0019 Clementine changes colour

0019 She changes colour
4th May 2020
Paint on the top and the bottom.

4 litres of Clementine

I bought the Clementine-coloured 2 pack paint from Harts myself in order to make sure I got the right colour, and also to keep the costs down so I am not paying a 3rd party.  It took them about 20 minutes to mix it all up to the correct VW colour code - 4 litres of paint and two litres of hardner - The paint shop will then mix the two as they need it because once mixed it can go off (hard) quite quickly.   Once home with the paint, I checked with GC  Restoration to confirm a time for delivering the car - But unfortunately they have a few hiccups during the current virus and asked to delay everything for a couple of weeks.  Oh.   Well I guess that means I have two weeks to do some stuff that I was really not planning on doing - At least not currently.

 

Our nightly family candle

Each night we try to remember to light a small candle on our table to help remember all our family around the world who are struggling or even just doing it tough during this time of Corona Virus.  I think it is a bit easier
for us old folks as we are not worried about losing our job or paying the rent, so this candle just keeps everyone in our thoughts each night.

The Fox Friday transport

Also we have had some success recently with obtaining some of our daughter Sarah and son-in-law Benn's brewery's beer.  Fox Friday in Hobart is doing it tough during the virus, but have managed to adapt to cellar door sales and home deliveries to keep their business afloat.  With their new van all stickered up with the Fox Friday logo, they are hard to

Fox Friday Triple Double

miss !  And, following a promotional weekend of Tasmanian beers in Queensland a few weeks ago, there was some of their 9.8% Triple Double as well as their Ivana Hopalot beer left over, and we managed to get a case delivered to us - Delicious !

 With our thirst now quenched, time to get back to work ! While the windows are out of the car, I drilled two holes in the steel rear parcel shelf in order to locate two child seat restraint clips - It is much easier to do this now while the windows are out than to be crawling through the car once the windows and upholstery are in.

All finished underneath

With that done, I finished off the painting of the underneath of the car.  One unpainted section stood out like a sore thumb as it sat there all rusty in the middle of all the shiny black paint, and that was the bracket supporting the rear subframe .  Once that was all cleaned and painted, and reinstalled with its 4 rubber washers, I was finished under there ! I did then spend some time inside the engine bay cleaning up and rust proofing some of the worst parts in there because it will be impossible to reach once the engine and gearbox are reinstalled. The only bit that will still need painting later will be the engine mounts that have to be welded up and reinforced by GC Restoration next week.

Cleaning up fasteners

In any restoration, a LOT of one's time is spent cleaning up parts and also the hundreds of nuts and
bolts and washers and clips that are taken off the car. This is done not only to keep costs as low as possible, but in this case many of the original German sourced items are actually better quality, even after 50 years, than some of the modern cheaper

Cleaning up nuts & bolts

replacements.  Obviously any parts that are weakened or badly damaged by rust will not be re-used, but everything has to be cleaned in order to make that decision.  So many long hours are spent on the bench wire wheel, or the Dremel, or using emery cloth and wire brushes in order to recover as much as possible without damaging them, and where necessary paiting the parts.  Overall this is probably where 40-50% of my time is spent.

The original engine cover mat

The steel engine lid was almost the most severely rusted part on the whole car when I got it,  but with a strong wire brush on my angle grinder I had managed to save it.  The same could not be

The new engine cover writing

said for the flexible cover that went over the lid, which was rotting and falling apart.  The new covering will be the new carpet, so I had to find a way to make stencils that indicate the "open" and "closed" positions of the catches.  I ended up making them up from some letters left over from our Peking to Paris stickers and putting them on the metal lid itself rather than on the matting, although I have to find some suitable letters for the German words "Zu" and "Auf" to keep it reasonably original.  This can always be added later.

Working on the A pillar

Shortly after all this work (and a lot more I don't mention here) was completed,  GC Restoration was ready for the car, and I arranged Cheaper Towing to come and pick Clementine up and run her 15 minutes up the road.  I was able to fit all the panels in my car 2 at a time except the bonnet, so we strapped that to the truck.  With the shell of the car delivered to GC Restoration, I had to make 3 or 4 more trips to get all the panels over, and by the time I got back for the 3rd time, they were already working on the rust

A pillar all fixed

problem in the front left hand A pillar.  I was very pleasantly surprised with how quickly they got on with the work, and they cut about a 10 inch length of rusty steel out of the pillar, and were cleaning up the inside of the pillar which was basically still solid inside. Since the structural strength is still there, and given that the door hinges are not mounted in this section, the plan is to remove the rusted strip, treat the internal cavity heavily with anti rust compound, and then to fabricate a new outer skin.  I left them to it, but the photo sequence shows how the work was done, and I am very happy with the result.

Engine mounts rewelded

They also welded up the broken right rear engine mount, and reinforced the left one - Hopefully that will not be a problem again.  Meanwhile I went home to get on with some of the many other jobs that needed doing.  I took the spare wheel and started to try to clean it up, but the surfaces were so severely rusted that I was just never going to be able to do a good job with the tools at

Rusty wheel

my disposal, so I decided to get them renovated professionally.  I could probably buy new wheels more cheaply, but that would be a waste, so I will get the existing wheels rejuvenated as long as their condition is acceptable.  Depulu Wheels are right opposite GC Restoration, so I left the one wheel I have with them as a trial.  I also have to work out which tyres to put on, and with 4.5 inch side wheels, there aren't a lot of choices ! So I am working with Matt at Action Tyres to come up with the best option.

Front indicator

The front and rear indicator modules are not in too bad a shape on the outside, with the outer plastic and inner module just needing cleaning up.  But all the rubber seals were very perished and in poor condition, so my first task was to see what replacement parts are available. The heavier black rubber mounting seals were the worst - Very hard with age, split, and even completely broken in two in one instance - But I found that replacements are only available ex UK and are GB Pounds 50 each, plus then freight to Australia !  So I spent several days gluing, patching, and softening the rubber as much as possible, using an AutoGlym product.  I wont say they are perfect, and I will have to check them for fit once the car comes back, but hopefully I have saved some money there.  I also found the

Reverse light fixture

thin internal sealing strips were hard and perished, but I was able to make some new ones up from some suitable foam rubber I had on my shelf.  Finally on these indicator units, I was perplexed that there was a place in the rear untis for a reverse light, but there was only half a fitting for the bulb, so wiring, and no reverse switch in the gearbox.  Researching the issue on line, I found that my gearbox does have the fitting for the switch but with a blank plug in it, that a switch was easily available, and that the parts to complete the light fitting socket were available.  So I ordered all the parts, fitted them as they arrived, and hopefully when the car is all put together I will now have reversing lights !

Grandaughter Hayley in a puddle

Received some lovely pictured of our grand daughters from the Netherlands this week - One of 3 year old Hayley jumping in a rain puddle I especially loved - More adults need to go back in time and "jump in rain puddles" - Just do something because it feels good, and damn the consequences !! Another photo of Hayley and Mum Tanja at the table with the 5 month old twins Sophie and Emily - Janet is supposed to be over there with them at the moment, but for obvious reasons has had to cancel the trip.  Thats probably the hardest issue of this virus - It keeps families apart.

Working on rear bumper

Next on the list was the rear bumper.  I had cleaned up the front
bumper some months ago, but the rear unit was a bit worse. with a couple of dings in it as well as moderate rust on the upper surface. I had read that chrome responds well to being polished with vinegar and aluminium foil, so I tried it - And was stunned with the result.  Unfortunately the rust that had eaten through the chrome could obviously not be removed, but the whole bumper really came up very well.  Apparently the bumpers are symetrical so they can be fitted upside down, which would mean the chrome damage would be less visible.  On this basis, I took the bumpers over to GC Restoration and they are going to try to press out the damaged sections and make them usable.  I think they will be OK.

Candle at dawn on Anzac Day

It was then Anzac Day - A day when we remember past wars and conflicts and those that served in them with dawn services, and marches through towns and cities by past and present serving personnel. Of course this year this was not possible, so instead everyone went to the end of their drive at dawn, with a candle, and watched the dawn come up as we remembered those who gave their lives.  It was very different, and very moving, and in many ways involved more people than usual.  A beautiful morning.

Cleaning door vinyl

I had repaired the passenger door panel previously, but now had time to work on the other side, and it
was in quite bad condition.  The vinyl cover is not in too bad condition, but was very dirty and stained. The board card itself was much worse - Badly warped, water stained, split - Not good.  

New door card vs old

New door trim all fixed

First up I cleaned the vinyl with Gumption, and patched a couple of small cuts from behind.  I then removed the vinyl sheet carefully, including its padded backing, and set it aside which I used the original card as a templete to
mark and cut out a new card from similar material, including all the holes for the door pocket, the window winder, and all the clips that hold it in place.  Once this was done, the vinyl was replaced back onto the new card, gluing the edges and stapling all the corners, as per the original.  Another job done.

Small rear windows

The rear side windows open slightly, but are not hinged - They actually flex a small amount in the rubber frame !  These rubber frames are impossible to replace - No one makes them anymore - so when we took all the glass out we had to be really careful not to damage them, which was hard because the rubber had deteriorated so much in the weather over the last 50 years. It was hard, and the surface was rough with little cracks.  I spent some time researching how to rejuvenate rubber, but nothing seemed suitable. First I sanded the rough rubber very gently with 400 grit, and this seemed to work really well - it smoothed out the rough surface and also seemed to remove the rop surface of cracks. I ethen bought AutoGlym rubber and trim treatment, which is a very syrupy liquid, and applied this quite copiously, rubbing it in well.  I repeated the doese after 24 and 48 hours, and the rubbers really seemed much better. and will hopefully fit back in OK.  I will need to look after them in the coming years. 

Freshly painted

Finally, last week, Geoff called me to come over to GC Restoration and have a look at Clementine.  I drove over there and the car was still in the paint booth - They had only just finished painting the shell about half an hour before.   She was so SHINY !!!   Having got so used to seeing her in a mixture of faded old paint, rust, and grey primer, to see her primarily in the correct Clementine colour was amazing.  Because all the panels are off the car, it was only the shell of the car I was looking at, so it was mainly the roof that was on display.   I have now collected

At SS Trimming

the car and today Cheaper Trucking  came and collected her and took her over to Steve at SS Trimming in Labrador who will fit the new roof liner and internal trim.  Steve did a great job on the seats a few weeks ago, and also did work for us on the Healey, so I am excited to see how it comes together with the new liner.  The plan is to fix some heat absorbent foam to the roof, between the roof and the liner, in the hope that it will reduce heat transfer into the car - Remember it doesn't have airconditioning !

On the way home from SS Trimming I dropped into Instant Windscreens and prepared them to fit the windows back in the car once Steve has finished.  I am getting a light tint on the windows done while they are out of the car, again to try to reduce heat build up in the car, and then I will have to make sure I don't scratch them as I try to fit them.  And while I am waiting for all this to be done, I have plenty of other small items to take care of at home, as well as a few chores around the house that I have been deferring for a while !

Rest of the pics are here :-  https://photos.app.goo.gl/hrbojGrQTPWASti86