will be donating tomorrow mate good luck with the trip

Right, things have been a bit quiet on the Frank front but that's set to change next weekend. He's been sitting at the Vauxhall Technical centre in Luton for the last few weeks waiting for them to have time to give him a once over...

here's a couple of pics of the work in progress..





So, they identified a couple of things...

The EML light was due to the crank sensor and wiring being goosed.. They have done this free of charge.

Brake pads low all round - replaced free of charge.

Clutch is nearing end of life - New one fitted free of charge.

We get him back friday then it's decoration time!!

Right then! Decor begins.... This is going to take a few sessions to achieve the desired look. First step, blue basecoat.



first things first, we removed the lights, grill etc to make life easier....











Then off to Homebase to get the materials...



2.5L exterior gloss in white.

750ml "nightfire blue" Gloss to mix with the white

750ml Red exterior gloss (for tomorrow)

750ml Black exterior gloss (for tomorrow)

Masking tape

Mini rollers







Next myself and Neil donned our best chav/decorating attire and got sanding...







Then got masking...







Then we got all blue peter and made the colour...







A couple of testers as we went...







Then on with the paint, first with brushes around the edges and then with rollers...



















Then off with the masking...







Tomorrow will see the side strips and bumpers Red, the roof and top of the tailgate black then we need to start building the boiler and chimney on the bonnet before that gets a coat of blue..



More tomorrow!

As promised... More done today!



First thing was to mask the blue up ready for some red paint on the bumpers and side trims and black for the roof and boot...







On with the black...







On with the Red...







One coat...







I popped one of the wheels off ready to paint...







Pete got busy with the "styling tape" after more coats of Red







Ignoring the fact that the Red needs loads more paint (we wanted to give it a few days to dry off completeley before re-coating) this gives a rough idea of the look we are going for...











So, next we need to re-coat the red, paint the rest of the wheels, apply the styling tape to the other panels, build up the "coal holder" on the tailgate complete with paper mache coal and of course build up the bonnet with an oil drum etc to form the centre peice of the boiler and face complete with smoke machine etc. We also will be adding yellow detail around the windows as per Thomas and the numbers...



Loads to do still!

Did a bit more yesterday....



More coats of red on the bumpers, looking pretty good now...







Carried on with the wheels...







Did the spare as well, just incase...







Yellow around the windows and blue mirrors...







And now for the coal scuttle...



On with the supports....











On with the sides....











Still opens....







And the car as it stands...







Next is to finish the fabrication of the coal scuttle, paint it up and fill with paper mache coal. Then we'll move onto the bonnet!

i have just gone through your thread from start to finish and recon you have done a brill job on the miggy !it looks fantastic .it will be great to see the finished product .good luck to you and your team .pete

all you need is a couple of estates behind.... annie and clarabel! lol

So, preperation continues. Frank will be at the VBOA show at Billing aquadrome on Saturday evening and Sunday in the day. We've just got this little beauty which will form the Bolier, hopefully before billing...



208 litres!!