I had the odd few hours in the garage this weekend and started on the jobs needed to get the car ready for paint.  On Saturday I fitted the tow bracket and attached the front shroud for the final time (I hope at any rate).  On Sunday I fitted the door opening straps, or door check straps.

It was a nice job to do although I think I need to tweak the passenger side door strap as it wasn't opening smoothly.  I am quite disturbed by how much everything flexed when I opened the door but am hoping that the wing, once fitted, will tighten and stiffen things up.

The garage has a lot of panels lying around in primer waiting to be fitted to the car and they are starting to get little scratches so sorting that was my priority today.  I needed drill the chassis to take the 10mm bolts that secure the tow bracket, fit the door check straps and remove the petrol tank to fit the sponge sealing gasket before I started on the panels though.

Well, the tow bracket is all that I got done.  Frustratingly the metal was so thick and hard that it took me hours, literally, to drill through it.  I have very good quality drill bits but they barely made a dent in the chassis legs.  By the time I had finished it I was good for nothing.  Oh, I did put the Christmas tree up and washed the road salt off the Triumph Thruxton in addition to lubing the chain as well but, all in all it was a fairly unproductive day.  

Having missed the Christmas holiday window for getting the car painted I am a little relaxed as I have 6 weeks after Christmas before the half term holiday when I can hopefully get the car coloured in blue.  However, I am also conscious that I have some tricky jobs to complete by then so I can't be complacent as I had a whole weekend and all that happened is two new holes.

We sold the daily driver, an Audi TT, after 8 years of good service a few weeks back and I have spent the last few weekends looking for a replacement.  Test driving nearly new cars is an interesting past time.  So it was quite nice to get back in the garage this weekend.  I repaired the bonnet and rubbed down inside and out and double checked that the boot was good to go before looking at the rear wings.  When I painted the rear wings a few months back I ran out of primer so decided to paint one properly with 3 full coats and just gave the other a single coat on the basis that I would give it another two coats when I had some more paint and before I painted the insides blue.  So I got both the wings and realised I didn't know which one had just the single coat of paint as it was impossible to tell by looking at them alone.  I decided to flat back areas that covered repairs to see if one went through easier than the other but neither went through to the metal.  Essentially, it would seem that one coat of this primer is enough.

I primed both the bonnet and the boot inside and out before spraying those and the two rear wings on the inside in Healey Blue.

Now I have to fit the lot back to the car body before checking the windscreen fits and installing the cockpit edge trim before I am ready to get the car painted.  Oh, I guess I need to adjust the brakes as well.  Anyway, it is feeling closer.

Painted the doors with primer today.  I also painted the inside and the hinges blue.  It was easier that the front end but still took a fair bit of time.

I need to re-prime one of the back wings and paint both on the inside.  I have a few dents to work on with the bonnet before I can paint that and I also need to double check that the previous work on the dents is complete before I prime the boot.  I will paint the inside of both in colour as well even though they will be painted on the top / outside whilst off the car as I don't think the spray booth will have enough space to do both sides at the same time as the main car.

Once that lot is done I have to refit the front and rear shrouds before adding the wings and doors.  Then I need to fit the windscreen to check that it all lines up properly and fit the aluminium cockpit trims.  I also need to buy and fit the tow bracket and check that the brakes are properly adjusted.  I am hoping to get this all done before Christmas so that I can paint it then.  That would be very grand.

I think I have a lot to do.

I finished the wings and the front shroud this weekend and then painted them with primer and blue BU2 paint on the inside of the wings.  I have spent a lot of time and effort on this phase so it is nice to have it over.

Now I need to prime the boot, doors and bonnet and then paint the inside sections in blue .  I don't think this will take anywhere as much effort as has been expended over the past few weeks so that is ok.  I am hoping to paint the car in the Christmas holidays which may feel like ages away but it is only 7 weeks so I have lots to contend with.  This includes getting the brakes to work so that I can get the car towed to the paint shop.

Lot to do but so close to the biggest of all steps.

Still working on the wings, albeit slightly slowly.

I did get the bonnet out of storage to double check that it fits with the radiator installed and it does, just.

With the bonnet resting on the shroud there is just a few mm of clearance.  I imagine that the bonnet will sit slightly higher once bolted to the hinges and on the rubbers so I am not too worried about it.  I might lower the rad if the chance comes though.

Last weekend I went to Beaulieu for the annual auto jumble which was a good day out.  I collected an order of parts from AH4H which should allow me to get the car ready for paint.  The order included all the bits I need for the windscreen pillars which will enable me to fit the screen to the car before I paint it to check that it fits.  I most definitely don't want to be making serious modifications once painted to get the screen in.  I now have the full sections of the cockpit trim as well and the door stops.

So, I need to finish the filler work on the front wings, front shroud, bonnet and offside door then prime the whole car.  I also need to fit the windscreen, door check straps and cockpit trims.  Not much then.  I have 4 weekends before I want to paint the car so I think I need to up my game a little.

This weekend I finished prepping the rear wings, shroud and boot lid and put them in primer.  However, I didn't have enough primer so I will have to rub them down again and redo them when I have more paint, damn.  Oh well.  I did selectively paint the shroud with most of the available paint so I think that can be fitted to the car for the final time.

I can't imagine how good it will be to have it painted.