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T-Series Stocking up on TF parts!
- Thread starter PAUL161
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PJ
OP
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Thanks guys, I've been down the concurs road before and after a while it's like putting another red jelly bean in a jar of red jelly beans. You don't drive it, it's just for show! Boring, boring, boring! I want this car to look nice, but it's to be driven and enjoyed! My car, my money and my decision! Very tired of the trailer queens. This might sound crazy, but when I go to a show now, I'd rather look at the drivers, knowing their driven, not the concurs trailer queen beauties, they do nothing for me anymore! JMHO. PJ
WillR
Jedi Warrior
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The guys driving it are working on them with just that in mind. To put miles on it so there are little details you can see and talk to them at shows, ask em how they did it and get your gears turning to see what you could do to yours to make the miles that much more enjoyable. patina aint cheap its earned. I like to see true stock once in awhile. To see what it was when it was, as Im to young to know any of these when they first showed up. I appreciate them. I just have no need or desire to have a red jelly bean. Or any other color for that matter.
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T'heck with "correct"!
No matter how hard you try to do a "correct" restoration, there will always be something wrong, somewhere, at some level of detail. Originality, in a restoration, is something that is approached, not achieved. To me it seems like a neurosis, but I guess some people like it. And that's fine. Just not for me.
More important, I think, is taste. A restoration should preserve the things that are important and should respect the properties of the car that make it what it is. Deciding just what that means is part of the enjoyment. For example, I put much more modern electrics into my TD, but it's all out of sight, so it still works and acts like a 1952 car (except that, I hope, it won't break down as much). I also have a walnut-veneer dash, which is not "correct" but was a common upgrade in its day.
I think your planned two-tone paint job is fine in that respect, as it preserves the elegance of the old, wing-fendered cars. Something like a two-stage chartreuse metallic, however, probably would not.
No matter how hard you try to do a "correct" restoration, there will always be something wrong, somewhere, at some level of detail. Originality, in a restoration, is something that is approached, not achieved. To me it seems like a neurosis, but I guess some people like it. And that's fine. Just not for me.
More important, I think, is taste. A restoration should preserve the things that are important and should respect the properties of the car that make it what it is. Deciding just what that means is part of the enjoyment. For example, I put much more modern electrics into my TD, but it's all out of sight, so it still works and acts like a 1952 car (except that, I hope, it won't break down as much). I also have a walnut-veneer dash, which is not "correct" but was a common upgrade in its day.
I think your planned two-tone paint job is fine in that respect, as it preserves the elegance of the old, wing-fendered cars. Something like a two-stage chartreuse metallic, however, probably would not.
OP
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Been working on the cars sheet metal for the past week. Had to re position the scuttle on the left side, as it was welded 3/16ths of an inch too far forward on the left side and created a problem when replacing the wood spacer between the tub and firewall. The car had been worked on years ago and the scuttle was re welded, but done wrong. The PO butchered the wood to compensate for their stupidity. I ordered new wood this morning. It created a gap where the firewall bolts up. They solved the problem by stuffing body filler in the gap! I've found every conceivable bolt you can think of in this car, wrong length, wrong size and wrong threads. I had to buy British taps and dies to correct some of the thread problems they screwed up! Sure getting an education here. I've heard of DPOs, but until this car, I never knew just how serious this could be. When they were done (fixing, LOL) this car they dumped green paint on it and in some places over bare metal with no primer! They probably got the paint at a yard sale, as it was junk! Oh well, such is life. Hope to have it done within the next decade! 
PJ
PJ
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Been working on the cars sheet metal for the past week. Had to re position the scuttle on the left side, as it was welded 3/16ths of an inch too far forward on the left side and created a problem when replacing the wood spacer between the tub and firewall. The car had been worked on years ago and the scuttle was re welded, but done wrong. The PO butchered the wood to compensate for their stupidity. I ordered new wood this morning. It created a gap where the firewall bolts up. They solved the problem by stuffing body filler in the gap! I've found every conceivable bolt you can think of in this car, wrong length, wrong size and wrong threads. I had to buy British taps and dies to correct some of the thread problems they screwed up! Sure getting an education here. I've heard of DPOs, but until this car, I never knew just how serious this could be. When they were done (fixing, LOL) this car they dumped green paint on it and in some places over bare metal with no primer! They probably got the paint at a yard sale, as it was junk! Oh well, such is life. Hope to have it done within the next decade!
On the plus side, you can console yourself by considering how great that story is going to sound at a car show or club gathering one day!
OP
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Here's the scuttle after cutting the weld, repositioning the scuttle rearward and rewelding. I temporarily put the firewall back on to check for bolt hole alignment. All came out on the money. Now to remove everything and clean it all up, including the wood. The windscreen mounting holes were also out of position and the bolts were on an angle, now their straight! I just can't stand stupid mistakes, including my own! But the old girl will be right when done. I had to repair the cross brace under the scuttle as the end plates were bent and instead of repairing them, they put it back on in that condition! Amazing! PJ
New weld.
Temp alignment checking.
New weld.
Temp alignment checking.