I picked up some parts this afternoon - starter motor, steering column, etc. then went & saved 27 lives while Tim continued shaping foam. He did more on the top of the doors and the LHS, then did the front. I put an axle nut on the LHS rear drum (finally), took the steering wheel out of my 69 body and made sure it fitted the steering column I had picked up, and did some sussing out how to fit it all, then Tim & I re-fitted the front bumper and looked at how to make the 'grill'. We also mounted the headlight surrounds (out of my 69 - we are using the lights as well) to see how they looked.
Tomorrow night I hope to get the steering column & pulleys fitted & sus out how to set up a fan belt (so it will be LH drive). I also want to look at setting up the clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, and starter motor. Tim won't be in tomorrow night - he has to spend some time with his bride to be (he is getting married later this year - if he doesn't spend too much time here lol), so it will be just me.
This afternoon, I got some pulleys to put on the end of the steering shaft and on the coupler on the steering box so I could run a fan belt across and make the steering wheel on the left hand side (Grease is American after all). I set up approximately where the steering wheel needed to go:
Then mounted the lower end of the steering column:
I fitted one pulley onto the bottom of the steering shaft, but the larger diameter pulleys I got will foul the steering rods. I could nearly get away with the one on the steering shaft, but I can't get the other pulley onto the coupler - it is too close to the arm out of the bottom of the steering box.
I will see if I can get some smaller pulleys tomorrow. I will also see about mounting the clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, & starter motor.
We were hoping to finish shaping & preparing the foam tomorrow, and maybe get some paint on on Sunday, but the epoxy filler that Tim ordered didn't arrive. Looks like next week will be a big week. :-(
Today I made up the dash and mounted the top of the steering column. I went to change the pulleys over for smaller ones, but Eastland Bearings must not open on Saturday mornings any more. :-( I will chase them up on Monday.
Once I had that done, I whacked a few blocks of timber around the column to stop the wheel & shaft going forward down the shaft as I am not using the blinker/wiper housing.
I then fitted the clutch & pressure plate to the flywheel and sat it on the input shaft in the bellhousing. I plan to drill out a piece of timber with a hole saw and sit it over the back of the flywheel where the rear main oil seal goes, and bolt the timber to 2 of the engine mounting holes to centre the flywheel. It wont be spinning very fast or for very long, so I think it will do the job.
I also tried to fit the starter motor, but strangely, the starter motor I borrowed from Graham has slightly different hole centres to bolt it on, and where it fits into the bellhousing is slightly to big in diameter. The shaft size for the bush was about the only thing that did fit. Graham is sure that it was out of a swingaxle beetle, and when I googled the part number it also reckoned it was. I tried it in 3 other transaxles I have and they all had the same problem. Graham has other starters, so he will see if another one works & I will go & get that.
Tomorrow I would like to get the starter worked out & installed, fix the flywheel/pressure plate/clutch combo in, and see if it will work. I would also like to make up & mount the back bumper and start making up the grill. Tim hopes to shape the rest of the foam tomorrow and put more body filler in.
I went back up to Graham's & swapped the starter for one that will fit a type 1 trans, came back, & fitted it. I then made up a mount for the flywheel - it will basically run around the flange for the rear main oil seal
I then fitted it all up. Unfortunately, we didn't have a battery to try it - tomorrow afternoon.
I then made up a grill (SS wardrobe hanging rails) and mounted (of all things) a domed VW hub cap on it (Tim's idea). Tim shaped the foam on the RHS, then did a lot of filling and minor shaping of the foam. The epoxy filler better come in tomorrow or we may be in trouble with our deadline.
Lastly, I straightened out the bent & buckled type 111 bumper peter had given me, put some bumper brackets on it, trimmed the ends, and mounted it on the back of the car.
Tomorrow we hope to finish filling where necessary and get the epoxy filler on (if it turns up). Tim has a battery he hopes to bring, so we can see if it will drive with the starter motor, and if so, work on wiring up the car (not that there is much to wire).
Today I swapped the pulleys over for better sized pulleys (that didn't hit everything) and a fan belt to make the LHD steering, then this afternoon, we machined & drilled them as necessary, bolted 1 to the coupler on the steering box and the other to the end of the steering shaft, and fitted the fan belt. It works like a charm. The steering is easy, but a lot of turns lock to lock due to the use of different size pulleys. This is because they were the old stock I could get very cheap. It will also put less strain on the belt, so less chance of it slipping (I hope).
We also removed the front bumper and grill etc, and Tim did final sanding on the front and the doors, laid up fibreglass matt to the top of these areas, and fibreglassed them on. We are only doing the top areas to make them strong enough to dance on in the show.
We didn't get a chance to try the starter today, so I hope to try it tomorrow. I will have to leave Tim with the fibreglassing as I have our Sailing Club AGM tomorrow night. Tim hopes to sand and lay matt on the back of the car and the fins etc.
This afternoon I finally got a chance to put a battery in the car & drive it up & down the driveway. IT WORKS! YAHOO!
I then removed the back bumper & gave it a clean-up ready to polish it before Tim got here. He shaped up the foam for the back of the car & gave it a clean up.
Once he had done that, he cut the mat for over the fins & the back part of the car and fibreglassed it on. I coated most of the rest of the foam with epoxy (fibreglass resin), mainly all the lower part of the car that won't have mat on it (no one will be dancing on it). We just have to do across the back now.
Tomorrow will be a lot of filling & cleaning up & fibreglassing across the back. Tim is taking an RDO on Thursday to paint the car. I have to see when my mate Adam can take the car to the theatre with his tilt tray.
This evening, I got the front bumper cleaned up and polished 2 of my mag wheels that are to go on it. I also finished masking the windscreen and a number of other areas ready for paint. Tim fibreglassed across the back and gave a lot of the car another coat of resin.
Tim is taking an RDO tomorrow, so hopes to do a lot of filling & sanding in the morning, and paint it in the afternoon.
Tim had his RDO today but didn't get near as much done as hoped because the resin wouldn't finish going off in the low temperatures. When I got home from work, I got out several heaters & a hot air gun that I have (I wish I had realised early in the day) and set them up. These eventually got things dry, and Tim finished filling & sanding as much as time would allow. I detailed the 2 wheels that I polished last night, then polished the bumpers, grill, & headlight surrounds. By then, Tim was ready to apply spray primer, so I assisted him with that. It is pretty rough, and Tim will do more filling tomorrow, but from the distance of the audience, it will hopefully be OK.
I didn't realise Tim has tomorrow off as well, so he hopes to do a lot of filling touch ups, then put the signal red paint on. When I get home, I hope to be able to fit the 2 wheels I have ready to the back of Greased Lightning, swap the 2 wheels I remove for the 2 mags on my work trailer, and get them polished & detailed for the front of Greased Lightning.
Even my wife is interested in this build and is now telling me how it should look.......Shut up woman and get back in the kitchen........Bloody Grease fan.....
Your wife could give us a hand then Bugmaniaar. Tell her to call in and see the show on the way to or from Valla.
Today, Tim did more sanding and filling (Still rough as, but good enough for a stage prop), then finally, got the colour on it. I stripped the masking off it after work and got a pic before I went to man our local Driver Reviver stop from 9pm till midnight.
Tomorrow, I hope to get the mags on it, fit the bumpers, headlights, grill etc., then my mate Adam is bringing his tilt tray to take it to the theatre after lunch.
Port Macquarie is on the way from Melbourne to Valla - only about 10km off the highway, and you still have 2 weeks to get here.
Today we got the bumpers back on, the mag wheels on the RHS (Tim & my wife talked me out of taking the other mags off my trailer to do the other side - you don't see them on the stage), the grill, and most of the lights. Tim wired the lights but ran out of time to finish fitting the switch and wire to it (he had to go & play hockey). I fitted and wired a push switch on the LHS where the accelerator would be so it is a more natural driving style.
I then drove it up & down the driveway (with the starter motor - I got my wife to video it, but she stuffed it up and got a bit of video of the grass beside the driveway and a flash of the car) while waiting for Adam with his tilt tray.
Adam arrived with his tilt tray (new to him - this was his first car on it - he bought it for his panel shop, Supalook) and we loaded up
At the theatre, it drove off the tilt tray and into the backstage workshop loading dock doorway easy enough. The hard bit then was getting the back wheels on wheel jacks and manoeuvring it through the door into the stage area and into the location where it will drive on & off stage. It fitted (just - 20mm bigger and it wouldn't have fitted), then we practised driving on & off the stage.
Matt, who is playing Danny Zuko had a few goes. Looks like it will work.
Tim is going in tomorrow afternoon to finish wiring up the lights, and when the graphics come from the sign company in Sydney where my daughter Kaylee works (Eyetonic) early in the week (I hope), we can get them fitted. They are basically lightning bolts with a flame effect on them.
From your ole' mate Jeff
newghiastock is for people who cant think outside the square
The decals arrived from my daughter Kaylee in Sydney today, so tonight I took them to the theatre and Simone (Rizzo) helped me apply them.
They are a reflective metallic, and when I used the flash for the photos ..........
Tim had been in over the last few nights and connected up the lights
and they have made covers to make the car look 'daggy' (rat look?) when it first appears. The covers are removed during the song 'Greased Lightning' (I believe)
So the car is finished now, and my work is done until the show run finishes - after Valla thank heavens - then I have to dismantle it, get my pan and parts back, and return all the bits & pieces I borrowed.
I would like to get a bit of video of the car being used in the show, but I am pretty sure shows' licence/copywrite won't allow me to do that.
We went & saw the show again tonight with my Daughter Kaylee who did the graphics, and got a bit more video of the car being driven by Danny Zuko (Matt Symons).
The show finishes next Sunday (14th), then it will be time to take the body off the pan and get all my VW parts back.
Ok. Well the show finished on Sunday, but the cast did get a few photos with the car:
.. and with special effects
..... even Rizzo (Simone Berry) and 2 of her greatest fans
But all good things must come to an end, and the set was bumped out on Monday, and Monday evening we took the body off the pan
and now I have my mate with the tilt tray organised to take bring the pan back home on the weekend.
Apparently, they are looking at selling the body to a theatre group in Coffs Harbour who are going to do the show, so if any dubbers up that way have a pan to lend for a month or so.............
