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30th August - Doomsday!!
Everything was going so well and today the world collapsed around our ears!!
The guys did a great job with the blasting, the car looks great, but unfortunately
there is a lot less of it now!! There was a little more rust than we thought and instead of one days welding there's
now three days worht and a little bit more serious, so we can't do it at the current location.
Heads and phones were put together for about an hour with various calls to various
people and no joy so far. A few messages are waiting to be returned and a few favours to be called in tomorrow but for
now, watch this space, as we'll need a pause and a re-group.
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| Rear near side wing |
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| Rear and off side |
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| Near side |
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| Full car |
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| Engine bay |
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| Rear off side again |
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| Bootlid and quarter panel |
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| Front of car |
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1st September (Friday)
Right, back on track. We've managed to get a workshop for the whole of next
week (we'll move the car in on the 2nd and then start properly on the 4th). I've also managed to sort out
a trailler, tow car and MIG welder, so all should be okay, phew!!
2nd September
Of course it's a nice rainy and windy day today, so just as well we got the car
primed after the blasting. We're going to load tha car up and take it to the workshop.
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| Primed interior |
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| All primed up |
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| Primed near side |
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| Blasted and primed |
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| Primed front bulkhead |
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| Off side boot holes |
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| Primed rear! |
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| Cheers HTC!!! |
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Update:-
Got there car to the workshop ok, have had to release some bungs to get the standing
water out (at least she's waterproof, even if there is sand everywhere!!) and we've made a start, we've cut out the battery
tray, the fuel tank cover, a few other bits and I've started chipping out all the old chassis sealant.
4th September
We had a day of rest yesterday (plus I went to Goodwood), so a nice early start today
and boy has it been productive. We've got the near side front wing welded on,
the passenger door hanging and the rear wing tacked on ready to be welded today, plus lots of little bits have been angle
grinded off and steel plates have been welded into the holes in all the footwells.
My little job for today (again!!) was chipping out all the chassis sealant; very
boring, but should save about 5 kilos, so worth it in the long run, plus I've been learning stuff all day, but luckily I've
not been near the MIG welder yet!!
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| Lightened engine bay |
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| Look at that line!! |
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| Front near side |
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| Rear near side |
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5th to 9th September - what a week!!
This week has been manic, some days we seemed to get loads done, other days we
seemed to take ten steps back!! We started at 9:30am and worked through around
6pm each day (no lunch break) and it has been tough but a good laugh, thanks to Vince and Geoff.
Things we've done this week:-
Repaired and welded in the rear quarter panel,
Welded on the rear nearside wing (Took a while to get everything to line up),
Made new plates for the "Droop Snoot" and attached,
Filled driver's footwell, passenger footwell, rear wheel arches (inside and out)
and rear light corners. Also filled various bits and bobs (good work Geoff),
Dismantled the door and window mechanisms to remove the glass,
Made all the aluminium panels for the bulkheads, rear trims and drivers footwell,
Removed all uderseal and chassis sealant (very smelly job, but I did it!!),
Removed all piping underneath car,
Removed front discs and rear drums and shoes and rear shock absorbers.
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| Completed shell |
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| All the alloy panels |
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| Driver's compartment |
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| Lightened engine bay |
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| Rear near side panel |
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| Fillered spare wheel |
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| Lightened chassis |
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| More of my handiwork |
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Update - 24th September (my sister Tina's 40th birthday!!)
Many apologies that there's been no recent update. I've got to the stage that the next step is/was the rollcage and I've contacted six different companies
to get a price and lead time and surprisingly they've all been very busy and rubbish at replying!!
Anyway, I’ve now got all the replies and the cheapest price so far is £1,050
and the most expensive £1,900, so there is a big difference. I will make a definite
decision tomorrow on the where the Firenza goes for the cage.
25th September
Right, decision made, the Snoot is off to custom Cages at Daventry
to have the cage put in. I've booked her in for the 16th October, which was the earliest date available.
I can't wait, I am actually getting really excited for the first time, which
will make it a long three week wait!!
14th October
I've managed to get the her in early, which is really good, as it means
that I don't need to take the 16th off work, therefore a spare day to take off another time when I need to
do something.
The day started at 7am as I had to get to St.Albans to collect the
van to tow with (thanks HTC). Then Leighton Buzzrd to collect the trailer (thanks CarMedic), back to Hemel to collect the car and then I had to be in Daventry by 11am, so
it was a lot of running around but we got there at 10:59, Marshall magic!!
The rollcage people were really helpful and they said it was the first
Firenza they'd ever done; I can't work out if that is good or bad, but as Roger Dowson and Vincenzo Higgati recommended them I'm sure a great job will be done.
28th October
We collected the car from the rollcage company, Customer Cages in Daventry, and they have done a great job. Unfortunately they couldn't finish welding the
cage into the driver's footwell, as there wasn't enough good metal there (we had tried though!!).
The rest of the cage looks great (Vince was especially happy with the bolt
in door bars as it means that he doesn't have to hoist his bad leg around too much!!) and I got the impression they were very
pleased to have been involved, as a few of them wanted to know more and they even took pictures!!
The other nice touch was the bar that goes across the front bulkhead
behind the dashboard, they left this unwelded so that we can move it into the position we need it and then weld ourselves.
All in all I'm very pleased with Custom Cages and would definitely recommend them to anyone else.
Barney has very kindly allowed me to keep the car in the race box at his place for
the week whilst we work out the next step.
4th November
As Barney had allowed me to keep the car in the race box at his
place for the week, Satuerday morning was a little easier than normal, but still it was another day of running around.
I sorted out the tow vehicle (thanks again HTC), and collected the car and took it to the workshop, where Vince and I plated the driver's
footwell, inside and out, and then welding the into place by the throttle paddle, as well as welding the bar behind the
dashboard.
Next step; the painters!!
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| Rear Firewall |
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| B pillar pushed back |
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| Rear compartment |
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| Strengthened driver footwell |
Add your content here
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| Full cage |
Add your content here
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| Roof bars |
Add your content here
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9th November
After more time wasted and stress of phoning and running around in
the last few weeks I decided enough was enough and splashed out a team vehicle, so I'm now the proud owner of a Leyland DAF
400 with a towbar.
Hopefully it will be ideal for towing and keeping tools in and it's
big enough for me to sleep in too. It's a bit rough round the edges, but with a long MOT and some tax it will do the
job for now.
10th November
Vince and I dropped the car off at the painters today and the new van did
an admirable job. I think the painter was a bit surprised with the condition of the car, in as much as it was better than
expected!!
We went over every bit of bodywork, discussing what was needed to be done
and I left several pictures with him, firstly to show where the colours need to go and then secondly to try and show what
colour the colours actually are so to speak.
Now the four week wait.
12th November
Good news; I had an e-mail today from someone within the VBOA who had restored
a Viva to similar colours to what I want and he has confirmed the exact colours, predominantly Sebring Silver Starmist, the
bodystripe is called Body Stripe Orange and Satin/Matt black for the bonnet.
I've let the painter know and he said not a problem, so fingers crossed.
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| Old Nail in colour; my Snoot will be similar |
2nd December
Without going into too much detail I received a package today; what could it
be?? It was a pair of overalls from a certain person called Matt Neal (now two-time
BTCC champion), who I spoke to a few weeks ago and due to our similar size and his understanding of how hard it is to get
started (and his appreciation of Dad) very kindly offered me a pair of his overalls, absolutely fantastic, I cannot tell you
how pleased I am.
Firstly it saves me some money which I
can put towards the car and secondly it shows that people are interested and willing to help.
5th December
Good news, the painter called and said the car will be ready to be collected
on the 8th December, a week early, I’d better pull my finger out and sort out the next step then!!
6th December
Right, we’re collecting the car on the 12th December and taking it
(along with all the engine, gearbox, brakes, suspension) to Gerry Johnstone for him to breathe his magic on it.
See pictures below of the prepared car before it's sprayed. Note the purple;
the painter reckoned it went from Starfire Silver, to Purple (possibly Sportshatch Maroon) to Black, all in the space of three
years, how bizarre!
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| Near side front to back |
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| Near side front to rear |
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| Rubbed down near side |
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| Off side front to rear |
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| Off side front - purple! |
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12th December
Right, where to start....It had made such a nice change to have a van and
just have to worry about collecting the trailer/racebox, but as ever it never works out that easy!!
I had to get to the bank to get "cash" for the painting of the car, then
to the workshop that we had been using to collect all the mechanical bits and then on to Leighton Buzzard to get the trailer
and then to Northern Herts to collect the car, as we had to be in Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, by 1pm.
It worked out ok but it was a huge rush even though Vincenzo
and I started at 7:30am (we got home at 7:30pm, so a long day).
We got to the painters and collected the car, right, picture
time, guess what? I'd forgotten my f in camera and my map with directions (both came
back to bite me!).
Anyway, we loaded the car onto the trailer and set off to Gerry J's,
95% happy with the paint job (there was a bit that wasn't quite right, but it was my fault really as I had only got a
picture the day before showing the pattern of the rear and by then it was too late!) and speed was of the essence.
We arrived at Gerry's and I told him how great it looked before I opened
the racebox (which it did in reality!) and then we saw the bonnet had come off, knocked off the nose cone off and scratched
the bonnet, nose-cone and front wings, AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! I think the essence of spped had outdone me!! Anyway, I can't really take
pictures now anyway!!
Luckily, Gerry could see through all this and said how impressed he was
with the car and could see the potential with the engine and all the new bits I'd collected (I never mentioned to you guys
about the new cambelt, timing belt, gaskets and Stromberg carburettors!!).
We left the engine stuff with Gerry and I cannot begin to tell you the stuff
we learnt and saw at Gerry's garage, it wouldn't be fair, but I now know what I'm doing with the rest of the car and
hopefully (awaiting quote) Gerry will do the engine.
22nd December
Apologies for lack of udpates on proceedings. As usual things haven't
been going as smoothly as usual and I'm currently looking for a new workshop, as the one I have been using is no longer available,
DOH!
I'm sure I'll get something sorted, as I have a few ideas and had some "half
offers" in the past, so watch this space.
25th December
Happy Christmas everyone.
27th December
Right, new workshop arranged. Some old friend's of Mum and Dad's have
a big farm with lots of barns and in the past they've offered to store cars for me but I've never taken them up on the offer.
I found out that they have a workshop and they have very kindly offered it to me, brilliant.
Hopefully we'll get the Snoot moved in the next few days and work
can start again.
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