tick list came to mind using that phrase!).

So, in a nutshell, I got what I paid for and will be more than happy to go back.

Regards, Mick

Mick - I don't know how you can be so calm after everything you built was destroyed.

Jokes aside, I'm really looking forward to seeing your car back on the road again.

Good luck, Paul.

That bottom line really is the bottom line.

I hope to be in that position when I've had my Z300S painted.

And Nitromors will probably blitz the weeds.

Recreation


I just spotted this on Ebay. Very nice, apart from the incorrect style of 'lance corporal' stripe.

And another one here!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ecurie-Ecosse-Jaguar-D-Type-recreation/162367640639?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3D6d42cbc32237431b9a16dd139390ca4c%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3

D'Oh!



Click on my 'this' link above.

Regards, Mick

New Project

I've started a thread in the 'Vintage and Classic' section. If evidence of insanity were needed, this is surely it. I can hardly wait .

Looks great!

I have an acquaintance who happens to own a few autos. His D-Type is very original since it never was raced back in the day.







Just thought I'd share

Patrick

Wow, that looks better than new!

I thought I would share to help any other D-Type builder with original touches to add with their build. This particular car was part of the factory Lemans effort but never raced. The way the owner explained it to me, its original engine was removed to be used in a race and never returned. That hurt its value but now, since it was never damaged, you can see how it was done in the day! The numbers are hand painted on and you can see the brush strokes. The owner is very active the D-Type community and takes part in their rallies.

Here's a link to an more photos if you are interested:

I'm a Cobra guy and the owner has some incredible Shelbys, but he's a great Jaguar collector too.

http://s123.photobucket.com/user/YYYMMMAN2/library/Jim%20Taylor%20Collection?sort=3&page=1

And still they come.............

This appeared over the weekend

Regards, Mick

Beware The Ides of March. Not.

After waiting what seemed ages for a decent 'week ahead' weather forecast I finally booked my test for what turned out to be the hottest and sunniest day of 2017 so far . I had a different tester this time who turned out to be an old skool Ford fan who better understood the vehicle he was testing.

The result was.............



Hoping for a long, hot, dry summer.

Regards, Mick

Well done, it's important to have a good MOT as any fails or advisories now become part of its history. I always check the DVLA website before buying a car as it gives you so much information.

Is it about time to get your V5 altered to show the new body and colour. It seems to be easy and straightforward now, but that could of course change in the future!

Congratulations Mick, that's quite a milestone!

Always worth testing an MOT tester on his knowledge and understanding of old/specialist cars before allowing them the privilege of examining your home-built pride and joy.

A few years back I recall a very stubborn 'jobsworth' tester failing a Sammio because at 5'2" tall he couldn't see over the flyscreen from the driver's seat, so declared it needed windscreen wash/wipers while the 6'2" owner unsuccessfully protested that no shortarses would actually ever be driving it.

I'm lucky enough to have a local tester who really understands classics and specials - Silena automotive at Garage Lane, Setchey (King's Lynn).

Although the owner is a mere slip of a boy of about 35 and did a load of fancy book learning about engineering in College, he also took the time to learn a lot of the skills required to understand and maintain classic cars from an old chap who worked on the development and production lines in the Great British car industry in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Strapping down my Spyder in case the awesome power of its 95bhp straight six rips the rollers out of the ground -



The Austin in the background passed with just a couple of advisories -



(Not really).

Anyway, enjoy your road-legal car, the sun is shining so what are you doing reading this? Get out there and drive!

All Done Ages Ago


Not sure why it still comes up on the MOT database as white, when the V5 has always said blue. Probably from its first 'A352' MOT when it was natural GRP coloured.

My changes were registered with DVLA a couple of years ago, their description of the body as 'sports' is as accurate as any other.



Oops! Wrong scan, correct one is below.




Regards, Mick

Caveat Emptor!

[COLOR="green"]And again.[/COLOR]

Nice looking car, shame about the illegal spacing on the obviously NI number plate. Incorrectly registered too, would probably invalidate the insurance in the event of an accident.

Correct wheels, apart from steering, wrong indicators, dash, steering wheel, seats and bonnet straps. Details spoiling an otherwise cracking vehicle .

Regards, Mick

Congrats on the Mot Mick!

Reference that D Type for sale,I don't think the wheels are correct! The proper Dunlop wheels would have 15 one inch holes and 15 quarter inch holes, I know this, as I drilled out all the bloody holes in my XKSS wheels to get them to look more acceptable!
God knows where he got his wheels from.I've never seen that pattern on any Jaguar. (The Dunlop stickers come from flea-bay)

[IMG][/IMG]

They will be steels from a van or people carrier running 5x120 pcd hubs. Quite cheap if you know where to look, typically £30 to £40 each, but watch out for the high ET on most - an ET of 20 or less gives the dished look that goes well with classic cars, anything higher and they start to look like, well, van wheels.

http://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheels

Oops!


I stand corrected.

I too had the 60 hole drilling spree on my TR6 'Dunlops' . Well worth the effort though!

Both the Ebay recreations have now reached their reserves - £50k and £25k!



Regards, Mick

Mick - Congratulations on the MOT pass.

Sounds like a good excuse to post this photo from your other build thread.



Enjoy, Paul.

Another Comes Out of The Woodwork!

It must be flavour of the month to sell D Type evocations.......

[COLOR="green"]Here[/COLOR]


Regards, Mick

Looking The Part

On the premise that 21st century clothing doesn't complement a 50s icon, I've prepared this spiffing garment for my forthcoming sorties . The blue tinge is from the low light, it's really white.



Regards, Mick

Up in Flames - Almost

Sunday at last provided an opportunity to go for a first non MOTdrive so, having loaded my tool wallet and Machine Mart towing bar into the passenger footwell (paranoid, moi?) I set off to visit a longstanding kit car friend who I met through the Dutton Owners' Club back in '82. He's a very early member and won the competition to design the club badge.

It's about 14 miles and everything went well initially. However, about ten miles in I stalled her at a lights controlled crossroads and the cranking motor started playing silly buggers. I jumped out and began pushing but the hump where the uphill road to the left joined defeated me. Luckily a kind gentleman came around the corner and assisted, unlike some of the motorists behind, one of whom started angrily sounding his horn! There was a handy bus pull-in so I parked there and pondered solutions. There was a fairly steep downhill section to my front but I thought I'd try the button again and it behaved . Typical!

I pressed on without further incident and spent a very pleasant hour helping my friend decide the way forward with the leaky diesel tank he'd removed from his LDV based camper and departed. I'd earlier noticed the fuel was low so popped in the station at the bottom of the hill where he lives. 15 litres should be OK, I thought. Completely forgetting the right angled bend in the filler neck (it's in the fin, and the only previous filling was from a can) and with my eyes glued to the spinning numbers I proceeded until the petrol blown back stared to splash my hand - aaaaaaargh!!! Stupid boy!

About half a litre was swilling about inside the fin and a wide dribble was coming from the bottom of the boot lid, which I opened to reveal a thin stream coming from a tiny hole under the rear of the fin inside the boot. This proved serendipitous as mopping up inside the fin would be impossible. I pushed her backwards a couple of feet so the dribble was over the gulley and fetched a sand bucket. Once the dribbling ceased I pushed her further back into the sunny bay for non-fuel customers and sanded the spill.

There was still about a cupfull in the boot so I grabbed a few handfulls of paper towels and mopped up. This was very messy as the petrol was dissolving the black paint on the boot floor. I then sat in the sun for half an hour (after paying) with the fin flap and boot lid open until everything dried off in the heat. This interlude was punctuated by interested parties coming to ask about the car, with some very flattering comments.

There were no further dramas: I went to my sister's nearby, but she wasn't in. At the T junction at the bottom of her hill traffic was very slow having been diverted from the M5, a section of which was closed after a crash, and I spotted one front seat passenger videoing me with his hand held device as he passed. The car certainly draws attention, even when it's not going up in flames. Headlines like 'Petrol Station Destroyed in Kit Car Inferno' are best not generated!

I was lucky, and it's definitely not a mistake I'll make again.

I investigated the cranking motor connections yesterday and, sure enough, both ends of the solenoid to motor lead weren't fully tightened. I cleaned and remade them tightly which should prevent a recurrence.

Regards, Mick

Ooh, bad luck with the fuel spill, like you say, lesson learned. With the Spit tank being the size of a thimble you might as well just fill it every time - mine starts to spit tiny fuel droplets back with about half a gallon to go so I just slow the pump right down when that begins and keep an old towel handy to wipe the droplets off the paint before it stains.

Great looking car btw, get used to the compliments, they ain't going to stop.