1985 Honda Acty Show Truck

One advantage of having annual leave to use up but nowhere to go is getting the chance to have days off for tinkering.

This gave me another 4.5 hours spent this Afternoon mostly looking and measuring and thinking but also a fair amount of progress.

I’d originally planned to start this project last year so luckily got the pieces I’m using as the uprights cut to the right height back in the good old days when the b&q custom cutting service operated.

The brackets you see in the photos are just temporary fixings to keep everything together while I build it in situ and once I’m happy with how it all fits together and that everything is accessible and there’s space for everything I’ll glue the panels in place and bolt in beams in the corners.

Back board done...



Temp fixed...



Corner piece cut...





Next piece needed a recess where the extended drop side bracket sits so out came the router...












Front panel temp secured so I could measure the side panel needed...




Nearside side panel cut and temp fixed...



Then the same on the offside...





The board that divides the speakers from the other area was then cut and positioned whilst I worked out best locations for various items seen in the photos...























I think this will be final positioning, the board behind the speakers will be removable for access in case any speakers need swapping out...





I don’t think I’ll do any more tomorrow but should get chance to do the lid sections on Thursday.

Thanks for your comments.

Funnily enough the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind to get an alloy one made up using this as a template. Although this will be all weather once I’ve waterproofed all of the wood an alloy one would be a lot lighter so something to think about in future.

Phil - I just hope that those speakers are not going to emit the god awful stuff that is pushed out today has being cool & awesome NOT - my vote is that it should be banging out the sounds from the era that the Acty was built in - its all the rage now days (well on Radio 2 anyway) or maybe you can just keep a 80's mix tape of Simple Minds / OMD / Level 42 & the likes for us older generation RR's

PS - When you are done with all woodwork etc can you just pop down to Hampshire for a few days and give me a hand to build the new cupboards in the utility

The main use of the speakers will be to output the sounds from the retro gaming PC I’ll be running so period 80s but more Mario or space invaders rather than music I’m afraid but if it was 80s music it would b me more of the synth based pop like Human League / New Order / Kraftwerk.

My skills are passable for my own creations but far from up to standard for other’s use I’m afraid!

Cracking work Phil, coming together nicely

I've not been happy with the finish on the wheels on the ignis since I first sprayed them and got grass stuck to them before they'd dried and liked them even less after kissing the kerbs a few times. Due to driving it every day to work and back I've never had the chance to get them sorted properly and decided to sort them when I had to replace the tyres but that would have meant getting nearly worn out tyres fitted back to the standard steels to keep the car in use whilst they were refurbed.

The lockdown situation has lead me to working from home for the foreseeable future and the lack of need to drive daily has given me the opportunity to get her up on sleepers...



The wheels are off to be powdercoated in satin black, I was tempted by dark bronze but stuck with the black as satin black is the only other colour on the car so decided it would fit in best.

I posted somewhere further up my thread about the arrival of the new tyres last week - 195/60/15s are a fraction larger than the standard diameter but as close as I could find compared to standard but wider to give better protection to the wheel edges.

Inspired by a lego Chevrolet camaro that we bought mini minty recently...

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/lego-and-bricks/lego-speed-champions/lego-75891-speed-champions-chevrolet-camaro-zl1-race-car-set/p/8039709

… I ordered a set of these that arrived within 2 days from Turkey, a set of four obviously, including rubber glue...


I taped them in place with masking tape to check fitment...




... then moved the tape around to the end of the sections...



... and attacked them with 120 grit sheets on the mouse sander...



... Not glued in place yet but placed on to check the sanded back letters weren't visible in the areas where the yellow letters don't cover them up and that they sit on the tyrewall tight enough.






I'll glue the letters on once the tyres are fitted to the wheels when I pick them up from the wheel refurb place.

After work this afternoon it was time to get everything set up and apply the letters, the only addition to the provided kit was a pair of cotton gloves as they peel apart easier than rubber gloves when glued together, and a takeaway sauce pot to pour the glue into and some glue spreaders made from a cut up pot noodle pot.




Instructions ...




The first one took 45 minutes...




Pot and glue spreader brought the process down to about 30 minutes each wheel for the remaining three...























After 2 hours from the completion of the fourth tyre I peeled off the masking tape...







One corner of the Y on the first tyre I did - the only one I didn’t use the spreader for requires glue adding to it. All the rest have a small amount of excess glue that needs to be scraped off.

Overall I’m really pleased with how they’ve turned out.

The only disappointment is the location of the wheel weights on the three wheels that the refurb company balanced, the one wheel that ATS balanced put the weights on the back edge of the wheel nicely out of view.

That leads me to a question that I’ll ask on a separate thread too, but if I buy my own wheel weights could I position them in the equivalent position albeit deeper in or would it not balance in the same way? I’m sure they’ll be less noticeable once they have a coating of brake dust on them or if I paint them in a bit of black paint?

Cheers @grumpynorthener yes I agree I think we’re all more critical of our own cars / work

Lesson learnt from this is to get the tyres fitted and balanced by a proper tyre place rather than the refurb companies. Reason I didn’t was because I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle if they were damaged during tyre fitting.

If the refurb company damaged them then they could refurb them again.