DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

OK - so a big moment for me today....

I have all of the electrics working. I had another "DOH" moment today when I wired the headlights in and the new harness I'd made for the sidelights and got them and the indicators all working, but couldn't get the headlights to work. Called John, bought multimeter. No shorts, but no power either.

Been puzzling it all day as it has worked before.

Researched other people's wiring issues etc etc.

Then.....I suddenly remembered that if you don't turn the ignition on, you don't get any power to the lights. I'm even starting to irritate myself right now. Got to get this car FINISHED!!!!

Anyway, bad photo. But a significant one All systems go!

……

…...and those indicator lenses sure do look crisp!

Fantastic stuff.

Well done Richard. You probably learned more working it out for your self then if somebody sorted for you.

I'm sure the multi meter will come in handy in the day/ months to come.

Kind regards.

Yay - back on her wheels.....

Bit of suspension tuning to do though But very much now at ground level.....



ps, those are roller wheels, not the Weideman specials...they haven't got tyres yet

Finishing touches.....

So over the weekend, I actually finished my part of the work on the car - yes, no more spanner-monkeying from me. It feels a bit weird tbh.

I have some cleaning of interior parts to do, but on Friday this week, the car goes down to Canford Classics for the final stage of build.

But there is one more thing that I can do.....and that's about getting some of the finishing touches that I think will make a difference.

And today, these turned up in the post from NOSgruppe....soft, pliable....and concentric. These are for the doors and there are 7 for each door, covering the bolt access holes. I'm really pleased with these. Another little detail

Richard, the steel for the mounts has finally turned up, and I've now got the nuts. Will try and do them this evening for you .

Great Barry - many thanks, that's much appreciated. Can you post a piccie on here when they're done? I might not get to see them before they're installed.

Soooooooo.

Time to get it out of the garage. Which was fun because it was 90 degrees to the door....had to use a jack to pull it round.....ooo er...didn't like that. But then she was free!



And Pace Products have kindly lent me a covered trailer for a couple of days so I can take it down to Alan's. It's mahooosive...never towed anything so big. But a really great big thank-you to them, it's a massive help.



So I spent the afternoon and evening 'packing the car'. And targa back windows are not easy to make secure. It looks like a cat's cradle in there. Here's hoping it makes it through to the other side.

Anyway, loading was drama-free, helped by Mrs. M and my nearly 11 year old daughter. Good effort them





Tell you what though, even though it's covered in dust and greasy finger-prints, it looks really lovely in the daylight.

Not long now. Getting to the 'can't wait' stage now....

And in good company....just a few weeks to wait now

First pic from Canford - featured on their twitter feed.

I think they might have given it a clean already....it's looking lovely....

I loved this one that they put on their twitter feed....



But now we're getting down to some detail - have spent a couple of hours this week just talking to Randy @ Alan's, he's looking after the car for me and being the lead 'do-er' on the project. Top bloke and complete credit to Canford. He has a really lovely way of telling me that I've f***** up quite a few things and he's going to have to do them again....for example forgot to grease the handbrake & heater cables. And that I missed spring washers on most of the front ARB assembly....

So I know I have a detail junkie looking after my car. Excellent. Exactly what I wanted. And to be fair to Canford, they're taking on the end of this project and haven't been in control of the rest of it, there aren't many companies would do that (if it's got our name on it you'll do it our way' kind of thing....) But it makes for some interesting discussions about 'has this been done? has that been done?"

Anyway, a couple of detail shots.....

This one shows that the cable ties have been correctly 'rolled' closed and that the tank clamp has been vapour cleaned and the correct headed bolts it in - looks fab....to someone who cares about correct cable ties, clean tank clamps and correct-headed bolts....me, then...



Correct siting of the cables behind the battery clamp and fixing a captive nut that had come adrift - also they have put the correct padding in the battery box - I didn't even know it needed any....not only that by Randy took the +ve terminal off the battery and had it cleaned - now that's cool...



And finally for this set, it's getting its identity back - VIN plate cleaned and re-installed and a newly (& sympathetically) plated bonnet catch.



First few hours on the car then and I'm really pleased with the style and approach they're taking. Yay

Took a long round trip again today. Firstly to Swindon to pick up the bumper and bonnet that Darren & Rich had very kindly fixed the scratches that I had put in during the refit. That bumper horror is now a distant memory. It's flawless - Thanks Darren, really appreciate that.

Then on for a visit to see Alan, Randy and the crew @Canford Classics - its really starting to come together - they're doing a great job.

Couple of details for you....

No more rust in here again, this is the base of the targa bar. Plenty of heavy duty wax and stuff here. This was where the real rust set in with my car, so I'm looking to avoid that for the future.



Barry made me some rear seat-belt spreaders from a template - this is them on top, they have been fixed underneath in the engine bay, but I thought you'd like to see these. Once again, Barry does a great job, and he's welded on some seat-belt bolt nuts underneath the plates too.



Glass - apparently it's really easy to get targa rear glass in....not. But this really feels like it's coming together when this goes in





More glass.




And front screen isn't in yet, but you get the idea.



Front end coming on - note: there is a lot of fettling to be done on the front indicator and horn signal - this is not final.




Some chrome



And some identity (which will get some bigger black screws in final fit). The plates are the ones I got when the car was first registered in the UK in '99. They are a bit worse for wear and the letters/digits rattle because they're not really that well attached to the plate. Perfect. They are staying as is.



And still in very good company.



It's off to the trimmers tomorrow. On target for an end may finish.....

Yum!

More pics of the whole car please?.......looks fantastic.