Coco ChanElf - almost 'finished' :)

Coco_ChanElf wrote:I think it was 250 inc postage to Ireland. Since I was quoted 900 by another crowd, I consider this a bargain. Plus the two gentlemen at Chapman and Cliff are a delight to deal with, so pleasant and interesting. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

to my mind, that's pretty good - it looks great. "Rusty"'s (he's really a wolseley but won't show it!) Elf dash was french-polished by a professional (the boyfriend of Mum's reflexologist and my masseuse) for £125 at "mate's rates" and is not as good as yours

This is truelly exquisite and quality work here well done

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I have also had my dash restored by Chapman & Cliff great job and a pleasure to deal with I had the whole dash venered and the wood handels changed to chrome knobs as MG dash.

I have tryed to host a pic but do not think it has uploaded!!!
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I see you opted for burr throughout, that's nice too.

Droooooool Lovely dash.

Yo Coco

I used Millboard from Woolies Trim::

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-146-millboard.aspx

It has an embossed side like a leather effect (as per original Elf)...t'other side is matt black cardboard finish.

Problem was that it came via mail in a roll 1.55 metres by 1.24 metres and it finished up as a curved sheet....took a bit of straightening!

Price and quality are good though - maybe you could simply ask them to cut the sheet in half and send it in a flat pack??? (01778 347347)

Hope this helps.

btw, Spoke to Chapman & Cliff at the recent Classic Car Show - they are indeed a grand pair of lads and certainly not "Rip-Off" merchants
like some I've encountered! Their presentation of Dashes, etc was fantastic/

Cheers

Alan

That all burl dash is very nice! For some reason I find it much more pleasing than the original two-tone veneers.

Today I took delivery of:-

4 hen's teeth (overriders! I'm so happy I could dance!)
5 sandblasted and silver painted original wheels
a lovely headlining.

Pics below! ))

Now I just need to find someone in Ireland who can professionally fit a headlining. Even the instructions are complicated!

Can't wait for the better weather to arrive, I've so much good stuff to go on Coco that I've been collecting over the winter. She's going to look magnificent! *grinning*.

You seem to be doing well, the hens teeth don't look too bad , you should be able to have them rechromed.

As for the headlining, well, you look young enough to be able to crawl around in your Elf to do this but if you search for upholsterers in your area someone must do car seats should be able to help or recommend another?

Exciting times, those overriders look pretty good. Two questions

1) Don't suppose you have a template for the glove boxes you made do you?

2) If you're going back to steels, what's happening with the minilites that were on the car?

I can definitely knock you up a paper template if you email me your postal address. As to the minilites, will be keeping them for the time being, but if I do decide to sell them will let you know!

Thanks Tony, I would love to give the headlining a go, but I've heard it's such a total headwreck from people with much better skills than me, that I don't have the brass gaskets to try it all by myself, afterall I don't want to buy another one!!

Today we gave Coco her first run since Dec., she started after three goes and ran perfectly. We got cracking and got the parcel shelf liner in, I cut it into two pieces and trimmed it down.

Next I trimmed down and installed my two home made gloveboxes. Either side of them we pushed in bits of sound proofing material. They look pretty good and are tough as old boots so hopefully they will last.

Finally, we refitted the dashboard, and it looks fabulous. The photos don't really do it justice because it's so shiny it's hard to get a good snap.

Anyway, very pleased with our afternoon's work!





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When I first restored Syd I made some glove box liners out of the door cards in same colour (light blue) they helped reflect the light around and made it a little easier to find things, How are you finding the black liners so far? They look smart by the way.

Is it possible to fit them through the dash board holes????

Thanks Tony.

I must admit, it's like a black hole inside, not that it matters too much because all that's likely to be in there is a vintage first aid kit and a fancy pair of gloves! . I think your coloured liner is a clever idea.

If I'd used the flimsier original Millboard I think if would have been possible to do keyhole surgery on the gloveboxes, however the Millboard I chose was so thick and hard there's no chance you could bend it sufficiently to get it in through the glovebox door.

I did mine keyhole surgery style but found it difficult without trial and error triming. Might try again when I'm not so busy with other projects.This time I will use your templates. Thanks for sending them.

You're so welcome - you might still find you need to hack an inch or so straight across the top. However the shape is good, so at least you know by trimming the top gradually you'll get a good fit.

Busy day today, the weather was very mild so we got cracking!

Got the new steering wheel fitted. Now we just need the centre badge, but it already looks 100 times better than the Cooper wheel that was in Coco when we bought her.

We removed the dash and fitted new vent ducting that I got from Somerford Mini. Fresh air vents now blowing up a storm.

Finally got the EHR grille badge fitted.

Got my Riley Owners Club, Irish Mini Owners Club, Dunboyne Motor Club and Chanel logo stickers on. Be a miracle if I can see out the windows!

Laid the damp carpets out to dry in the sun. Endless deliberation took place re. new colour scheme for carpets and upholstery.

Oh, and I got the overriders fitted! By the time I got round to taking the photos, I'd forgotten about that. Expect there'll be some pics of them soon, any road.

Exhausted!

Looks great!

Slowly getting there! I don't think she'll ever be 'finished' though, you do one thing, and you notice another )

That is so true you would not believe. I "finished" Syd back in 2008/9 and I still find things to do or I haven't quite done something "right" or even wonder if I can do something "better". Makes it more interesting

!
Keep going!

Went to Halfords this afternoon and got some red engine paint, and a Renault Extreme Blue Metallic scratch touch up kit to do the hub cap bosses with.

The photo shows one sanded back, one primed, and one painted.

Actually, the painted one was a bit of a cheat, it's one that I got from Ebay that was already painted but I didn't like the colour, it was matt off blue, so that didn't need any prep.

The other four came from an EHR member in NZ as part of a bunch of parts I bought from him when he was breaking an Elf. Thanks again to him! The hubcaps themselves (together with everything else!) are in the queue for rechroming, but that will have to wait until I win the lottery!

But I digress. I sanded them down using an acrylic nail battery operated dremel tool attachment, a little waisted cyclinder shape. It was dead handy for getting into all the crannies around the Riley text.

Next, I have painted them all with the primer. I can recommend the Halfords scratch kits for this because they are in a pen format, with a really fine nozzle, and when you screw off the top there is also a fine brush like a signwriters brush, which is just the job. They include the primer, the paint, also a tiny fine sanding block and a tiny fibreglass brush, all of which are perfect tools for this horrendously aggravating job!

Still, at least I got to sit in the sun and do it today.

The work on the hub cap bosses continues...once I had finished all the grey primer, and they had dried for 24 hours, I painted the raised areas with Hammerite smooth silver.
Once that had all dried, I painted all the primed areas with the blue. Then waited again for it all to dry. Then did another coat, and now it's waiting 24 hours before being finished with the clear sealing coat...

Now I know what people mean when they say 'it's like watching paint dry!'

nice and shiny - looking good!

They look great! nice job