Thread: Operation Ralph!

Originally Posted by ezyrama

Thanks Tony, Hows Armidale , a bit cool mate?. The chequer plate was on Ralph when I bought him. I have only cleaned it a little bit so far but it should look good when done properly. Same goes for the plates on the wings. There is one or 2 places I'm not satisfied with the paint when I take a close look so as I do the smaller bits, i.e floor panels etc, I will give those parts a bit of a rub back and re-paint. The next thing is to do the air vents and seat box and attack the tailgate which has has a whack or 2 from the towball, then the bonnet and floor panels.
Cheers Ian

It does get a bit fresh now and then. The better job you do now the less work you have to do later(fingers crossed).

Stripped and painted the seatbox and tailgate on the weekend, The inside lining of the tailgate was stuffed, so I made a new one out of zincalum, fitted it and painted it up. The seatbox was worse than I thought, so I pulled that to pieces as well. Painted the box itself but I still have all the seat retainers to do. I will take a few more photo's tonite and put them up. It will be a bit slow on the progress this weekend as I have SWMBO's and little SWMBO's birthdays this weekend as well as fathers day, so I don't think I will be allowed to do too much.

Refitted the tailgate last night, don't know whether to paint the blind rivet heads or not, waddayathink? Just got a quote from Paddocks for all the door rubbers, vent seals, tailgate seal & windscreen seal, $160.00 + freight. Just waiting on the freight costing.

What sort of paint have you used on the galvanising to me it looks as close as you can get.I have tried several and none look quite right either to bright or to dull.
Cheers Will

Hey Will

I couldn't stand the Chinese chrome some other pillock put on it so I opted for Septone Hammer finish in sliver, commonly known as hammerite. Hopefully with a top coat of clear it should last a while. I just got it from Supercrap Auto's for about $20.00 a can.
Cheers Ian

1/ Ralph all wrapped up in bed last night after fitting the seat box and a trial fit of the air vents ( gotta get new pins yet)
2/ Another piece of the jigsaw to strip and paint, along with the floor panels.
3/ A trial fit of the seats before getting them recovered. If anyone has a seat back for the middle they don't need, pm me pls. Its approx, 400mm between the locating pins.
4/ Need to clean up the bonnet a bit more before re-painting this weekend.
Hopefully I can get a bit more done tonight, need to bleed the clutch and brakes, wire up the rear lights, and the front as well + refit the washer bottle.

goodonya, Ian. Looks like you are making steady progress. Must be satisfying to be approaching the end? Keeps me inspired anyway.
btw, what happened to the old Cortina seats Ralph came with? Did you manage to convert them to cash?

Hey Garry
I fitted them to my old S3 (Smeg) so my son would have something comfortable to sit on. the "deluxe" trim seats I have fitted to Ralph are from a mate of mine who had them in the shed. He rebuilt a stage 1 V8, drove it up to Tweed Heads and it caught fire from an electrical fault
(Lucas electrical,, Never!) and it burnt out in front of him (wasn't happy Jan). They are actually quite comfortable. I just need to find a centre seat back as I think I also used that in Smeg. It's either that or I make and fit a cubby box to the centre, but I would prefer a seat. I am enjoying getting close, but I always find something else to do on it or go back and tidy this and that up a bit better.
I still need to come and catch up with you and sort out that roof too.
Cheers Ian