Motivation!

Sorry it's been a while since my last update. Things have been quite busy for us all and we've missed a few weekends recently, but work has still been progressing when we get a chance. The most exciting thing to happen over the last few weeks was the reinstallation of the body. OK, it was only temporary (to check out chassis clearance), but it was very motivational and brought back memories of how this thing looked about a year ago. Check it out...

I couldn't help myself, but climb in.

It looks way better now that the chassis has the extra bracing. The main reason for putting the body back on was to measure the clearance behind the bulkhead. We're planning to replace the C-section for the door locks with some 25mm box section that follows the shape of the body.

More Welding

We've also done a bit more welding recently. First up, added new seat rails that line up with the new seat rails, then added some cross bracing in the front.

I'm also contemplating if to add bracing in the front sides. Here are the two options. I think the 2nd option is going to add more strength. The first option won't really do much for bracing.

So welding is nearly complete. Tim has a week off soon, so we're hoping we'll have the chassis ready for painting during that week.

Suspension Painting

Whilst Dad has been working on the engine and I've been welding, Tim has been getting on with painting the rest of the suspension parts. The latest is the rear trailing arms and steering rack. The beauty with the KBS paint is that it's self-levelling and can be brush painted. Tim did a coat of Rust Seal on Saturday and asked me to do a coat of KBS Black Top (UV blocker) on Sunday. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get some practice on my spray gun. Unfortunately, this was a bad idea, I ended up with bad orange peal (rippled surface). I put this down to the fact that I had no idea what each of the knobs on the gun do.

So after some Googling, I learnt how these guns work and headed back to the garage. I gave the parts a light sanding, then hit them with a coat of Rust Seal. This time, I took the time to test the gun on a piece of cardboard and to set up it up properly. I don't think I was getting good atomisation before. Possibly because I didn't use enough thinner. So 2 things, I can recommend to newby painters like me:

1. Test the gun on cardboard before spraying. There are lots of good sites on the web that show what the test patterns should look like and how to identify problems. Play with each of the knobs and understand what each one does.
2. Use the correct amount of thinner as directed by the paint manufacturer.

After all that, here is how it turned out. It could always be better, but at the end of the day it's just suspension parts and we're not building a show-quality car. As long as they are rust free and sealed. Despite the time spent sanding and repainting, this has been a great opportunity for me to learn how to use the spray gun. No doubt these skills will prove handy again.

The Engine

On Saturday I went out for an hour or two and left Tim and Dad at home. I came home and was greeted by this (pretend it doesn't have plastic on it, I forgot to take a photo)...

Yep, the inlet manifold and carby are on now. It looks mean! Can't wait to hear it running. Tim's ordered the rest of the parts to finish it off. We'll give it a coat of paint soon, too.