What does a Zonda F and Dilbert have in common? They now both have same steering wheel! Exciting eh? Well a bit anyway. It's the Nardi Kallista Pagani Zonda F Commemoration wheel. I'm pretty sure that this is as close as I'm ever going to get to owning a Zonda.
Nardi, who I'm sure you know is the Ferrari (or should that be the Pagani) of the steering wheel world, designed this wheel specifically for the Zonda F. The budget Zonda's have to make do with a leather covered version, no wood and aluminum highlights for the paupers!
It's a real beauty, hand made of course. Other than the Zonda I've yet to find a car with one. So either it's rare or it's not as nice as I think. Nah! It doesn't come cheap but then there's no reason it won't last a lifetime.
I still haven't found a boss and snap-off kit that I like the look of. Would still like a chrome one or at least polished aluminium so if anybody knows of one let me know.
Bit quiet at the minute. James is getting ready to move house which will be taking up most of his time. He'll then have his own shed to work in which will make things easier for him. He's only got a damp basement to work in at the moment which isn't pleasant or healthy to work in. Just hope he's not swapping that for a damp shed!
I'm in the process of buying and watching a few items, none to do with the engine so will probably just be stored for now. One thing I have bought is a pair of chrome bumpers which arrived late last week. Although they're repro's they're of very good quality and I managed to get them for a pretty good price too, so we're happy.
I've been working on ideas for the interior, although still not sure which direction to go. The angular shape of the car limits the options. Using a design with loads of curves is probably out, so that cuts options down by about 99%! Not been wowed by any Golf interiors and interiors from other cars are full of curves, so not a whole lot to get inspriration from. Had a couple of fairly mad ideas (mad as in wacky not the stupid slang term) but not sure whether they'll work.
I've bought a very special steering wheel today, not going to say much about it just yet, you'll just have to wait! Suffice it to say that you don't see them every day.
Although we're not doing much to the interior at this stage, I bought it as they don't seem to come up for sale very often with it being a limited edition. I couldn't find any in the UK so have had to import it. I just hope it's not too posh for the car. Actually I don't care because it's the best looking wheel I've come across that suits the lines of the Golf and, if it's good enough for the car it was designed for (hint, costs not far off £500K!), it's good enough for Dilbert.
Here's a quick run down of the polishing steps we are using on the aluminium components, polishing steel is similar but will use different mops and compounds:
- Filing, Any casting marks and unwanted features such as lettering are carefully filed away.
- Preparing, Sanded with 320 grit wet & dry to remove all surface irregularities and blemishes. We use a B&D mouse sander and sanding block depending on the area.
- Burnishing, Bench grinder using grey compound with a sisal polishing mop.
- Prepolishing, Bench grinder using green compound with a white close stitched polishing mop.
- Polishing, Bench grinder using blue Compound with a loose G quality mop.
- Finishing, Bench grinder using Menzerna P175 for super finishing with a loose WDR quality mop.
- Post Finishing, hand polish with ultra-fine metal polish and ultra-soft micro fibre cloths.
As we didn't have P175 we made our own compound using a mixture of regular bathroom talc and 3-in-1 oil. Talc is one of the finest abrasives you can get (finest as in courseness), the oil is used as a carrier. A G quality mop could be used if you haven't a WDR. For the final hand polishing we use Zeppelin Prep and then Zeppelin Mirror Finish from English Custom Polish.
Unfortunately the mirror finish won't last forever when exposed to air which is why some turn to chroming. However a mirror polished surface is brighter than chrome, which has a slight blue tint to it. Initially we considered a standard clear coat but they tend to be too heavy and take the edge off of the shine. Eventually we came across a US product by Everbrite called Protect-a-Clear which doesn't affect the finish in any way being crystal clear. Neither will it yellow or crack over time, which is obviously important, and should last for at least 5 years.
Here's a run down of some safety guidelines you should bear in mind when sanding and buffering. All pretty much common sense.
Aluminum dust is poisonous so wear gloves, gogles and a respirator when sanding and buffing. A painters mask isn't sufficient, use the gas mask type with the twin filters. If you don't like wearing gloves whilst sanding then use a barrier cream.
Don't wear loose clothing or anything else that could be entangled in the bench grinder. Also make sure things like power cables are kept away from the grinder, preferably tied down.
Should any polishes or particles get into the eye, flush eyes well with water. DO NOT RUB!!! Contact your nearest hospital if irritation persists.
Treat the bench grinder with respect. Always wear riggers gloves or similar, goggles, a respirator, ear defenders and preferably a leather apron. A grinder will spit out a piece that slips out of your grasp at up to 80MPH and can cause serious injury.
Only use the part of the buffing wheel that is rotating away from the workpiece.
When buffing parts with sharp edges or hooks they should be offered to the wheel with the edge flowing away from the buffer so the part doesn't catch.
If you are using a hand drill to buff then secure either the drill or the component.
The first of the gold and chrome bits for the engine bay have arrived. A pair of bonnet catches, chrome with gold fittings and spring. Also a gold oil cap and gold screws and washers for the wings. Not a whole lot to say about them other than they look good. I'm sure you know what the bits look like so I'll leave photos until they're on the car.
The main bulk of the gold parts for the engine bay will be taken up with all the nuts, bolts and clips, we still need to draw up a complete list once we work out the sizes of everything, I can tell that's going to be a pain.
My new set of chromed pedals have arrived and look really good! Although we're not planning to do much to the interior in the initial stage it made sense to change the pedals now rather than messing around later. That's my excuse for buying them anyway!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
