JANUARY 2017 UPDATE

IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE A CAR!

When last we met, I had finished mounting the driver side door and was hoping that the passenger door would go better.

It did.



However, it was then time to mount the door latches.

As I started fitting them, it became clear that changes were called for.  The cables were much too long, requiring some tight bends (in order to fit in the door) which looked like a part that could cause binding problems in the future.  It's already hard enough to get in and out of the car.  The door has to open when you pull the latch.   So I shortened the cables and then had to figure out how to weld/solder new ends on them.  The brass contraption at the end of the cable below is the result.  Not pretty but it should work.































And now they work just like real car doors.































Fitting the rear deck glass to the body was next.  Or actually the body to the glass.  As expected, some adjustments are necessary.  The right front corner just wouldn't fit flush.  So out came the grinder and the body was cut down to fit.  In order to get it right, I had to cut clear through the body so some fiberglass work will be the topic of a future post.



I should have taken a before picture so you could see how necessary this was, but imagine the area below where the hole is cut into the body sticking up about 1/4 inch.


























Getting a bit ahead of myself, I tried my hand at filling the body seams.  I picked a spot over the driver headlight.



1. Grind out the seams.



2. Sand, sand, sand.  I have enough of this red gelcoat dust in the vacuum to fill a quart jar.



3. Fill with fiberglass-filled bondo.  It's a lot stronger than the regular bonds.



4.  Sand, sand, sand.



That's one foot done out of about fifty.

I hope I get better at this before it's done.