It's been a long journey getting the trunk lid finished. Finally done this weekend and a start on the driver's door. Pictures and a YouTube link below...

https://youtu.be/9MEpqWtA3Ps

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Check it out... the tail light assemblies are getting closer. The housings have just a little bit more machining to do for the wire passage and the pipe flange to fasten the mounting bracket. The LED lights fit nicely into place. The center two are red and each one has two levels of brightness for the tail light and brake light. The out side lights are amber and white. The housings will be hand finished and chrome plated.
I'm currently working on the bent pipes that are the mounting brackets. The original pipes are 1 1/8" in diameter. Motorcycle handle bars are 1" in diameter, so I thought about that option... but now I'm looking for someone with a pipe bender with 1 1/8" tooling.

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This past weekend I worked at least 10 hours on my trunk lid. This doggone trunk lid has been a much bigger project than I ever thought possible.

A week ago I finally got the inner trunk lid mostly done. This week I finished the welding and grinding. Then I took the 18 gauge sheet metal cut out about 2" extra large all the way around and marked a line about 1 1/2" inside the final size. Next I rolled it lengwise and crosswise on my English wheel until it matched the contour of the tail. Then I cut it to fit the inner trunk lid. Next I spent hours tacking and cooling the edge. This is where it's at now with a little bit more welding and lots of grinding. Oh and I also got the latch installed.

This week I've been on a buying spree! Carburetor, brakes, exhaust parts and a rebuilt starter.... hopefully this weekend I'll be able to make a significant gain out in the shop. And I do know it is Mother's Day weekend.

Here is a pic of the starter I unwrapped this morning.

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This past weekend I was able to tidy up a bunch of little stuff like finish the rain trough inside the trunk lid opening, finish up the inner trunk lid (almost), finish welding the trunk hinge braces and rough cut out the sheet metal for the sides of the tail. Next on the list is to get some shape into the trunk lid skin using the English wheel and getting it welded up.

This week my friend John is taking his Corvette bumper in for some fresh chrome, so he is taking along the bumpers for the boat tail for me. When I got to looking I noticed that the front bumper clamps where replaced with metal straps... ugly. The back ones are rusty but can be restored... picture below.

Anyone out there have a pair of bumper clamps you can spare?

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Stopped by my machine shop this morning and Randy had finished my tail light bezels. Now he's working on the second set of bezels then two sets of housings. They look awesome!

I'm planning to get them chromed next.

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Sunday I did one of those two steps back and one step forward... I've changed my approach to the trunk lid design. I was having trouble with stability and accuracy of the inner trunk lid. So I cut the edge off, welded it to the hinge plates and tacked on new edges that are very accurate. I also got the latch handle laid out. Now I still have several days of work left to get the trunk lid finished.

Today I started to rebuild the distributor. My plan is to convert it to an MSD magnetic pickup and hide everything inside of the original distributor. We'll make a new plate for the inside and a two part shaft. I will document this in detail as I get it done.

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Today I took apart the distributor and designed a new shaft to convert it to an MSD magnetic pickup. I will document this in detail as I build it.

I also made the pattern for the sheet metal side for the tail. This allows me to lay out a sheet of 18 awg to get the most out of it. I also made progress on the trunk lid.

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Finished the thermostat upgrade today! Looks ok. I think it will look even better after painting. I believe it will work very well. Next is the distributor upgrade... stay tuned.

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Today I designed the adapter for a GM thermostat housing to the 1929 head I recently bought on eBay. The 29 head had rust damage around the edge. While I was working to remove the rust a metal sleeve came out opening a passage to a vertical bearing. As you can see in the picture I've bored out the ID for a new heavy sleeve. If all works out I'll have an update with the details of the new 160 degree thermostat for the speedster in a couple of days.

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