Joe's 1972 Firenza Project

[1972nail]

Looking gooooood.........

Surround the drip or run with a light skim of stopper, rub the whole lot back until the stopper just disappears....no more run and you have hardly touched the surrounding paint.

The first one or two you do may need a couple of applications of stopper and careful watching until you get the hang of the technique and just how much area to cover with the stopper.

[junkyarddog]

Excellent work.

You look to have got a really good smooth shiny finish straight from the gun

As for the runs/drips,most Vivas came with them as standard from the factory

[chrismc]

Surround the drip or run with a light skim of stopper, rub the whole lot back until the stopper just disappears....no more run and you have hardly touched the surrounding paint.

Brilliant advice David. I have just ordered some Stopper ready for the weekend.

You look to have got a really good smooth shiny finish straight from the gun

The photos are flattering. Few drips and some orange peel but overall I'm happy with the finish and it can be made better.

[Johnboy HB]

Looks great, nothing like seeing your project with new paint on, like David says flat out any flaws with 1500 & higher grade paper if possible, any less & you risk 'sand scratching' which needs a lot more flatting out, no real problem if you have many thick layers of paint, also remember, any swage lines, curves or panel edges will sand through to the primer real quick so go easy on these

[chrismc]

Thanks Guys, I am going to leave the paint for about a month before I do a final polish.

Whilst I was doing other jobs Joe cleaned up the fuel tank. These seem to be galvanised so no rust but plenty of underseal



A couple of coats of silver Hammerite Smooth makes all the difference.



I spent a few weeks scouring eBay for a fuel filler neck/ boot floor seal. I managed to locate one eventually for £12 but it really wasn't that good. I searched the net and found that a Morrris Minor Traveller had a seal which maybe I could adapt.



The seal has the correct angle for the pipe but does not have the double lipped seal around the edge.







After cutting to shape the seal was glued in place using PU adhesive. The sealant was used on both sides of the seal to stop water ingress.





Although it is not original it does the job. I'm not a stickler for originality.

[1972nail]

There's going tho be a run on Morris Minor Traveller fuel filler grommets now. Looks like a good fix, where did you get the blue connector hose I wonder?.....

[Fred Dukes]

A very pragmatic solution Chris - I will have to see what to do with mine when I get round to putting Flo back together - although it is 2300 it will have the same filler neck interface

[chrismc]

I would rather have a new modified part that works then an original part that is falling to bits or is super expensive. I got my seal from here but I have seen them for sale for over £20

www.dsnclassics.co.uk

£4:20 +p+p

[chrismc]

We have been doing loads of small jobs on the Firenza. A lot of these have to be done in a certain order to facilitate the next.

I really want the spraying out of the way but everytime we need to put a bit back on the car it needs to be cleaned, derusted primed and painted. This takes a lot of time and some jobs are being done whilst others are drying.

I seem to be the cleaner, deruster whilst Joe enjoys the spraying.

I cleaned up the bulkhead/ heater cover and made a modification (another )to the area were the pipes come out so we dont have to spend £21 on a grommet every few years...







The engine was then checked over, gaskets changed and painted.





The car came without headlight fittings and I'm not sure if this was even a twin headlight car originally. A friend of mine restores Capris and he donated a Hella twin headlight set up to the cause. Halogen bulbs too



Obviously these didn't fit so I had to make them fit.

After a trim with the grinder they looked like this ready for Joe to spray black.



Next was the Battery tray that I bought last year from Fred. It was in fantastic condition and looked like it had never been on a car. The battery tray on the Viva is a horrible rust trap so I wanted to bolt it on and space it out slightly so any water that gets behind can drain out. I attached it with stainless bolts and spaced it out with 3mm rubber. I will have to make sure the tray is properly earthed as the battery grounds to it.



I managed to get a NOS engine bay lighting loom on eBay last year for peanuts so that was fitted today and secured with the correct style clips. These are available, again on eBay, and are listed for a Triumph Dolomite.



Whilst all this was going on I sprayed the doors which went well and the bonnet and boot which didn't.

[1972nail]

I love seeing the progress on this Chris. I've always wondered if the Crapee twin headlights were the same spacing as the Firenza, but you've cut yours up before I was able to ask! If they were it would be an easy way to start a twin headlight conversion. Joe's car seems to have been a twin headlight car originally or at least it has the correct front panel fitted.

The heater grommet mod is another good one along with the battery tray. I'm sure you know as it looks to be only set on, but the heater plenum panel, to give that black cover thingy it's correct name, fits under the windscreen surround with a foam gasket between the two.