1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

[eurogranada]

A nice thing did happen today! I went to the blaster's to have him reblast several edges. I asked if he would do it and if he could do it while I waited. He said he could do it today but not while I waited. When I asked what the charge would be, he looked at me and said... No charge, consider it service!!

So I was happy with that and when I picked up the parts, I slipped him a tenner for beer money. The look on his face was rewarding when his smile went to a grin from ear to ear... I like that, gave me a good feeling!

[maybachman]

Feb 14, 2014 16:54:42 GMT Oldbus said:

.....walk away from it for a couple of weeks until things settle down mate.

Take care of the family and once you find time to get the house sorted, ignore it and get down the workshop....

works for me every time

Absolutely agree....havnt been able to do anything substantial to my project....but do the priorities first. By product of that is they are not on your mind so much when you get to the car;)

[eurogranada]

As much as I would like to sometimes, walking away for a while is just not an option. Besides that I'm probably a maximum of 2-3 weeks away from sending the car off for paint prep. that will mean no more bodyshop visits twice a week for a while. It should be somewhat less busy then.

So yesterday I went on like the trooper I am (ahum) and set about to working on the front wings. I had primed their edges as soon after blasting as I could so the metal was protected. Then yesterday at the body shop I once more brushed on the epoxy primer and while wet I put back the frame/bracing in the wing and hammer and dollied the edges shut again. I then brushed over the hammered edge ne ore as well. The primer will set in the seam leaving as little room for future moisture as possible. Friday I'll weld the four spots per frame to the panel permanently and start fine tuning the fitment to the car. Once they fit as I want them to, I'll remove them for bodyschtutzing the full insides. Then mount them permanently to the car.

After that the doors will be fine tuned and the window frames will be welded. With that done, the car will be ready for external paint prep and paint.

That does not mean I'm done, I'll have to use that time to gather/sort all parts and fixtures, sew a new headliner, and polish/refurb all items I have missed so far and most importantly get the engine running!

I am looking forward to that fase and the buildup of the car.

[djay]

Personally, I would for now prioritise work first (pays the bills and buys shiney stuff).
Then have a word with wife about what jobs she would like done first in the house. You can chip away at these.
Then concentrate on the jobs that are left on the car to get it out of the garage.
All the internal trim can be done at a later date.
Couldn't you get a painter and decorator in for a few days?

[eurogranada]

Feb 18, 2014 11:20:14 GMT djay said:

Personally, I would for now prioritise work first (pays the bills and buys shiney stuff).
Then have a word with wife about what jobs she would like done first in the house. You can chip away at these.
Then concentrate on the jobs that are left on the car to get it out of the garage.
All the internal trim can be done at a later date.
Couldn't you get a painter and decorator in for a few days?

Got a nine to five kind of job for 40 hrs a week (actually 7:30-17:30) so I'm always at work when I need to be. Work is no.1 priority together with family healt issues. As you say it pays the bills!! Thing with work is that there is just too much for a single person to do and I have no colleagues in the same job... But I'll just keep doing as much as I can and what can't be done will have to wait. And I know this will get better with time. It's a matter of perseverance.

Honey do's a.k.a. house jobs will always be fitted in where possible. I know the priorities there and I'm also pretty far through the list, but I've been at it for months now. I'm just getting a bit tired of it all. And I mostly have to do it all by myself. Getting some profesional in is no option due to cost. I don't have that kind of money to spend or when I do, there are other things to spend on.

I'm going to get the car off to the prep guy asap. That should relieve some pressure, although work on mechanicals and other parts so they are ready to be refitted will continue.

Thanks for caring though!

[bmwv8capri]

Feb 19, 2014 12:21:57 GMT eurogranada said:

Thanks for caring though!

i care & hope this project will get done eventually (no rush...) and that you won't suffer a total meltdown

Sometimes having 4 unfinished car projects gets me a bit stressed. Sitting down and having a beer or two gives a temporary cure

[eurogranada]

Feb 19, 2014 18:41:50 GMT bmwv8capri said:

Feb 19, 2014 12:21:57 GMT eurogranada said:

Thanks for caring though!

i care & hope this project will get done eventually (no rush...) and that you won't suffer a total meltdown

Sometimes having 4 unfinished car projects gets me a bit stressed. Sitting down and having a beer or two gives a temporary cure

Thanks again!

I've averted a mental breakdown for now. I've discussed the work situation with my seniors and although the amount of work (silly really) will stay the same, we'll be resetting some goals and priorities. Leaving me somewhat more room to breathe. And I'm trying to focus more on a single job and finish that 100% instead of the do this do that mentalilty that rules normally.

At home I've been working towards the end. Every job done is one less to do. And it feels good to know that the end is near for now. I'm also going to split up the jobs I'm leaving for now into more manageable pieces. That way it's easier to tackle a job here and there and I'll be able to reach those goals more easily, hopefully motivating me. But after the last few jobs for now, I'm taking a slight break!

The Granada will be finished (temporarily with the original heater system) no doubt!! And it will be stunning, at least to me!! Come friday I'm going to turn it into a car again. I'll finish up refitting the frames in the wings, mount the doors, test fit the wings. Then when happy with the fit, take the wings off again to schutz them and refit. We'll see how far I get, but if I don't get all that done....there's always next week... Apparently the person who's going to do the prep to my car is currently prepping a 6,5 metre cadillac so I may not have to be in such a rush...

[bmwv8capri]

reckon the BOB V6 is about the best value-to-horsepower you can get, plus the ford compatibility with the mounts and gearboxes is so handy. & more likely to give good reliability using a standard engine with it's original ECU.
And - (lastly!) it'll give far better economy than something like the mustang 302 V8. Great project & look forward to seeing it painted

[eurogranada]

Feb 20, 2014 18:29:43 GMT bmwv8capri said:

reckon the BOB V6 is about the best value-to-horsepower you can get, plus the ford compatibility with the mounts and gearboxes is so handy. & more likely to give good reliability using a standard engine with it's original ECU.
And - (lastly!) it'll give far better economy than something like the mustang 302 V8. Great project & look forward to seeing it painted

I think you're right on the engine front. Too bad they are becoming very hard to find all of a sudden. And it would have been nice if they had had better timingchain guides...

For now this is going in for sure, but I really do fancy putting in something a bit more exotic, but probably still with luxury electronic auto box. It'll be mostly a (fast) cruiser.

As for paint: I can't wait myself as well. I've chosen a colour I can afford over the colour I most wanted, but to be honest, I was quite blown away with the chosen colour when I got to see a real life example on a full wing. But colour is in my opinion always the hardest choice of a build!

I hope somewhere in May the car will be painted.

[eurogranada]

So finally a bit of an update... It's been a while because for various reasons work on the car has been erratic at best.

I still feel like I'm going backwards and forwards but this time it's more because it's part of the process.

I want to add that I myself am feeling a lot more optimistic. Work is still busy and so is private life, but there's generally slightly less pressure on me at the moment. The home remodel is done for now and the paintwork that is left will have to wait till next winter or when I feel like doing it.

So back to the car. It's a good thing to be so close to being ready for paint prep and paint, but it's also a slightly frustrating fase. Why? Because I keep putting stuff on and taking it off. And then when I'm happy with the way it's on, I know in the back of my head it will have to come off again for paint.

So what have I been doing? Well, I was planning to fit the panels and align them so I could weld the window frames on to the new doors. To do that I decided to tackle the wings and any rust issues they had. You've seen me take out, reblast and reprime the inner structures. It was a delicate process taking care to line up all parts and be gentle yet firm enough to hammer all edges back flat. I put them back succesfully in the same spots they were in originally. So all was good, I thought. At some points the skin tore on the edge which needed welding to fix. Thankfully that was only in small areas. I forgot to take pictures of the finished article.






I then decided that to line up all bodyparts correctly, I would have to start with the bonnet. Aligning that perfectly took me an hour or two. There's a slight amount of wear in the hinges so you have to account for that. Also this wasn't the bonnet that was on originally and with the left hinge in the lowest possible position, the bonnet would still sit proud of the scuttle so that took some "finesse" to get right. At least I was now satisfied with my work so far.

I moved to the right wing as that required no work and was a perfect original example that had proven to fit properly when way back at the start of the project I shortly put it on the car to keep it safe. This should be easy then! Right, it should have been, but it wasn't at all. Actually it was mighty frustrating and still isn't quite right. Tomorrow I hope to address that as one of the final two issues before the car is ready for paint prep. Basically I was able to get a good gap all around the scuttle area and all along the hood. But the wing to scuttle felt slightly low. But the door edge and lower corner to sill was simply rediculous. The door wasn't hung very well, but that wasn't yet a problem, as the reference for that edge is basically determined by the gap between sill and wing bottom corner. But at that point, the wing simply stood proud 1.5cm. With great effort I coud get it reduced to .5 cm But then the crease in the side profile would stand proud. It almost asif the panel is screwed down a bit too low at the top edge. I'm thinking of adding a washer underneath the wing to bonnet edge mount to lift it slightly. That should help both remaining issues a bit. And when final application is being done, a ribbon of sealant is also good practice and lifts the wing a bit anyhow.

Meanwhile I had finished the welding work the other wing required and went on to mount that. Surprisingly that went on very well. It seemed to have the same issue in the lower wing to sill corner, but when actually working on getting that to match up it proved to just pop in place with minimal pressure. I was glad!

At that point my body man comes over to see my work and he exclaims that the bonnet to scuttle gap is too narrow and therfore the wings to scuttle gap as well. So I had to gently coerce the parts forward about a milimeter. That presented another challenge as the wings cannot protrude from the front edge of the car as they are supposed to line up there! Some work will have to be done there when prepping the car for paint, but it is now looking gooed.

To get this right on the right side we had to fix a previous owner's accident damage. The lower edge behind/above the bumper was at one point pushed in somewhat. Leaving the front valance to far back on the right. We pulled that out with a big sliding hammer and a large clamp. Now the front looks quite allright.

I managed to get the left door aligned perfectly on my own. With the hinge bolts loose that is. I had never expected the door to move so far out of whack by simply tightening the bolts. So I had to start over again. This time not alone but with my friend as a helper. It took about 2 minutes to hang the door 97% correct. Sometimes it's just so frustrating that it's nothing more then funny in the end.



















And that is the saga of the last few weeks.

Tomorrow I would like to achieve three goals at least:
- tweak the left side door to wing edge (the profile doesn't mach 100% which may need a few hammer taps.
- get the right wing aligned properly all round
- align the right door

If successful I might go for a strike and add:
- aligning the window frames on the doors and tack/weld them in.

But I don't want to set impossible goals that just frustrate even more when you don't meet them.

And the kicker of all this: when everything is aligned, the window frames welded permanently........it all has to come of so it can be painted on the insides and underneath the hinges etc. The wings will get some paint on the visible inner parts and will get bodyschutz on the rest. The doors, bonnet and bootlid will be painted bodycolour inside and out.

So one thing I hope to do before taking the stuff of again is create alignment markings. Possibly drilling small holes through hinges etc. Cause when there's paint on these parts, one has to be a lot more careful then I had to be now.

[Oldbus]

Looking good mate, keep up the good work

[grifterkid]

Slowly, but surely things are getting there... Keep on with it sir, just keep on with it!

[dansktaff]

Keep up the good work. Also loving the tiled garage/workshop, better than my utility room

[eurogranada]

Thanks folks!!

I doooooo really love the design, the look of the Granada Coupe... even in this stage of the build. And I'm also very curious how it will work out when it is al complete and assembled, my custom interior, custom paint and not so unique engine... I hope it will be what I have envisioned. It's getting closer and closer to that moment...

The Granada is in general one of very few cars that looks great in all of the available body styles. I'd love an estate at some point in time, but it'll not likely ever really happen...

About the tiled workshop. We were just discussing this last week. Nowadays you'd expect a floor like that to be illegal as there's potential of oils and other vehicle or paint chemicals seeping through, but as long as I've known this shop it's had this tiled floor. The policy is making a mess all week long, dropping every piece of tape/sandpaper right where you were working and sweeping the floor usually once or twice a week. I never sease to be amazed at how clean that shop looks when friday the floor is swept!

But I have to say, it's a great place to work. Just too bad it's not my place but my friends professional accident repair workshop.

[boltonlad]

Amazing - just read all 14 pages in one go (at my age I should have been in bed by 9 o'clock) but had to keep on reading. Had one of these for a short time whilst in the Army stationed in Germany, thought waxing it once a month was hard work, but just look at what you have achieved. As I said - AMAZING. Now bookmarked.

[forde]

this is gonna be unreal when its finished

[eurogranada]

Thanks, your comments mean a great deal to me!!

I'm very much into my project now and getting the body so close to finished is great!

more next week!

[eurogranada]

Mar 22, 2014 1:32:04 GMT boltonlad said:

Amazing - just read all 14 pages in one go (at my age I should have been in bed by 9 o'clock) but had to keep on reading. Had one of these for a short time whilst in the Army stationed in Germany, thought waxing it once a month was hard work, but just look at what you have achieved. As I said - AMAZING. Now bookmarked.

Thanks for your comments, they are most kind!!

it must have been way past your bed time then as I do like to use words and like to tell the full story!

[boltonlad]

Yes you do use lots of words and tell the full story - but it would be rather dull if you didn't. I don't know how you manage to balance everything that is going on in your everyday life, still manage to work on your project  AND tell the full story!!!!!   INSPIRING!

[eurogranada]

Mar 22, 2014 22:08:23 GMT boltonlad said:

Yes you do use lots of words and tell the full story - but it would be rather dull if you didn't. I don't know how you manage to balance everything that is going on in your everyday life, still manage to work on your project  AND tell the full story!!!!!   INSPIRING!

Well I do write this up to convince others to tackle seemingly large and difficult projects. To show that with limited knowledge and skills it is possible to achieve a lot. So maybe I do do this to inspire others. Yet I've never ever considered myself or my project to be an inspiration to others. I guess I'm not one to blow my own horn...

As far as keeping this project moving while there has been so much going on in my life, well there's not much to be said other then that I felt I had to as I'm taking up valuable space at this bodyshop that I'm generously receiving for free with the understanding that materials and labour when needed is paid for. And I'm a man of my word with oldfashioned values in my character.

Other projects/events like a home remodel, an operation for my wife and supporting a family with two kids has been demanding at times, but those who know me also know I do not give up. I keep going. I'll die before giving up. But I hope things will look up for a while now. With the remodel finished and the operation successfully behind us. I look forward to doing the engine and wiring work required and to putting the car back together...

It has been tough at times. I thought about scrapping the car in june 2012 as I had to leave the facility I was using at that time and there was little to no finance available to have someone do the work. The reason my project is still alive today is because of the arrangement above that I was able to make. During the last 1,5 years I sometimes felt like giving up when I had to again fix someone else's mess in yet another unexpected spot. Or when I had to wait for real progress as I was dependant on help. But when things did line up right and help was available, pretty substantial steps were made. And of course I made it harder on myself as I didn't just want standard, but custom in quite a few areas!

But now I'm nearly finished with the body I feel great. Apart from enduring the most expensive part of the project.... But it'll hopefully be worthwile!

Hopefully after tonight I can say that the body is finished. I was able to do some work last friday lining up the right side door and aligning the new window frames to the doors. These will be welded tonight and then only very minor persuasion has to be applied to the right wing. All other parts line up pretty well.

So... I'll leave you waiting for the anouncement of body work being finished and some pictures to prove it.