MadaboutKitcars

They rebuilt one on Wheeler Dealers a few years ago and it used marine ply for the floor. I suppose it's easier to replace as it rots away...

Marcos used to have wooden chassis on the early cars
The legendary Costin cars were wooden monocoque!

I remember seeing a story (who knows how accurate of course?) about an early Marcos with wooden chassis crashing heavily at Brands Hatch, with the wood splitting so the car was in 2 halves, and both occupants emerged unscathed!
Some call wood "god's glassfibre" Apologies in advance if that offends anyone's religious beliefs, as no offense is intended.

Yes, and they required an Agricultural inspection (Termites) with a stamp before being imported to the USA.

Back in the early 70s I used to have a yellow Marcos 1500 with gull wings and a wooden chassis. The local mot tester at the time was a bit confused to say the least! It was great fun to drive but unfortunately had to go when my first son arrived. It was replaced by an opalescent dark blue 3.8 litre Jaguar S Type with red leather interior so normal, quick service was resumed.

So I spent yesterday dry sanding the front of the car ready for a wet sand and polish. I know there are a few on here who prep and paint cars for a living and can I say you now have my utmost respect as this was the most tedious and painful thing I have done in a long time.

Even worse than watching Gone With the Wind from start to finish ? Wow

Dave

Yeah, but not as bad as The Sound of Music :-P

Damn good point !

If you have ever sat through the film Mama Mia, you will find that sanding is a joyful pass time.

It is a bigger of a thing when you cannot get the tune out of your head and you are stuck in a repetitive task. Had you thought of the tune "I know a song that will get on your nerves"?

What I'm planning for the final colour scheme:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

FatBloke - I like the stripe & the use of a computer game to mock it up.

Look forward to seeing it on the car.

Good luck, Paul.

Quick update - I have now sanded off the orange peel and then wet sanded through the grades before a cut and polish. I have a friend who has a valeting business who has offered to teach me how to mop it although I will need to be careful as the paint is quite thin in places.

If anyone else is thinking of rollering their car it can be done but sanding down to get a good finish is bloody hard work.

I had a go at rollering my bonnet, just for a laugh, and was impressed with the results. I managed to win an unused semi pro electric hvlp set up for £30! So will be playing with that. Can't wait to see yours shiney dude

Has anyone else bought a cover for their MX? Is there one that fits off the shelf? Birds seem to be using mine for target practice so I would like to give it a bit of protection from them and as the weather, as winter is coming (there's a jolly thought for all - 123 days to Christmas!)

I have two on mine. Bought off Ebay for £18.
Universal car cover, medium.

Fatbloke, about how many hours do you reckon to paint, and about how many to sand back? You probably haven't done the mopping yet, but I expect there will be lots of interest in that too.

Thanks Drummajor, I shall have a look on e-bay.

Barber, now you've made me think. Obviously there was prep during the fitting of the kit but then we all have to do that. I took a week off to do the painting and spent between 6 and 7 hours a day during that week, so 30 to 35 hours to apply the paint. If I'm honest it would have benefited from a 4th top coat.

Sanding back was done piece meal but I reckon another 20 or 30 hours. Removing the orange peel was done dry with an orbital sander and 320 grit paper. I then wet sanded with 600, 800, 1200 and 2000 grit. Some panels were sanded more than once to get the surface ready for polishing.

I have got a reasonable finish manually polishing with Autoglym Paint Renovator and then Super Resin polish but it does need mechanically polishing to get the fine lines out.

Oh, and I haven't sanded the rear at all yet as I know that is going to be a pain in the butt so I keep putting it off!

Fatbloke,
Thanks for the update. So roughly:
£300? for paint, materials, sander, polisher
40-45 hours for 4 coats of paint
20-30 hours finishing the front
20-30 hours finishing the back
plus time to mechanically polish

I think we are all looking forward to seeing the beast in all it's glory

I have just been reading the paint thread (work is quiet), getting tips and hints Ref sanding and smoothing and saw the link here regarding rollering!! Are we honestly saying we can roller / brush paint primer, top coat and clear coat? And then with ALOT of work (but no cost) get a paint shop sandard finish? This is very interesting news, and I am extremely interested in investigating the possibilities of this.

I had a play with it, and the finish was similar to my poor spraying technique in regards to orange peel.

I'm no expert, but I guess as long as you have a thickness of paint to cut back then you can get a high gloss finish. It worked on my test section. Gave it 2 coats (needs at least 3 tho) then I used 400 wet then 1250 wet then 1500 wet then 2 buffs with meguires ultimate compound. No clear coat as its a flat colour.

Probably need a different process if using Metallic paint.

Fatbloke, Roadster and Towed are the subject matter experts on rollering. Fatbloke's thread is the most current, and if he gets a half decent finish after mopping, there will be a whole load of have a go yourself projects. The great thing is that you can hardly do any harm, just wasting a little money and a lot of effort. I am waiting to hear if the variable sander on another thread could be set fine enough for doing most of the donkey work in cutting back.

I'm very interested too. See the thread by Car Photographer for another roller finish 1st kit car Fiorano Which thread has the variable sander on it?

see post 271
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5532&page=14