Manky's Pop.

[stinkey]

Must have been difficult to open the doors ?

[Manky Monkey]

  Sometimes I think I should've left it like that, although it looks far better in photos than it actually was. The original plan was just to put an engine & a windscreen in it & drive it just like that.
A little progress today. My day off so Mr Loon kindly gave me a lift to the workshop, (I haven't got any transport at the moment). We dunked the carb in his ultrasonic cleaning tank, & while that was buzzing I finished a few bits of fillering. Then His Looniness blew most of the inside of the cab over in green aerosol paint -well, if you've got a professional painter on hand, why risk getting runs in the paint yourself. The colour showed up a couple of bits that need a quick rub down & re-spray, ironically all in the dashboard area, but otherwise, not too bad at all. There's a few wobbles & areas that aren't symmetrical from one side of the cab to the other, but the cars left the factory like that anyway & by the time the upholstery goes in, a lot of it'll be hidden. Still got the bottom half of the door shuts & the sills to finish off, but they can be done without disturbing the rest of the interior. Haven't even looked at the doors yet, but they're only held with 2 hinge pins so can be hoiked off the car & worked on separately.
Once the dash surround's re-done I can hook up the dashboard at long last. 

[Manky Monkey]

Looking forward to seeing it with the upholstery panels fitted now.

[Manky Monkey]

Got a lift to the workshop with Mr Loon this afternoon cos my little daily driver's still out of commission. Damn it was hot over there. Summer's finally arrived I think.
We picked up some of the upholstery panels from the lock-up garage we share for all our junk & I got them fitted. A bit of a bugger to line some of the holes up, but managed to get them in without ripping any or taking chunks out of the bodywork.
The green & black go together well & having the panels suspended between the tubing looks good. The gaps around the edges are bigger than I'd expected, so the silver Dynamat sound proofing material shows in a few places. I'll probably just paint it black with a small brush for now, but when the lot comes apart for proper paint at some point I'll look at some sort of rubber flap around the back of the panels to hide the gaps.
Looks good in photos, but the green's not nearly so pretty in real life. The bright sunlight showed there's not a single area that hasn't got sanding marks, edges of filler or small dings showing. Hopefully I can work through those one at a time once it's on the road & sort them out, but Loon's 2 pack paint will have much more "body" to it to fill some of the imperfections than the thin aerosol paint. I'm really pleased with the overall look though. Looks like a real car!

[Manky Monkey]

I'll work my way down from the top, cleaning everything up as I go. Got to weld silencer mounts in, then paint the chassis, before the floors go back in.
The brackets above the windscreen hole the sun visors & also attach the front edge of the roof panel, but I didn't have the bolts to hand for them. Forgot to fetch the lens for the interior light from the garage too. I've put a green bulb in it, just because I found some on Ebay, but if it proves a bit too much I can easily swap it for a plain one. Didn't have an interior light at all last time it was on the road.

[Manky Monkey]

Loosely bolted the dashboard in place, just cos it was the safest place to put it, but I need to clean 2 years worth of accumulated sanding dust & crud out from behind it & connect the wiring loom & speedo cable up before it goes in permanently. There's a black rubber edging strip that runs across the top, as well as chrome screen de-mister vents. I'll leave the upholstered panels under it off for now, just in case something shorts out when we fire it up. They'll need a rubber edging bead between them & the bottom of the dash to fill the gap, but that right hand panel bolts up tighter than that.

[Manky Monkey]

I think it was worth changing the steering wheel -this is the 3rd one it's had.
The infill pieces at either end of the dash are never going to flow perfectly cos they curve in several different directions to join the body, but should look O.K when it's all together properly. Neil G donated the bakerlite dash, which had 6 different layers of paint on it & was missing 2" from either end, presumably to clear a roll cage in a previous life. Once it's been apart for "proper" paint, I'll get local pinstriper "Nefarious" to sign write the doors. I don't want traditional hotrod pinstriping cos I just think it's a bit done to death now, but might get him to add some shadowing or something to blend the dash into the bodywork better.
The doors are a whole other job. I haven't even looked at them yet, but they can be unfastened in 2 minutes & worked on separately from the car. I need to make new window channels & have some American interior trims that are metal instead of the original bakerlite so can be cut about & welded to the door. The upholstered door panels are sat in the garage waiting for fitting.

[Manky Monkey]

The windscreen's held in place by a metal strip screwed to the interior surround -that's the standard factory set-up, but in mine it leaves a 1/4" gap around the edge of the bodywork. Hopefully I can find a black mastic sealant that'll fill the gap. Loon plonked the distributor back in place in the engine, but we'll need to prime the oil again & hook up a temporary fuel tank before thinking about starting it -& maybe clean the screen. Seems strange to imagine driving it again after so long.
Getting there.

[minimutly]

One build at a time is enough for most mortals, but you seem to be able to work two absolute masterpieces at the same time - hats off

[Manky Monkey]

Ha! Not sure I'd call either of 'em that, but they're very definitely my last 2 builds. The Pop & my bike are the ones I want to keep forever & just get out & enjoy. Eventually.

[the coppersmith]

Looking good 

[twisted]

looking good sir looking good 

[Manky Monkey]

I've had no transport for a week or so since my daily driver died, (my car, not a chauffeur), but picked up a rental car this afternoon for a family get-together tomorrow, so I called at the workshop in it.
Mr Loon was just heading home so I spent an hour or so fitting a few more upholstery panels, just to use the time productively & to boost my enthusiasm by pretending it's nearly done.
Bolted up the green Perspex sun visors. The bolts also hold the front edge of the roof panel in place. One visor's gained a few scratches while it's been in storage, which were absolutely nothing to do with BayChimp standing on it, several times, in the lock-up garage. No, not anything to do with that. Can scratches be polished out of 5mm Perspex?
Can't use solid visors cos I'd end up with a 3" strip of vision across the bottom of the screen, but I quite like the vintage look of the green ones.

[Manky Monkey]

Up.

Down.

[Manky Monkey]

I broke the original domed glass for the interior light some time ago, (unscrewed the chrome bezel & it had "glued" itself to the rubber sealing gasket, so I left it in place, then came back the next day to find it'd fallen off & smashed when the temperature had dropped overnight). Fortunately I managed to find a spare at the autojumble of the Dutch hotrod show I go to each year. I've kept it carefully in a cardboard box & went to fit it today, only to find it's about a millimetre too big in diameter. It doesn't fit inside the bezel. Mr Olds, don't suppose you have the capability to grind the edge to fit do you? I also bought a clock face glass, which is the right diameter, but much thinner & clear. If the frosted glass one can't be ground down, can the clear glass one be frosted?