Fender Fun, Part 1

I spent my day today tidying up some stuff and getting the front wings to fit properly.  They're close, but not perfect yet...

I did work to get the nuts in the right spot and the bolts to go into them.  Tightened down, everything is flush and gaps look pretty decent.

I did do a little surgery on the passenger's side A post, pushing the bottom of the skin back about 1/4" to get a better gap on the front of the door.  It's much better for the door gap and the fender.  I'm not done making it look pretty, but it is better than it looks in the picture.  I did botch it up a bit, though, I admit.

 

I set the new, beautiful bonnet in place and found two things:

1. It's glorious.
2. It doesn't fit very well.

I'm hoping it's just some growing pains, getting everything lined up.  It is weird, seeing something with paint on the car... I forgot what that looks like.

NOTE: I fixed comment postings so they actually work.  Not that I expect the whole world is watching, but you never know.

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Stand

Since I'm almost done with the sheet metal work, I figured it was time to put the body up on something a little more stable (and off the ground).

So I made a little cart.

After some careful, accidental measuring, it's perfect.

Now I can work on things and not be worried I'll drop the body, and not have to crouch so much to work on the doors and fenders.  When the body's painted, I'll be able to install brake and fuel lines without killing myself.  

Wow, I can't believe I just said "when it's painted".  Could it really happen?

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It's Been How Long?

Eleven years.  That's how long it's been.

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They Close, Too

I spent time today fitting the windscreen and seeing if I can get the doors to latch.  Of course, I had to find the parts for the doors... which weren't where I thought they'd be (even though I reorganized all my parts not too long ago).  But I did find them.  I even did a good job when I tore it all apart, as the pieces for each door were together in nice little bags.

So after some cleaning and finagling, and fabricating a couple of extra shims for the strikers, the doors close and latch.  I had saved the old rubber for the door jambs, so things close nice and tight like they will when I have new rubber bits.

 

Open... and closed.

 

Things don't line up exactly like they did before.  But, everything is pretty close--close enough that I'll probably be the only one who notices, or cares.  It looks like the A post for the passenger's side is a little too low underneath where the windscreen attaches, by about 1/4".  But it's close enough, and I "made it fit" with my trusty Dremel to make holes a bit bigger.

What matters is that the doors and vent windows line up against the windscreen and there aren't any odd gaps.

My daughter told me that "it's starting to look like a car again".  I think so, too.

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Beautiful Bonnet

I have some sort of sickness.  I can't seem to resist buying hoods.  I've bought two, and neither was really all that great (one all rusted out, and the other all beat up).

So, I bought another one.

This time, it's near-perfect.  It came from a shop, Greatest Years Sports Cars, in Oregon.  I got a good deal on shipping, too (Greyhound Package Express--who knew?).  It arrived today; I can't wait to see how it fits.  Of course, I've got to fix the hood hinges first because... well, they're crap.

Maybe hood hinges will be my new obsession.

Ooooooooh.

Ahhhhhhhh.

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Doors, Part 2

I spent a little quality time with the Dremel on the mounts for the doors, and it's quite a bit better.

 

I can do a little magic on the edges of the door to make them a tiny bit longer and things will look nice.  I also did a little magic on the top of the A post to make the gap smaller.

The A post on the driver's side is about 4mm too far forward at the top end (3/16" for us commoners).  It's too late to do anything significant about it.  Next time, I'll tack weld everything, then make sure it fits.  (There will NOT be a next time.  Unless it's a Jaguar XKE, and if I buy it in such poor condition, my wife will kill me, then sue me for damages.)  I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that will notice, except for anyone that reads this and then sees the car.

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Doors, Part 1

I hung the doors today.  Hmmm.  They don't fit as well as they did before.

I'm not sure what's wrong yet, but I can only surmise I messed up on the measurement for the driver's door at the top end--there's a 1/4" gap that isn't there on the passenger's side.  I'm not quite sure how to fix that... because if the pillar isn't lined up right, the vent window-to-windshield seal won't be very good and the window itself may not fit properly.  Not only that, the door isn't quite square in the opening.

I mean, it's not that bad... but I think it needs to be better.

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Bumper Cars

The last job for the trunk is to weld in the support brackets that hold the bumper to the car.  They fit pretty quickly, and the holes I made mostly line up properly.  It doesn't take too much to get everything lined up and welded in.  I mount the bumper and it's nice and straight to the body.

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