MarknotGeorge's weblog of the GOVerness

Sorry, about that - been too busy with my college course (AAT Foundation). So what have I done? Not a great deal, I’m afraid, but I have:

• Skinned the LH door. I’ve also primered the interior side of the frame. I’m now pondering whether to fill the small dents on the outside and spray the door, or leave it until the rest of the body is ready.
• …I’ve started welding up the big drain hole in the LH front floor repair panel. I saw started, because I’ve 2-3cm of weld to do, but my gas has run out.

I got a pair of good used front wings yesterday, off a chap from Stevenage who judging my the Rover SD1 Vitesse outside, seems to have got the wrong end of the stick (keeping the SD1 and breaking the TR7).

Stuck in traffic outside Newport Pagnell, I saw a red Acclaim and a white Spitfire, obviously starting Club Triumphs 10 Countries Run. Good luck to all.

I’ve been continuing to cut away at the hole in my floor, where apart from a stubborn bit above the crossmember (where I need a spot weld cutter, like the one I broke ), the hole is about ready for test fitting the repair panel.

I’ve also got the skin on the LH door, and it’s ready to test fit.

I plucked up the courage, and started cutting the LH front floor out, in preparation for putting in some new steel. It’s going ok, but I’ve bent my spot weld cutter, due to it slipping. Must get a proper centre punch instead of that crappy automatic one I bought from Halfrauds. I’ve also cut the rusty metal out from where the top of the LH rear wing meets the rear deck. Looks like I’ll be able to easily weld a patch in here, which means I don’t need a replacement wing. I’ll post some pictures later.

I’m rebuilding my back brakes, or trying to. I’ve munged the circlip from hell holding the wheel cylinder on. So I looked on Rimmer’s website to get a size to get some new ones. No size on their website, but I nearly ordered some, as they were only 59p each. I googled the part number, as saw the clips fit just about any BL car ever built, it seems.

So I took a trip to my local motor factors, after taking #4 daughter to school. Ten pence for two. 10p. So I bought them.

My LH door is now ready for the skin to be replaced. The skin has a few coats of primer and basecoat in the toyota Balearic blue I want, and the frame has had zinc rich weld-thru primer around the edges. Hopefully, along with copious amounts of seam sealer, this will stop rust around the flanges. I’ve got some Sikaflex to bond the skin to the frame.
What I haven’t got is the sound deadening pad to go on the back of the skin. This was ordered at the same time as the Sikaflex. So I’m stuck. Flamin’ typical.

I'm beginning to replace the left front floorpan in the GOVerness. I've removed the sound deadening, which judging by the surface rust on the raised area of floorpan behind the footwell, seems t ohave made things worse. You can see the extent of the rust here.

I've also found out why the floor rusted ...

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