absmiami

A few more tasks before the body is glued to the chassis - the rear axle length must be adjusted - a second time - to match the front axle wheelbase - the rings of plastic that i had removed months ago - and kept - glad i did that - were trimmed and glued back onto the axle stubs - and now ive got a good match with the front -

Dash was assemblied pre-pandemic - or nearly so - finally in ….

Some old Model Master paint was needed to match the leather on the seats - had to clean up some of the breaks at the top of the seats and the edges of the leather … and i had to trim some of the length off the seats to allow a good fit for the body work on the chassis …

Hinges for the boot are made from short lengths of nickel tube …

Its all there - including the ashtray - Um - are “we” getting an engine ? ??

There’s a hand pump sited below the left hand side of the dash - its used to prime the fuel lines to start the engine - per the Leno video on page 1 - and a handle for the brave racing mechanic - the handle is .016 brass rod - the strap is some more tin prepped like the bonnett straps - the pump is some thin wall brass tube, with some clamps made fr Evergreen and a pump handle soldered fr nickel - the lines run forward thru the bulkhead and to the cylinder heads…

Straights up late tonite gracias …

Kidding …

After some tweaks - ok - alot of tweaks - everything fits … can’t glue the body ro the chassis yet - first have to attach some of the cockpit lines, the fuel pressure hand pump, a strap handle - and i think - the dash which was finished in the early months of the pandemic …. So long ago that i had to give it a vaccine booster …

On the one to ones - I think this is called a chafing strap - wind it around and cut and glue the ends and you’re done - and its on to the engine bulkhead… what’s French for firewall ??

Can you still buy this tape? You can always tell what stuff you’ve got squirreled away in the work bench is really old by the packaging - there’s no .com to be found on this pinstripe sized masking tape… It’s perfect for the strapping that winds around the lip of the cowling - found on most pre-war race cars to prevent damage to the bonnett … in real scale it gives you a strap that is only 3/4 inch in width - good stuff …

So there’s a reason why you should not use epoxy to glue small parts onto a painted surface … the forward buckle assemblies were not securely attached - bad planning - and one popped off while test fitting the bonnett - now back on with some CA, a wing. And a prayer …

Well played …

Thanks Mr B - hard to know whether i got the finish right - the blue may be a bit too heavy - anyway - there are few contemporary pictures and of course all bl & wh - so even the restorers of what is thought to be chass #3 can’t be too sure. The finish looks a little brighter in outdoor light - looks better …

The brass part is finished in fl black to match the exhaust - used this chemical blackening agent - works well …

The bonnet strap over the exhaust manifold sits in a channel that runs over the manifold - another part where you gotta find some random stock of brass that you got YEARS ago - and hadn’t used since - it’s .060 in width - the channel width is widened with some files - just wide enough to take the bonnett strap … the brass is heated - and then shaped …

2 assamblies - left - and right - 5 peices each assembly -

The bonnett straps will hang loose - but the chassis rails have buckles that attach to posts with loops of .015 nickel - the posts also have those neat castle nuts …

Re-paint of chassis rails with Ukraine blue - the engine turrning process had chipped paint off of the rails …

Yup

Gracias

Also need to make the hood straps - these will be made from flat lead strip that is 1 mil in width - embossed by rolling a diamond bit along it’s length - then “Sharpied” brown ….

The frames are useful for allowing a clean installation of the grills in the openings