1948 Triumph Roadster Supercharged plus other stuff…

I’d previously taken the bulk of the topcoat off the rear of the body.
36# on the DA sander cuts through it fairly quickly. I tried not to go any further than the topcoat.

In order to keep it flat, I’ll use a long board to take it down with 40# till I just see metal.
I started to do this by hand and decided there’s just too much filler to bring it down manually.

So I ordered some more sandpaper and will pick up an air sander next time I’m in town.
Like this.





Hopefully it’ll do the job.

Welded up the fuel thing. It wasn’t joined to the body along the outer edge and I couldn’t see why, so it got the tig treatment.





And cleaned up.







Also took the paint off, using stripper.
I need to make up some spacers to get the cover to fit nicely.
A little hammer and dolly work was needed to flatten the mounting face first.






And did some plating, bits I’ve had sitting on the bench for ages. Some chassis, some body stuff.
Three batches in this lot.





Thanks.

This is one of the boot latches in position.






This is the pair. How does this come about?
Another mystery.






I remember the bloke who sold me the car saying that his restorer (?!) made one of the boot handles.
Maybe he made a latch as well, and that was as close as he could get!
I’ll get all the paint off and maybe there will be more clues.
Planning on nickel plating them.

Started getting the driver’s side door jamb ready for primer.
First this crack on the sill needs sorting.






Nail removed, cleaned up as best I can and a piece of copper to try and get a decent edge.






We have stickage!






I think eventually the contamination burns away and it starts to weld ok.






Ground back and ready for primer.






Was hoping the sandpaper would show up today and I could get stuck into reducing the filler thickness on the large areas of the rear guards.
But Australia Post has it, so I might see it mid next week. Hopeless.

I’ll have to find something else to play with for the weekend.

As I’m waiting on sandpaper and it’s 35C, it’s the perfect opportunity to bake any absorbed moisture out of the exposed filler.
Lifted the body off the trolley and onto a little trailer, then towed it out to sit in the sun all day.






And did some sandblasting.
These inner panels, that I repaired some time back have been sitting in the workshop ever since, getting in the way.
I was trying to come up with some sort of container so I could soak them in molasses. But nothing popped up, so I bit the bullet and hooked up the 4 compressors.

Just about ready for epoxy. Don’t know whether these will be body colour or black as they were.
I’m leaning towards body colour as I don’t like engine bays that look like a black hole.





Also did a bit of plating. More shiny stuff.






This is just a start on the zillions of woodscrews that need to be done.


Thanks.

Use a 0.5mm drill bit in a pin vice to carefully pierce that nail above the burst. The relief will be instant. Then seal it with some clear nail varnish. You’ll probably still lose the nail, but again, use nail varnish to keep it together as it grows out.

Still jealous of your environment, albeit not of the stingy bitey critters you have to share it with. 🤣

Finger wasn’t really bothering me this morning, but I took your advice Glen, and drilled a hole in it.
I used a 1mm for better flow, and boy did it flow.
I disregarded your suggestion James, as I don’t like the smell of burning me.

Didn’t get much done today.

I have the body pretty much ready for a coat of epoxy to seal all the various layers.
And I had it sitting in the sun at 35C on Sunday and yesterday was mostly dry.
There were about a dozen spots of rain in the pm but mostly sunny.

I found a humidity meter today and put some batteries in it.
Today felt more humid than yesterday, the meter showed 50% @ 30C.
Fairly cloudy but only a few spots of rain.

Am I being silly worrying that the exposed filler will be absorbing moisture to come back and haunt me when the topcoats are done?
Or should I wait till the predicted dry 35C day coming up ( tomorrow and Thurs are supposed to be wet ) and give it another day in the sun and then whack a coat of epoxy on?
Or wait another couple of days till the predicted 39C?

Another thing for me to over think is the actual epoxy.
I have over 2 litres in stock, but it’s a year past its use by date.
So I got some more from my paint supplier ( he’s mobile and was coming past this afternoon) and the hardener is out of date in a week! Apparently Aussie body shops don’t use epoxy primer, and it doesn’t move very quickly.
Don’t start me on the standard of work by the 'pros'. All they seem to know is 'cave it and pave it'.

I have to go to town in the morning, so I’ll go to a different paint supplier and see what they have.

Why is it all so hard?
Why would blOody paint have a use by date anyway?

Rather than worry about paint I got the boot hinges ready to plate. They were powder coated before ( I hate that sh*t, it’s only for pool fences and not very good at that) and had of course rusted under it. But they cleaned up, with a lot of sanding, to a point that I think will be ok.






I have to work out a tub that’s big enough to hold them, but I’m sure that’s doable.

And then I set about getting the body onto the rotisserie.
This is end of play today.





Thanks.

Spent most of the morning waiting at the eye doctor.
I really hate how the medical profession has such contempt for the concept of appointments and their customers.
Can they really not work to a schedule?
Why must I spend an hour waiting at 9.30? Can they be that far behind by that time of the morning?
I think a lot of it is just to reinforce their position in the scheme of things.
“I’m so important I can keep you waiting and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

So it was nearly lunch time when I got to the Triumph.

I had to add a bit of strength here and there on the rotisserie, it was really only tacked yesterday.
And I had to bolt the body to the frame, it was only sitting on it previously, with old screwdrivers through the holes to locate it.

Did that and was able to turn it this way, the first time ( I imagine ) it’s faced that way relatively since ii was in it’s country of manufacture.






So I’ve decided to wait on some hardener that has a realistic use by date.
We have some really hot dry days coming up, so I’ll wait til then, give it another baking and then epoxy it.
There’s been too much work go into it to risk using out-of-date paint.
I’m planning on using the out-of-date stuff on the doors, boot lid and inner guards. Possibly the front guards as well.
Bits that I could redo reasonably easily if the epoxy failed. I bet it’ll be ok but I’m just not going to chance it on the body. Too hard to fix if it goes wrong.

Started getting a bit of the underside stuff sorted.

This, on the driver’s side rear guard.





Doesn’t show much in that shot, but a nasty bulge that needed sorting. Very difficult to get at when right way up.
When it’s upside down, it’s a lot easier.

Starting to beat it into submission.






And on the other side, much the same place. Different damage, might even have been to clear the original exhaust.
I’ve already bent it out in this pic.






Cut out the affected area.






Cut and folded a repair piece.







Just have to clean it up and weld it. At least I can get at both sides here.


Thanks

Welded the patch that I made yesterday.
Partway there, not going as well as I hoped.
Just not consistent, good in places and then heaps of contamination in others.






But it won’t fall off.
And finally ground off.






I haven’t decided what finish to use underneath the car.
It’s going to be a real chore to prepare regardless.

Open to suggestions as to what to use.

There are lots of rivets holding the various bit together.
The same as the ones holding the captive nut cages on that I showed quite a few posts back.
They start as a piece of ally wire that fits neatly through an 11/64 jnch hole.






They’re peened over using a hammer and dolly, though I should make a proper tool, to get a consistent result.

One that’s done.





I’ve only done a couple in very hard to see spots, so I’ll sort something out tomorrow.

Decided to cut out this piece on the bottom of the RHS rear guard. Shown upside down here.






It has a couple of cracks and general nastiness that I can get rid of.
I should be able to get at most of the other side to clean it.

Started on a repair piece, first time I’ve used the English wheel for years.
Nothing miraculous has happened in the interval!





I ordered some different filler rods to see if it might help with the welding.
They’re 4047and 5183, silicone was mentioned in the description, (as per your advice a while back, Mark, I couldn’t find the exact ones you mentioned, but I don’t think it was either of these?)

So I might wait till they turn up to finish this repair.

Thanks.

Nice toolmaking and jig making sir. plywood the original composite material!
James

I’ve started stripping the underside.
A rag soaked in GP thinner laid out, then covered with some plastic and a towel.
Come back in 10 minutes or so, remove the rag and wire brush the surface. Move on to the next spot. Very effective.


Wiped the shell with wax and grease remover.
Then went over all the areas that I had missed with 80#.

Then put the body, doors and boot-lid in the oven and set it to 37C.







I’ll cover it tonight and my good wife will uncover it in the morning while my cataract is being seen to.
It can sit in the sun all day tomorrow. 39C predicted.
Back in the workshop in the evening, under my clearer watchful eye. All going well…

Hopefully the replacement hardener that I’ve ordered will be here Tuesday and I’ll get a coat of epoxy on it then.

Thanks.