The sills are now more or less finished at last. 🙂
Just a couple of little bits to finish filling, no more than an hour or so to do. Next up is the wheelarches, that’s certainly not one of my favourite jobs! It’s impossible to do any grinding work in there without getting a faceful of sparks, access is limited, it’s hard to see what’s going on and it’s generally awkward and uncomfortable. Still, it needs doing…
I did have the intention of spending a bit of time in the evenings doing some work to speed things along, I managed about two evenings then the weather turned rubbish. So that was out – a bit wimpy I know, but I really don’t enjoy working in the rain! This is supposed to be a hobby, not a chore, so when the weather is bad I stay home.
As it happens though, there’s plenty of stuff to do at home; firstly there’s the axle to finish off and paint, then there’s all the electrics I can start on. I ordered a new instrument panel off ebay the other day, that turned up today so I can start on that.
I’ve done what I can with the old one (repainted and polished up the plastic screen bit) but the clock is dead (never really worked right) and when I was pulling everything apart I managed to snap the speedo needle off. 🙁
Also, the warning lights are all wrong – someone installed a later instrument panel in the car previously (and hacked up the wiring to make it work), and the warning lights are all in odd places. The new panel is the correct older type so I should be able to get things back as they should be now, cannibalising bits from both the old and new panels. Also to do:
- Modify the clock so it actually works properly! I’ve come across a method to do this: http://www.smallscalerailway.com/tr7_clock.htm I have the parts I need, so that should hopefully be a quick soldering session away from a decent clock!
- Convert the dash lights to LED. There’s a few different LED types I need, but it’s all available. Not cheap, but it should at least be a one time only job – I used to burn out a dash light about every six months!
- Respray the rear light clusters. I’ve bought some silver paint which I’m hoping will work, and should give better reflection. Better reflection>more light>less chance of someone driving into the back of me!
- Finish off my bench PSU. I’m in the middle of converting an old PC power supply to give me a 12v bench Power supply for testing all this stuff. Much cheaper than buying one!
More to come on these bits soon. Watch this space!
