Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rootes75]

Lovely bit if sunshine so we were able to crack on applying the filler layers to the front wings of the lorry, not much, just here and there where we need to achieve the contours after welding.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[MikeEdwards]

Now I've almost finished making the repair for the bottom of the nearside door pillar, I decided to make the sill so I can fit them both at the same time. That went reasonable well, it's a struggle to bend some of the smaller profiles on it but I think it will be OK.
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1976 Vauxhall HP Firenza, 1976 Vauxhall Sportshatch (x2), 1986 Audi coupe quattro, 2000 Audi TT

[Rootes75]

New welder arrived so have had a few hours using that, I welded in some patches to the passenger door skin. The weld quality is really good for a gasless Mig, on the lowest setting of 35amps. Very minimal blow through and after a bit of fettling and time to cool down we applied an initial layer of filler.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[badhuis]

Replaced a damaged side marker light on the Lotus. Another side marker did not work. Dismantling and cleaning did the trick. Number plate lamps (mounted in the bumper) did not work, not so strange seeing that the wires were not connected. But I have a problem here, both lamps (Lucas L860) are broken. Basically it is a plastic lens which on the other side keeps a lamp. Of course, it being made from plastic, on both lenses the lamp-holders are broken. But the positive side is that they still are available new and cheap.
The front indicators and side lights did not work, also because the wires were not connected. The previous USA owner had second hand European bumpers shipped over from the UK. I think he got a bad deal because the front has a some damage to the fibre glass, and all metal fixings are very corroded. The combined indicator / side lamps are mounted in the bumper and are also corroded. But I managed to dismantle them and get them working again, using new earth wires to the base plates. Now that the front bumper is off the car I think I will try to repair the damage. The bumper also needs lower mounting brackets fabricated, fairly easy to do I think.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[lowdrag]

A 600 mile weekend to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the E-type, all run by the Jaguar club and the local dealership, who put a lot of time effort and a lot of money into this affair. A beautiful weekend's weather which started cold with thick fog, which made driving interesting:-



Followed by a jaunt to a golf club for lunch and on for the arranged grouping of the cars:-



Then on to the dealership who had laid on a most fabulous champagne buffet for us all.

[Bitumen Boy]

Had a busy day today, started up the Herald for the first time since May 2020, pumped up the tyres, got it down off the blocks and moved it across the way to another garage under its own power. No sign of the time to bring it home and get an MOT though For now it's back up on blocks and I left it running with a brick on the throttle until the little bit of petrol I put in for the move had run out, next thing is I'll have to go up in the next few days and put a drop of oil down the bores - like a wally I forgot to take an oil can with me...

Been planning the move for a while, the garage it was in needs a bit of work on the roof - not leaking, but very lightly built in the first place, and it really needs reinforcing from the underside so that a normal adult can actually get on top for maintenance purposes without going straight through. The other reason is that the garage it's in now is in the corner of the yard, with enough space to park a modern outside without blocking anyone else in, so come the end of the month I can SORN one of the moderns and save on rip off road tax

[MikeEdwards]

Over the last couple of days I've fitted the door pillar bottom and tacked on the nearside sill. Next job is to remove the old rear wheelarch "repair" and sort out what's behind it.
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1976 Vauxhall HP Firenza, 1976 Vauxhall Sportshatch (x2), 1986 Audi coupe quattro, 2000 Audi TT

[Ray White]

Somehow the last letter R went missing from the bonnet of my P38 Range Rover. Some people may think I am being pedantic but I simply HAD to replace it.!

I do have a spare "Range Rover" script but it is for a later model and is much bigger ... and looks too gaudy for my liking. It would also mean removing all the other letters which are well stuck on!

My solution was to make a template of the letter R and transfer the outline to some hardboard. I then cut out the letter and shaped it to match.



When satisfied I painted it silver.
When dry I stuck it on the bonnet.

[Bitumen Boy]

[Ray White]

Hi BB. As it happens, I used that wood hardener extensively when restoring the Austin Swallow. I could have replaced all the old timber but I wanted to keep it original. The wood hardener is fantastic stuff and I even used some on a partly rotten window sill on the previous house (Grade 2 listed building dated 1530) and it made a very good repair.

I am thinking of selling the P38; mainly because I seldom do more than 300 miles in a year and the insurance is getting expensive. I just want it to look reasonably well looked after.

Actually, I have the Scewfix 'no nonsense' wood treatment "clear" advertised on that same page. I think the hardboard will last quite well as the paint has soaked in and needed two coats.

The biggest problem for me is that the P38 headlining has started to sag and It costs hundreds ££ to have it fixed. With my dodgy knee and painful thumbs I am reluctant to try doing it myself.!

[Rootes75]

More welding done this morning.

Got all my roof sections fabricated to go over the lorry, I have made the frame for it to go on. Its like a big mechano kit. I just have to transport it all from my daily work down to the yard and then start bolting it all together!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Crashbox]

I'll be heading out to The Old Bull at Inkberrow shortly. It's the Vintage (Morris) Minor Register (VMR) Autumn pub meeting. The landlord of the pub is a member and owns a 1932 Minor four-seater Tourer. Keeping my fingers crossed for dry weather.
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1989 2CV

1932 Morris Minor S.V. Two-Seater

[Rootes75]

Lots more welding done this morning, the rear lower cab section had to be fabricated first though. It it shaped and the lower edge has a 5mm lip facing inwards.

I started by sketching out a template of the rear passenger lower edge and then using that as a mirror image for the drivers side. I then found a good hardwood offcut and planed it down so that it replicated the shape. A good clean piece of mild steel was then sourced and I clamped it to the wood template. The shaped edge was fettled back leaving just over a 5mm lip and then with the use of my panel beating hammers I tapped over the 5mm overhang to form the inward facing lip. Lots of prep and fabrication but once tacked in place it looked really good so we went on and fully welded it in place, it took 3-4 hours just to do this but its another piece ticked off the list, next weekend it will be a case of fettling back the weld and giving it a quick skim of filler to level it out.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Ray White]

You are really getting somewhere with it now.

I never know whether to primer first then filler or filler first then primer?

If you go with primer first some of it gets rubbed off when you sand down the filler so has to be added later anyway.

[Rootes75]

We apply the filler straight on the metal once fettled back. I always recal the use of any filler as being frowned upon by our classic car enthusiasts round here, but even the best restorers use plenty of filler so these days I think its fine.

My plan is to get all the welding finished before the really cold weather hits us, then I can get the primers on and possibly some top coats before its too difficult to paint.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.