Pettifordo

It’s OK, I’ve figured out that it isn’t those bits that the manual was referring to - glass just won’t budge. I think I’m going to give it a good clean and mask it well as I spray the door and then attach the door window seals with it in place 👍

In my Haynes manual it just says to “remove the pins and washer” to separate the glass frame from the winder mechanising. On my car they won’t move any tips on how to get them out ?

I’m considering seeing what finish I can get using rattle cans with the adjustable spray top and perhaps clear coat on top. I’ve managed to get quite good results before on repair sections on other cars. if that fails I found a place the rents a professional spray booth….which would be the next option.

It was originally Vermillion Red but a PO had it painted Metallic BRG which is too modern for the car and in poor condition plus I have stripped the bonnet to fix the rust. So none of the original Vermillion Red is left except for the central prop shaft tunnel which is the only part of the floor I didn’t replace 🤣🤣🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just thought that Green over Green would be easier than Orange/Red over Green ?

Now decided on the “new colour” for the car - going back to Vermillion Red would be super hard so I have decided on Triumph Racing Green GN169 which would have been an option for a 1980s car. I’m also calling an end to the “new nose” Can you see the join 🤔🤔

The battle with my bonnet continues. Seam sealer on the back and into the weld on the lip - keen to make sure no water can get in 👍 Almost there (I think) with the front surface - I think the shape is looking good. Perhaps 1 or 2 more coats of primer with a light rub down with 240 grit between 🤔

Thanks for the tip - I am taking it slowly but more because I have limited time and I have to allow the filler / paint to dry - so far this has been 4 months and counting 👍👍👍

Thanks @Josef - it has been great getting your support along the way. Pleased with todays efforts. Left side needs some knocking back and I haven’t used the 240 Grit yet, so hopefully “invisible” soon.

It was really a series of events that got me here - I figure worst case I can get a replacement bonnet. The rest of the bonnet was ok so it seemed a shame to junk it, I was lucky enough to find the replacement nose on e-bay when enquiring about a 2nd hand bonnet - so that was £40 and the strengthener was £60 That needed some repairs doing which was good for my welding skills. Parts wise I think I’m probably £150 all in plus I don’t want to think of how many hours 😱 I’ve enjoyed getting it all fitted and took advice from here about welding slowly, but I did end up with more of a dip than I was expecting - I think my mistake was to weld the ends and the middle, moving about (between sips of tea) so the panel didn’t get too warm. If I did it again I would just start in the middle and work out (taking even more time between welds) as I think this would have reduced distortion. The net result is I’m honing my filling skills which were last practiced on a 1973 Vauxhall Viva in 1985 🙂 The flexible sanding block has been really good / I hesitated at £14 but for curved surface it has been really good with the 80 Grit sand paper (£12 for 5m of hook and loop paper) cutting the filler nicely plus some 240 Grit to finish it. Lets hope the results aren’t too bad - I think that once you have a hole you can always “see it”. The filler is quite thin and a tape on it still gives a good metallic ring. The underside looks clean and with some seam sealer “it won’t notice 🤣🤣🤣

I’m having fun with plod ! I took off most of the first go and purchased a flexible sander - https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/abrasives/sanding-discs/flexible-long-bed-hand-sanding-block-70-x-400mm/p/ZT2443508S Now on to the 3rd coat of filler 🤔🤔 it looks like quite a large area but it is actually quiet thin, just want to feather the edges so the join is “hidden”. I think it will end up looking ok and at least this filler is over good metal instead of rust - although I do feel I have kind of just moved the filler from being on the nose to being on the bonnet 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yes it is joined really well, not even any pin hole, I had just forgotten how long it takes to get things really smooth 😩😩😩

This is going to keep we quiet for a few hours to get it flat !!

Did you like the new nose 🤔

Do you think I have fitted them the wrong way round ? The lamp felt loose when I had it the other way round 😩 The cowling is fowling on the shaped flange at the top of the bowl - assuming that is the top 🤣🤣🤣 I wish I had paid more attention when taking it apart !