Where do you stop? When to draw the line?

Ok... this is what happens when you don't know "when to say when." It all began so innocently a few weeks back. What started as a "minor" project to repair a small crack in the lower lip of the front bumper, a re-spray to cover some small rock chips in the paint, and an installation of Husker's Lemans grill quickly expanded into something a bit more extreme.

After all... is SEEMED like the time was right. I mean... now with the front trunk liner out and the front bumper off, this seemed to be the time to fix some of those A/C issues like re-wiring the "hidden fuse" to prevent another future meltdown, and replace the broken A/C recirculation flap, etc. And heck! While I'm at it... some of these rubber bits are falling apart... might as well take off a few more parts to replace the rubber parts, plus it will make the painting easier and look way better. Oh yeah... now that I have this off, I can see where some of the interior parts need to be re-wrapped. Well, not that much more effort to try and fix the "slow windows" and "rocking" seats while everything is apart. Doh! And the rear hood insulation is tattered, might as well hit that too...

It has been quite the learning experience, and has become one heck of a father & son project.

Anyway, that was a rather long-winded way of saying this is what happens when you experience "project sprawl". Here is the current appearance (except now even the rear hood is completely off)...
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Luckily, it isn't far to go to move it into the paint booth when the time comes...
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...and there is PLENTY of space in the shop to work with. Luckily, ALL other projects in the works were completed and cleared out before this one got started. Lots of shop space here.
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...and plenty of rack/shelf space for all the parts! Now it is just a matter of actually getting the work done. ><
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LOL... Yes, the wheels have been driving me nuts since I've had the car (about a year and a half). The original plan was to wait until next tire change, but I don't think I can hold out... especially now! The entire shop (including the paint booth) is my father's "man cave." His passion is aviation, and he primarily uses the space for aircraft projects. Recent projects include a full ground-up restoration of a 1946 Piper J-3 cub, full construction of a RV-8, and a complete custom interior for a Piper Malibu. This car project is a bit of a change of pace for him, but it seems we have complementary skill sets, so... "so far so good!"

Pap:
When I first registered for the site, I had JUST moved to Texas from Brisbane. I was living there from mid 2003 to late 2007, and at the time I thought it was a temporary move and I would be moving back after a few months. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case, and I haven't been back to QLD since. I'm missing it. Badly! Oahu was listed in there because that is where I was before moving to QLD, and that was another possibility for the "near future" move that never happened (at least not yet.)

Thanks for the kind words all. More pics as things proceed. For some odd reason, posting pics helps me kind of sort things out in my head on how to move forward from here. So with that said, more incoming soon.

Thanks again all!

 

Thanks guys! A few more updated photos here...

@saw1998 - Have you checked out the recently restored P-38 that was sponsored by Red Bull? An amazing job! I can't imagine how much was spent on that project. Google it for quality pics! I'm guessing it will only make "PR" appearances at the air races, but such a beautiful machine! Check it out!

The past few days have all been spent on interior stuffs. FINALLY rocking seats are a thing of the past. THANK *insert deity of choice here*! The other big issue I had was the headliner section to the rear of the removable roof panel. After 20 years, the adhesive just wasn't holding, and all the leather wrappings were coming loose. Rewrapping the "B" pillars went smoothly, but the "rear headliner" section was being difficult when working with leather. Trying to pull the leather around the curves was resulting in creases and crinkles. So as an experiment, we tried using a product called "izit." Anyone familiar with it? It is a synthetic, but very similar to leather. Slightly more expensive than leather, but it meets all FAA standards for fire resistance, so it seems to have become very popular in the aircraft industry in recent years. In any case, it is MUCH easier to work with than leather (it seems to be much more stretchy and flexible). Picture below. Note the curved openings. We (it was a team effort after all) just couldn't get quite as clean a look with the leather when compared to the look we could get with the "Izit."
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Whoops! My bad... I should have resized those photos. Also... meant to point out in that last picture... the piece on the left is re-wrapped in leather, the piece on the right is wrapped in "izit". One just seems to give a much cleaner look than the other. Since the original pieces were all kinds of scuffed up and torn, either/both look WAY better than what was there before.

Here's a few close ups of the curves in question that were being difficult...

Apologies again for the extraneous posts, but doing this helps me sort things out in my head... particularly, where to pick up again tomorrow and what to get done this weekend. Thanks for humoring me all! LOL...

Final picture is just thrown in... it's a shot of "patching the front bumper" in progress.
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Thanks fxdwgs! But to be honest... it isn't the actual garage. It's the "project workshop" which is about 2 miles from home. Close enough to get to easily, but not exactly a place you can wake up in the middle of the night and wander out to in order to make some progress on the project at hand. I only hope to aspire to a workshop of my own like the one pictured here (which is my father's).

On that note... I relayed some of the comments made here earlier. His only commentary on what I relayed (very entertaining), "I only wish I had invested in a workspace like this 15 years ago! Tell anyone that has any desire work a workshop like this to just DO IT! They will NOT regret it! In fact... some of their wives may thank me for making this suggestion!"

Hey... I'm just the messenger. *grin*

 

True that! Wish it was MY workshop! Ah well... I'm just happy I have full access to it. Maybe one of these days...

Also, thanks Pap!

Well, I need to catch up on work for a few days, so more updates in a week or so. Thanks all for the feedback and comments!

 

Wow... last post of mine here was Jan 24? Ouch! Well, two days after that post, my father was diagnosed with leukemia. My folks moved from East Texas to set up shop in Houston, right around the corner from MD Anderson. With one parent in the hospital, and the other unable to drive (vision issues), I was spending a lot of time with the folks, and my project was put on hold for several months.

Luckily, as time has past and treatments have been administered, all is going very well on the family front, and I have once again been able to jump back on the project. In fact, the past several weeks have pretty much been spent full time tinkering around the shop.

Let me dig up a few photos here over the next few posts...

 

My Air Con has never worked since I've had the car. After pulling it, cleaning the contacts, using stabilant 22, it would work for a few days, then back old tricks: blower would be on full no matter which button was depressed, and random characters in the clock display.

Sooooo... out of desperation, I followed the steps I found outlined somewhere about replacing the inadequate 30 amp "hidden" blade fuse with a 30 amp AGU style stereo fuse which as MUCH more contact area.

I work at a slow pace, so it took me about 30 minutes to get it all done, but once complete... everything works exactly as it should! Admittedly, it hasn't been on a long drive yet, but it continues to work every time I crank it up. Before, I might get lucky once every 10 starts, and even then only for a few minutes before old tricks.

Also fixed the recirculation flap while I was at it. Plastic pin was broken, so upgraded to the brass pin from Hill (via Ricambi America). Pics attached...
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