Leaderboard

A young couple bought an old door (not sure if it was that old, I don't believe so) at auction and asked me to remove the finish and restore the stain/varnish. This is the first couple hours work. It had at least 8-10 coats of various types of colored varnish and/or lacquer on the outside, which if it was a new door lead me to believe that the previous workmanship was a failed endeavor, at least to the buyer. I believe the door is Ash and it is about 8 feet tall. There is a wrought iron grate that goes over the small door/window. All this is being done by hand with sand paper and hand scrapers.

I think the next part I attempted was the dash assembly. Two 3/16" thick alloy panels were cut for the front and rear with a bent up alloy spacer pop riveted on. When first looking at photo's I had thought that both front and rear had an apex on the top surface. It was only after I had build number one well on the way that my man with the camera, tape and notebook, Iain, pointed out my mistake. I made three or four alterations, gradually reducing the front apex and leveling off the rear before it looked about right. These photo's are before any alterations. The outer shell was originally bent so that it finished on the underside and left oversize back and front for trimming later. The first attempt also looked too long when viewed from the side. This photo shows the top rear looking more like it should be. There were a lot of alterations and head scratching before the final result which included brackets bent up to hold front, rear and outer shell together. Also a strong mount for the steering column bush and cross beams for mounting to the upper side panels. Lots of assorted BA nuts and bolts were used which resulted in a very strong assembly. The brackets set at an angle on the front face are for the spring loaded hood locking catches, more of these later. The Steering column bush is a 1/2" socket cap screw drilled 5/16". I drilled two of these, the second for the steering wheel. This will also be described later.

Not wobbly and not nailed. Philistine!

Nice work you are doing. I love working with wood especially rejuvenating old wooden furniture.

A lump of concrete with a wobbly seat nailed to it.

Me too . Stripping the old surface off is my favourite part, especially when there are crevices and formed beadings to clean off. Not a commonly known, or used process, but I've used broken glass for over 30 years to clean off old finishes. You need to find the pieces with the correct gentle convex curve edge, but it is so fast. I stripped over 40 feet of 50 year old Mahogany Bannister Rail of wax in about 4 hours ready for stain and varnish. Usual care need's to be adopted of course and is an art in it'self to obtain the correct angle.

Take one cast iron Barfords implement seat and a disused pedestal of a bird bath, what do you get?

A repaired bird bath which leaks.

Trailer please Chris. As if you didn't know.

Yes👍

Classic building and design skills adopted from the principles of a foregone era !. 'Built like a Victorian Outside Brick Facility'

My entry pass etc arrived yesterday.

After the grill and surround was mounted it was thought that additional support would be a good idea. Various ways were thought up and discarded. Some being too unsightly, others not rigid enough. The method finally settled on was simple and strong. Two brackets were bent up which were bolted to the front face of the engine cover and to the underside of the grill surround. 4BA nuts and bolts were used making sure that the holes drilled in the cover were clear of the fuel tank underside and internal deflectors. These photo's are out of focus but show the set up. The headlamp surround was bent up around a shaped wood former. I don't appear to have photo's of this. The full size was welded to the grill surround but bolted on the model, again using 4BA nuts and bolts. These can just be seen on the grill photo above.

I use a 330mm length of Rail Track as an Avil and Former (was going to use it as a WH Tractor front weight). It complies with modern day EN13674-1 and 49E1 DIN S49 pattern. Weighs 36lbs (16.33Kgs). Quality piece of old British Steel. I dug up 2 pieces when working on the House shared Grounds which, coincidentally, is about 200yds (182.88mtrs) from the London-Brighton Railway .