Assembly of bumpers, lights, brakes, wiring, and installation of Fatmat
Richard's Renault Dauphine
The Restoration of my Renault Dauphine
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Month 68
This month we start with the package of parts that arrived from Argentina while was away, and the car that has sat in my garage since it was delivered from the body shop.
The first step was to dig out the steering column controls from my boxes to sand and polish the 54 year old plastic that had been patched and had a crack. Once I had that cleaned up I took it to the paint store to have the color matched for the steering wheel.
The steering wheel came from Argentina a few years ago, but had some shipping damage and a couple of cracks that I filled with super glue before sanding and painting.
I also dug out and wire-brushed the radiator shroud that had somehow escaped painting, plus cleaned the engine compartment tins that came back from the body shop unpainted. All got a good coat of paint. In the process I found cracks in the radiator support that had to be welded.
Then came assembling of the zig-saw puzzle that makes up the font and rear bumpers, while aligning them and fixing them in place, fabricating the missing joint covers from a sheet of stainless steel.
Then I attacked the stainless roof trim that was damaged by the crane that lifted the car onto the truck that brought it to my house 5 ½ years ago. The body shop had put it back on, but not straightened. Here you can see the before and after, but the process is HERE, on a separate page.
Then on to the cabin, where I cleaned and, after painting the interior of the doors with a rust converter paint, I applied Fatmat to all surfaces. This made a big difference in the sound of the metal.
Then it was time to convert the rust on the underside and apply undercoating to protect it.
It was also a time of little things: freeing up and greasing the windshield wipers, straightening sanding and polishing the glove box trims, stripping the anodizing and sanding the pits and scratches in the new side vent, correcting the new radiator spout, and other little things.
I also got most of the brakes done and started on the wiring.
The first step was to dig out the steering column controls from my boxes to sand and polish the 54 year old plastic that had been patched and had a crack. Once I had that cleaned up I took it to the paint store to have the color matched for the steering wheel.
The steering wheel came from Argentina a few years ago, but had some shipping damage and a couple of cracks that I filled with super glue before sanding and painting.
I also dug out and wire-brushed the radiator shroud that had somehow escaped painting, plus cleaned the engine compartment tins that came back from the body shop unpainted. All got a good coat of paint. In the process I found cracks in the radiator support that had to be welded.
Then came assembling of the zig-saw puzzle that makes up the font and rear bumpers, while aligning them and fixing them in place, fabricating the missing joint covers from a sheet of stainless steel.
Then I attacked the stainless roof trim that was damaged by the crane that lifted the car onto the truck that brought it to my house 5 ½ years ago. The body shop had put it back on, but not straightened. Here you can see the before and after, but the process is HERE, on a separate page.
Then on to the cabin, where I cleaned and, after painting the interior of the doors with a rust converter paint, I applied Fatmat to all surfaces. This made a big difference in the sound of the metal.
Then it was time to convert the rust on the underside and apply undercoating to protect it.
It was also a time of little things: freeing up and greasing the windshield wipers, straightening sanding and polishing the glove box trims, stripping the anodizing and sanding the pits and scratches in the new side vent, correcting the new radiator spout, and other little things.
I also got most of the brakes done and started on the wiring.
