Nice one OldNail, an automotive glazier told me it is a good idea to cover the outside of the sticky pad with something, such as a nice piece of shaped plastic or brass. The reason being that most glues do not react well to UV light.

I discovered this after i used a glass glue to attach the rear vision mirror on my DS, which ended up cracking the front windscreen around the edge of the glue some years later, which then spread across the whole windscreen in a couple of days;(

But i guess the sun is a lot bigger down here...

Harley

Undoubtedly, the North west UK is famously damp. Speaking of which...



Six months of all weather daily use has begun to take it's toll on the former BluBamboo. The signs are there, although they're not that obvious, and I suppose nothing in particular to worry about unless you're a fussy sod like myself.

In fairness to the car it has been used for everything from some back-seat-out lugging of large items to the daily running to and fro in all weathers, so I can't expect it to remain pristine, but it's bloody annoying to see rust re-emerge all the same. The back panel that hosts this particular scab only had slight surface rust which was taken back to bare metal with a flap wheel on an angle grinder during the build. It was then treated with phosphoric acid, etch primed, primed, and topcoated... not much more you could do really.

The underside of the panel received the same treatment, with the addition of a layer of stone-chip underseal and some waxy underseal on top! Talk about belt and braces.

I probably wouldn't have noticed that scab, but one of the worst things about growing older I have found is the loss of my sharp eyesight, having taken good eyes for granted until the age of 47 when suddenly I needed reading glasses. I had them on because I'd just called into Aldi this morning and was caught by the brand name of a new Muesli displayed on their shelves - "Erotic Muesli" it said.

Well I've heard that some folks like to pour food like chocolate over each other's nether regions in certain circumstances, but Muesli? I fished out and put on my reading glasses to find that it was actually Exotic muesli. I then began running through the possible scenarios in my head that the use of those glasses had just saved me from, like my asking the checkout girl had she ever tried that brand of muesli? And if so didn't it get into all those nooks and crannies? I could have been arrested!

I also noticed while at Aldi that they are bringing out some sheepskin front seat covers on Thursday, and I'm tempted to try them as a winter fitment, I've had some before and found them very comfortable, so as I say, I am tempted.

AAAAAaaaaaaaarrrggghhh... that must be gutting. How the 'ell can that be stopped? You seem to have anticipated and covered all the expected causes, so how the 'eck did water get in there What on earth does it take, for pity's sakes.

With ref to the 'cool pics' thread, I'd love your thoughts on colour, Old Nail. I think your choice for your old blue 'boo is absolutely one of the best, and the addition of the gris flash on the engine side panel was inspired. Such a small touch, but so effective. And then the bright red interior... God, it looks good!

My grey Charlie will be having a pretty good going-over thro' winter, and will be resprayed as part of that process. I'm not at all looking for authenticity or for copying a particular style, but it will be referring to earlier models in terms of colour, choice of grill, etc. and I'll probably go for a touch of uniqueness with details such as different rear lights - probably round cheeseburger style or similar - and stuff like that.

If you'd like to share any of the ideas you have mulling around in your head, I'm all eyes

Ta MUCH!

D A, I think the water creeps in from where the light panel meets the rear sweeps, I found there was a crack both sides between the two panels, not falling of just a crack, so I dabbed some paint to fill the hole and it doesn't seem to bad now!
I may be wrong as to the source of the damp

There are 2 additional things you can do, which you may have done anyway and not mentioned. Firstly after treating a scab with phosphoric acid treat it with a zinc rich primer rather than etch primer. The idea behind zinc rich primer is that it provides some anodic protection. Don't use the really high zinc content version under topcoat. It'll degrade and take the paint off. I've found Davids zinc 182 to be a good compromise. Never go mad with it on the visible parts of panels; only use it on bits that are pitted.

Secondly that is a lap joint. Have you sprayed a good quality anti rust wax inside the lamp panel? I favour Bilt Hamber but Dinitrol is also pretty good. On a panel like that I often mix in a bit of Duck Oil penetrating fluid to get it to creap right into the joint. Unlike underseal anti corrosion wax is self healing.

looking at that, my post is ireelevant, my damp issue was under that lip, it was leaking out of the dip there!

Quick question (off at a tangent, but I'm considering taking my 2CV off the road next year, to do a proper job on the body tub): how many hours did your rebuild take you in all, O-N?

I'd imagine your shell is somewhat better than the one I've just done. I think that one took me about 140 hours including painting it.

Looks good though, mate.

That's really difficult to pin down as I didn't log them, nor count the cost accurately for that matter as I did it to a loose schedule. I gave myself two grand and twelve months to have it done, and then I worked for the odd hour here and four hours there, as and when my time allowed. The budget was originally £1500, but with the cost of new parts it disappears very quickly and inevitably runs over. It wasn't just the shell I did though, it was pretty much everything.

Because I did everything myself, including the stripping of parts to bare metal and refurbishing them by hand rather than buying new it took a lot longer than it might have, also doing detail stuff like painting the speedo face, or adding grey plastic trim and extra warning lamps all add up in time. I also closed the door on it for three months while Britain froze if you remember over last winter.

If you were limited to evenings and weekends then a determined (and more organised!) person might perhaps manage it in around four months. As a rough guide then the more money you spend the quicker the build goes, as replacing parts with new is so much faster than refurbishing the old stuff to re-use and save money.

As for the zinc coating mentioned by 250, well I didn't use it, and now think that perhaps I should have for the reasons given. I did fill every cavity, gap and wrinkle with waxoyl or similar though but without beginning with new panels in the first place the rust is always likely to return I suppose. This is an area where modern paint and products will perform far better long term than the cheaper stuff, what you have to bear in mind is that I have restored this entire car mechanically and cosmetically, for less than the cost I was quoted for a 2 pack respray!

For DA, the colours that I like are those that were used in the late 50's and early to mid 60's. Citroen's Vert agave is nearest to my colour, which is actually BMC Island green. (code GN3) If I were to fancy a change then this colour looks superb with BMC Old English white, and I'd be tempted to do the lower doors in that colour using the pattern worn on the early D*lly. That's not as bad as it sounds actually, as there is an historic precedent for classic cars to be painted in that two tone style.

I'll fish around the net and find some pic's to illustrate what I mean, and also give more details in the next post on the colours that I had in mind were I to do another one.