Dash progress

 Frank writes...

I was out on Wednesday afternoon for a few hours and made some progress on the front end of the 18.

The front right dash panel had previously been needle-chipped, primed, and then had some holes filled with Bondo. Today I got the whole thing sanded down except for a bit behind the bumper, where I couldn't fit the pad sander and will have to attach it by hand sanding. The results are above. I also sanded the other panels around the front of the car.

And there, that's much better. I used a trim roller to put a fresh coat of primer on the panel (and also anywhere else on the front of the car that was down to bare metal). When it's dry I'll take a close look, as it's much easier to identify surface imperfections with a consistent coat of paint on it, and do additional sanding (or body filler application) as needed. But we're getting close to putting some fresh "Bankers Grey" on the front end of the car. Then, once I can get my hands on some Mylar or tracing paper, I'll trace the numbers off of the car and the grey will start spreading aft. At least that's the plan. My intention is to repaint the car using rollers (as we did on the 205) since this will provide a decent surface finish but without the time and expense of spraying. This may not be the car's "forever" paint job but it ought to last a few decades.

Other than that, there were a few of the regulars working in the shop including John, Jane, Tim, and Buzz, among others. And I received some items delivered by a donor from Woodstock that came from the Van Dorn company, maker of our very own CA&E wood cars' couplers. Stay tuned, you may see some interesting stuff show up on this blog.