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I have been working on my bodyshell in the sunshine and, wjhile I have taken all the flash lines off I cannot get the gel coat back to a shine. Does anyone have a trick for this or has everyone gone for the painting option?
Yes - been there myself.. Here's the trick that worked for me.. I tried finishing a panel off by hand - after a few hours I saw no improvement... I then tried the below and finished the whole car in about 90 minutes!
- first of all use 800 wet/dry sand paper (make sure you use some soapy water as you sand)
- then 1200 wet/dry
- then buy yourself a decent polisher (I bought one off ebay for £45). When I say decent polisher, don't go into your local halfords and buy a £10 polisher as this will be too slow and won't do anything - I tried!
(try doing a search on ebay for item no: 7996091981 - no its not me selling mine!!)
- buy some G3 compound paste (like T-cut but stronger - can also find on ebay)
- apply a little G3 and use the polisher with the orange sponge
- then finish off with the 'fluffy' cloth.
Jees I remember those days the worst and most satisfying part of the Sumo build I did.
I colour sanded the whole car as the CSM impression was showing through the gel coat, fecking whore of a job
Process is the same whether doing the whole body or after doing the flash lines but basically wet n dry with 800 then 1200 then ferelca G7 (I think, was a long time ago now) and then T-Cut.
Polishing process with G7 and T-Cut was done with a mop attachment on a drill (polishing tools weren't really available back then to the DIYer - plus I was tight)
Took me about 3 months of part time work to do the whole body but it made such a difference. Deep shine and no CSM showing through, was well chuffed with the result and was worth all the pain.
During my ownership I noticed that most owners didn't do this to their Sumos (and other makes) but it does make such a difference to the finish.
the worst and most satisfying part of the Sumo build I did.