My lovely wife now grocks the Gilligan Island references on the car. The rear bumpers are stock - the rear fenders are not - they have a slight bulge flaring out to clear the 275/40R17 tires. Fitting the bumpers consistend of elongating the mounting holes, test fitting, and repeating the process until they fit. It also required making a shim for the outer mount to kick the bumper out far enough from the side of the fender, and a shim under the side mount. I had some rigid plastic known affectionately as Dam Rubber, not damn rubber, due to it's past use as air dam material. In a previous life the stuff was anti-static work bench mats. I made the shims out of that material. Once everything was fitting well, I was able to locate the hole for the side bumper mount and carefully drill through the pretty paint, hoping I got the location right.
After doing all this work, I cleaned and waxed the back of the car, then started mounting the bumpers, discovering I needed a bit more shim - one hardened washer on the upper outer hole between the plastic shim and the bumper, and needed to elongate the side hole to line it up. I also had some cross-threading on the outer right mount, so it was a couple hours of tedious work to get the right bumper on, then a much quicker 20 minutes on the left bumper. I am happy to report that no paint was damaged in the process.
After doing all this work, I cleaned and waxed the back of the car, then started mounting the bumpers, discovering I needed a bit more shim - one hardened washer on the upper outer hole between the plastic shim and the bumper, and needed to elongate the side hole to line it up. I also had some cross-threading on the outer right mount, so it was a couple hours of tedious work to get the right bumper on, then a much quicker 20 minutes on the left bumper. I am happy to report that no paint was damaged in the process.
Since May, I've knocked a good dozen entries off the to do list, but the list seems to keep holding at three to four dozen major tasks to go. Then there's the little mistakes like putting the tumbler in 180 degrees out on the glovebox - it drops in, but doesn't turn and doesn't come out without carefully drilling a hole in the lock housing to release it. There's also the sequencing mistakes - like mounting the rear license plate and chrome surround, then realizing that the license plate lamp housing goes in first. With all these time sinks, I've decided final interior assembly will be farmed out - looking at what other stuff I can trade money for time to finish this car and enjoy some road time this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment