246: Thursday 18th April 2013

I managed to get a few sessions recently to get the side skirts mountings sorted out. I decided to put some extra screws through the rear bumper to secure it better as well. The fibre glass fixings 'popped' off when I caught a speed bump, but they were weak anyway and needed improvement. I used M4 brass countersunk head screws, drilled holes through and countersunk them. I have made the holes and loose fitted the the screws, but I went back to the side skirt fixings as I had good weather. Using the same technique of screwing through, I made a few fixing points and drilled the holes for the other fixings then took it off again. Now the clocks have changed and I get some time after work and the weather is holding up a bit I can get the side skirt finished and painted. Yesterday I mounted the screws with nuts on the back of the fibre glass and then put fibre glass over the screw heads. I also ground back some rust spots on the car body and applied Jenolyte rust treatment, then primed the treated areas. Today I put some body filler on the treated areas and rubbed them down when set and primed them again. Now the rusty areas have gone. I also rubbed down the fibreglass over the screw heads and applied filler and rubbed down smooth. I painted these with primer. They are also invisible now. I shall fibreglass the side skirts to the body eventually before the last coat of temporary paint. While I was doing these repairs etc I also fixed a rusty patch on the rear tailgate. There isn't much rust on the car considering how old it is, I am impressed. I now need to give the side skirt a complete rub over, re prime and paint red. I need to take the rear bumper off, secure the screws and fibre glass it back together, then I need to hide the screws and repaint the areas where they were drilled in. Then I can think about fitting the other side skirt and finally the front bumper. Lastly a new paint job all over.