Summering

There's been some progress on the "body shell upside down jobs." It feels like I'm getting closer to flipping it over and putting it back on the chassis - which I am eager to do, because housing the bodywork and the chassis separately makes for an extremely crowded garage - but I keep thinking of more and more things that are easier to do with an empty upside down body shell than right side up and full.

Above: underside of the front end bodywork with the hood/bonnet hinges epoxied into place and Kevlar laminated over the top. I also added Kevlar reinforcement in the areas where the bodywork will fasten on to the chassis and where I cut the bodywork to add the badge recess.

Above: recently seen example of the desired 'recessed badge' effect. I like this better than when the badge sits flat on the body surface.

Have also installed the door hinges:

First: laid down a layer of Kevlar to reinforce the bodywork where the hinges are going to be stressing the fiberglass.  Then: welded on extra stainless sheet to expand the part of the hinge assembly that bonds to the body, to more widely distribute the aforementioned stress and provide more gluing surface.  Third: used Hysol structural epoxy to bond the hinge on to the Kevlar layer. 

Finally (above): laminated a layer of Kevlar/carbon fiber fabric over the hinge plate assembly. I hope these hinges work because it's going to be a major hassle to get them off if they don't. 

I painted the inside of the body shell with black enamel. My (unconfirmed) understanding is that the inside of the fiberglass body shell can absorb moisture and degrade over time if left unpainted. Also, I prefer the appearance of flat black inside the bodywork to the chopped strand and resin.

A few jobs best done with bodywork off, but right side up, coming soon: 1) lay new fiberglass for the license plate recess 2) install fog lights and tail lights 3) fabricate and install front radiator grille. However that's all on hold for the traditional Summertime...

Intermezzo

Gathering in Leland Michigan every mid-Summer is one of The Ways of My People, and one of the fun things about Leland is seeing all the cool old cars. It's not entirely clear why this tiny town is such a Mecca for classic cars but it's certainly noticeable. 

One draw, no doubt, is Van's Garage - well known for high quality service on older cars. As the sign says, since 1933. Certainly a disproportion of the cool cars in Leland are here for a visit to Van's.

It's a little bit unusual to see even one Volvo P1800, even moreso to see two in the same place. Volvo isn't the first marque to come to mind at the mention of "sexy GT car" but these Ghia-bodied things are lovely.

This Jaaaag is another Van's customer. One would think that white car paint is just white car paint, but when you find one done in just the perfectly matched shade of white the result can be exquisite. And, as readers of this blog are already aware, I am inordinately fond of knock off wire spoke wheels.

One of my favorite things about Leland Automotive Exotica is how many of them are working vehicles in service, not just garage queens. "Daily Driver" is probably an overstatement - I rather doubt that the owner of the Chevy wagon above or the Cadillac below take these out to fetch groceries in the depths of Michigan Winter when there's 11 feet of snow on the ground. But, given reasonable weather, a lot of these cars seem to be in pretty regular use.

I debated whether this early 1st generation Miata (below) qualified as an example of Leland Automotive Exotica, but then realized that being in fairly original condition, not stanced or slammed or lifted or dubbed, makes this MX5 a rarity.

Broncos also seem to be a preferred target of indiscriminate modders. Below is an example thus far spared.

There are at least two Amphicars in the Leland area and a third that comes to Van's for service (below) which surely makes this the world's highest concentration of this oddball combination of not-a-very-good-car and not-a-very-good-boat.

Vacation time is drawing to a close, so I'll be back home and back on project car (and project airplane) duty soon.