Chip--
The only components not removed were the windshield frame, rotating door
handles, tail lights, and headlamp buckets.
I painted the metal part of the frame black, the offsetting trim for the
yellow car, and masked the rubber at the bottom.
I removed all light fixtures except the headlamp buckets. Easy to mask
and paint around, and the tail light fixtures. Because of the nature of
some wiring repair, it was easier to leave the tail light fixtures, but
unscrew them, pack some folded newspaper behind them to stand them out
from the body about a half inch, then mask them real well.
I did not paint the interior. It was all masked. I painted the
underside of the hood, firewall, and trunk interior black. This was
done with spray cans earlier. Also, all door jams and edges were
painted in black. The metal intrument panel and the tops of the insided
of the door were done with spray cans of matching yellow at an earlier
time. They cam out just fine, being small surfaces.
For ease of process, I removed the front valance and the trunk lid, and
sprayed those on the work table separately. They made good practice
surfaces. Especially since the trunk lid can be sanded off again in
about five minutes with the orbital sander, which I did.
Prior to bondo work, I welded up the old mirror mounting holes, radio
antenna hole, and cracks at the bonnet latches. The bonnet had been so
badly damaged previously that I did not remove all the fiberglass and
bondo because I was fearful being unable to recontour it as good as it
was. I did dig out the cracked and separating areas and made repairs.
The rear valance and sides were all previously reconstructed with
bondo. I also left those contours alone, only sanding, not stripping
chemically, since the stripper also takes off the bondo.
This car body has the front from one vehicle, the rear, from behind the
seats, from another (there is a weld seam all the way across the floor
and sills.) The left door is from another. The bonnet from another,
and the boot lid from another. The motor is from a 74, a cammed up high
compression 1500. Most of the transmission from a 76 with an
overdrive. The frame is a catalog replacment of about 8 years old. The
hard top is from a 66, but that commission number was lower than this
one. The car is registered as a 65. The commission number is FC583331.
It is a real dutchmans pipe. The bowl and the stem were replaced at
various times, but it is the same old pipe.
I got a license plate for it that says OCMS RZR. I thought it
appropriate for a Spitfire.
Gosh, is it fun to drive!
--
Brian W. Neuschwander
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