Today
I had a bit of a setback the other day, my mum, who has been in hospital since Christmas, (she never made it to me as planned)
passed away on Friday.
Although I could see it coming,it still hit hard.
I spent yesterday black-bagging stuff at her house which was not nice.
I have organised the funeral, and have stacks of admin still to do.
I am back home now, as I could not spend any longer there.
In order to lift my spirits a bit, today, drove (yes drove) the car out of the tent and put the new wheels on one side, and took some pictures.
It acted as a distraction, and has helped a bit. I am pleased with the windscreen as it looks correct.
I think the car will look fairly close to the original when its all done.
After the funeral, it will be my priority to try and move on and finish the build however long that may take.
I still do not want to rush anything, as I have taken my time so far and it has paid off. The car looks as I want it to.
Here are the pics:[IMG]
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Thank you everyone for your support and words of comfort, I do appreciate it.
Axel, do spend more time with them, eventually it will happen to you too!
As Mr Towed said quite rightly, when things of this nature happen, it brings to the fore how short life is for us all, so we should all do more, spend more time with the family, and generally try to live what we have to the full.
Moving on
Right!
Enough of that stuff, I am making an effort to move on, here are some pictures to change the current mood:
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Screen
When Ram were making the kits, the screen was offered as part of it I believe Gary.
Ram were bought out by Realm Engineering which still offer all the parts, but the screen and screen surround are expensive at around £1500 I think.
Pilkington Glass still make, or will make a glass screen at around £600 or £700 as far as I know.
Are you after one then?
Seats
Today I started to nail the leather seats together.
I like to use a hand machine wherever possible, as it is much more accurate.
But the really thick padded Jaguar seats need the bigger machine.
I was a bit peed off when the bumpy bits on the foam showed through the leather, so I was forced to recover the seat base with thin foam to rectify the problem, more unwanted work, but its sorted now.
here are some pics:
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Thanks for the tips fellas, I don't have a leccie carver, but I do have a hot knife, which I used ti try to finish the foam.
What a mistake that was! The toxic fumes that released were really TOXIC!
I took it outside in the end, and wore a mask.
I think the only way now is to cover the other seat in the same foam and copy the one I've done.
Paul,
Quote
"Scottie - Even if I had a sewing machine to play with, I still wouldn't know what to do with it! "
I would put money on the fact that not long ago you said
"If I had a Mig welder, I wouldn't know what to do with it"
Now look at you! "Mr MIG 2013"
If you had a sewing machine it wouldn't take you long........... :-)
Seats
I worked out how I am going to tension the seat leather on my bases.
I have made a U shaped simple frame out of brazing rod,
(Brass, so it won't rust( and fixed it to the bottom of the leather.
There will be nylon ties going from it, through the foam and plywood base.
After I have fixed the leather in place as well as I can, I will then pull each of the ties through holes in the plywood, and get the correct tension on each one, to make the leather look taut and crease free.
Watch this space!
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Back in business
I have been away for a few days, Mum's funeral, sorting out the house and other admin tasks.
I am not fishing for sympathy, just explaining the lack of posting!
Today I got the passengers seat base sorted out, it is ready to be re-coloured (when all the rest is ready, that is)
It does not look too bad, I have the option to re-tension at any time, but after the dyeing process, it should tighten the leather even more, but I am happy as it is for now.
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Drivers seat
Today I worked all day stitching up the drivers leather seat base cover, using the Jaguar base and leather from the setee, and fitting it to the foam.
It is now ready to re-colour.
When making two identicle seats, having completed one, you always have the thought:
" I wonder if I can make the other one as good"
Its always a challenge, but it usually seems to work out right.
Because I knew it was the one I would be sitting on, as opposed to the passengers one, I put more effort into it, and I thinks its better because of it.
Only I know the little f**ck-ups I've made!!!
I now have to make the seat backs, but that will be easier I think.
I may have a go at re-colouring the seat bases before I tackle the seat backs, as I cannot wait to see the results, as I am an impatient bastard.
Pics:
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Seats
Well I finally cracked! I just could not wait, I had to colour the seats.
As I had not ordered any leather dye, I did a bit of experimenting on the leather seat bits I had spare.
I decided to use a spray paint made by a company called "Tetrosyl"
As I said earlier, with leather colour change, the preparation is everything.
I spent two hours preparing the seats.
I sprayed the paint into the seams first, and then worked it in with a toothbrush, The same deal for all the creases and cracks, then several thin coats over the finished surface.
I was not actually "painting" the leather, but rather using the paint as a dye and colourant.
I chose red because it contrasts so nicely with bare aluminium, it also is a colour that Jaguar used a lot with BRG cars.
I am pleased with the results,and it looks as gpod as the expensive colouring agents I have used before, except this time the can cost me £5.99 and there is enough left to do a lot more!![IMG]
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see pics:
The dog? The dog?
That's Roobarb!!
I made them a bit shorter than normal to give myself about 9 or 10 inches in front of the seat so I don't have to stand on them!!!
Watch this space and you'll see.
Didn't put all that work into them to trample the buggers flat!!!!
Seat backs
Spent the whole day stitching the seat backs together, and making the plastic backing pads to fit them to.
It is a much more difficult task than I first thought,
(seems like the story of this build!)
But I am closer to the end of it.
Just about everything I put on the car, I try to plan so that it removes easily,
the rears seats are no exception. Although he alloy curved seat backs will unscrew, (8 million screws) I have mounted the foam on the plastic bits I originally used as a pattern for the alloy.
They are held in by only 4 bolts with wing nuts for ease of removal.
I have to somehow make the leather fit the curve, and then colour it.
I thought I could do all this in two days, but now I don't think so.
Here's where I'm at now:
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It's for painting cars and other things, but usually I use a"proper" leather colouring agent at around 60 or 70 quid,
but this paint was only £5.99.
As I said I did not actually "paint" the leather, but used the paint to colour it. The difference is in the technique used to apply it.
When I sprayed on the paint, I then worked it into the leather with a brush and rag, so the paint does not "sit" on the surface but is absorbed by the leather.
Like you say it has done a good job.
I have so much leather to experiment on, and I did a lot of dyeing before I finally did the seats.
I scratched and scraped with my thumbnail to try to get the colour to come off, but it wouldn't, as it had been absorbed correctly.
Bit of a long winded answer, but hopefully may help!
Its quite easy to reach, believe me!
Thanks Mr T.
I'm having major problems trying to do the seat backs!!
Not even sure if its do-able its that difficult right now!
I'll persevere...........
I'll do that WCA,
however, convex is easy, concave, another story!
And very nice too! I see how they've done it, but I don't think it will help me as I have already stitched up what I want, ( so don't have the option they had)
And I have to make what I already have look half reasonable when its in place!
It will be awkward, but I now know its do-able, which in my case is most of the battle over. Just gotta do it now!
Seat saga
My aim today was to finish the drivers rear seat back.
It proved far too difficult to finish in a day, but I made slow progress.
At least I did move forward. The passengers one will be faster and easier, as I will know exactly what to do, whereas now I am learning as I go, blind leading the blind and all that stuff!
Just two pics:
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