PAINT-FINALLY

After much trial and tribulation I finally got some paint on the body bits. First attempts were poor with drips and sags and wrong mixed paint. After more primer/sealer, much sanding and practicing my French I finally got  a usable paint job. Still needs a bit of sanding and buffing to clear the dust particles but I'm on my way.

Tomorrow I'll start painting the wood frame and get ready to assemble the body. I'll do the body finishing in place since it will be more stable. The fun stuff begins.

LITTLE PROJECTS

I laid out some 1/8" peal n stick rubber strip on the upper flange of the chassis and cut out the bolt holes for mounting the body SOON.

I had ordered an 18 tooth sprocket for the '35 Sports but never installed it. Glad I didn't so it is now on the F Super. I found a use for my huge Monkey wrench.

SHOOTING PAINT

Finally! I shot the wings Tuesday and was disappointed with the results so I sanded them smooth and shot again today. Much better but still some dust specs in the paint but I think they will sand out and buff up. It will be next week before I can shoot the body with the Burgundy.

FRONT SLIDER 3

Last year a fellow in Oregon added thrust bearings to his front sliders of his F Super to reduce the friction and jerking while steering. I contacted him recently to see how they worked out over time. He gave a glowing report on how well the car now drove.

I got a set of these bearings and I'm installing them. Here are the part numbers. These were ordered from WW Grainger here in the USA.

The late F types have inner dust covers and these bearings are a nice fit on the dust cover above the spring.

Here are all the parts laid out along with the threaded rod parts for assembly. The sleeve at the bottom of the 3/8" rod is needed when the whole assembly finally drops into the bottom lug. The locked nuts are exposed so a wrench can hold the rod and allow the top nut to be loosened.

In Nev Lear's new book he suggests to assemble all the parts and stick the rod through the hole in the top lug and run a nut down to compress the springs in situ.

It is a little awkward because the bottom parts want to press against the lower lug and hang up. A bit of pulling makes it work. Then care is needed when the bottom of the dust cover meets the top of the slider. It is always off to one side.

I found that pulling at the bottom would open a gap between the top lug and the flange of the dust shield. I can stick a screwdriver into that gap and then the parts would line up allowing more action on the nut to compress more.

Finally the bottom nut of the 3/8" rod clears the bottom lug and centers over the hole. Done. Just back off the nut and pull the slotted plate out and install the spindle rod.

It is amazing how  much easier it is to turn the slider now. I think it worth trying on a twin car so I may attempt that too. It really needs something to help the steering.

SIDE LIGHTS

I haven't been posting much but every day I've been working on the body. It is ready for the high build primer now. I've drilled new holes for side lights and tail lights and filled old holes. A huge amount of work but making progress.

RADIATOR SUPPORT ROD

I see that most F Types don't have a support rod but I found that one was needed to hold the top of the rad in position. I made a bracket for each end.
I had to raise the scuttle end because it wouldn't clear the fuel tank. I notched the wood strip above the bracket.

ALTERNATOR

I plan to go to 12V electrics and so an alternator is a good way to go. This is a 40 amp unit, has an internal regulator, is cheap to buy and available most everywhere.

Chevy Mini Alternator Denso Street Rod Race 1-Wire 12180

 I made the brackets to fit. This is a borrowed unit I used to do the fit up.