1986 Porsche 911 - with added E46 M3

I haven't been on holiday by mistake, the lovely Doctor has been forcing me to do things.

I don't want to do things but I have to do as I am told.

Our youngest Daughter is moving to Spain next week so the Doc has organised a sending off party which will be happening tomorrow.

It is also the Doctor's new patio party so we need to make sure that the patio is prepared to accept the multitudes who may, or may not chose to attend but we have to assume, I am told, that they will.

The upshot of this was all my car mending time was spent restoring the garden furniture that the Doc inherited from her father.

It was rotten old junk, something I am well used to with my cars, except that this stuff was made from wood.




Look at the state of it!

I thought that I would just re-plank it, but I even had to repair the frame.




It wasn't a particularly enjoyable job because I had to use the table saw which is the same table saw that nearly cut my finger off the last time I used it, so it was a terrifying experience all round.




There were two of those large benches, the two chairs and a table.

I didn't have enough wood, or enthusiasm, left to do the table top so it got a few repairs.




Obviously there were a multitude of other things I had to do in preparation but I feel that I have bored you enough already.

Anyway, I have this old car that I am repairing and some of the guests are aware of this and they may ask how that is going.

Well, if you look at it, it looks like it has been in a tent for two years.




It has a thick layer of dirt like an old barn find that hasn't seen the light of day for decades.

This obviously won't do my street cred any good so I decided to clean it.

I have to warn you, I am not a detailing freak.

In fact, I dislike washing cars almost as much as I dislike repairing rotten old garden furniture.

I don't really know what the proper procedure should be, but this is what I did.

First, I doused it in TFR, then jet washed it off.

Then I did it again.

Next, I did that snowfoamy stuff because the jet washer that the Doc bought me has a snowfoam attachment.

The paint was as rough as a bear's behind due to all the fallout from two years worth of grinding but someone told me about some stuff called 'fallout remover'.

I got the man from the Amazon to bring me some of that stuff.

According to the bottle you spray it on and leave it for five minutes, in which time any fallout will go purple, then you can wash it off.




It is safe to say that there was a bit on there.








It did make me wish that I had bought a purple car instead of silver.

I went over it a couple of times and, to be honest, it really could have done with another go over but I ran out of stuff.

Anyway, it is a lot cleaner now, and the paint feels much smoother.




I still have a bit more grinding and welding left to do, so it can have a proper clean up after that.

My mate Keith is coming tomorrow, he is going to take care of any painting that needs to be done once the welding is finished, so at least he will be able to see what is what now.

So it is the party tomorrow then on Sunday I am going Karting again.

This does mean that I will miss watching the Grand Prix at Monza but as Williams chose that Brazilian dude to drive for them instead of me, then I obviously need more practice.

I have been Karting three times now and each time I have gone slower than the previous session.

My personal Karting coach, Gary, AKA the Brighton bullet has tried to console me by telling me that it is due to the poor quality of the equipment and not the driver...


Hopefully back to fixing the old banger next week.


Cheers.

Hi Dan, I got it from Car builder solutions.



If you go to their site and start to type 'sound' into the searchy thing it will come up before you have finished the word.

I used this stuff because it is not blingy, silver and covered in logos like most of the brand name stuff.

It is also over-paintable, if that is a word.


No car stuff this weekend, but as I was here I thought I might explain what has kept me out of the tent.

On Saturday morning we went to Ten Acres Cafe for breakfast with both my daughters, the grandkids, the son-in-law and his parents and Fat Al who walked there with the Doc.

We were fully mob handed and half filled the place.

After that, it was the final preparations for the Doc's new patio/daughter moving to Spain party.

That went very well.






My brother-in-law and my daughter's father-in-law handled the barbecuing duties very well which was handy because I can't cook, I am only good at eating it.

We mostly got away with the weather, it only rained for about half an hour.

The Doc and I sat in front of the fire after everyone had dispersed to reflect on a successful mission.




It was about three am by the time I had tidied everything up and done all the pots so Sunday morning was spent looking at the inside of my eyelids.

In the afternoon we had a karting practice session booked.

My diet has not gone at all to plan and I can barely squeeze into my old race suit.




This time, three other people who are entered into the main event at the end of the month had come along with me.

My main concern was 'Bernard', who is actually called Adam.

I am giving away about 25 kilos to him.

There was also Adrian and Neil.

We were in a general session so the track was quite busy with other punters.

These are the results (sorry about the rubbish picture, Bernard took that).




So, I was just quicker than Bernard, Adrian was sixth and Neil was just sandbagging in eighth.

I suspect that Neil is saving himself for the real quali session when he will bang in a fifty two-zero and make us all look like fools.

Bernard said that he had been given the slowest kart there...

Anyway, that was fun and when I got home, there was still loads of cake leftover from the party.




Back to the grindstone tomorrow and hopefully, back in the tent after work.


Cheers.

I forgot to mention that it was the quiz yesterday.

I was late back from work so I didn't have chance to do anything other than a quick turnaround then off to the pub.

The lovely Doctor is out of the country on another secret mission and another couple from our team are on holiday in Canada.

As there are six people per team, we were only at 50%.

I didn't hold out much hope of a result because of this but we did manage a respectable second position.

There are no prizes for second place though...

I got home at the normal time tonight so I thought I should get on with the floor.

There was some cavity wax on there which I thought would be wise to remove because I don't want it to go up in flames when I start welding.




It was quite difficult to remove, I ended up scraping it up with a plastic paint stirrer then rubbing it off with degreaser.

I can't remember what I have removed it with before, possibly brake cleaner I think, but I didn't have any to hand because of the previous ram it into the shed party tidy up.

I then went on to remove the *good* grommet.

That was really well stuck down and it was also very difficult to remove.




Now, I'm sure that all the other grommets were really well stuck down at some point in the past so it was coming out regardless.

This is a comparison of the two grommets from this footwell.






They were just inches apart from each other but the difference is remarkable.

Whilst I was doing this the wind started blowing and it became very wild, I thought that the tent might blow away down the drive so I shut up shop and beat a hasty retreat into the house.

I really need to get all my glabber sorted out in the shed so I can find the gear I need and use the bench to make the repair section.

That is probably going to be a weekend job but the weather forecast doesn't look very promising.

I think that the summer weather might be over.


Cheers.

I went out for breakfast at Ten Acres on my own this morning as The Doc is away and Fat Al isn't that keen on walking, he would prefer it if I brought his sausages home for him.

The forecast thunder storms and monsoon weather didn't turn up but we did have a typically English flow of on and off drizzle.

Another thing which didn't turn up was my supply of enthusiasm.

So, no storms and no enthusiasm but surely something must turn up.

Something did turn up...




Yes, my automatic centre punch.

After spending an hour looking for it yesterday, and now that I don't need it.

I finally managed to get myself going in the afternoon.

I didn't feel like sorting my shed out in the drizzle so I eventually went into the tent to have a look at the rusty grommet hole.

This one.




I chopped it out.




That rusty thing inside the hole is a piece of metal plate to help protect the inside from the sparks.

I managed to get just enough room in the shed to start to copy it.






It looks like a reasonable fit.




Welding it in was a far longer job than it should have been because, due to the restricted access caused by not being able to open the door fully, I did a bit at a time then went for a cuppa whilst my back stopped aching.

I eventually got everything welded in and partly cleaned off.




All three bits are in.




There are a couple of pin holes that need going over before I finish cleaning.

Hopefully I will get that done in the morning as I am karting again in the afternoon.

Oh, I saw this on insta the other day.




I could have done with those last year, it might have saved me a few hours work.


Cheers.

Last night I had to do gardening, it was green bin day today so I needed to fill them up (we have three).

Also, the Doc was returning from her secret mission in Iberia, so I had to pick her up from the station.

All that meant that the tent stayed closed for business.

Tonight the green bins have been emptied, they don't need refilling for a fortnight and the Lovely doctor doesn't need picking up because she is already here.

She is here until Saturday at least, when she goes off on her next secret mission.

Her target is in Berlin this time.


Now, where was I?

Oh yes, floor is fixed, need to check trim holes on the sills, light at the end of the tunnel and all that.

As the sill is going to be painted it made sense to remove the plastic jacking point block at the front.

There was a bit of bubbling around it, just like there was on the other side.

This was the other side, with the block removed.




It cleaned up and wasn't too bad.




It got the spooge treatment and epoxy paint, so that is the plan for this side now.

I pulled the block off and it looked like this.




I just need to clean it off and apply some spooge.




Oh, wait...




This is not funny anymore.

I could split the metal next to the hole with my finger.




That is going to need a little bit more than spooge...

I went inside for a cuppa and a sulk.

The passenger side floor looked really good and I was half tempted to leave well alone but I can't chance it, I am going to have to strip off all the sealant to see what is there.

I finished my tea than had a couple of hours with the wire wheely thing and made a start.

I found a couple of bits under the sealer at the front end of the sill on the inner flange.




They were just minor surface corrosion and will be simple to deal with.

I have ordered some more wire wheely things, I think I will continue the stripping and not think about the jacking point for a while.

Light at the end of the tunnel indeed...



Cheers.

More often than not the light at the end of the tunnel is just a bloke with a torch bringing more #$@! to deal with.

That might be true...




I suppose a bloke with a torch is less dangerous than a train.



Good, turn it off, then I won't be able to see the mess I'm in.




That place that started making the floors for the E46 also do jacking point repair pieces.




With the sill section cut away I will soon know if I need one.

The only problem is that I haven't got the sill section cut off because I haven't been in the tent since Tuesday.

The reason for that is because I did my back in, good and proper, at work on Wednesday.

The pain is thoroughly unpleasant and I am no good to nobody at the moment.

It seems that the light at the end of the tunnel actually is a train.

An express train, driven by Satan!


Cheers.

Get well pretty soon!

+1