The Car Part 4

June 2001 now brings a start on the wing's and valences. Both rear wings had holes and it was decided to attempt repairs before condeming them. Alot of work went into inserting new steel and then getting the contour correct. Unfortunatly the nearside rear was too far gone and a replacement was required. The two front wings were good apart from where the running boards are fixed to. This a common rust trap area on the Eights but suitable small repair sections were welded in and with panel beating left the wings ready for paint removal.
The rear valance was good apart from the offside dent from the earlier bump and off course the fixing area to the rear panel. The damage was removed with careful but time consuming panel beating and a new complete fixing lip welded to the valance.

The National Morris Register Rally at Ollerton was attended as usual in August and spare parts for the continuing restoration obtained. These included a used but good rear wing, a set of front shocks including arms, various mounting rubbers and covers and several electrical items. I would recomend any members to attend this event as it is very informative as well as an enjoyable weekend. See the Newsletter for details.

The minor work on the rear wing was soon completed and the body was now ready for paint removal. It was decided to use paint stripper rather than sanding due to the use of lead soldering joints that would be damaged and of the health risks. Over a period of two weeks, all 4 wings, rear valance and main body had been stripped of paint. I now made minor fillings to the small dings and blemishes and then finally sanded the complete lot down with dry wet and dry. The complete areas were then thoroughly cleaned with cellulose thinners and I was ready to spray.
It was decided to spray an etch primer onto the metal to give a very strong adhesive coat for the rest of the paint and the final result is shown.

Due to the cold of Jan/Feb 2002 the respray of the body and panels was defered until March. The complete body was sprayed with several coats of High build primer followed by flatting this back ready for top coat. After several enquiries to other club members and colour matches I finally managed to track down a mix of paint that was very similar to the original green. This turned out to be a form of 1930's British Racing Green but with more black added. The final black and green top coats were taken to a local firm to apply & finish as it was decided this would give a better finish than I could achieve within my small garage.

With the body now looking more presentable the engine and gearbox were installed along with the radiator. These were all treated to 2 coats of black engine enamel before installing along with new mounting rubbers. This done I could now start to put the body panels back. New wing piping along with seam sealer was used to ensure no water ingress under the panels. Whilst looking to be a quick job, it turned out to be quite lengthy due to ensuring alignment was correct before final fixing.