I had been waiting to take the rebuilt engine out to Bill at British Auto works. However, I did not want to make the trip out until after the car was back in his shop with new paint so I could see it first hand. I had been really anxious to see the final color in person after seeing the pictures of it while it was still in the paint booth. If you can recall from the last post, the actual color could have been one of about three shades of blue the way it showed up in the pictures due to the lighting and flash. I just needed to see it in person. I was again accompanied by my good friend George Pouch. Both he and my wife could tell this was a special day for me. My excitement was hardly contained.
I think I wrote earlier about how difficult it was to nail down the color from the original color codes. There is no official color code cross reference from the old British paint codes. Of course, there are a bunch of unofficial references online. Each professing to be the accurate color rendition. So, choosing the color became a long and drawn out exercise with Bill taking a color code to the painter, painting up and sending me a sample or two and me adjusting lighter or darker based on my interpretation of the original Riviera Blue. This is just one area where Bill has been extremely patient with me and understood just how important this decision was. Let me tell you it was more than just a little nerve racking to finally say go based on a 4x6 paint sample knowing you don't get a second chance. At least not a cheap second chance. Finally, last Saturday I got to see it. Thanks to George for the pictures. I was just in awe walking around the car noting everything that had been fixed.
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| Riviera Blue |
What do you think? I think we nailed the color. There were a number of issues with the front end that are all fixed and straightened out. Bill noted that the paint job has not yet been cut and buffed and that it should be shiny once that is done. It looked pretty good to me. I can't wait. Bill told me that he has never seen another Riviera Blue Sprite in the area.
The other reason for the trip out was to deliver the engine and take a look at the rebuilt transmission. I had also refurbished the drive line and installed new U-Joints, and cleaned up and painted the engine mounts. At this point BAW has all of the parts to install the new suspension, steering rack and drive train. Then it is back to me for Phase II which entails installing a new wiring harness (including the dash components), all new brake hydraulics and the fuel system. The end of phase II will culminate in the first engine start up. Not so fast John, for now, let's get Phase I finished and paid for.
Note the slight overkill on strapping the engine in the truck. That baby was not going anywhere. At the shop they jokingly said the truck could have flipped end over end and the engine would have stayed in the truck bed. I didn't mind.
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| It was a beautiful day to take the engine to British Auto Works |
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| Ready for installation. All new motor and tranny mounts in the plastic bag. |
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| Blasted and primed. |
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| Rebuilt, ready for paint and installation |
