It’s slowly coming together. The slam panel and grille panel are complete. I didn’t get a chance to fit the plastic grille, but I did get the chassis Schutz done (I gave the modified cross-member a few coats and thoroughly waxoiled the iside to cover any steel where the galvanizing may have burnt off). I also gave another coat wherever the aluminium or steel grinding/drilling dust and granules had stuck to the surface and all the top surfaces of the chassis, so it’s all clean and freshly black! I also repainted the exhaust with high-temp aliuminium paint where there was some small black overspray.
The galvanised rear corner protectors had a few bits of surface rust on the edges where the fabricators had been a bit overzealous in removing the zinc flashings. I was going to try Sandy’s trick of 50:50 black and silver Hammerite, but instead decided to try a 50:50 mix of Zinc 182 (grey) and the high temp exhast paint (silver). It looked a bit bright while wet, but now it’s dry it’s utterly indestinguishable from the surrounding zinc, and will have better protective properties than Hammerite too. I took a quick look at the tub today. It’s coming along well, but I suspect it won’t be ready to fit this week. Shame, as once it’s on, the bulkhead removal bar and seat base can be fitted, and I’m getting sick of tripping over them in the garage. Still, it’s quality that counts, not time scale. I think there’s still a good chance of me driving it to Billing, though the interior may not be finished. I also dropped the chequer-plate wing tops and rear side panels at the powder coater’s this morning. His neighbour on the industrial estate bead blast them as soon as we took them in, and they’ll be ready for fitting tomorrow afternoon. He’s applying a matt-satin black finish that will have a rough texture similar to wet&dry paper, increasing the non-slip nature of the plate. Looks fantastic, too. The cost for this rapid service? £30 total for all 4 pieces
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