Trim trials and workmate wobbles

 The wheels all have the first of 2 phases done. That is all the insides done in black gloss, all the outsides done in very bright silver. The silver was rather annoying in so much as the nozzle became blocked on both cans halfway down the volume and proceeded to drop big blobs in random places. 

But since they are having a final coat or two of Ford nimbus grey all that remains is to have the tyres removed, some liberal wet and dry to get the finish right, spray and have the tyres fitted.

I have purchased the Nimbus grey already ( only one can as that was all Halfords had in stock ) and couldn't resist a little test spray. It looks perfect. Just the right shade . No pictures though as I'm fed up of photographing them. I'm not sure the camera phone would to be good enough to capture the true quality as the grey primer looked exactly like the very bright silver.

After the tribulations of the power tool issues I thought all the annoying little troubles were over.

No, not at all. During the wheel refurb I had two disasters. 

1/.  With the constant flipping over of the wheels complete with tyres one of the workmate wooden jaws snapped. What caused it mostly was my annoyance of all the tiny crud wedged into the small gap between the wheel rim itself and the inner section. Despite blowing out the debris with the leaf blower ( amazing power ) still crusty bits remained. I even tried to load the gap with aerosol grey primer and silver paint but to no avail. 

I then had a great brainwave. Fill the gap with decorators caulk ( same as seam sealer) and smooth over with a tiny flat bladed electrical screwdriver. It worked a treat..........sort of.

Then excess stuff just lingered around the edges and trying to clean it off just dropped more stuff into the smooth recess. Attemts to re-smooth it just made it worse. 

So I had to remove it all, scrape away, re-sand and re-clean and think again.

Pictured is said crevice with dried gunk from seal sealer/caulk prior to cleaning. Plus a few spots of drippy silver from errant aerosol.

What I did next was again a little off kilter but glad to say it worked. 

Skulking in the shed I found a tin of  primer/mould killer/ sealer that I used for the bathroom ceiling. It was very thick and dries quickly and permanently. Using a small thin art brush stolen from wifeys stash it was applied to all five wheels and it left a smooth finish with minimal sanding of the excess on each edge.

Yet to be sanded but at least all is done. Five wheels done and not to be touched till the tyres are removed.

2/.

Next up was the workmate replacement wooden jaws. Easily found on the internet, £ 12 for a pair including delivery. The fact that a brand new workmate from Aldi is only £16 means I've saved £4. Win win.

The vinyl I purchased was another matter altogether. I'd used some for the rear armrests which worked great. After reviewing the state of the current dash top I decided to replace that too with new vinyl, together with a new hardboard backing as the earlier new one didn't come away cleanly.

Well it looked awful. I'm sure glad I decided to replace it with lovely new vinyl. £18 for a large peice and I only used a small amount for the rear armrests. Also I was going to use it for the door cards. The cards themselves are rubbish with lots missing/ disintegrated areas but enough to fashion new hardboard backs .

The big question was though did I have enough vinyl to recover the dash top and two door cards ?

Well in short....... did I f ***. Not by much but still not enough. I must have been trying at least an hour to try in fit the three pieces on the remaining vinyl but every way I was about 2" short  in one small area.

Typical. Here's a shot of my best attempt.

So a big decision had to be made. I decided that the bottom 5" or so of the door card vinyl would be made up of black carpet. That way using less vinyl I would be easily able to cover all the new hardboard pieces. BTW the door card hardboard has not been purchased yet but I did have enough hardboard to make the new dash top. Well at least draw out the shape. The weather looked a bit iffy so I resisted in cutting the board with the jigsaw and did a lot of staring at the parts and rooting around in the shed. Thats maybe for tomorrow.

Here's a view of the boards with the  (theoretical reduced size ) of vinyl layed out. 

Loads o room.

Next big thing is the ordering of the tyres. What size though ? I'm thinking 176  x 65, although 165 x 65 would work. I have the advantage of having several sizes of tyres fitted to the wheels and the 175's look the best. Avon tyres look competatively priced and were originally fitted to many Birtish cars of the era.

In still yet to have to set a date with the mobile auto electrician, need to remove the tyres so I can do the final wheel colours and glue and fit the dash top and fit the dash complete. 

I'm hoping to get these done in the next few weeks, along with then dreaded cant rail then start on.........

Well loads.....new proper road springs, new heater matrix, chrome bumper mounting bolts, etc etc.

More soon folks, its picking up pace.