MadaboutKitcars

"As I appeared to be able to create "lime peel" almost as will."

If Fatbloke can deal with it, so can you. Here's hoping.

Barber - I was actually thinking about Fatbloke's lemon peel this morning.

So I will be going back through his thread at some point to pick up some flatting back tips.

Thankfully, some areas of the paintwork appear to have settled down better than others.



Although, I am sure there will still be a LOT of sanding required to achieve a smooth (ish) surface.

But I've still got the odd chore left to do before put the covers on for the night.

So I'd better go, cheers, Paul.

Watching Paint Dry…
Even though the paint was touch dry yesterday, the weight of the covers still causes the dust sheet to stick in places.

So this morning, I removed all the covers again to let the paint air dry a bit longer.



Any slight marks made by the dust sheets will be sanded back anyway, so no real harm done.

Cheers, Paul.

Looking good Paul so close now just the final push now and it will be all sorted.

I'd give that paint several days to fully cure before sanding on it.
Looking good, progress at last!
Congrats Paul, well done.

Deggsy - Thanks, I can't believe that soon(ish) I will finally be able to add my racing roundels and 'sponsor' stickers.

Molleur - Cheers.

My plan is to wait until Monday before starting the first round of sanding.
( Which will be over 8 days from the time of putting on the final coat. )

My wife's brother is staying with us this week and he wanted to have a look at the car last night.

The fact it absolutely hammered down with rain on Sunday evening has left it's mark on the paint.

But, fingers crossed, I should be able to sand all the surface marks away.

Take care, Paul.

All will work out. Press on Paul, looking very good!

Moulleur - Thanks.

Since I've removed the deadline of the MOT date, I am a little more relaxed about finishing off the work.

Whilst it is frustrating to have wasted the whole Summer painting the car, it really is the end of the build.

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Just a little bit more…
With a bit of luck, and a fair wind, I will be starting the flatting back of the paint job tomorrow.

However, I had a chance to do a little bit of prep and some testing today.

I flatted back two small areas on the inside of the boot lid where the handles go and added some tape.



Then I tried some of my 'Signal Yellow' to see how it would look applied straight to the BRG.



So far, it does look like it will work OK.

Although I will take my time and build up the area around the bonnet nose in several thin layers.

Then I switched to the front drive where I brushed on some etch primer:

On both the rear control arms.





On the mess I made down the side of the passenger cockpit wall.



And finally, on the underside of the boot floor where I had hammered out the dented/damaged areas.





I also started to remove the plastic from the boot lid opening.



But I still need to come back and carefully peel away the masking tape from the inside edges.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

Its been a wile since i last checked the forum out and you have been busy Paul, its amazing how different the car looks with a coat of paint.

You are on the final leg and its looking good, keep plugging away matey.

What a difference a (warm) day makes ....

Looking better each session Paul, keep up the good works.

Swifty - Cheers.

I know the painting stage has taken a long time, but the BRG looks so much better than the grey primer.

Gary & Moulleur - Thanks chaps, the sunshine does lift the spirits.

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Lime Peel - A Start:
My day started badly when I discovered the bonnet was stuck to the body shell.

Somewhere along the line the block of wood under the bonnet moved slightly, which allowed contact.

Which means I have two small repairs to do along the edges of both the bonnet and body shell.





But I've left them in the 'come back to later pile' and instead I started on the passenger side of the cockpit.



Which looked like this after the first few passes of the long board.



It continued to get smoother after further rounds of sanding.



Unfortunately, by the time the sun reached the drive, it became harder to get decent photos.



But you can just about see the half that has been sanded compared to the half that hasn't.



Eventually, the passenger side was getting pretty close.



So I thought I would do a quick test with my polisher.



Apart from flinging cutting paste all over the drive, this seemed to work OK.



I did test if this would work on the areas I had only just started standing, but the compound is too fine.

So it was back to manual sanding and I moved about the car a bit.





End of Part 1…

Part 2:
The good news is that there appears to be enough paint on the car to flat back without breaking through.

Although I made a point of exposing the rivet heads on the tail pipe shields during the first round of sanding.



There was one blob of BRG paint that would not go quietly.



This will be also added to the BRG 'touch up' list.

Unfortunately, I'm suffering from a hacking cough at the moment, so the heat was really taking it out of me today.
( And coughing into a dust mask is not very pleasant. )

So rather than over do it, I stopped at this point and gave the whole car a wipe down.



Despite packing up early, I'm pleased with the way this is going so far.

As there are definite signs that I will end up with a decent paint job in the end.
( Assuming the polish will bring back some of the original shine. )

It will not be a professional standard by any means, but good enough to look...

"like a 50 year-old race car that has been into the hay bales a few times in its life"

Until next time, take care, Paul.

Hi Paul
I'm afraid your polisher just isn't going to do the job properly, i had one a few years ago, fine for polishing off polish residue but not good enough for compounding.
This is what you want
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Polishing-Machine-Sander-Polisher-buffer-1400W-Sponge-Pad-Set-Tool-6-Speed-/352046685890?hash=item51f79e1ec2:g:iO0AAOSwkl5XecHE

For the compound use
Farecla G3 advanced compound followed by G6. These are both used dry although I always wet the cutting sponge first.

Using a proper compound polisher with the right compound is the only hope of getting a good finish.
If you want to bring your boot lid down to Egham sometime I can show you how it works and you can have a go before buying a polisher.

Really getting there now!
I agree that your polisher is a bit unsuited to the task.
I'd take jaguartvr's comment seriously.

Bought a similar polisher from tool station and can vouch it works a treat.

Jag - D’Oh!

I wouldn’t mind, but I only bought this type of polisher after following another build.



Although, the final finish on this car looked good enough to me.



Thanks for the offer of a demonstration, but I will wait until I’m back on the road before a trip to Egham.
( I loved the photos of you and Andy/ericholm together. )

Molleur – Well I certainly should have listened to Jag when he suggested swapping a brush for a roller.

Swifty – Cheers.

Quick Update - No car time available this evening, so I will try to get a bit more sanding done during the week.

I'm meeting my mate tomorrow night and I will check if he has the correct type of polisher.
( As he has sprayed a couple of cars and I've previously borrowed his compressor to spray a motorcycle. )

Take care, Paul.

Another Step Forward:
I managed to grab a couple of hours this evening to continue the flatting back.

I decided to focus on the bonnet and you can see the area I prepared earlier.



By the time I packed up I had improved quite a large section of the bonnet.



But there is still a bit of finishing off to do and I should get some decent time at it tomorrow.

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The Good News:
The areas I sanded back last week have not picked up any new scratches from the covers.
( Despite the rain absolutely lashing it down on Wednesday. )

So the paint does appear to be hardening up nicely, although this makes it harder to sand.

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The Bad News:
The is now a chance that Mister Towed will have sold his car before I am back on the road.

But given what a HUGE inspiration this car, and Mr T himself, has been to me, I can't really begrudge that.



In fact, I have decided to avoid any temptation to rush this final stage in a desperate attempt to get to Norfolk in time.

Instead I will ensure that my car ends up looking as good as I can make it.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

Saturday - Part 1:
I went back through my build thread to find this photo to remind me of my bonnet nose painting plans.



Hard to believe this was taken on the 2nd October 2015, almost 2 years ago and the body shell wasn't even bonded on.

Anyway, I started to sand the inside edge of the bonnet opening, but couldn't really see what I was doing.

So I had to use a torch to light up the surface I was sanding so I could see it getting smoother.



Eventually I was happy enough with the area around the opening.



This was then wiped down...



And masked off.





Note:
The yellow tape provides a clean edge and the 'normal' masking tape is to protect the bonnet.
Also, despite how it looks in the photos, the gap is approx. 2 inches all around.

I also taped up the inside edge of the bonnet opening.



Then it was time for some Signal Yellow.





Even though this will need a second coat, I can't believe what a big difference it makes.

Unfortunately, I hadn't even finished painting all the way around before the first unwelcome visitor arrived.



I added some high build primer to the damaged edges of the bonnet / body shell.





Later on, I lowered bonnet which makes it easier to where these areas stuck together.



End of Part 1…

Saturday - Part 2:
I also added primer to the damaged areas on both corners of the wind deflector lip.





Note:
This was applied thickly to build up the 'holes' and the surrounding areas will be sanded back before a coat of BRG goes on.

I then left the paint to dry on the front drive and headed to the Summer House.

Where I could see the Yellow/Green contrast on the inside of the boot lid.



Note: I didn't bother to add an extra coat of yellow to these areas, as they will not be on show.

It actually took me quite a long time to flat back the 'sunny side' of the boot lid.



I had just enough free time to continue the sanding on the driver's side.



I also made a first pass over the rear humps.



Last job of the day was to put some high build primer on a damaged area of the boot lid.





Just before I put the covers on for the night I took this photo.



Unfortunately I couldn't get the whole car in the photo and the yellow masking tape is still in place…

However, I think it is fair to say the car should look pretty good by the time I'm finished.

I know I will not reach a professional standard finish, but it will be good enough for me.

So until next time, take care, Paul.

Is that what is known as "Fly Yellow"?

Make sure you put a few coats of yellow on because if you need to put another coat on later you will never be able to get the masking tape in the same position and you will get a ridge.

I BET IT FELT GOOD PUTTING HER LIPSTICK ON ...It's amazing what a difference touches like that can make ...both to the look of the car and your morale ....nearly there ...

Closer, closer, and closer! Good work Paul, looking good.

Jag - At least it wasn't a really hot/sunny day, or there would have been a swam of bugs in the paint.

My plan is to keep the yellow masking tape in place until the final round of yellow paint goes on.

I know the yellow nose band will have a few straight edges/angles in it, but I can live with that.

Gary - It is funny just how good seeing the yellow paint go on made me feel.

I know it is just a little touch, but is does confirm I am really on the home stretch of this build now.

Plus, it was a good excuse to look at lots of great photos from Goodwood.



Moulleur - Cheers.

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Still Chipping Away:
One of those days where I was only going to get a short while on the car, but every hour helps.

For those who like photos of the sky above, this is what the clouds were doing.



So I just uncovered the rear end of the car.



And focused my attention to the area around the rear humps.



Thankfully, all of the 'white' spots in the photo are just reflections.

Although the sanding did reveal one paint chip near the petrol cap hole.



The good news is that doesn't need a coat of primer, just a drop of BRG.

By the time the first spots of rain arrived, the area was still a work in progress, but was definitely smoother.



Until next time, take care, Paul.

Little, But Not Often Enough:
It has been a pretty wet week here.



And I've had to bail out the cover both in the morning going to work and in the evening coming home.

I only had a little free time today, so I started by flatting back the yellow nose band.

Which left yellow specs of dust all over the place.



I think the cover pulled everything on top of the paint so it was a bit rough in places.

And I've ended up going through the yellow in a few places.





I then spent the rest of my time working on the area around the rear humps.



The paint also broke through here in places. but I don't mind it on the metal ring / rivets.



At some point I will try to finish this area off so I can refit the petrol cap.

As that will allow me to restart the engine for the first time in ages.

Until next time, take care, Paul.