Inertia

Sat.17.05.08. An early visit to Brabbin and Rudd proved to be fruitful in that I returned home with three different sized washers that may cover the protrusion around the overdrive switch. I had attempted to strip down a superfluous switch to examine the possibilities of surface mounting the toggle and re-locating the casing but the mechanism is integral to both parts. So adopting plan ‘B’ I returned to the cellar hoping that by permanently fixing the entire switch to the rear of the dash, using small amounts of filler, this would still allow the operation of the switch but the resultant exposed gap could be secreted cleverly by one of the washers. The approach has been successful. All that remained was to glue the lower switch plate to the recessed slot, clean and polish the buttons, levers and switches and, possibly, tomorrow will see the final assembly. 

Sun.18.05.08. To ensure that the lower back plate remains solidly in place I have applied ‘filler’ around the edges for additional strength. The controls have been cleaned and polished to await assembly to the dash.

The patterns that form the templates for the inner lining of the nose cone have been cut from Daler board. These will be used to fabricate the panels from aluminium.

Fri.30.05.08. There has not been any serious work on the Burlington for twelve days. Inertia has kicked in again, ‘a return to apathy’, ‘other things to do’, a definite suggested inference that the project will roll on into another November. I have delivered the partially assembled dashboard plus the templates for the nosecone housing. Naturally there has been a problem with the fitting of the dash in that the cowling that covers the stalk mechanism prevents the simple installation of the dash. It has been necessary to remove the steering column before offering up the completed dash section. 

All the clocks and wiring needs to be in place before the column can be secured; the wiring loom also needs to be fed through the scuttle simultaneously to be connected in the engine bay, but this approach is not at all practical for future routine maintenance.

The kitchen has now taken centre stage.