MadaboutKitcars

It's going to look good when that paint goes on.

I can see you've got 1-or-2 small holes on your bulge to fill Best of luck matey!

Yes, been at the bonnet with the filler and sanding mouse today. Where I connected the big scoop to the original bonnet line there was a big, bumpy void. I've managed to get it mostly smoothed out today by spreading loads of filler on it and using a ruler as a scraper. Much happier with it now but still a work in progress...

Mr T - I think the louvres will look the part one the finished car.

But I fear you will hate them when it comes to painting & sanding.

The good news is you seem to have reached the point where sanding & painting is an issue.

Good luck, Paul.

I take your point about painting the louvres, it's going to be a challenge. My feeling is that so long as the car looks good from ten paces I'm not too worried about what the concours d'elegance judges think when they look at it with a microscope. It is, after all, supposed to look like a fifties racing car, not a modern, high end production car.

Steadying my nerve prior to spraying now, much as i did before trying my first weld. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, and breath in......... and out.

T, get yourself a can if etch primer for the louvred and give them a coat with that before the actuall priming otherwise the painted ally will peel within months mate. Any good pro paint store should be able to do you a rattle can, be warned its not cheap compared with standard primer but that said you'll only need 1 can at the most.
HTH
Mac

Thanks for the tip V. I took similar advice from the paint supplier who said I'd need to etch prime the shell prior to using high build primer to make absolutely sure it didn't peel off. I've got 2.5 litres of etch primer tucked away ready to go once I've plucked up the courage to start.

My plan is to etch prime the ally louvres with the rest of the body, but then mask them from the high build so they don't get clogged up. I've left them a couple of thou' proud of the surface to compensate for this so I should be able to blend them in flush. That's the plan, anyway.

A plan is always good :-)

After a monring's tidying the garage - I'm sure cardboard boxes breed when you're not looking - I set about replacing my damaged radiator this afternoon.

With a view to future replacement I designed the shroud to take both the standard Civic radiator or the deeper, racing aluminium type, so it was a pretty straightforward job swapping them over. I now have a double capacity, leak free radiator that really looks the business. I've run it up to temperature and it all works fine -



While I was doing that Phil J stopped by for a chat. Sadly he was in a works van rather than his Spyder, but it's always nice to see him. As a bonus, he's full of useful advice having already got two Spyders on the road.

And finally, my Goodwood TT helmet arrived from China this morning -



RING, DING DING DING DING DING. RING, DING DING DING DING.

Nice helmet

Sorry to be cheeky but where did you get the helmet from.

Mike

got my helmet on ebay like towed's have a look £39 .......u look like a goodwood racer................................................... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaUhg9TeLocnow .....this is the shop.......http://stores.ebay.co.uk/KICKSTARTER-Classics/HELM-Jethelm-helmet-/_i.html?_fsub=7&_sid=10745749&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 the ebay shop.......................................................

That is great, will be ordering two of them later, I might even order some race overalls or suit, but not sure as I may look a dick in them going to Tesco on a Sunday morning for a newspaper.

Vintage Look, LeMans (Steve Mcqueen Gulf Style) or even a STIG Suit, not sure which.

go for it .....and have fun

Might do, as the mrs is going to kill me anyway, I will be in the bad books when I home, as I a herald, a vitesse, a big six engine and a land rover been delivered when I get home, also a new powder coating system.

I hate eBay and the internet when I am away.

And she still does not know I have ordered the Sammio/Ribble Spyder/Pilot kit yet. Oh and I still haven't mention the Jag XJ6 and the two V12 I have at my mates garage in storage.

I thought about coming clean, but thought that's no fun, plus I would have signed my own execution.

Various bits will be for sale soon, most probably the house!!!!!!

In which case you will be fine.

I've painted a few of my racing motorbikes using my mate's compressor & spray gun.
It was quite easy to get a "looks OK from a distance" finish, with little prep.
This was fine for a racing bike that was bound to end up sliding down the track anyway.
( If I get the chance I'll scan in a couple of photos for you to see. )

Obviously the more effort you make on the prep. side the better.
But it you have already accepted you can't achieve a showroom finish you are halfway there.

I think you will get more pleasure from the fact you painted it yourself, than a better job done by someone else.

Good luck, Paul.

PS
Must not post helmet gag.
Must not post helmet gag.
Must not post helmet gag.

Stuff overalls, get a flying jacket, and gloves, and goggles, to go with the warm hat. Trust me on this one!

Mine came from this ebay listing -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180998579966?var=480196220202&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Chosen: A/ because I wanted a white one B/ because it was cheap; and C/ because it was the only seller I could find that had my size, a rather small 6 & 7/8ths.

It's great quality for the price and the leather 'scarf' unzips leaving just the pudding basin lid for summer fun.

Thanks

Spent the morning tinkering with another one of those little jobs that eat the time up on a build like this.

I wasn't happy with the rear view mirror attached to the face of the dashboard. It was too low, it would get in the way of the tonneau cover and it just didn't look right to me.

So, I decided to make an aluminium stand for it on top of the dash. The mirror is now removeable to allow for the tonneau to fit when the car's parked up. It slides into the dash-top mount and clicks into place on the bales catch that's mounted underneath -











It needs a little finishing in places, but I'm much happier with it now.

Did a little work on the off-side front wheel arch on Monday. My bonnet, in common with most of the other Spyders I've seen, has an unsightly flat spot at about the 11 o-clock position on the driver's side front wheel arch -



I'd already made a start on reshaping it, but I attacked it with renewed vigour after my flexible sanding block arrived (top tip from another build) -



This made short work of the flat area, rounding it out nicely, but left a bit of a hole to fill -



So a strip of aluminium was bent to shape, greased and screwed to the inside of the curve, before a couple of layers of fibreglass were laid up to create the structure of the arch -







Now the 'glass has set it just needs the edges trimming and a smooth over with filler before sanding down.

Much happier with it now

Very neat. Those Ann Summers "flexible sanding blocks" certainly are useful.

Yes

And they always leave you with a "hole to fill" Mmmmm LOL

Another nice job Mr T.

And I forgot to mention how neat your rear view mirror system turned out too.

Can't be too long now before you take that "giant leap" into the world of spray painting?

Good luck, Paul.

i ordered a flexible sanding block and ended up with a un flexable block . where did you order yours from it looks the biz
!