Friday 29 March 2024

Jammy

My favourite tipple is Jam Shed Malbec. There was a time when it was £5.99 at Tesco and, once a month, you could get 25% off for 6 bottles or more.

However, there hasn't been a 25% promotion for the last 2 months. On top of that, the price has been steadily rising and reached £7 a bottle, which didn't put me off. The final straw, however, came last week when Tesco advertised it an the 'low every day price' of £7.25 - a bloody increase. This week it's £8, for God's sake.


Hay became aware of a Malbec at Aldi, the label of which looks surprisingly like that on Jam Shed. So much to that I think they're both made by the same people. Anyway, Aldi's Malbec is called Jammy Red and is priced at £5.99.

This is my new tipple.


Thursday 28 March 2024

From the River to the Sea Explained

I've finally realised why all those people descend on London chanting; "From the River to the Sea."



They're obviously protesting about the water companies regularly pumping sewage into our watercourses from the River to the Sea. 


Wednesday 27 March 2024

Lessons

Making a new dashboard has taught me some wood butchery lessons.

I sanded down the original, right-hand dash panel using the bench sander I bought last year.


Then I stabilised the plywood with a couple of layers of worktop lacquer, which is hard as nails and impervious to almost everything except bleach.

Next I filled any small imperfections (a couple of areas were indented) with car bodyfiller. Now the first lesson was that car body filler isn't really a suitable base for wood glue and I should perhaps have used wood filler. That's not to say it didn't work when I applied glue and the veneer, but it wasn't ideal. I couldn't, however, sand it perfectly flat as it would have taken too much of the ply off and leave a step when mounted next to the centre panel on the dashboard backplate.


Using a craft knife, I cut out a suitable piece of veneer. Now veneer is very brittle and you can see in the photo below where a couple of bits chipped off during the process.


Not a problem, I thought, as I could fill these tiny areas in with small specs of veneer after the main layer was stuck on.

After applying the glue I added the veneer and then used another piece of ply as a press, clamping the whole lot down for half a day.


The problem arose once I tried to take off the plywood press - some glue had squeezed out and stuck the press to the dashboard panel, requiring some force to release it and chipping off even more pieces of veneer in the process. The lesson learned was to use a silicone mat (left over from my resin lamp making phase) between the two pieces of wood to ensure they didn't stick together.

I decided to remove the veneer I had applied using the bench sander to take it off in thin layers. The interim result produced a beautifully smooth veneer, so I'll use the bench sander to refine the veneer on the final panel before applying high-build, clear polyurethane.  

Having some time on my hands, I had another go at making a totally new right-hand panel and learned another lesson.


I carved out the indent for the steering column using my jig-saw and thought; "Damn! I should have used a drill hole saw at the top and the jig-saw for the sides - a jig-saw is too imprecise. I should also use hole borers for the instrument holes, rather than a jig-saw." I corrected the error by clamping a spare piece of ply under the indent (to give the centre of the drill bit something to bite into).


I pulled out my hole borers, but didn't have one the right size for the required instrument holes. So I went on to e-Bay and ordered a set for every conceivable size. Only a tenner. I also spotted a variable hole borer which allows you to bore out any sized hole you want. It only costs a fiver.





I'm going to have to start from scratch, but I'm going to wait for the centre section I bought on e-Bay to be delivered, plus I need some more burr walnut veneer.

So, the lessons learned were:

  1. Use wood filler for small imperfections, not car bodyfiller. Wood filler grabs the wood and polyurethane paint better.
  2. If the imperfections are too deep to fill effectively, use a new piece of ply. Pressing the veneer with another piece of ply won't facilitate the veneer adhering to the dents.
  3. Don't use a jig-saw to cut out holes - a drill hole borer produces a far more precise cut.
  4. Use a silicone mat between the veneer and the wood that's clamped over the top to press it down to aid release.
  5. Don't pre-cut the holes in the veneer - cut them out with a craft knife after the veneer has been firmly glued to the substrate. Doing it beforehand risks splintering and cracking the veneer.

I did carry on with the original right-hand panel, just as a test piece, but again I managed to chip a piece of veneer off on the far right corner, which I glued back on before gently sanding on the bench sander and applying one coat of  polyurethane varnish. For a first attempt it's not too bad, but not to the standard I want.


Once I've built up a good depth of polyurethane coats and it's thoroughly dry, I'll sand it back to a flush, satin finish (to avoid glare) and see what it looks like. It's been useful for learning from.


The panel on the right is the one I'm actually going to use, as there are too many low sections on the original and they're damned difficult to fill properly, being on thin edges with little sideways support. 

The new section of plywood has the advantage of being totally flat and I'll bore the holes to the correct size when I receive the tools I ordered. Reboring them to the correct size will be a doddle if I back the panel with some ply and clamp the two pieces of ply together.

Here's the panel with at least half a dozen coats.


It has a good lustre and depth, but needs a good week to dry out thoroughly before sanding. Even then, I may have to add a couple more coats to ensure an even, flat surface.


Tuesday 26 March 2024

Inside the Matrix

For a while now I've been having issues with my car stereo - the display goes all squonk on me after a minute or two. Sometimes it inverts completely and at other times it banks out half the screen. I can still operate it, as I know all the presets.

Last week, however, it decided to enter the Matrix.


See what I mean?


Never send a human to do a machine's job.....


Monday 25 March 2024

Beaker People

Our friend, Simon, called round on Friday to collect some pottery he's left with Hay's sister for firing in her kiln. He specialises in prehistoric pottery, specifically beakers and fermenting ewers. He also volunteers with demos at Stonehenge.


Here's his facsimile of the kind of beaker produced by the Beaker People of Bronze Age Britain, which is roughly 2,400 to 1,800 BC.

The Beaker culture existed in the late Neolithic in continental Europe, but the art form didn't reach Britain till the Bronze Age.


Sunday 24 March 2024

Lyrics

There was some music on the radio the other day from the late '60s and early '70s and I was struck by the idiocy of some of the lyrics which we all used to sing along to.

I'm sure some groups developed really good tunes and thought; "That's brilliant, but we can't simply do an instrumental - we have to come up with lyrics," upon which they each took turns to write a few nonsensical lines that vaguely rhymed and strung them together.


I believe this was actually a strategy for David Bowie and saw a documentary many years ago showing how he did this using the cut-up method, which involved taking existing text and cutting it up to create new pieces of text. 

Bowie would often use random sources, like newspapers and diaries, and put the words together to form new lyrics. He believed that this method helped him to be more creative and to write lyrics that were surprising and interesting, which in his case they were.


Saturday 23 March 2024

New Tool

Just bought another tool that will help me - an air punch and flange maker.


One side punches 5mm holes in steel and the other crimps small flanges into flat plates so you can slide repair panels under existing metalwork, with the result being flush.

The punch is a help when doing plug welds, especially on areas like wheel arches. 5mm is a little on the small side, but adequate. Drilling risks distorting the steel because of heat build up and pressure, whereas this little gizmo just punches clean through.

The flange accessory facilitates lap welding two plates; however, lap welds are frowned upon due to the increased thickness being difficult to dolly. However, there are instances where one might need to slide a plate under an existing one, such as where there is no pressed repair panel and you have to fabricate something. 

At £35.99 I thought it well worth the money; however, there were issues. Firstly the dust cap on the air inlet was rammed on tight, requiring me to clamp the body in a vice and use a box spanner and hammer to remove it. It was dry as a bone and had obviously been inserted a long, long time ago.

 Secondly, it came with a 1/4 inch air connector, but the air inlet on the punch is 12mm, not the 1/4 inch advertised on the e-Bay advert. You'd think they'd know the details and provide the correct adaptor. A complaint was made.

Anyway, I used it to punch the necessary holes in the lower wing repair section wheel arches (took less than a minute) and the flange on the mudguard where it attaches to the headlamp cowls I had previously welded in.



I then put the o/s mudguard into position with clamps ready for plug welding; however, I'll accomplish that with the bonnet laid upside-down, flat on the ground, so I have gravity working with me.



I also took the opportunity to seal as many seams as possible with Tiger Seal, additionally squeezing a thin bead into the joint between the upper bonnet and the lower repair section, which will prevent any water ingress. I contemplated smearing the inside of the wheel arch seam with sealant, but thought better if it in case it caught light during welding. I can always squirt some in later and smooth it out wearing a rubber glove.

I tried fitting the headlamp outer cowl - some adjustment is necessary to make it fit perfectly, but nothing I can't accomplish with a bit of grinding. I only have one outer cowl and so have yet to find another.

Took delivery of the burr walnut veneer, but I must have got something wrong on my measurements (no surprise there). There's certainly enough to do one dashboard, but not three, and I'm going to have to make a 3 piece dash because of the dimensions of the veneer. That has to wait though until I receive the middle section I bought on e-Bay.


Friday 22 March 2024

Birthday Present

 No.1 Son's birthday present to me arrived yesterday - a rather nice, wooden steering wheel for the GT6.


Just in time!

How can I get cruise control on the GT6?


Thursday 21 March 2024

Work@station

I used public transport yesterday and took a train to Bedford. I spotted this at Bristol Parkway rail station.


A neat, mobile workstation in the station cafe.


Wednesday 20 March 2024

The Purpose of a Project

I regularly check Faceplant Marketplace for parts for the GT6 restoration and came across this very interesting item yesterday.


A galvanised Spitfire Mk IV Spitfire chassis, complete with rebuilt suspension (wrapped in plastic). It's an abandoned project priced at £800. The chassis and suspension on the Mk IV Spit is exactly the same as the Mk 3 GT6.

Now if I was pressed for time, this would be a very good buy, as it would save me ages in welding the front of my chassis (never mind about what I may find further up it once the tub is removed) and cleaning up/rejuvenating the existing suspension.

Projects have three traditional elements; price, time and quality. However, there's always the 4th element that's invariably missed out - the learning process. Arguably, there's a 5th element - sheer enjoyment of the process.

While I'm sorely tempted, and a similar offer is unlikely to materialise for a long time, I think I'll stick with renovating my chassis and suspension, as I'm not pressed for time (within limits), I enjoy the learning process and I obtain enormous pleasure from doing it all myself. Why spend £800 when I have all the parts and the only cost is my time, which is free and I have plenty of.