December 1998

December 1998

ith the paint shop date looming I wanted to get ahead and have a few days just to make sure everything was ok before I trailered the car to Leicester to the paintshop.

23rd December

I put a centre line along the car using masking tape to help with the location of the petrol filler cap and the roll hoop. This took quite some time and a lot of tape to get it accurate. Once the centre line was positioned I marked out the position of the filler cap. You have to make sure that you can open the boot without it rubbing or knocking against the cap. Also, the cap needs to line up with the filler tube which extends from the petrol tank.

Following John's instructions regarding roll hoop location I started to put masking tape on the bodyshell and mark out where the holes had to be cut. I triple checked my measurements before I drilled the first hole. I didn't think it would take too long to fit the roll bar, how wrong I was! In all I suppose it took me 8 hours to fit the roll hoop from start to finish.

I completed the assembly of the windscreen wiper assembly and fitted the wiper blades. These needed a bit of bending on the wiper arms to make them sit neatly against the screen. I can't stand wiper blades that either sit on the windscreen chrome surround or don't sit parallel to the edge of the windscreen. I feel that paying attention to these small items makes the overall car appear more professionally finished. It's the combination of lots of little things which makes one car stand out from another.

I ordered a pair of side indicator repeater lamps today from Anthony Stafford components (their address is in the costs page). These are a requirement for the SVA test. I don't like the look of them because I feel they spoil the look of the car, however it won't pass the test with out them - so needs must.

24th December

Finished fitting the roll hoop today. The holes in the bodyshell are a bit too large so they will need to be filled and made smaller before it goes to the paintshop. I found fitting the roll hoop a bit of trial and error and whilst I'm happy with the end result I did take longer to do than I anticipated.

28th December

Spent most of today fitting the windscreen de-mister vents. Why did it take so long? Well I want to use the de-mister vents which came with the Triumph Spitfire heater. They are metal and nicely contoured. Jill, my wife, cut out a pair of templates so it made it easier to mark out the position of the vents. It was difficult to get them central on the car and parallel to the windscreen, but I knew I had to spend the time on this part because when the car was painted I wanted the two white skunk stripes running down the car and any small inconsistencies in the positioning of these vents would show once they'd been applied.

But what I hadn't considered is how the heater tube and metal underneath would meet up with the vent cut into the screen area. The Crendon has a metal bracing strip running the whole width of the of the scuttle to support the dashboard fibreglass section. So I had to decide whether to cut the vents in front of this which meant the vents were right next to the bottom of the windscreen or behind the strip meaning that the vents would be slightly further forward. I also had to take into consideration the windscreen wiper mechanism and wiper motor as I did not want to foul this and cause unnecessary problems in the future.

Applied filler to the enlarged holes I'd made for the roll hoop. I used some aluminium mesh on the underside of the holes to strengthen the filler and applied one thin coat. I plan to apply another coat tomorrow night after I've finished work.

29th December

Snatched a couple of hours after work, just to put a second layer of filler on the holes for the roll hoop. Tomorrow I'll be able to sand down the holes and refit the roll hoop.

30th December

I sanded and shaped the holes for the roll hoop and I'm really pleased with the end result. The rubber grommets supplied by Crendon fit really well and really finishes the job off.

I also fabricated and fitted the door stay to the drivers door. This was easier than I had expected. Using plans supplied by Crendon I used a 'U' shaped exhaust bracket and bent it to a 4" radius and bolted it to the door hinge. A simple but effective way to stop the door from opening too wide and damaging the paintwork of the wing with the leading edge of the door.