When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Original Nautilus paint color ( PDV ) not handled by the local Jaguar dealer
A local auto paint vendor with the mixing instructions recommended since it take 5 different drops of this and that color to make a batch it would better be done in a large batch then divided up into smaller batches , hence a large vendor
I have only used the Automotive Touch-up one-part clear coat, but I believe they also now offer a 2K urethane clear coat.
What I really like about their one-part acrylic clear coat is that it goes on very smooth with a great gloss, but if you have any runs or just want an even higher shine, it is just as easy to wet-sand and polish to a mirror gloss as nitrocellulose lacquer. I've used it on wheels over Rustoleum and Würth silver, and on several electric guitars over a variety of base colors and aniline dyes.
The next time I do any wheel restoration I'm going to try the 2K urethane clear coat for its extra hardness.
Speaking of electric guitars I designed a 2 channel vacuum tube final stage amplifier for the car using the original Jaguar stereo to drive it from a low power tap
Fabrication started but the completion down the road
This video is how a Fender Champ works in part 1 and 2
That sounds like a really fun project! You've obviously got easy access to 12 volts for your preamp tube heaters. Have you been able to source transformers to step up from battery/alternator voltage to sufficient plate voltages/B+ for the 12AX7s and 6V6s? Do you anticipate that the single-ended Champ circuit will be able to deliver sufficient bass response with low distortion?
The heaters on the tubes must be dropped to 5 or 6 volts for the tube's service life
Easy to do eliminating the rectifier tube
Will not be using transformers to get a 350 volts DC to power the valves but will be reversing and rewiring a Fisher and Paykel motor from a washing machine driven by a 12 volt DC motor
This way I will have " pure " mechanical DC power
The speed regulation of the generator will be the only digital section
The step down transformers for the speakers will be toroidal transformers to better hide them
It is a push pull amp with either EL34 or KT88 depending on space limitations on the flat car dash so there will be 4 beside the prestage 4 12AX7s
Got my eye on these puppies but the amp dude in town may direct a different selection
I've ordered a lot of tubes from tubedepot.com and like their pricing and service (no affiliation, typical disclaimers).
For what it's worth, I really like the current-manufacture Mullard 12AX7s in guitar amps, and I pay Tube Depot the extra couple of bucks per tube for matching and low noise testing. I own several vintage NOS Telefunken 12AX7s that I use in various guitar amps in positions that I choose by ear, but the Mullards actually sound even better in some positions in some preamp sections.
I don't currently have a a Marshall or any other amp that uses EL34s or KT88s so I can't offer you any opinion on those. Can't wait to see you make it all work!
The problem with tube selection is the world of fat and sweet in the guitar vernacular vs. a frequency response graph for a engineer
I'm certainly no expert, but in my experience tube amp frequency response usually has less to do with tube selection and more to do with the quality of the output transformers and a circuit that keeps all of the tubes in their most linear ranges. Transformers designed to reproduce a relatively flat frequency response and good bass response with EL34s or KT88s may weigh 5 pounds each for modest output power or twice that for, say, 100 watts output. The output transformers for my old 6550 hi-fi tube amps (based on a McIntosh circuit and rated at 60 watts RMS) weighed around 12 pounds each. The transformer for a 60-watt guitar amp might weigh only half of that.