Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Yup, just tap out the hinge pins & they're off. The body wasn't in good shape when I first bought it & nothing seems to be symmetrical from one side to the other. So I've been welding a few areas, filling larger low spots with fibreglass & skimming it with filler. I don't think it'll ever be arrow straight, but as we've said before, it's a road car, not a show car. I'd like it to be reasonably presentable though.

[gazzagood]

As long as it goes in straight line. I think that will be straight enough 

[Manky Monkey]

Still rubbing down. Nothing to see here. Move along please.

Just for something different to do after work this afternoon, I squirted some grey primer over some of the tubing in the cab. Nowhere near as nice as it looks in the photo, but at least it shows what still needs to be sanded back.

[morrag]

You're goin' to end up with "Sanders Elbow" you are, you are...........you are....

[Manky Monkey]

  and it's not like it's super glass-like smooth. I'm just slapping some filler on, rubbing it down, finding a bit I missed, re-filling it, rubbing it back again, etc etc. It's taken weeks, but only really been a few hours at a time in between doing other stuff. I'll still be bloomin' glad when it's green though.

[Manky Monkey]

I'm beginning to get ever so slightly dis-heartened with this filling business.
Missed out on 2 London hotrod events today, the Krispy Kreme donut shop meet in New Malden & the Detonators car club barbeque in Shooters Hill, to spend the day covered in filler dust again. No Loon today, just me & the cat, but I had sandpaper & primer paint in the cab, so didn't need access to the workshop. It did mean I couldn't mix fresh filler though.
So after rubbing down everything I'd filled last time, I rolled the Pop well away & down wind from the VW Golluff that Mr Loon's just painted, (in NHS hearing aid beige), & primed everything. No masking tape to hand, so I had to use a piece of cardboard to shield the glass, upholstery etc. Hopefully not too much overspray to clean up. Just a guide coat to show the areas that still need work, but predictably, it looked 'orrible -a lot more left to tidy up than I'd hoped. Didn't look too bad in bare metal, but a layer of paint shows up every ripple, dent & sandpaper scratch.
Bugger. So at least another couple of afternoons to go. Getting there, but getting fed up with it now.

[Manky Monkey]

Lots of curves & odd angles, created from filler & thin air to blend various layers of steel together into something resembling a flowing overall shape.

[Manky Monkey]

They forcast rain today, but it turned into a lovely afternoon.
I can think of better ways of spending it.

[kapri]

I used to ( mostly) love doing filler and bodywork, a process  akin to sculpting just in s different medium

[Manky Monkey]

Me too. Just getting fed up with this lot though. I've got a little bit of metal sculpture to do later this week, which I'm quite looking forward to.
Think I'll take a break from it this afternoon & go & see the upholsterer instead.
I missed you at Jackhammer Speed Shop last week Kev. I was there the following day.

[kapri]

Miles mentioned you while we were talking about SVA and suchlike . Collected some new bits for the Capri but it'll still be awhile before I reach the back end to lower it.

[Manky Monkey]

A day of plywood & cardboard today.
My buddy at work cut some plywood panels for me from the paper templates I made. They hang from the framework behind the seats. Because the seats sit so close to the back of the cab though, I had to cut the panels & fold a section back to create a recess for the seat to fit into. I bonded them together with fibreglass matting, smoothed with a little filler & dropped them off at the upholsterer this afternoon when I collected the footwell panels he's covered for me. He'll cover these in plain black vinyl. 

[Manky Monkey]

The seats are reproduction Austin 7 frames. They were intended to be completely upholstered so the wonky swage lines & slightly different heights & angles wouldn't really show. I bought them from an autojumble for 20 quid the pair & welded up my own mounts for them. Although they're bolted in exactly the same place on the floor, the passenger one leans back further than the drivers, so there's virtually no gap between the seat back & the plywood panel at all, even with the recess. Hopefully it'll be fine. Nothing's symmetrical from one side of the cab to the other, but it wasn't when it left the factory either.

[Manky Monkey]

There's also very little storage space in here.
I made a tiny little glovebox under the dash, but because of the pipework going to the remote brake servo & the recessed radiator header tank on the bulkhead & all the other gubbins under the dash, it's literally only 5 inches square -big enough to put my house keys in, or loose change or maybe a pair of sunglasses if you wedge them from corner to corner, but that's about all. I've got an elasticated mesh pocket to go on the passenger door panel, but nowhere to put stuff out of sight when it's parked up, (like the SatNav when we go abroad).
So I'm using the space between the seats for a storage box. All those hours of lusting after Valerie Singleton & her sticky backed plastic on Blue Peter have finally paid off with this masterpiece of the cardboard box maker's art. 

[Manky Monkey]

The front will be hinged & I've got a small chrome push button latch for it to match the one on the glovebox. I'll give this to my mate at work to re-create in plywood for me, then pass it to the upholsterer to cover in black vinyl. Then I'll probably line it with self adhesive black rubber sheet to match the glovebox. I'm seriously thinking about fitting 2 cup holders to the inside of the lid, though that'll probably get me lynched by the serious hotrod boys.