FHC resto nr. 36; The final lap

The end of the paint preparation is drawing ever nearer. Last Thursday the last separate part, the passenger door, was flattened down and prepared to receive its final coat of primer ...

... which it got on Friday. So with that job done all the "loose" parts are now ready for final preparation and after that finally painting ...

And that also meant that it was time to reunite them with the cars body for a final detailed check and drub down. So trailer time again, to move the body on to the next stage ones more ...

Current schedule is that the body shell with all parts should be ready for its final journey to the spray cabin by the end of the month. But before that a few small issues will need sorting. Most important one being the chassis number. Due to the amounts of primer and paint it can't be read properly anymore, which is an MOT fail over here. And while the body was out in the bright sunlight yesterday afternoon we found out that the orange paint needs careful application as it looks like there is a certain transparency to it. In some places there is a hint of the grey primer shining through.

FHC resto nr. 35; Striping ready

I received a messages this week with a picture attached showing a desk top. But what was lying on top of the desk looked rather promising ...

The striping was ready, and much earlier than expected. First impression was pretty good and after picking out the remainder of the surplus pieces and adding the adhesive backing foil it looks like this ...

I won't go into any details about adding the backing foil, but I can tell you it was a pig of a job to do (thx J.). But rather pleased with the end result, especially the looks of the small details in the logo's and the striping.
In my previous post on this topic I mentioned that there might well change something in the rear wing area before the final design was ready. But after modelling several options on the computer I decided the original text and font looked best. Almost can't wait to see it on the car. But that is still some time away.

35

Today it was exactly 35 years ago that my TR7 DHC was first registered in the Netherlands. And as she was registered in the same week as two press cars, she might well be one of the first DHC's sold in the Netherlands. But that's all history now! As bought in 1988, in her original guise of Platinum Grey (MCA) with Navy (JAJ) velours interior ...

... and shortly before the restoration began in 2008 ...

But her current guise is probably much better known ...

FHC resto nr. 34; Striping update

It's been a while since I last worked on the design for the striping. But as a friend bought a new cutting plotter it was time to blow the dust of the original files for a final check. First thing to do was make a test plot of the most critical piece and see how it looked and fitted. Fit and proportions of the striping looks to be all right. But the "TR7" for underneath the rear blanking plates looked a bit skinny, so I beefed the letters up a bit. Still not quit happy with the font though, there might well change something in this area before the final design is ready ...

As compensation for my use of his plotter he asked if I could make him a file for the boot lid transfer. That will be for his newly acquired TR7 (and soon to become V8). This was of course no problem. And as I now have a small printer/scanner and an original early TR7 boot lid and nose transfer set, it was pretty easy to make up a nicely looking TR7V8 transfer using the original font design.

This exercise made me rethink my plans for the FHC's striping though. Original plan was to use the original transfers already mentioned, but I thought it a good idea to have all transfers and the striping cut from the same material. So I made files for the nose and boot lid too, but with a slight personal touch for the boot lid transfer. One for the anoraks to spot the difference :-)

By now I really got the hang of it so I decided to change the door striping slightly, with a small addition to the front of the striping. At least there won't be a discussion what engine lives underneath the bonnet! The black adhesive foil should be in by next week and looking forward to the final result.