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Sorry I'm heading out the door so I have got to be quick...
I just want to clarify that by "rare" I meant Smash was unlucky to have this problem come up after the heat gun treatment, as that usually catches them.
Very disappointed with the condition of the car upon return after partial grille fabrication. lots of superficial paint scratches that will need a complete mop to sort and a spinner has been tightened with "inappropriate" implement
Safe to say things have not been going entirely well over last couple of weeks!
Spinners. Always a problem, I have tried, lead ,copper and hide hammers and all mark the spinners. I then tried the wooden tool that you hit instead of the spinner, normally last for about 6 removals, then it splinters and breaks. There is a long metal tool which is better but the metal edge still marks the spinner where it comes in contact.
I now have an alloy tool that was made to fit my spinner, takes the spinner off without marking it. Made to order from a chap from Ebay for less than £40. He does the for hex , two eared and I believe 3 eared spinners. If anyone wants his details I will have a hunt for them.
As for the layup bubbles, It's very hard to lay up GRP to eliminate all the bubbles, I think its just one of those unfortunate things that can happen. It doesn't seem to have been a problem brought up with any of Tribute's kits before.
As for the scratches,in black you just have to get used to them. I had a black BMW with original factory paint. You could mop it and polish it so that it looked like liquid glass. 2 weeks later it would look exactly like the pictures above, soul destroying. Sold the car mainly because of the colour, bought a silver one, you could not clean it for months and it still looked clean and you really would have to look for scratches.
Maybe painting mine dark blue might not be such a good idea.
Spinners- if I'd have done that fine, for someone else to do that to 1.5k's worth if brand new wires and fail to mention it - unacceptable. I actually used the lead mallet supplied on the damaged ear to see what it did and it didn't actually mark it. It's taken an incredible amount of force and sharp edges tool to do this damage. All other spinners remain mint despite tightening and wheel removal.
Scratches - well all I can say is I've had the car a month, used it washed it, it remained mint. 5 days in a workshop it's looking a bit tired. Just disappointing the treatment it's had.
... The laws of physics dictate that silver cars are cooler - both physically and stylistically as far as I'm concerned - as they reflect the energy from the sun instead of absorbing it like a dark coloured car does. White comes a close second to silver in the heat reflection stakes btw, but I'm not over keen on white cars myself. Sniff. ...
My Z300S is about to start its 3rd summer in white gelcoat and red stick-on stripes and I've had no problems- it lives outside as well.
I have also had thirtymumble years experience of grp bodied cars and not seen anything like this except... the bonnet hinge area at the front of Rochdale Olympics from the 60s started to dip and crater about 6 or 8 years ago. It happened on both neglected and fastidiously owned cars.
That paint looks far too soft and no way should you be able to peel it away like that. The lacquer should not pick up scratches like that until carelessly washed. Yes I own a black car as well.
I've used all sorts of paint on grp- cellulose and acrylic with suitable primers and even yacht enamel straight onto a sanded gel coat. The standard of finish has always reflected the time spent in preparation but it has always stuck to the car!!!
Spinners- again a fair number of years experience. I'd never use anything harder than a copper faced hammer. Stands to reason that anything with a harder surface will mark the softer one. I currently have a "wooden spanner" and it's holding up well.
It appears to be a painting issue and not a glass fiber one to me.
Incompatible primer and top coats perhaps.
That's a valid point , actually , thinking back I have had similar bubbles come up on a car that had the wrong primer/topcoat combination , I can't remember the exact details but something my painter used reacted with something and we had the soft and lifting paint issues ..... Wish I could remember what it was ...we had to scrape pretty much it all off and start again ...
This is 100% not the case here.
I have a 250 SWB in gelcoat only and I've got air bubbles popping up in the sun. No paint at all on mine. I will try to post some photos but not too sure yet as Im new to this.
This is 100% not the case here.
I have a 250 SWB in gelcoat only and I've got air bubbles popping up in the sun. No paint at all on mine. I will try to post some photos but not too sure yet as Im new to this.
Photos would help. I have a few ideas. Been fiberglassing since the early 1960's.
This got me thinking as air gaps in fibreglass layup has come up before....would it not be better to use black gelcoat from the get go so that the body shells can be left out in the sun to let nature find the imperfections before painting?
This is 100% not the case here.
I have a 250 SWB in gelcoat only and I've got air bubbles popping up in the sun. No paint at all on mine. I will try to post some photos but not too sure yet as Im new to this.
Please let me know your name and when you ordered your kit, so I can see if we produced it in-house or it is from the new supplier.
You can email me on: [email]info@tributeautomotive.co.uk[/email]
We discussed the issue with Chris and he was happy with our agreed solution.
Hand lay up GRP lamination involves a percentage of human error, some things slip through the net, at our end and further down the line. My apologies to anyone directly affected.
Could have been from wet or damp matt in the skin coat.
I have a couple of small voids in my body, nothing major really, but the matt underneath the gel coat looks dry and flaky.
The gel coat has obviously adhered to the mould ok, it just looks like the 1st layup of matting needed to be wetter in the areas that have blistered, and I am only talking about 2 small bits on the whole shell.
As Lancelot has said, better to be found now as it is going in for correction any way, rather than they come to light at a later date.
Mistakes do happen from time to time, the good thing is Chris at Tribute is willing to talk to Smash and come to an agreement over this .
I've said my bit on this , basically bubbles can appear in the glass and if not heat gunned correctly will stay . Bubbles and blisters can appear as a result of paint errors ...just sharing my experiences and not making a matter of fact statement either way ...
I'm stepping out of this one now and await the results with interest ...
Please let me know your name and when you ordered your kit, so I can see if we produced it in-house or it is from the new supplier.
You can email me on: [email]info@tributeautomotive.co.uk[/email]
My Name is Brendan Young, I paid a deposit back in October 2015 through your agent Nubodi. Im not too worried as I do not intent to paint the car that's why I ordered it with coloured gelcoat for the 'rat' look. I just though you should know about the problem.
Los of reasons it could happen.
Insufficient gel coat cure in the mould
release agent issue in the mould (PVA) if used.
Raindrops during layup
materials storage issues, usually moisture related or
styrene evaporation from old resin
Etc.
I've had a similar problem with 2 of the 3 kit cars I have. I went round the car body and marked all the blisters with a triangle of masking tape. Here's a picture of one of them after I'd removed the gel coat.
You can see that there has been an air pocket under the gel coat and the fibreglass looks dry rather than having been covered with resin.
Best located with a heat gun or a black paint coat and some time in the sun so that it can be sorted before final paint.
I had a few issues with my BrigfhtWheel Viper back in the day. It to had a few air packets under the gel coat, mostly around the front arches and nose. Simply a matter of filling and making good. The body wasn't fitted to the chassis for about 12 months so by that time it was totally cured , nothing else came to light . I think the GRP needs to be left for as long as possible before painting rather than paint fresh from the mold.
Los of reasons it could happen.
Insufficient gel coat cure in the mould
release agent issue in the mould (PVA) if used.
Raindrops during layup
materials storage issues, usually moisture related or
styrene evaporation from old resin
Etc.
All will cause post lamination cosmetic issues.
Thank you for your experienced input. Some points aren't applicable in this particular case but the remaining ones, and other not listed, could all be possibilities. GRP is a very versatile material but it does have many variables in it's make up.
My Name is Brendan Young, I paid a deposit back in October 2015 through your agent Nubodi. Im not too worried as I do not intent to paint the car that's why I ordered it with coloured gelcoat for the 'rat' look. I just though you should know about the problem.
Thank you for the information and understanding Brendan. I really like the style of your car, funnily enough. I hope you are enjoying the car to the full.
The bumpers look very good, I expect them to be a popular addition to several cars.
Bob.
They do indeed, and you've taken the best of both split-bumper styles as well. The image posted by Paul in post 45 is s/n 3409 - a very late 1962 car, with heavily bevelled bumpers. Yours preserve the lightness of the bumpers which appear on several of the seven long wheelbase transitional 250s - from the 250 GT TdF to the "actual" Passo Corto - and further add to the restrained character of the earlier serial numbers, like s/n 1519, the 1959 car which sold at Bonhams as Lot 56 last summer:
- as they reflect the energy from the sun instead of absorbing it like a dark coloured car does. White comes a close second to silver in the heat reflection stakes btw, but I'm not over keen on white cars myself. Sniff. ...