Ricky30DK

Here’s a set for Mk IV - the bezels might be too glossy for some - I could tone it down with some matt lacquer

I used the original face - cleaned off the black and painted them with magnolia from an aerosol can. UV printing can handle contoured media, but it gets a bit thin on the edges, hence my painting it before printing. Funny you should mention the “sideline”....I am offering them for sale on our favourite auction site. I don’t think it’s something I can retire on - even at the price I’m charging, it will take a while to recoup my costs!

Hi Pete, they are UV printed - reasonable cost but you need to provide the graphic file, which is where things get expensive......or at least time consuming. I reckon the files for these gauges took around 50 hours to create. I tried with manipulated photos first but the quality was terrible. Vector-based Adobe Illustrator pdf files was where I ended up. Of course, I could now design a face with different coloured text or background for little extra effort.....

thanks both the lighting is an LED strip I found on Ebay - 20 cm strip 12v, with adhesive backing (though I also fixed it with silicon sealant) - they do look pretty nifty in the dark!

I finally finished one project that’s been rattling around in my head for years : not easy, but I’m satisfied with the result.......unfortunately the Spitfires are long-gone. I’ve already started on a set for my TR4A though .......

3 out of 4 wings mopped - last one has some sort of paint rash where I neglected to remove the old filler for fear of losing the shape ..... maybe I can spot blast it so I don’t have to repaint the whole panel, as the rest is as good as it gets......

Hi Alan, carpet is also nice to lie on when you need to get on your knees (or lower)! That photo was taken in a workshop where I’ve been renting space for years - all of the Ikea cast-offs end up there (my wife thinks they went to the tip).

Hi Nick thank you for the feedback - it looks ok from a distance, you can only see the flaws when your nose is centimetres away ; ) I’m using cellulose for the sake of both my health and patience - it’s easy to fix if you fup it up (or rather, when....). The colour is Wedgewood Blue, not everyone’s taste, I know but it’s the original colour and it’s grown on me. I’ve also discovered that it needs to be mixed really well if you want to avoid colour mismatch between panels : (

Hello fellow Triumph freaks, I’ve been lurking for years with the occasional comment but here goes with my first ever thread! I bought my TR4A on ebay in 2003, so this has been a long-term project. In my defence, I did get rather distracted with an obsession with early Spitfires, which lasted more than a decade, until I finally realised that I don’t really fit in them - actually I look a bit like Noddy in his car, trying to decide whether to look over the windscreen or through it..... Anyway, now I have a car I can fit in and am on the third attempt to restore this one - this latest effort inspired by having sold all of my other cars, discovering that all those boxes of tat I had been hoarding for years were worth quite a lot and by moving into a house with an actual garage. I didn’t get as far as removing the bodyshell or the engine from the chassis, but apat from that, just about everything has been refurbished. After months of trying to find a reputable painter at a decent cost in Denmark (too many b/s artists or dreamers, unfortunately), I decided to do the painting myself. Well, let’s see how that goes, but here are a few photos of progress so far. Nick and Morten - if you see this, I have a few Spitfire panels going free to a good home (if you are thinking of building another one) - no rush to collect, though I need rid by Jan/Feb next year.

So this is where the Danes have been lurking....... Nick, I bought one of those electric impact wrenches from Biltema for 300kr to get the crank nut off my engine - worked a treat. I have used it about 10 more times on various otherwise rant-worthy tasks and the only time it has let me down was when it sheared off a bolt in a bumper captive nut (which I would have also likely done with a spanner). The best 300kr I ever spent at Biltema ; ) I can see I have a lot of catching up to do - I'll start reading now.....

I took a hardtop on a train in the UK - nearly got arrested at Waterloo for leaving it for 30 secs while I went to find a taxi. Can you beat that?

Hi Morten, it IS a small world! Yes it's a shame I can't fold it up and stuff it in the overhead lockers but Ryanair might have something to say about a crate the size of a small cow. I don't suppose your "interested party" would consider collecting?

Nick, you can only be referring to Mr Runa - I nearly sold him a car once......but he kept asking bizarre questions so I gave up in the end - it sounds like the gods were smiling on me that day : I never would have heard the end of it

I'm sorry if this comes a little late but I've got a couple of spare windscreen frames with no rust - one green and one errr....metallic blue (I know....why?). I also have a bit of a confession to make - I just wax oiled and filled my windscreen frame with expanding foam (before reading this thread). My thoughts were that the foam would prevent water getting in in the first place. I wouldn't advise doing it with the frame fitted to the car as the bloody stuff gets everywhere, but it doesn't seem to have any adverse effects in terms of distortion - all the excess material is forced out through the holes in the top. I did the same with the sills, although I'm not convinced I completely filled the forward section so I might consider drilling a small hole in the top face and filling it afterwards. I can't see the problem, unless it soaks up water but the experiments I did beforehand suggest it's impermeable and the foam structure would limit the extent of water passing into any breaks inthe outer skin. Am I nuts?

Thanks Nick and Leon. I like this board!