1953 Jowett Jupiter Race Car - Blue Team

and they say romance is dead.   My best to you both from this side of the pond.

Nearside wing flange edge repairs underway 



Flange edge on the nearside bonnet had also received dubious quantities of fibreglass bridging filler over cracked / fatigued areas 



Alloy repair section was formed through shrinking 



Then trimmed & riveted into place 



Wing refitted 



Then the replacement quarter panel added 



Bonnet fit wasn't great with paint being taken off where the panels contact each other 



Not looking for perfection here but it can be improved with a little intervention 



A simple spacing buffer at the bottom of the A post along with securing the bonnet hinge more firmly to the bulkhead has achieved most of the desired results 



There's a generic bulkhead rubber trim available that I can utilise to close the gapping on the rest of the bonnet - Its mainly fitted to vintage cars but will achieve a reasonable result in this instance too 



Now on with the offside front bonnet & wing - again I have removed the wing to facilitate access for the repairs 


 

Repair sections are riveted but the wings & quarter panels are bolted on 

Offside bonnet hinge had a stud missing hence the hinge was loose 



Soon sorted 



Keep plates for the bottom of the front wings were refitted to the A posts and the new gapping buffer fitted on the offside 



Gapping is too tight in some areas with contact being made with the paint edges 



Especially as the bonnet is opened & closed 



Resolved with a little reworking - the main problem being largely over applied filler by previous repairers 



I've used the 2 pack panel bonding to fill over the riveted panels & repair areas - a much better product than using fibreglass bridging filler bodge 



This will be abraded back prior to a profiling filler being applied 

Stripped of its external fittings after its day out at Curborough its now on with the rest of the preparation & profiling 

Coming on nicely, it's certainly had a life.

As for poor old sid, hope he recovers soon

I checked all the door gapping's - These are not critical and it is a race car however, it does need to be presented looking reasonably straight and at this stage it's relatively quick & easy to undertake any modifications 



Whilst the offside front gapping on the door is fine - the rear isn't to the point that you could drive a bus through it - this I'll close the gapping up on the B post 



The nearside door gappings are way too close for comfort and by the time I've applied fresh paint to the body the chances are that the apertures edges will shell / chip when you open & close the door - Gappings like this on the Jupiter are not unusual - its a handbuilt low volume production car - its also a race car and seen a life hence the differences in aperture gapping 



Gappings were opened up by reducing the door edge then reinforcing the door skin edge & flange with countersunk rivets 



The work still requires dressing back but the gappings are much better 



Still finding areas of repairs to the alloy fabric like here on the rearward edge of the nearside front wing 



And the leading edge of the nearside front quarter panel / B post which had been bunged with fibreglass



Profiling works continue to be progressed 





I'm always interested in new products that come into stock at my suppliers - I've been in search of a new fine finishing filler for a while now to replace the Dupont Chromeax that I favoured for several years - Dupont have dropped the ball and reformulated the product recently with a net result of hiking the price & reducing the quality - in a word its now rubbish

  

There's a load of stuff on the market - some of it cures too quickly while you are applying it - others cure to a tacky surface which then clogs your abrasives - Whilst some are either very difficult to apply or very difficult to sand / profile back - My paint supplier asked if I would give this Evercoat Optex a go 

 
Mixes nicely and goes on pink then dries blue / grey 



Profiles, sands & feathers back lovely and with ease - I like it 



Onwards then - profiles to the front offside corner are now just down to a final skimming of fine finish - loads of profiling elsewhere though - my right arm already aches and I've yet to start the day 


 

Rear aperture on the offside door has been reduced by fitting a alloy fillet to the B post 



Dressed back with the profiling underway 



Other areas to the rear of the car are also being addressed with the profiling filler being applied 



Offside front wing profiles are now complete 



And the offside bonnet profiles are all but there too 



And the nearside bonnet & front wing are well progressed 

Nearside bonnet / front end profiles are very nearly complete 



Lots of remedial jobs completed which will future preserve the life of the new paintwork - like reducing the length of door catch tongue so that it doesn't contact the paint and damage it as you open & close the door 



And now starting to progress the profiles on the rear nearside of the car