I started the day by rubbing down the wheel repairs in the lovely March sunshine which was streaming through the garage, it was quite enjoyable.

All done and ready for paint.  I was a little worried that the wheel was so scratched that it really should be painted with primer.  However, I only have a very light coloured primer and I have a fear that the black paint would wear though to the primer and that would severely distress me, I know, I'm on the spectrum but hey, I am a maths teacher after all.

One coat done.

All done and looking lovely, I hope it dries that way.

I then fitted the remaining cockpit trims.   This went ok but I am a little troubled by the alignment of them all so I decided to go and have a bath and worry about it later.

Looking at these photos I think I might be worrying unnecessarily.

I continued with the starter motor and removed and refitted the earth strap and no improvement was found so I called the manufacturer.  As I was in the garage I did a search on my phone that produced the address and telephone number of the company which I realised later was quite fortunate.  When I called a chap answered the phone and I asked if they gave technical support over the telephone and he replied that they did and asked what I wanted so I told him.  I mentioned that I had checked the earthing and that a bar at the top of the motor got warm when I tried and he said he thought that there was a problem with the motor.  Oddly, I thought at the time, he said that he thought there was a problem with the motor even though it had passed their testing process.  He said I could bring it back and they could fix it and as I was now off work I thought that a 50 mile ride across country on the Triumph would be a great thing to do.  This was Monday and that evening the government announced more widespread lockdown rules to combat the Coronavirus outbreak so I decided against it, shame as the weather is beautiful and the roads are empty.

I called them back and realised that when I searched the company on my laptop the details come up without the phone number or address.  When I speak with them they agree that I probably shouldn't go there either and so I post it to them.  I do this by printing a Post Office label at home for the cost of £9.80 and dropping it at the local post office.  The post master tells me I should have used Parcel Force as they would insure it for its value and I start to feel a little uncomfortable.  This is compounded by the thought that I only got the contacts first name and if they have closed then where will the thing end up?  Best not worry about it for now.

I then turn my attention to the rear wing bead trims which I manage to finish.  I then fit the rear cockpit trim and feel very happy with myself as it looks fabulous.

I then think about the front cockpit trim and realise it would make sense to fit the rearview mirror first as the bracket that holds the dash in place is also held in place by the mirror mounting mechanism.  For this I need to make a little bar that the screws can fix into, I noticed that Moss sell one and I thought I could make that.  Only when I start tapping the hole with my new 3/16 tap it shatters, damn.  I've ordered a replacement on eBay and in the mean time turn my attention to the door gaps.  This is connected because the position of the door dictates the position of the boor cockpit trim.  

I make some more hinge shims and fit them but it seems like the door doesn't move and the hinge panel does, a little alarmingly.  So I decide I should fit the door trim panels and sort out the door locks  for a final time.  I needed to trim them a little and stick the edge piping to them before fitting. 

This looks really great, I am really please with it.

Truth be told I didn't really do very much today which is quite shocking really, must try harder, must try harder, must tr,..........

So having spent a chunk of money on a new starter and wrecked my vacuum advance tube in the process of installing it this happened when I tried to start the car:

I am pretty sure it is earthing related but I am not definite so it will take some investigation and that will be another time as I had no desire for it today.  I do know that I attached the earth strap to the starter and that is the first thing I will check when I do attack it.

Anyway, I mentioned in the last post that I was concerned with the car being so dirty from the spraying / filler process so today I washed it.  Actually I washed the inside of it which felt really weird.  It felt weird for several reasons, initially because I have spent the last 10 years keeping the car as dry as possible and also, how often does one hose down the inside of a car?

I'm conscious that this photo is out of focus but it is the only one I have of the cute-off switch compartment full of water.

The doors made for good water traps as well.

Once done the car looked much cleaner and I am pleased to have done it.  This will definitely be the last time I ever hose down the inside of the car.

I decided to paint two of the wheels satin black whilst they were off so I could see what they look like on the car.  When I was a kid working at my dad's yard he would cover tyres with rubbing compound before spraying wheels so the paint didn't stick to the tyre, hence the following.

I have been having a battle with myself about this for years.  It started about 12 years ago when my brother in-law and myself went to Classic Le Mans for the weekend and I saw a Healey that had coloured wheels, they were actually dark green.  I loved it and thought I should do that.  Since then I have been keeping photos I have come across on the net of cars with satin black wheels, including these:

However, I keep imagining me driving to an event and somebody saying, are those wheels original?  And I know it will annoy me.  So I keep having a battle with myself.  I put the following two pictures on Instagram and the feedback was 75% in favour of black.  Damn, why I have done this to myself?

However, when I locked up the garage today I took this final look at the car and well, I love it.  So for today at least it is definitely going to be satin black for the wheels.

I fitted the new starter motor, repaired the vacuum advance pipe and distributor clamp.  My soldering of non electrical comments is questionable and I think I need some flux for my solder as I struggled to get it to flow evenly.

Looking at the state of the engine I think I should give it a good wash to remove the filler dust that is everywhere.

I then mixed the 2 pack putty I have bought for the steering wheel and applied it.  It is supposed to be hard in 3 hours but it felt soft after a couple of hours so I hope it has set overnight.   As the putty is black I am going to paint straight on top of the wheel/putty with top coat.  I can imagine the topcoat wearing through in time and the primer showing and that would annoy me so I am going to my best to flat out any marks and then spray.

I spent the weekend fitting the chrome wing trims, it was a steep learning curve.  I  had several different approaches and eventually hit on the winning formula of having the tabs long and using a screwdriver to lever them in.  I have almost finished but the back driver side wing needs some more TLC which needed the wheel to come off and I need to take the car out of the garage to do that  however, it has started to rain in London so it will be another day.

I then fitted the wing trims which was easy and pleasing on the eye.

The new propane torch is a beauty, starts on the button and produces a lovely sharp flame.  The items attached to the top of the pillar came off reasonably quickly.  I did however break off 3 of the 4 screws that held what I think is hardtop mounting brackets rather than unscrew them, oh well.

The very worst of the pegs was the one I attacked first.  It became apparent very early on that it wasn't going to come out easily.

I decided that it needed more brute force and got the Oxy-Acetelyne welding torch out.

The remaining three pegs came out really easily.

Whilst looking for one of the new pegs to check if the threads were ok, they were, I came across these in a bag.

I didn't know that I had these and think I must have bought them from John in my very first purchase having been flush with the cash from the kit car sale maybe 6, 7 or even 8 years ago.  I was pleased to see these though as I have been getting a little concerned about this job.  These are the captive nuts and the tube nuts for the seat slides.  I have been increasingly concerned that the advertised products on all the parts suppliers websites are sold without the captive nuts.  This means that I can order the seat foams etc in peace now.

I then started the chrome wing trims.  I nervously cut one to allow for the screen mount and then bolted it in.  It looks good but doesn't fit well, I haven't managed to pull it deep enough into the groove yet but it is a start.

It took 3 more days of rubbing and polishing but I got there in the end.

I got to a point where I realised that I needed much more rubbing and a little less polishing to get it to a suitable level.  When I look at the first trim that I did I realise that it would have benefitted from being rubbed down more, oh well.  I guess that in years to come I can take it off the car and spend some more time on it but for now I am very happy to move beyond this job.  I feel like I have been rubbing down for the whole year and I don't want to rub a thing down again, ever.

I did some some sums and realised that I need a fair amount of money to get the car on the road. So I started selling stuff on eBay, lots of stuff, in fact anything I could get my hands on.  Now I had some old Healey bits kicking around that I listed and during the process got talking to some very interesting people.  I feel oddly like I am the only person in the UK restoring a Healey 100 even though I know that isn't true it is quite uncommon so I have greatly enjoyed talking to the people who have been in touch.  One of them got his trims polished professionally for £10 a trim.  I found this out last weekend when I still had 2 full days worth of effort left on my trims and I was sorely tempted to send them off.  I settled on the thought that this is a hobby and so I should do it rather than throw money at it.

What I did throw money at was a cover for the car whilst in the garage, eBay £20.  I have been getting worried that the car is going to get scratched rotten whilst I am working in the garage and so decided it needed some protection.  It is a 2 layer cover but pretty thin however, it is a start.  I might get an indoor one to put underneath it as well, something to ponder.

I have been in contact with John regarding the parts I need and discovered that he has a screen glass which I can have which is great as that will save some money.  The screen surround is being re-chromed and will take 12 weeks which means I can leave that whole area for now.  This is my list of things to do and a rough order:

You can see that fitting the wing chrome trim is top but for some reason I just don't want to do it, I have a deep feeling of impending doom which is without foundation so whilst I am girding my loins I will probably do all sorts of stuff apart from which is logical.  I bought a new propane blow torch yesterday and can see me removing all the bits of old metal from the windscreen pillars even though there is no need for that to happen.  I could do the steering wheel but that requires some rubbing and, well, I've covered that already.

The other thing I am going to do is order the bits I need for the seats even though I don't think that is a priority.  I going to do this as I think it is a possibility that I could get sent home from work at some point because of the Coronavirus outbreak.  Now it is a low levels in London at the moment but if we have an escalation of the likes seen in Italy then it is a real possibility and in that case I would want to have the stuff I need to do plenty of work on the car.  Feel quite grim to think like this.

On a brighter note I've discovered a few things in the last two weeks due to my conversations with people.  The first is that as a result of my desire to fit a modern and starter motor I have removed my current one and stuck it on eBay.  In conversation with an interesting chap called Nick I discovered that my current starter isn't from the car originally but from a Jaguar 1 1/2 litre or Triumph 1800 from the late 1940's.

In a separate discussion with John he thinks that there is a possibility that my solenoid might not be knackered, that would be good news.