02-05-02

It seemed like time for an update. Lots of pictures in this one. I'm going to keep the text brief.
Alien_Fresh_Jerky.jpg

Alien Fresh Jerky. What more can I say? This was taken at the intersection of Hwy 93 & Hwy 6 on the way back from Bonneville in October. I'd just loaded a new roll in my film camera, so it took a while to get this shot back. So many people commented on it I thought I'd send it out to pollute everyone's minds. You can ask Mark what Alien Jerky tastes like.

repair1.jpg

We had a clearance problem with our rear sprocket being too close to a frame piece. In the top picture you can see some scrapes where the chain touched the frame. Our solution was to add a stiffener behind the pipe, (just visible in top photo). Then we cut out the problem area. next, we shaped and welded on a filler plate. We ground and sanded the entire area to get it ready for painting. Finally, we painted it with epoxy paint.

Bodywork.jpg

We're doing LOTS of body work now.
We had to do machining on the front & rear axles, and because the tires were in the way, we've temporarily put the car up on feet. Not only is it more accessible, but the car is at a really nice working height.

New_Dzuts.jpg

One problem we've had was the front cowling didn't fit quite right. After trying several things to improve the fit, we finally decided to add two more DZUS fasteners to hold it down. Alan & Mark are inspecting the new fit, nearly perfect..

Sandblasting.jpg

We've bought some new toys, er, tools for working on the car. Here's mark's new 12" sander, and I, (James) am using my new "Double door, blasting cabinet", ( I love that name, it's really a sand blaster). The front spindles had come back from machining, so I'm removing 10 years of dust, paint, grease, & rust, before painting them.

Sandblasted_spindals.jpg

Here's a before & after shot. Actually, the one on the left is only half done, but I was loosing the light. You should see them now, resplendent in their new gray primer.

paint_templete-2.jpg

Now we need your help. This is your chance paint the car. This is basically what the car would look like painted white. Print this picture, then draw whatever you want the paint scheme to look like. Then, send it to us. Any good ones we'll send out next newsletter.

Back to Rice/Vigeant Car #9999 Update Page