The grill

Today I first installed the hinges on the fenders.
And then I bolted on the hood.

After some alignment the hood is laying pretty good so I continued with the next item. The grill.

 It took me some time to find all the bits and pieces but finally its coming together. And then I realized that I have forgotten something. The lock for the hood.

Trying to fiddle it in between the grill and radiator didn't work. So I had to take the grill of again and then back on after the lock has been installed.
Next I aligned the lock to the hood and it looks fine.
Except for the lights and bezel and bumper and some other small stuff the front is coming together nicely.

Installing seals

The pieces i glued in yesterday I did not touch yet.
I immediately started with the front suspension. Taking it apart to put new seals on the ball joints. They were damaged previously while taking the car apart.

 After taking it apart and putting the new seal in place I did reassemble it again Tightening the bolts down to spec and installing new cotter pins. so this front suspension is ready to roll again.

 I had some time left so I decided to install the front splash guards. These will keep moisture and grime front reaching the rear of the lights.

 I also applied some paint on the pieces I glued in yesterday.

 And then the splash guard on the other side was mounted.

Hood hinges part 2

The first thing I did today was to bring up the car to height and take off the wheels.
Then I set the car down on blocks.

 This gives me the opportunity to reach under the fender and to drill the hole for the nuts to a diameter of 16 mm.

 I also painted the parts made yesterday. Then I made some washers. Large washers with a hole of 27 mm. The inside was chamfered to give clearance for the recess on the back of the hinge nuts in the fender.

 Then with the help of some TEC 7 ( a polyurethane glue ) glued them to the inner fender.

 Next I took the bolt made yesterday added some Glue and put them through the hole in the fender .

 Then i added some more glue on the other side before mounting the nut I made yesterday and tightened everything down.

Now I leave it alone for more then 24 hours to let the glue fully cure.

Hood hinges

First I took the hood from the car.
And then I unscrewed the bolts from the hinges on the inner fender.
The ones on the driver side came right of. Only one bolt remained somewhat attached.

 I als did take off the nuts from the fender  on the other side. So now I have to come up with a way to mount the hinges again without welding new nuts to the inner fenders.

 And Suddenly I came up with this. These bolts nuts and washers are the solution to my problem.

 First I drilled a center hole in the head of the bolts.

 Then I drilled a hole through the bolt with a 6.5 mm drill bit.

 Then I screwed everything together a bolt and nut with a washer in between.
The washer was then welded to the nut.

 Then on the lathe the bolt with the nut mounted was turned down. So that the nut was shortened 2 mm.

 Then the whole lot is flipped around and the head of the bolt is turned down to a size of 2.5 mm. That is about the depth of the recess for the original nuts. They where spot welded with a very small spot welder so it seemed.

 Then the hole in the bolt is tapped with 5/16 unf treads.

 And then everything was coated with a primer.
Tomorrow we will continue.

Problems with the Hood.

Today I started with painting the brackets for the bumper.

 and some bolts and small items are painted.

 Then the front turn signal lights are mounted, The brackets for the bumper and some other  pieces were mounted. And then the Hood was mounted to the car.

 So next I started with aligning the hood to the fenders and cowl.
When I was checking the hood height I tightened some bolts bolts from the hinge to the inner fender. While tightening a suddenly heard a snap and the bolt keeps turning. After I did some checking it seemed that the nuts that are welded to the inner fender ( They are welded in the factory where this part was made) came loose. In order to solve this I need to remove the hood and then try to undo the bolts. Then I will need to make a plate with nuts welded on and glue that plate to the inner fender.
But that will be for after the weekend.

Fenders

Today I did some preparation work on some parts for the fenders.

 These are the splash guards that are mounted inside the fender.
And then the first fender is mounted Aligned at the rear and bolted in place.

 After one side was done I started the other side. Between the inner and outer fender I taped some rubber seal. This will prevent dirt from entering the engine compartment.

 So the other fender was mounted and aligned.

 Then My attention turned to the front of the car.

The completion of the front will be for a later date.

Doors

Yesterday I mounted the drivers side door. And today I started with the windows of that door.

 The bottom rail holding the glass (not visible when it is mounted) has some surface rust.
That rust was removed and then painted it with galvanize paint.

 After the paint had died I started the assembly of the door. The small window was installed, the lock, door handle, Guide rails, the window and the window mechanism followed. Then the fit of the door was checked and regulated and the door catch was regulated.
For now the fit is OK it will be checked again while mounting the fender.

 As soon as the drivers side was done I started on the passenger side.

 After that the fit of this door was checked I glued in the seals of both doors.

Both doors are now installed and look great.

Exhaust.

Today I started with the driveshaft Cleaning and painting and the plate under the driveshaft connecting the seat base together.

While these parts were drying I cleaned the exhaust and redone some welds and repaired some brackets.

 Then everything was painted with a galvanize alu paint for rust protection and appearance.

 And then I started with mounting the driveshaft to the car. Followed with the exhaust since they were in to pieces I had to line everything up perfectly before welding so that the exhaust tips line up with the opening in the rear skirt.
I also made some brackets to mount the supports for the exhaust to the car.
The parking brake cable was also installed and the cable for the speedo.
Together with the clutch cable they need to be routed away from the exhaust. But that is for another day.

 In the picture below you are able to see that the exhaust is nicely centered in the rear skirt openings.

 Because I had some time left and I can not continue with the interior of the car 5 still waiting for some parts to arrive). I started mounting the drivers side door.

Gearbox

First I glued the rubber seal to the trunk.

 Then I prepared everything to mount the trunk lid on the car.

 After the Bolts are connecting the hinges and the lid the work is not done.
I had to level the top of the trunk to the top of the car. The rear of the car need to be on the same distance as the rear pieces. And the gaps need to bee equally on all sides.
After I got everything right I had to put some more tension to the springs to hold the lid open. But it did not. After some careful inspection and looking at the pictures I pictures taken before. I decided to swap the springs around. That seemed to be the solution.
When the trunk is opened now it pops open and stays open so you can get something out of the trunk without it to come down on you.

 Then I went back to the underside of the car. The bolts of the pressure plate are torqued down and then I mounted the bell housing. Next I Took the Gearbox mounted it on the transmission hoist an  spooned it on the engine. It went on with out a hassle. The gearbox cross member is mounted and everything is bolted firmly in place.

So that's it for this week.

rear seat retainers

The first thing I did today was take my dremel  with a cutoff wheel and grind away the welds of the seat retainers I welded in wrong.

 After the grinding I pried the retainers loose and drilled some holes in the retainers and the floor.

 I then made some plates drilled holes at the same distance as the holes in the floor. And painted the plates in the body color.

 Next I mounted the retainers in the correct way to the floor and put some sealer between the plates and the floor. The retainers and the floor on the inside were painted black.

This is what it looks like from the underside of the car.
A repair well done.