Precision Engineering

The doors that I whined about earlier this year are starting to appear like they’re going to work. We had to unwind some finishing and cut metal to make it happen, and I found that a very painful thing to do (okay, watch). You think you’re at a certain milestone and then you’re not and it’s very frustrating. Even Aaron wasn't his normal cherubic self, confronted with this snafu.

Today I was at the shop and working with Aaron to fit the doors. We were trying to put them in situ in the correct location so that we could figure out where to tack the round bar that will form the new track. I think we did it. If you see in the photo about you’ll see there one highlighted area where the curved or raised anterior section of the door doesn’t obviously run parallel to the door frame on the left side. It does on the right. Drop the aft section of the door track, right? Yeah, we did that so much now that the holes don’t align at all anymore. It's easier to see if you download the photo first and view it full-sized.

The same precision is lacking elsewhere too. In the other photo you can see (printed on the fender) that the leading edge of the front right wing is not the same shape as the right one. There’s no repair; it’s original. The left is also a little wider. Anyone else ever noticed this? Watching other vans being put together I wonder if the doors presented this much of a challenge.

Finally, I found a “chummy” (navy term meaning “the things I don’t know the name of”) that will adapt my new air filter to my Weber carb. It’s being mailed to me next week. A photo of it is included above. I think it'll look really sharp (if anyone dares look at the engine).