My Model A RPU project

[King Herald]

How do you think the Caddy air filter goes??? Good or bad? I quite like it, but I think those little screens look a little geeky.

 

[earthman]

Good to see you posting again KH.

 

[Ezheimers]

Welcome.............

 

[bob w]

Glad to see you are back on the project. I like the Caddy air cleaner. Not so much the wind screens.

Are you a permanent resident there?

 

[donsrods]

I like the overally look, but agree the car needs a regular windshield. Those screens are ok on something like an old Bugatti though.

Don

 

[King Herald]

Damn, the years have flown by! I've made good progress but the rod is still not done. As we speak I have people working to get some legal paperwork sorted out for it, so I can drive it on the roads with no troubles. I took it to a show last year, drove it there, stayed the whole weekend, drank lots of beer and then tooled around town in it for a few hours. That was fun. [cl[ddd

The local cops showed up at some point, replete with AK47's, but they were having a good time too.

 

[King Herald]

Been trying to upload some more pics but I'm stuck offshore with the slowest internet connection in the world!

Anyway, I had no end of troubles with the trans, had to drop it three times before I got it working, something to do with the clown who 'overhauled' it for me.

I also had loads of problems with the brakes, as apparently that 1" Ford MC does not move enough fluid for discs at each corner. I eventually threw it in the corner and fitted a single Wilwood 7/8" MC, and that worked a treat.

I now have a windscreen frame, but no glass yet. I made it from some stainless steel angle bar, to be polished and filled with glass some day. Hopefully it'll be strong enough not to fold back and hit me in the face at 100+mph.

Double trouble.

I've built a bed for it too, from steel.

 

[King Herald]

I'm thinking this screen looks a bit big and heavy, so it may be replaced with a 'Duvall' type streamlined item. Got to make one first, not too many around on Philippines Ebay.

 

[Torchie]

Welcome back to the site.
Great build !.
Maybe try putting some speed holes into those windshield uprights to give them a "Lighter" look.
Torchie.

 

[bob w]

Darn, sure good to hear from you again. Nice to see you are having fun with the roadster. You did a great job building it.

 

[King Herald]

Welcome back to the site.
Great build !.
Maybe try putting some speed holes into those windshield uprights to give them a "Lighter" look.
Torchie.

I've thought of that, a series of decreasing holes up the front and side, to match the other 'holey' bits of the car.

 

[Torchie]

I've thought of that, a series of decreasing holes up the front and side, to match the other 'holey' bits of the car.

As you say it would tie together the "holey" bits. And if it's not everything you hoped it would be than you can still build the Duvall.
Torchie.

 

[Skip]

What a fun thread! Nice job on the PU, too. Very impressive.

Maybe tilting the uprights back a few degrees would soften the look a bit.

 

[King Herald]

I have toyed with the idea of angling the posts back, a small pie-slice, some cherry red warmth carefully applied.......

.....could still be an option, especially with some holes in the right places. [

On the 'to do' list is some shiny paint, a rear axle bearing overhaul, some stiffening under the frame where the engine plate is, some upholstery, and a roll bar at the rear, and maybe a roof some day.

 

[King Herald]

I got the torch out and the hole saw set last week.

And played around a bit, fitted the old grill back, with a dozen more small holes, and a shiny bit.

 

[King Herald]

I also messed about with the Healey project a bit, which now has a new chassis, and some small Brooklands style windows being made.

This little widget is for a rear view mirror.

Still in rough, but the steel flat bar will be bonded in, the windows cut from polycarbonate, the frames rounded, chromed a bit. I ordered a bunch of Speedway steering and Wilwood brake parts, as I got fed up of trying to adapt the rubbish metric parts that came with the car.

It'll get a V8 eventually so i may as well make it steer and stop properly.

 

[Torchie]

Nice look on the windshield uprights.[cl
Sounds like the Healey is going to be a screamer...[P
Torchie.

 

[King Herald]

Took some piccies today, managed to capture a bit of my sparkle.

Got the windscreen stanchions chromed, and the stainless frame polished. The chrome cost a tenner each, and you basically get what you pay for, it ain't great...

I bought a sheet of polycarbonate and cut a screen from that, and it'll be held in place by a bunch of 4mm ss button head bolts, hence the holes in the frame. I was going to rely on just silicon, but the wind might ease it out and plant it in my face one day.

My garage got prettied up to, some paint and flowers last month, courtesy of the wife.

More bling, I just finished assembling the screen this evening.

The prices people pay for 'real' flake, I thought it might be worth trying this glitter stuff. I probably have a bucks worth of 'flake' in this job. Long term it will be interesting to see, but the car is not going to be parked in the sun every day, more like hidden under a car cover in the garage. Then again, it is my first ever car paint job, and I only ever used rattle cans on bikes.

 

[King Herald]

Managed to mess up the order of posting somehow. This post should be read before the last one..... Of course it is too late now.

I had decided I'd wait until it was fully legal before I finished it, but I got fed up of waiting for paperwork , and there was supposed to be a big show in a couple of weeks, so I pulled it apart and broke out the spray gun. Couple of days with filler and sandpaper, not such a good idea rollering epoxy primer all over it two years ago, as it is rough as guts, and hard as nails.

I popped some holes in the side of the bed, I like holes.

Also got the seats covered, local guy, nice stiff foam etc. Not bad for about $50. Some things are cheaper in the turd world.

Tomorrow I hope to splosh on some bright hot rod red paint. I'm using acrylic, and never really having sprayed before, it is a very steep learning curve. First few attempts produced something akin to candy floss coming out of the gun, until I read you need to add 50% or more thinners.....

The finish looks okay, from a distance, but I know it ideally needs hours more filling and sanding to be full quality. Every time i fill and sand I think it looks okay, then I throw primer on and more holes/scratches appear.....

I'm not really that bothered making it perfect, as I know it will be dinked and chipped within days of it being finished, such is the overcrowding in my shed.Anyway, I found a local paint shop that sold flake, but only red, and one size. We bought three grams of it, a mere pinch, to check it out, and that cost ten bucks alone!

Wife pointed out that it looked exactly like some red glitter we'd bought a while ago in National Bookstore. I broke out the powerful magnifying glass, had a real good look at this stuff, and it looks identical, even to the shape, colour and reflectiveness of the bits of of 'real flake'.

Then we asked questions why people don't just use glitter, and nobody really had any sort of an answer. Someone said it will melt in the clear coat, but it doesn't. Acrylic thinners doesn't touch it. We did some test pieces, using different mixes of glitters and clear coat.

Kinda hard to catch the glitter effect on camera, but we've done the whole car and it looks okay. Fingers crossed it doesn't fade, catch fire, turn into bobbles or anything else.

Just trying to bury the glitter in clear coat now, a coat at a time, very time consuming as I have to move everything around whenever I want to spray.

 

[AZRodDave]

Nice! Keep at it.