Bits and Pieces.....les petite accoutrements.

I am not wanting to rub anything in. Having grown up in the north, I know how long winters can be....and although Bragg Creek has had a pretty mild winter, I feel bad to use the excuse that this blog may be not quite up to snuff because I am away.....On holidays......in Bahamas. And I find myself doing this update on a borrowed ipad, while drinking a G&T, after a delicious meal of jerk chicken, rice and peas and more wine than I should have.......(I went to far didn't I?)

Just before I left I got the chance to visit with Fillmore. They were in the put back together stage.

First off, we had to put the wiper motor plates back on as well as the vents to mark them for paint.

Exciting was how much simply putting the emblem on made things pop! 

Some of the rear lights were put on before but now the light bezels 

The more bling the better he looks. I have already re chromed the bumpers and they go on next......it's the little things

A whimsical nod to the past

Ahhh be still my beating heart. Alas I may rest.
Forgive me all, I know I sounded like a middle school child who was making a mountain out of a mole hill when paint hit steel. In my defense so much work has happened to get me to the point where the 'public' will notice a difference. And truth be told they will never know, or care, what happened to get us to this point. The main criteria will be....how's it look?
Shallow for me to care?...yes.
But I do. It's not the end all, but I don't want to come this far only to be unhappy with the aesthetics. I am happy to say I am not unhappy. Once the paper came off and I could see everything together, it makes sense and I feel at peace. Today is Friday the 13th and I feel very lucky in life.

My sister in law Adele (why she ever married my brother I will never know) came up with the paint design and color suggestions. Our family then tweaked them to our gut feeling, drawing inspiration from color palettes from the early 50's.

Ladies and Gentlemen.........

FILLMORE

I had to include both of these shots, as I myself marvel at how color can play in different light. The pic to the left is in an overcast natural light, the right is in the shop under fluorescent illumination.

With a little help from my friends

 What would we do with out friends? Sometimes we need someone to listen, sometimes we need someone to lean on, and sometimes we need someone to simply say..."get over yourself, it's not that big of a deal and there's nothing you can do about it!"

 The application of the blue on Fillmore made me feel unsettled. After some reflection of why I was feeling ill at ease it became apparent in a conversation I was having with my best friend...Michelle. The fact is I hate to loose control.

  I play the part of an easy going soul. What I generally strive for is an egalitarian eutopic existence, but in reality I like to have a hand in my fate. So I think my reaction to the paint was a moment of total loss of control.A realization that whatever the outcome was going to be was now out of my hands. Whatever control I had was already spent and now I am waiting for the falling chips to settle.

Thankfully, many cohorts and collaborators jumped up to support my faltering vision with words of encouragement and congratulations, and by the time I was mid way through my morning I was feeling fine.

 Until I opened the emails....


If the blue made me wring my hands the burnt orange is making me have chest pains.

What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key

Adding a pinch of this and a splash of that

Who would ever think that colors could be scarey! There is nothing more alive that the vibrant youthful greens of spring, the calm of a turquoise Caribbean sea, the earthy red and burnt orange in the turned leaves of fall, or the crisp bright white of winter. Yet as we teeter on the edge of color, my pulse quickens...

And doubt creeps in....

Both feet, ready? Set?......JUMP!

Feels like prom night....

Oh the anticipation, so much preparation into getting things just right for the big event....

(Thank God Fillmore was born in '49, I shudder to think what he's look like 

if I had to draw from the 70's for color inspiration....)

.....elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur

In case you are wondering....yes the big roll up door in front of Fillmore is the spray booth.

All Dressed up and no place to go!

Parts and Pieces

Corvus corax, The Thompson Turkey, the common Raven. A bird that was definitely prevalent where I grew up, and sometimes I feel we have a lot of things in common. "Common ravens are omnivorous and highly opportunistic: their diet may vary widely with location, season and serendipity". Back home that was a nice way to call it a scavenger....and sometimes late at night as I stand in front of the open door to the fridge and scan the contents again, I suppose I would have to agree with the common trait.
As I walked into the paint shop the other day I had to chuckle about the raven yet again. Folklore says that if you can find a ravens nest you will be rewarded with a multitude of shiny objects from near and far. I never had the fortune to even spot a Ravens nest, let alone look inside, but I have witnessed a raven steal bright shiny objects, particularly brand new shiny white golf balls. So when I saw the parts and pieces of Fillmore set about the shop it made me say "Ooooooooo! "and be drawn to the bright and shiny splendor.

Don't get me wrong I could revel at the magic that is happening for hours.....but I'm getting a little impatient about getting some variety in my visual stimuli.....I'm looking for a little color in my day.

The Three R's

Reduce -Reuse-Recycle!
After taking closer stock of the bezel seal retention clips, I thought there was no reason why I couldn't refurbish them with a little elbow grease and rust paint. Plus the fact that I had no idea where I could find clips like that.

So in they went into the ultra-vibe parts cleaner. They came out cleaned up all right, a little more time with some fine steel wool, and they looked even better than the above.

Then, while my daughter watched me and shook her head in disbelief i made a little paint stand. A coat or two of primer and then some tremclad flat black and I was ready to roll.

When I got everything back together, things looked pretty good. I'll have to wait for install time to make sure the ring seal isn't too big or too small.

Of course, as I sat in front of the computer with a lovely glass of single malt, somewhere from the deep recesses of my cob webbed mind I remembered a restoration catalogue that I have. They have just about every little widget you could think that you need. Sure enough, after browsing through a few hundred pages....guess what I found.
Oh well, I like what I have!

Loose ends

Ever had that dream where a friend says "Hey man you got a thread hangin' down!" then everything goes into slow motion. Your friend reaches over , grabs the thread and starts to pull. All the while you seem to be frozen in fear as you watch it all unravel.In the end your just standing there in your underwear and a shirt collar still around your neck......No? just me? huh!

Uhhhhgh!

In a project this big there are loose ends all over the place. Some are left untied because you have to wait to complete another step before it can be cleaned up and cleared off. Others just sort of drift off to the sidelines because " Oh that won't take but a minute, I can do that later!" mentality takes over.

 The last window from the drivers side was like that, until I busted the glass trying to not so gently 'tap' a seal into place. Now it's done, all tied up!

 The headlight bezels are a bit of scenario one and two. I had to get the bezels themselves re-chromed, which I might as well wait for all the bumpers etc before doing that.
 Recently it was time, I took them all apart and sent the bezels and assorted pieces to Alberta Plating for the magic to happen.

 What I didn't do is pay attention to the rest of the components. I simply thought....well "I'll have to replace all that!" forgetting this is Fillmore, a 1949 Flxible Clipper......"A what?"

The original bezel seal is a round rubber bead with a tail or flange....WITH a metal core!
I searched high and low and so far I have found nothing that resembles it.

I did however find some 5/16"full round at Norwesco .
The guys there were really great. It's not perfect but I will continue the search. The second part of the challenge is locating the headlamp gasket retention spring. The ones I have are in pretty good structural shape but it would be nice to get some new ones if possible.....

I looked and looked, went to the usual suspects, but nothing.So last night, after a glass of rejuvenation, I decided that structually these clips are in good enough shape to use, they just need to be cleaned up.
It was time to pull  the old "ultra-vibe"
(sounds risque)  back into service. It hasn't seen much action over the last few years.

Stay tuned...

Do these lines make my butt look fat?

A loaded question when coming from a loved one, but safe from Fillmore....
 I want to have more to report, I am eager...no I am hungry for more to tell...but alas there is no meat on these bones. A meagre bowl of rock soup today I am afraid.

On the positive side of the equation...less time working on Fillmore means more time having intellectual stimulating conversations with my kids!!

 Before

Here are some pics of some changes we made to the rear lines on Fillmore. The top edge comes in higher and accentuates the curves of the hind end.
Although you can't see it in these shots it also helps to balance the front and back in profile.
The autobody shop is big but also busy. There are vehicles everywhere so getting a good profile shot is tough.
As for the front (Robert) we are re configuring the transition from horizontal to vertical,using a curve with a bigger radius. More pics on Friday(hopefully)

 After