Last night I sanded the main bumper down and shot everything with a coat of black semi-gloss.
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I’m totally doing this with whatever new car we wind up buying, and definitely with the Scout: How To Turn Your Car's Ashtray Into A Smartphone Dock.
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Last night’s progress: cleaned with Acetone, primered, and bondo’d. While I had everything out, I filled in the holes on the driver’s door, scuff-sanded the softtop hardware, and got as much ready for paint as possible.
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After Finn went to bed, I used the evening to wire wheel the rest of the bumper. This section went a little faster because I wasn’t dealing with as many compound curves, but there were still a few areas I couldn’t reach with the angle grinder. After taking off the rest of the high spots, cleaning it all up with the flap sander and wire wheeling flat areas, I covered all of the welds, angles, and unsanded sections with a liberal coat of POR-15 and let it sit overnight.
Tonight it’ll get a rubdown with some acetone and then a coat of etching primer; while that’s drying I’m going to mix some Bondo together to fill in pinholes and other imperfections.
While I had the POR-15 open I put a coat on worn sections of the soft top bows and hardware. Tonight I’ll scuff it with some sandpaper and get it ready for a coat of paint as well.
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I got a little time this afternoon to drill some holes and tap for screws, and the result is a side mirror that I can actually use:
It’s about freakin time. The whole setup is really set up for a more upright window pillar, so the final angle I wound up with pointed the mirror outboard and upwards. I wrapped the end in a rag and bent it with a pair of channel locks, and wound up with something useable. While I was at the hardware store I added one of those little rounded puck mirrors for blind spots.
Update: Here’s a shot from the driver’s seat.
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I’ll write a little more later. For now, a picture of the Scout with spare tire mounted, temporarily. I need to find some lug nuts.
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I got some good work done on the Scout this weekend–the license plate bracket is mounted and ready. Seatbelts should be in this week, and all I need is a pair of fine-thread 1/2 grade 8 bolts.
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I got a Facebook message from Mike in Colorado the other day, who said he’d found a local junkyard and scored a pile of Scout badges for his resto project. He asked me if I needed anything, and I told him I was looking for a set myself; Peer Pressure was clean-shaven when I got her (minus one IH badge on the driver’s fender). Lo and behold, look what appeared on my doorstep yesterday afternoon:
The real miracle is that ALL of them still have their mounting posts. Getting pot-metal badges off without breaking them is something akin to magic; he was able to keep them all intact. Now I must find a suitable gift to return the favor.
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I haven’t posted in a while, but here’s the latest update to the bumper saga. In short: it went very very well. I’m thrilled.
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In other news, the Hefeweizen is chilled, carbed, and pouring. It’s very good! So good, in fact, I may brew it again this summer. It’s a quick, easy recipe and very refreshing to drink. My neighbor also got my Co2 tank refilled for me, which is a relief. Unfortunately I lost about 200lbs of pressure before I realized one of my hose fittings was loose. I have a list of items to buy at the homebrew store this weekend to set up long keg leads from the cooler to the basement window and I’m going to mock up a wooden stand to place in the opening for people to pour at. I’ll post a sketch here when it’s ready.
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