The roll cage mounts are all welded in, cleaned up and in primmer.
I finally have the roll cage all painted, it is now wrapped in about 100 foot of bubble wrap and in various storage places including under the our bed and suspended from the ceiling in the garage in a desperate attempt to stop it being chipped or scratched.
I decided I really did need to look at upgrading the brakes so brought myself a set of 4 pot callipers with all the metro drive shafts hubs etc as well. I have started to get these sorted but they will need quite a lot of work to get them ready to be fitted. The pistons are well and truly seized and one of the bleed nipples has sheered of.
The fuel tank I ordered was delivered on Tuesday so I have made some brackets to hold this in place. Nothing special but will do the job. It’s a snug fit and I will be fitting some foam tape between the corners and the tank. But I am not sure if there is a need for a strap over the top or not. Its tight enough that it will not jump out or anything under normal driving but I guess if the car rolled it would come out so best to get one made up.
My mate from the body shop came over the other weekend to give me a hand getting ready for paint. Still a good days worth of sanding to be done to get a nice finish on both the front and rear valances. But hopefully should be ready for paint by the end of the month. Funds allowing.
Talking of paint I have decided on another colour. I gave my mate the paint code for the Fiat burnt orange I had originally decided on but when he turned up he said ho could not find it in their charts so brought them round. Big mistake! A couple of hours later and I have decided on Lotus Scandal Green with a black roof and black arches. The picture below does not show it to well as it has a really nice metallic in it. I was a little bit unsure until last week I saw an Elise in it and that is it now.
In preparation for painting I have finally removed the doors, this is something I should have done a long time ago but due to some numpty previously welding the bolts under the wing of one side on and rounding off 2 of the others I was a bit unsure of how to get them off and if I really needed to.
Due to the thickness of all ratchet screwdrivers I could find I decided to make a nifty screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the door to the hinge. I am a little worried about refitting once painted so may just remove the old hinges completely and get some new ones. Any suggestions or alternative ways to get the doors back on?
I could not decide what to do about the inside roof of the car, I originally wanted to paint it the same as the car but my mate advised the finish may not be great as the paint will be sagging down and spraying at this angle may not be that easy. I did not really want to go to 1 the expense of a head lining 2 the hassle of fitting one and 3 having a stripped out interior I did not think it would look right. I have therefore painted it with just plain old black Hammerite using a foam roller, I have only done the first coat at present but all looks ok. It will defiantly need at least another 1 or 2 coats but I am more than happy. No pictures at present but will update when I have some.
Edited by dan_w, 09 April 2010 - 05:59 AM.
