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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby jpsmit » Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:38 pm

+1 - please keep posting. (knowing that I am letting the side down with my resto - September/October is my crazy season - and there is the little matter of the home reno that needs to be substantially finished before it gets cold)

But, every day I come to see what is happening here.
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby thomas » Sat Sep 22, 2018 2:14 am

I should really document six years of hard use in all weathers and kept outside, but it would be more of an un-restoration, the fall (though it was in a pretty parlous, horribly bodged state when I got it under the thick, shiny orange-peely paint -never buy unseen if you can possibly help it) rise and someday rebirth of my HB. It might be more of a wish-list for unobtainable parts: panels, bumpers and so on needed.

Agree about social media, wouldn't go near it with a barge-pole.

Not a thread hi-jack but here's how mine has looked for most of this year. It has progressed a fair bit the last few weeks and looks much better, despite appearances it is coming along nicely

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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby lord13 » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:22 am

Nice HB there mate :)
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby lord13 » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:47 am

Ok Ok .... an update then ...

So ...I can't paint, well I can, but I don't have an area in which I can spray in, and rollering/brushing paint on, even with the correct coach enamel, gives mixed results... so what to do? The car also does not have many straight, undented panels on it either ( both rear quarters, front o/s wing, roof ) So i kind of had the idea of just rubbing the whole thing down a touch to get the surface rust off and polishing it up... kind of like the Veedub boys do with their hideous air cooled monstrosities.

But... the n/s door, not the original door, not the right colour etc and would look all wrong.
I do have the original door, it is very very dented, but it is the correct colour . ..

So, in an idle moment, I took it's skin off... (please excuse the mess of my shed...I ain't very tidy....

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Had a bit of a bashing hasn't it? I wonder what did it, it's a very severe set of dents.

Anyway, I have now had a go at flattening out those gouges, I cut through the centre of each one lengthways, to account for the distortion/stretching of the metal, and bashed them all flat ...they will need more work, but they are flatter now (i'll post a pic later, after a few more hours bashing ) it will need some filler/metal putting back in, but it is in no way near as bad as it was.

But I do have an issue with the frame, the bottom hinge has been cut off, and I dont have a spare scrap door to take one off and there is no way i'm going to butcher the good straight door I have on the car right now. So what to do? I guess I'm going to have to make one,....

Ok I know what you're all thinking, why go to all this trouble to repair a door when I have a perfectly straight door already on the car that is perfectly fine and working...
well...yes ... why indeed?

It's raining .... the car is outside, the door is inside( sort of) ...and i was bored :) but seriously, like I said, the car cannot yet be painted and I wanted it to look like it had just rolled out of the barn, battle scars and all...just not those big massive dent style of battle scars that are in the door. I probably will get 'hung' up on the door hinge ( see what I did there? I should be on stage me) and not get it right, or make it look wrong, i dunno, i'm in no rush, the car runs and drives as it is, It's all 'cosmetics' now, I have to get it looking right for next years shows... what ever style i choose for the finished project.


I had a fluttery moment where I nearly painted the whole thing in black smoothrite :D ....but lets not go there just yet :)
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby psl » Sat Sep 22, 2018 4:03 pm

The 'just found" look suites the car well, leave as is. Let it age untill the lottery post code throws a cheque through your door. Untill said day, use, enjoy and better the cars running ability. If there is one thing you have got in abundance is the know how, to make the under side, engine bay and running gear look like new, without major outlay.
A cheap pop up gazebo off a well known internet site will have you out there in all weathers, keeping you and the car dry.
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby 1972nail » Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:46 pm

You could paint one panel at a time. Great results can be got with a simple gravity feed gun and a 25L 2HP compressor. I painted our Minor outside a couple of times with such a set up. As mentioned a cheap pop up gazebo with taped on sides will give more than adequate shelter on a temporary basis.
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby lord13 » Sun Sep 23, 2018 8:25 am

I too have thought about the gazebo thing, I would also need a tarpaulin for the floor, and tape the sides to that as well, and heat the whole thing. All of this I can do... and possibly will next year, but first off I have to get all the panels flat. Which will require the very best of my metal working skills.

oh and on a plus note, I believe i have found a solution to the door hinge, that if i do it right, will look very 'original' and correct...more on this later :)
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby lord13 » Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:22 am

Update time....

So, I have the original door...without a bottom hinge. No one sells the hinge, no one has a rotten spare door they don't want, and I'm not going to cut up my spare door . . . . so . . . what to do?

Go to B & Q and buy a butterfly hinge of a suitable size that's what :D

Are you ready for some top quality 'seat of the pants' style bodgery?

Well...here we go, this is the door frame, in place on the car, with a piece of 6mm rod through the hinge brackets.
You can't really see much from this first pic...
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Here's the inside, you can see the rod in place, it is just short enough to be able to be moved up and down to enable easy removal once the hinge is in place.....well it should have been, I left it a little too long, I struggled for an hour to get the damn thing out after I'd tacked on the replacement hinge...oh well :(
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Here is the B & Q hinge all nicely butchered for use . . . obviously I'm only going to use that small cylindrical bit at the top of the pic.
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There then followed about 2 hours of cursing and swearing...not getting the hinge to line up, that was spot on...but the welder wire feed packed up, then I cut my head open of a jagged bit of door frame, then the aforementioned rod removal operation that would've been made much simpler if I'd've just cut the damn rod about 10mm shorter :(

Anyway ... a nice shiny hinge all in place and welded up :D

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next job is to tackle the door skin ...without removing too much paint :) wish me luck :)
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby 1972nail » Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:15 pm

Bodgery works for me...... Well, if it gets the job done to a standard that is strong and works as well as the correct thing.

Take a at look at my wooden rotisserie...


Bodged from discarded roof joists from my brother's porch and a handrail from an accessibility ramp removed from our back door.
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Re: 1965 Viva SL

Postby lord13 » Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:54 am

Jeez that is a work of art :) It matches my pergoda style frame I used to hang my model Y ford body off while I worked on it :D

Seriously though I never even entertained making one out of wood . . . .hmmmm food for thought :)
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