
Re: Belgian built 1969 AK350 'Hetty'
So now that I'm a little refreshed having had a short break from working on Hetty I went at her today with renewed vigor!
Spanners and Russ kindly colluded between them and produced the clippy things I needed to attach the wing valences to the bulkhead. It's amazing how much they reduce engine noise!
I paid a visit to ex-Hetty ownder TooMany2CVs who (amongst other goodies) gave me the fuel tank cover I've been longing for

My Dad kindly painted this and the spare wheel cover too.

They look pretty good. Need to get some nuts on the tank cover as its pretty warped but it'll be fine.
602 and HJBHarry kindly gave and transported to me 2 door catches. This almost cost Harry is freedom and I believe he narrowly avoided becoming intimately aquatinted with the Gendarmes... so thank you chaps

I'm having the same issues Viking had that the repro wheel cover has totally the wrong diameter for the catches to fit

I think I may be able to transplant the ones 602 got me but this requires further investigation.
The main job today was more painting.
Hetty has quite a few rust spots, all surface rust and none in MoT dodgey areas. I'm
really fed up with painting and getting it matched etc... plus the results are never as good as I'd like.
As Adrian said when I bought her, without a LOT of expensive professional bodywork she's never going to look like new.
Added to this my own opinion that I don't actually
want her to look shiny: she's an old, well traveled van and I want her to wear these scars and marks with pride!
Today I discovered lacquer. And boy to I love it!
It's
just so easy to apply, dries hard, waterproof and look (I think) fantastic.


As you can see I've also painted the vent flap and had some lettering done
All the lettering was done by Tom of
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/tomlikesstickers I'm really chuffed with the results, plus the cost is very reasonable. He normally does stuff like this:

but I emailed him with my requirements and he was happy to oblige - he sent me proofs and everything. Highly recommended!



Hetty's really starting to come together - can't wait to get her on the road!!



