The Final Polish

I finished the last round of polishing, and boy goes she shine.

 

 

I did the wings, too...

 

I also installed most of the car's electrical system:

(Just kidding,  There's some wiring and a coil, too.)

I am pretty sure I'm all done with paint work, aside from a couple of niggly things I may find and decide to fix.  I am now fully in assembly mode, starting with the gas tank.

Whew.  That only took three months.  No time at all.

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Fixing Things

The past couple of weeks have been busy, first polishing, then un-polishing and fixing some hiccups.

I started by polishing the body.  Doesn't it look nice?

Just don't look at the spots I messed up, like this one.

Oooops.

I also found that the sway bar didn't fit properly.

So... back to fixing things!

First, I fixed the sway bar mount underneath the car.  I had to move the mount where it attached to the frame.  This meant cutting, re-welding, primer, base and clear so it almost looks like nothing ever happened.  Now, it fits.  

Then, I fixed all the little spots that I messed up... the firewall was the biggest one, but there were a couple of other small ones that weren't very noticeable (but I noticed!).

Then I sanded the body back down to 2000 grit and also tackled the wings.

 

Oh, and did I mention I got tires?  UniRoyal Tiger Paw 155/80 R13.

They look sooooooo good.

Next weekend--finish sanding and cut/polish everything, and maybe even get some wiring and the rear axle assembled.  Once the axle's on the car, I can put it on its wheels for the first time since 2004.

Wish me luck!

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Making Things Shiny

I spent today color sanding with my buddy Ray.  It's my birthday present to me.

We had to do some touchups to the driver's side fender and the stripe on the back deck.  After that, it was color sanding fun.

For those that aren't familar--color sanding doesn't actually sand the color (the base coat).  It sands down the clear coat to make it super smooth, then polishes it to get a high gloss.  It brings out the color.

So I went from something like this...

To this...

To this.

That took the following:

• Sand the panel with 1500 grit, wet sanding by hand to get rid of all the orange peel.
• Sand the panel with 2000 grit, wet sanding by hand.
• Sand with 2500 grit, wet, by hand.
• Sand with 3000 grit, wet, with a dual action sander and Trizact pad.
• Sand with 5000 grit, wet, with a dual action sander and Trizact pad.
• Cut with Meguiar's 105 cutting compound, by hand.
• Buff with Meguiar's 205 polishing compound, with a buffer and foam pad.

It's not even waxed yet, and I could shave in the reflection.  There are some fine scratches that more buffing and waxing will eliminate.  I am over the moon.

Ray and I did the two doors, then I did the boot and the bonnet.  The bonnet took seemingly forever; it's rather large (the largest panel) and had more orange peel than I expected.

But things look pretty nice!

 

 

It's hard work, but worth the result.

Now, I have to finish the wings (fenders, you Yanks!) and the body.  That's another full weekend of work.  Then, I can really start assembly.  (I had to disassemble the front end--I have a bent damper arm and a leaky damper, too.  They're getting swapped.)

Stay tuned!  The fun really gets started in our next episode.

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Empty Boxes

I have fewer boxes of parts than when I started the weekend.  I have officially begun assembly.

Nothing fancy--just the steering rack and front suspension.  I got the passenger's side done, but the driver's side is vexing me.

 

I bought a lowering kit to drop the ride height about 1/2" in the front.  Here it is, installed.

 

The finished product, passenger's side.

Did I mention that the driver's side is vexing me?  Because it is.  For some reason, the kingpin and the damper mount don't line up properly.  The arm appears to be 1/8" forward of the correct position, and I can't bolt it up to the damper with the bushing installed.  I think the answer is that the damper is 1/8" too far back, but I can't find where any accident or other damage would have caused such a misalignment.  I had this problem before, and I "fixed" it by grinding down the kingpin to push it 1/8" back.  I could use that again, but I think the solution is to move the damper arm out 1/8" on its shaft to get the alignment correct.

But that's for another day.  For today, I am happy that I bolted stuff to the car and I found all the parts.  Hooray for me!

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Achievement Unlocked!

The clear is on, and it is shiny.

We sprayed 4 coats of clear.  It looks pretty good so far--there's color sanding left to do, and there are a couple of areas we will have to touch up and respray.  I backed into one of the fenders while it was wet--it has to be sanded down to base coat in that spot, and re-cleared.  I also have a spot on part of the stripe where I sanded through to the green base coat trying to remove a weird mark, and we'll have to re-spray, then clear that spot.

But man, does it look nice.  And the best part is, after it cures for a week I can start assembly!

Here's a glamour shot:

First things first--the wheels.  I am particularly proud of this work.  They look fantastic.  I haven't seen anything like them anywhere.  They are Olde English White to match the stripes.

 

 

 

Now, the rest.  First, I striped the license plate plinth:

Then, we took the car apart, and got to work spraying the body, the wheels and the shifter cover.  Everything went back on its stand (almost--the front valance stayed on the car).

 

Lots, and lots of time went by spraying, waiting, spraying, waiting.  I did everything but the very first coat on the body.  I can truthfully say that I painted this car.

Here's the final product:

  

 

 

 

 

The best part is, my wife got her garage back.

 

So now I wait, letting everything cure.  Once it's fully cured, I'll start assembly, beginning with the wiring harness and then the suspension.  That will let me put the car on its wheels for the first time in 14 years.

 

It's going to be a long week.

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