It bubbles up

(It has been a few days since my last entry so this one is rather long. To hopefully grab your attention straight away. Listen to my attempt to get TheSuperCamp onto BBC Radio 2) 

 

Where am I?

I have found it interesting how, with a project of this size, your mind breaks it down into sizable chunks and orders them in some kind of MentalTimeline. At first I stood at the beginning of the MentalTimeline looking forward into miles of rust and rot. At this point it is hard to discern anything of the line ahead. It is too wide, long and hard even to tell where to place your first step. But slowly the first move sort of presents itself to you if you hang around for long enough.  

You should probably get the engine going reliably

This starts as a wide statement, but you have to break it down further, zoom in.

You should probably diagnose why it isn't starting reliably

 Done, it was a flat battery

You should probably charge the battery and try again

Done, but now it won't start again

You should probably spend some time on the internet to work out why

Done, by the looks of it, it might be the alternator

You should probably research ways to test it then

Done, it is charging, but at a very low rate

and so on.....you already know this part of the story. 

From here, as long as you have started at a vaguely logical point, all you have to do is answer each question that arises. Suddenly, before you know it, you have embarked on the MentalTimeline. Once you are a few steps in you are granted the privilege of not only looking forward into the Timeline, but also from the side where you see your current point in context with what has come before and what is coming next. From here it is then much easier to see future phases that although are too far away to have any detail, you at least see their order in relation to each other.

GET THE ENGINE GOING      GET IT WATERTIGHT        GET IT SECURE   

So, whilst working on the engine, the next phase presented itself-

You should probably get it watertight

(zooooom in)

You should probably remove all exterior fittings to assess how bad it is

Done...oh god.

You should probably grind away the loose rust to find good metal

Done...oh god

You should probably decide what needs patch welding and what just needs filling

and so on.....

So this is where I am. Tackling the mammoth that is TheSuperCamp bodywork. With the usual cycle of

DecideWhatINeedToKnow     ResearchWhatINeedToKnow

DoWhatI'veLearntUntilIComeUpAgainstTheNextThingIDon'tKnowHowToDo

I have assembled a crack team of vital materials-

Seamsealer- flexible, waterproof sealer for 'pinholes' in welds. Mine are more 'spearholes'
Angle Grinder with WireBrush Attachment- for violent war on rust
Body Filler- I estimate TheSuperCamp will eventually be at least 40% filler.
Low Grit Sandpaper- for sanding back and shaping the filler
Red Oxide- anti-oxidant paint (rust proofing)

Welded on a new sill, added first layer of filler

All that it requires is starting at one end and slowly removing rust, filling it, sanding it, filling it again, sanding it again, applying red oxide.

Suddenly all that matters again is your next small step on the MentalTimeline and they are easy steps to make. In the evenings I can zoom out and let the next phase bubble up and do the appropriate research.




What about the WeldingDentInMyPride?

After a miserable attempt at welding (see previous blog), I set down to practice for about an hour in good conditions and actually improved. This spurred me on to attempt one of the bigger welding jobs- the PassengerFootwell. Like many things, the WeldingDentInMyPride was much ado about nothing.

Missing

Templating

Cutting

Welding

So now as I work away slowly on bodywork and its constituent parts of welding and filling, I can let my mind drift to the next phase of the MentalTimeline...Getting it Secure. This means reattaching the back door, which has it's own box of troubles.....