Black and Shiney

Just got some photos from Mike Dempster who popped into the bodyshop to check on progress and saw things have begun to go all black and shiney at last.

This is the first of the gloss coats to be applied and will need to be flatted down before further coats and then the clear lacquer is applied.

I suspect things will come to a halt for a couple of weeks though as the body shop is moving over the weekend to new premises next door, I am going to drop down and see the bodyshell which is already in the storage element of the new unit today.

62 sun visors

I picked up a 62 sunvisor in the correct colour from Bert in Belgium recently. Down side is that it had several grease marks, was stained from the packaging and also heavily compressed, but all reflected in a lower price.

I have managed to remove all grease marks and reduce the discolouring using an aggresive vinyl cleaner bought for the preparation of my floor mats. It has done a great job but left the vinyl slightly shinny.

I think when it is fitted alongside the other NOS one kindly supplied a while ago by Paul Colbert that it wont be too noticable. I might even treat the other one with the same preparation cleaner so at least to give the same effect.

The bodyshop mailed me to let me know that all is on for the body to go into the spray booth tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

May update - body

I called in to the body shop today - the prep work is now complete and the front and rear boots (deck lids) have received a first coat of paint. The plan over the next 2 weeks is to spray the car first in black 2 pack paint and then flat down. After this it will be sprayed in black base coat and then clear lacquer.

The 2 pack will give depth of paint and the clear over base the final high quality finish. Baring any unforseen urgent jobs at the bodyshop all should be finished by the month end at the latest. keep those fingers crossed!

We were at the Stanford Hall meeting last weekend - couldn't go in our 65 model 344 as it sprang a fuel pump leak. Neil Shone was there in his 344 which he recently purchased from Chris Wright - here is a picture of it. I bored everyone at the meeting by telling them I nearly bought the car in 1982 for £1,200 but couldn't afford it, so bought our green 65 which wasn't in as good condition but was cheaper at £850.

July 61 MPH speedo

I recently bought an early T34 speedo off The Samba in exactly the same style as the one fitted to my Nov 61 T343 but in MPH.

The only difference is a lack of a red change up marker at the equivalent in MPH of 50KPH (approx 31MPH). It was made in July 61 but needed a lot of cosmetic attention and a grease up. Here are pre and post pictures.

T34 in Thailand

I was in Bangkok recently and had the pleasure of meeting up with Martin Hoontrakul and seeing his 1968 T344 which is black with a white roof. The car was in very presentable condition and whilst missing a few small parts wont pose much of a challenge for an enthusiast like martin.

The car had been rebuilt before Martin acquired it and has a type 1 engine fitted in a very professional manner, with an engine bay now very reminiscent of a T14. here are a couple of shots of the car.

Floor mats

Over the weekend I resprayed the plasticised floor mats that came with the car from new. I used a product called Kolorbond in a dark grey shade. As you can see from the before and after shots of the rear mats it has made a good job of them.

variable quality news

The damaged rear boot lock mechanism supplied by Larry Edson arrived safely today and will allow me to attempt to repair my 62 unit by making one good one from 2 broken ones. Paul Colbert has also lent me a complete one in case this doesn't work, this way I will be able to get the body shell home from the bodyshop with the rear boot firmly closed.

Meantime the bodyshell remains at the stage where the primer has been rubbed back and final imperfections identified and tackled. I just have to wait for it to gain a space for final primer and top coats etc.

I took some remaining bits of chrome and all the interior aluminium trim and screen trims to a polisher today, he was happy to do these but not the original style Lemmertz wheel trims; so I need to think of another way forward with them or finding better ones.

Once the trim has been stripped and polished I will need to collect it and take it to the anodizer down the road, a bit laborious but it should get me there.

Meanwhile the plastic paint for the floor mats has arrived, I have cleaned the mats and will hopefully spray them at the weekend.

End of March Update

The body shop have finished blocking down the middle 3 coats of primmer and prepped it for final primming which will be done this coming week. With a bit of luck it should then be moving towards final paint in the second week of April.

In the meantime I have been doing some outstanding electrical work; I took the resistor off the back of an old push button switch unit and soldered it onto mine to make a repair. I also re soldered all the wiring back onto the connector plate on the steering column\ignition unit cover.

All of the aluminium trim has been gathered together and will be going for examination by a refinishing company in Northampton, including the early rim embellishers. I had to do some extensive metal bumping to get one of them back into shape - if any one has 2 good ones to sell that would be great.

Finally Larry Edson kindly has sent me a part damaged rear boot latch mechanism which I hope to be able to use to mend my own 62 unit.

As I have no new pictures to share this is a video clip of what the car looked like about this time last year when it was due to go to the body shop.

Chroming

I received the front and rear bumpers back from The London Chroming Company this week - absolutely excellent, the photo doesn't do them justice as all the specks of dust look like marks which they are not.

Also souced a vinyl paint, KolorBond, to refinish the original 62 style floor mats and will be spraying them once the paint arrives.

I haven't seen any progress at the body shop as it was closed this weekend due to Easter holidays, hopefully there will be more to report after next weekend.

Paint progress

There has been some good progress on the paint work. Three coats of primer have been applied this week and all doors, bonnets prepared as well. Next week sees the final pre top coat stage with hopefully final paint going on over the following 2 weeks.

Roof trims

I bought a pair of roof trims from Type3 Detectives. They arrived today, no major dents, no scratches and certainly no chance of being bent in the post as the guys had wisely not tried to remove them, just cut off the bit off the roof they were fitted to and sent them on - Thanks guys, a final vital part of the car now sourced.

T3D also sent me a replacement rear hub seal cover. Mine has been refitted 3 times, using new VW seals, RTV sealant and Blue Hylomar to stop fluid escape but it still happens. I have checked the existing cover, it doesn't appear to be distorted but I am going to replace it and see if that stops the leaks.