"The 14 Car" Performance therapy project

[Strictly Attitude]

Still have plenty of the paint left from the last time I sprayed the car was a rush job did the car in a weekend would never do that again the color is a kustom shop color brandy wine metallic. I will be attacking it in the spring right now can't do anything snow and no garage to work in.

 

[philly]

ive got some minor rust repair that needs to happen also, similar to your t/a i guess in severity but yea i would like to get it repainted in that "deep impact blue" the newer fords have been coming out with.

 

[NOT A TA]

ive got some minor rust repair that needs to happen also, similar to your t/a i guess in severity but yea i would like to get it repainted in that "deep impact blue" the newer fords have been coming out with.

When you're ready let me know and we'll take a look at it.

 

[grumpyvette]

thats darn impressive repair and rebuilding work!
BTW what has been the best brand of paint, primer and any tips on paint restored on PLASTIC INTERIOR COMPONENTS, I've had some very good looking restoration work on my corvette need to be retouched because the paint I used (OBVIOUSLY THE WRONG TYPE) failed to firmly adhere(STICK) and stay on the surfaces, especially on higher wear areas, that are semi flexible surfaces, like arm rests and between the seat glove compartment arm rest covers

 

[philly]

ive used SEM brand aerosol cans with great success in the past but i'll defer to johns experience if he has a better option

 

[NOT A TA]

In aerosol cans the SEM products Phil mentioned work well.

When it comes to the interior stuff I decide what products to use based on what type of material is being dyed/painted, how much wear it will get, and how much sun it will see. The plastic door panels in the previous pics were shot with a HVLP gun using PPG Deltron DBI which is essentially a PPG DBC basecoat thats activated. It doesn't have the UV protection a clear coat provides but it isn't needed for interior panels that don't get direct sun. The upper panels that go with the same car will be getting a matt clear because they're going to get direct sunlight if the side windows are down.

For the flexible vinyl materials you had a peeling problem with adhesion promoter is probably what you missed. Also if you used paint instead of dye the paint once it fully cures may be too stiff and cause flaking. Here in FL dropping the interior temp quickly with a kicking AC system also puts a strain on the bond because the paint cools faster than the material it's trying to hang onto.

Got a pic of what you're experiencing Grump?

 

[NOT A TA]

I like the look of gutted race car interiors with their spartan "all business" look. I also like the look of well done complete interiors. My car's kind of in between with carpeting, headliner, and a stock looking dash while also having a full cage, Kirkeys, fire systems, etc. I Removed the heating system leaving the defroster vents wide open and you can see the dash wiring, heat shield, etc. through the openings and also through the speaker grill since there's no speaker there. So I decided to cut out the raised area around the defroster openings and smooth the dash top with a solid panel that will be bonded to the original metal between the dash pad and the windshield. When completed and painted it should look stock but without openings.

 

[philly]

that looks pretty awesome!

 

[NOT A TA]

Thanks Phil, should look like it was stock when the cars back together.

After making the opening for the VIN I roughed up both surfaces to be bonded with 36 grit and modified a bondo spreader to spread the panel bond evenly in cornrows like you would installing bathroom tile .



I used a few clamps to press the pieces together and hold them for 24 hours. The top of the dash being covered is concave and there's compound curves on the ends so I formed the panel as well as I could before bonding and clamped it well.



Filed off the extra 1/16" overhang I'd left around the edges of the aluminum panel and cleaned out the original spot welds on the angled part. Then scuffed the whole area with 180 on a palm sander and primed. Followed that with a skim coat of filler and blocked it out with 180. Will prime and block again before final paint.

 

[Indycars]

That's a days work just putting all those clamps on!!!!! Hehehe

 

[philly]

holy shit thats a freaky looking thumb joint! gave me the heebee jeebees

 

[philly]

That's a days work just putting all those clamps on!!!!! Hehehe

theres easily 200-300 dollars worth of clamping force in that one photo... seriously johnny i love the way you work because you didnt stack your book collection on there, you really had like two dozen clamps handy for the cause.

 

[grumpyvette]

That's a days work just putting all those clamps on!!!!! Hehehe

theres easily 200-300 dollars worth of clamping force in that one photo... seriously johnny i love the way you work because you didnt stack your book collection on there, you really had like two dozen clamps handy for the cause.

yes thats rather impressive (clamping the work to insure its solid and stable)
I used to do something similar frequently, when the need arose to hold some panel in place before it was welded and I generally found working around and over and thru clamps at times was at times a P.I.T.A. so while I still do that, and keep a wide selection of clamps,in the shop, when its required, I have also developed the habit of using POP RIVETS & CLECOS at times

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty ... 66422.html

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-MR100CG-C ... 291&sr=8-1

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200403562

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200383234

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=9263&p=33405&hilit=clecos#p33405

viewtopic.php?f=60&t=10601

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2750&p=46136&hilit=pop+rivets#p46136

viewtopic.php?f=60&t=9306&p=33630&hilit=clamps#p33630

 

[NOT A TA]

That's a days work just putting all those clamps on!!!!! Hehehe

theres easily 200-300 dollars worth of clamping force in that one photo... seriously johnny i love the way you work because you didnt stack your book collection on there, you really had like two dozen clamps handy for the cause.

There's almost 40 clamps there. Because of the curves of the panel I needed a lot.When using panel bond you want it as thin as possible. The panel bond has a grit in it that will create the correct "gap" so to speak to achieve the best bond when clamped tight.

yes thats rather impressive (clamping the work to insure its solid and stable)
I used to do something similar frequently, when the need arose to hold some panel in place before it was welded and I generally found working around and over and thru clamps at times was at times a P.I.T.A. so while I still do that, and keep a wide selection of clamps,in the shop, when its required, I have also developed the habit of using POP RIVETS & CLECOS at times

I didn't want to use anything that would make holes through the aluminum panel that needed to be filled afterward. Because of the extreme heat changes that panel will see there would be a high likelihood of ghosting (or worse) occurring in the paint later. Pop rivets will be the featured fastener in a couple future posts.

 

[grumpyvette]

yes! each application and thinking ahead on the results you'll see and which tool will produce the best result takes EXPERIENCE, as theres almost always several ways a project can be completed and the route you take too get the best results, will tend too change as you gain experience from previous screw-ups, that ALL of us make occasionally, its that EXPERIENCE and having to deal with previous flaws that we have caused and want to avoid in the future that tends force us to change and improve.
Ive always enjoyed watching experienced people fabricate ,weld,and work with car interiors,body metal work, paint, etc. theres ALWAYS a few things to learn!

 

[NOT A TA]

2nd gen F body doors are long and heavy. Worn out hinge bushings and pins are common now that they're 35-45 years old. Mine were in good condition still because it was a low mileage car (42,000) when I got it and painted it the first time. Even now at 45 YO only the drivers side hinges showed slight wear when lifting up on the rear of the door. However I figured now's the time to replace them so there's no need to do it once painted and take a risk of scratching/chipping something. The original lower hinge bushings are plastic (really GM?) so no telling when they might split and fall out. Might be the day after paint. I'm sure there's a ton of How To's on hinge repair around the web so I'll skip the instructional rhetoric and just show a couple pics some might gain tips from.









With the hinges replaced it was time to get the doors on and aligned. I was then reminded of the door gap anomaly on the drivers side of almost every early 2nd gen Firebird I've seen. It appears that the door skin wasn't shaped quite right to the fender curve above the door handle part. Welding a piece of rod to the edge of the door and filing/smoothing to create the curve didn't seem like a good use of time to me so I used a little filler in the rear quarter door jamb to even the gap a bit and then did some filing, sanding, priming, etc. to get the gaps on both doors good enough for me on this car. Are they perfect? No, but they're acceptable to me and probably better overall than when the car was new. After final priming/blocking they will be a little better than you see in the pics below.

Yes, I know the horizontal body line is off in the pics below. Previous blocking was done with the door just roughly in place with the old hinge bushings. It'll be straight after some more blocking and final priming/blocking.





Since this was an AC car and I've removed the HVAC the vacuum operated fresh air air duct on the passengers kick panel is no longer functional. I will be blocking off the upper cowl where air is supplied to increase downforce so there won't be anything to feed the duct. I'm also trying to recover the 200 lbs. I added with the roll cage so every little bit helps. The vent duct housing/door/vacuum canister assembly probably weighs a couple lbs. more than the aluminum panels I made to seal off the duct opening and it will get seam sealed when installed so I won't get any wind whistles etc. Drivers side duct opening was sealed by the factory with seam sealer to the plastic kick panel and is getting sealed with an aluminum panel also to increase fire protection. I know the aluminum isn't as much of a fire block as steel but risk of fire entering there is low and so I just figured the aluminum would be better than plastic.

 

[Indycars]

Some very impressive work!!!

Will you paint anything before reassembly? Seems it would be hard to get at the back
side to paint the hinges with the door on.

 

[NOT A TA]

Some very impressive work!!!

Will you paint anything before reassembly? Seems it would be hard to get at the back
side to paint the hinges with the door on.

Yes, most pieces will be painted individually and assembled after paint. As an example although exterior of the doors will be painted the same time as the body the sides will already be painted with the hinges left on the cowl so when the door is opened they will be painted the nicest where they will be seen. All of the pieces will be mocked up before paint and holes drilled, modifications made, and so on so in theory things fit well after paint. I should be able to get away with painting individual pieces for several reasons.

A. It's a solid color so no worries about metalflake or pearl differences from panel to panel.

B. Single stage paint that will be color sanded and buffed so there won't be the possibility of a different "texture" in the base coat as can occur with a BC/CC when shooting on different days under different conditions.

C. Same sealer used on all panels.

d. All major body panels will be painted by the same painter with same number of coats using same technique.

Here's a sneak peak at the type of things that are getting mocked up. I'll cover them more thoroughly in a future post once I'm happy with fit.

 

[NOT A TA]

I'm at the point where I'm starting on the Aero pieces. Certainly nothing like the engineering that goes into new Corvettes or F1 cars but here's the poster board version of what I've come up with as a combination tire dam & wicker bill for the rear wheel wells. I'm planning on side skirts of some kind and I'm adding the foilers behind the tires. Will decide how far the tire dams hang down once the car is assembled but I want to make the pieces, drill holes, make brackets, etc. before paint.

 

[Indycars]

You are like a Grumpy for bodies, wow that looks great!