Well this update has been a serious long time coming and you might need a brew in hand as its going to be a big one!!.
I last left you with my car away at the body shop and progress was being made on the majority of the prep work. After what felt like years i started getting updates on the progress and my surprise weekly visits allowed me a chance to get some pictures of the masterpiece. After what felt like the tenth block down and prime coat it was time to lift the car and make some final prep to the lower skirts and valance, by this point all the doors, boot and bonnet had been removed to make the undersides as good as the fronts. Unless you have done this sort of work before you have absolutely no idea how much prep work is involved on such a project, and tedious does not begin to cover it, however the end result is vital to the prep work.
After all that is a base coat of colour, this is not a finish colour but a colour that will show the polished top coat in all its glory. The base also gives an opportunity to address and further prep work, as a matt finish primer can hide allot of potential problems through the top coat. As you can see pictured that the car was masked down to the floor each time to stop any over spray hitting the chrome of the engine, this is also another reason not to have a carpet in as the dust would destroy it, and never fully come out.
And now a top coat...... what do you think?? The colour is a Jaguar colour that i had been toying with for a long time called shadow grey. Its a mica colour that changes its mood depending on the weather, in the direct sunlight it looks deep and glossy with shades of green peeking though, but in drab gloomy weather it looks dark and moody with subtle changes as it curves round the body. Now to start marking out the stripes!!
I had been messing around with stripe ideas for months and month, but i had finalised on a style many weeks prior to the paint getting started, and after seeing a car at the Stoneleigh show with the same style, i quickly stole the measurmens with the owners permission... in fact he did it for me, bloody nice chap.
The broad stripes are 8" wide then leaving a 6mm gap either side a second black 6mm pinstripe follow the main stripes from front to back, wrapping round the scuttle curves and bonnet/boot gaps. I love this style of stripe as they are so wide across the body and with the pinstripe either side and the body colour between it ads a transition between the two colours. Once this was all done a clear coat is put over the full car so the stripes also sit flat and if you run your finger over them you can only just feel the definition between the two colours. Another weight off my mind now is the positioning all the bright work cuts and holes. With the body direct from AK you don't have a set centre line to work from to mark out all the bits like bonnet locks, boot hinges, windscreen wiper wheel box's, demister vents etc... So when all the stripes were finished i was pleased to see that everything that i had cut and marked prior to any prep was situated nicely, without any serious miss alignments that would draw your eye to them due to the stripe edge.
You can see on the picture of the bonnet how the width of the stripes is just broad enough to cover the bonnet scoop, and the bonnet lock holes are also sitting nicely just on the outer pinstripe..... Just think back to how many times i had to move the bonnet locks because they were catching on the back lip of the body..... thank fook i had it sorted prior to doing any of this bodywork.
So with wit the paint all finished it was delivered back to me on Monday23rd June, and i suppose you would like to see it ??
Now to start the mammoth task of rebuilding all the bright work to IVA standard....without damaging the paint in the process, don't forget that I'm in a single garage and with the paint now finsihed tight is a word that doest do much justice when it comes to moving about.
So giddy as a schoolboy on Christmas eve iv been spending the last few evening and days in the garage slowly sticking bits on here and there, then taking a step back and with a big grin i think "this could be the last time i fit that"
First up was the windscreen. This was a simple task of fitting the legs back on either side first then fitting the screen to check for clearances and tolerance on the body. And once done it was in exactly the same place as prior to paint with exactly 39" between the centre of the screen and the rear scuttle... i was a little bit pleased with that. Now to leave the legs in place but remove the screen itself to refit the windscreen demister vent louvres. I had picked up a load of button head stainless steel M3/4/5 bolts with nylocks and washers at Stoneleigh and i wanted a running theme with all the bits put on to share the same fitting, its the attention to detail in my opinion that can make or break a car like this.
The same goes for the escutcheon plate round the windscreen pillars, the same allen head button bolt in stainless steel just like everything else, however before opening up the initial marker hole i needed to seal the void between the body and the leg. This is a point that water can run down the windscreen support and enter the foot well of the car, which is not very practical, as it would probably take a diversion via my right kneecap and thus make me wet also. Not forgetting that on the offside the wiper motor sits directly under here so as with most bits on this car now "belt and braces" approach to the finish.
The void is easily filled with a squeeze of black silicon, this is silicon rather than sicaflex as if i do need to remove the screen at any point this will be far more forgiving and easier to remove. This has been done on both sides naturally and should stop any issues with water ingress to the foot well.
Now to fit the escutcheon plate back over that also covers any rough edge of silicon and refit the windscreen and the rear view mirror...... possibly for the last time!!! whooop! whooop!
Next up was the windscreen wipers, these were simply dropped down through the body with the arms and blades removed prior to the paint, so they just get pushed back up through and each arm and blade refitted. These i have now found out to also be a point of water ingress. As i was testing and adjusting the washer jets i have seen water drip down between the wheelbox and the body and directly under the scuttle onto the foot well. I have allot of electrics and relays on the nearside so this will have to be rectified with a drop of black silicon.... "belt and braces"
I'm surprised that the wipers allow small amounts of water in as they do have a rubber seal between the polished bezel and the body, but non the less enough water pooled on the floor for me to be concerned, so it will have to get sorted.
Next up (are you board yet) was the rear lights, all fully functional again. You will see that i haven't refitted my quick jacks or fog light. This is because my IVA man will not like my choice of style and not issue me with a pass certificate, so I'm being a good lad and fitting blanking plugs and a nice/vile square "E" marked fog light....... boooo to the rules!!!
Next on my list was the rear arch stone guards. These i got from AK simply because they will fit the AK body as opposed to buying cheap and spending double getting them to fit and possibly mucking up a nice new paint job. The same as the demister vents and windscreen escutcheon plates I'm using the same button head allen screws to fit these, one screw in each corner is more than sufficient to hold them on and look uniform.
Firstly i covered the back of the stone guard in masking tape, to protect the body when they get offered up into position, and after playing around with getting them to sit nicely and even on both sides they were clamped into position (only lightly, as the paint is still fresh and could be damaged easily) Then once clamped the holes are marked and drilled. I would have though that drilling a freshly painted body would be quite nervy.... but I've cut and drilled so many holes on this car now that I'm more than confident with my process and just get stuck in. One slight issue i did find was that the top two fixings can put a nyloc behind them and hold everything nice and firm, but the bottom fixing sits in a void that cant be accessed. I did however drop on as i drilled the holes with a 2.5 bit and the M3 bolts cut a nice thread as they go in. This combined with the top to secure fittings should see no issues with one working its way loose whilst blasting round the country side...... i hope!!!
The last little bit of this update (Hooray!!! i hear you shout) is the fitting of the boot carpet.... well some of it. Story goes that i have ordered my seats and the final bits of my interior, however the lead time of September delivery does not fill me with much joy and happiness, however lets crack on. So i ordered my interior and i wanted to refit the roll bar, but with this getting the same treatment as the windscreen legs and needing sealing for water ingress between the bar and the body, i couldn't do this without fitting my boot carpet first, as the brackets sit on top of the carpet. A quick call to Wendi saw a 10meter roll of black carpet sent to me with a boot gas ram hidden in the middle..... hehehe don't tell Mr Courier that we sent an explosive gas device without the correct postage, we could get into trouble haha.Two birds one stone... carpet to start fitting and a replacement gas ram for my limp gass-less one.
I was looking forward to fitting the interior and carpet to the car, but after the faff on i had doing the boot the shine had defiantly come off. Weekend off work and end of June sees the traditional summer weather pissing down with rain. I don't normally y care about the weather but i was fucking sick of it today, not only that but iv split my head open (yet again) on the garage door as i have to have it down a little when raining so the water runs off into the street... not the garage, and a quick stand up and turn round saw me knocking myself clean out of the edge of the door.... another gash to the skull. Oh well, chicks love scars!!! and fast cars.... which is lucky because i have both.....cashback!!
The carpet does actually look very good and goes in fairly straightforward, paying attention to measuring and trial fitting a dry bit first before the glue enters the equations, this shit gets everywhere... absolutely everywhere. and with my head in a confind space sniffing all the glorious vapours i nearly took another trip to the floor. But a logical process and step by step procedures saw the main bits of the boot carpeted and that allowed me to refit the roll bar (i forgot to picture, sorry) Once i had done that i was to cold tired and wet... so i went in for a bath and attempt to remove the excess glue off my hands and arms.
My next update shouldn't be to far off now, i have a busy few weeks coming up but an hour or two over the evenings should see lots of little bits getting sorted and finishing touches........ yes finishing touches, its been years for me to be able to say that. but carpet in the boot must be a finishing touch???
Think I'll start making a revision of this IVA application form that i will need to fill out.
Another update soon!!!
Tommy
