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.

FHC resto nr. 33; Drilling holes

Back to the restoration of the FHC. Or should I say I had forgotten something? While sorting through the various parts that need some sort of coating, I also used the photo-book I made of the DHC's restoration. And this reminded me of the fact that some more holes needed to be drilled before the final paint layers can be applied. Because for that Seventies look the car of course needs mud-flaps. And I forgot to drill the holes for these in the wheel arches' lips. Luckily they have not yet received their final paint layers. So easy to put straight with the aid of a drill and some threaded steel rivets ...

But that made me check over more of the photo's I shot during the restoration of the DHC. And sure enough I found some more holes that needed drilling before the final paint preparations. As the car needed one new door (including a new skin) that needed the mounting holes drilled. The other door had been fitted with various different mirrors in its life, so all these holes had been welded up. This meant some more drilling was necessary ...

Also slow progress on the final paint preparations. A slight problem with the bonnet. The skin in front of the left hand louvres stands slightly proud. So a bit of a problem to get decent smooth lines there ...

And some line-rectification was also necessary on the head-lamp pods. With both sides having some flaws in there casting ...

Milestone ...

With the weather forecast for today being rather fine, and because I am enjoying a three week holiday, I decided to take the DHC out for a tour into the German Nordeifel. Actually I wanted to do a first reconnaissance for our annual Nachtrit, which will be held later in the year (Saturday the 31st of October to be precise). Sadly right from the start @ Rolduc I ran into problems with the draft route. And before I had driven 50 kilometres I already had three major problems. Al relating to roads being closed for through traffic or unsuitable for night-time driving (to rough and narrow). As a result of these setbacks I lost a lot of time. And as I had taken my time to get to the start, enjoying the weather and the (mostly German) country lanes ...

... I decided to call it a day halfway through the first stage and the afternoon. Clearly to be continued later in my holiday when I have someone to accompany me. Which should make it all a lot easier. Driving, map reading and programming the sat-nav doesn't go well together. But while trying to find a route through the Hürtgenwald I noticed just in time that the car's odometer was back to where it started ...

FHC resto nr. 32; Resuming paint preparations

After an almost two month pause on the paint preparations of the car, work has been resumed this weekend. In my last post I mentioned that the bonnet and boot lid had their paint removed. At the moment the boot-lid together with some smaller trim part are ready for their final primer coat, which is scheduled for tomorrow. The bonnet needs a little extra work done to it. But that should also be ready by the end of this week.

But while I was sifting through my parts in the shed I found a few things on the cars body that need rectifying. Most important being the chassis number. Due to the amount of primer and paint it is not possible to read the number properly. Which means it won't get through its APK (as the MOT is called over here) which it needs when I want to put her back on the road.

The other bit needing rectifying is the fact that I forgot to drill some holes in the wheel arch lips. These are necessary for the mud flaps that will be fitted to the car. Luckily easy to rectify as the outside isn't painted yet. I just have to make sure I don't damage the inside of the wheel arches ...