More progress made on the body : )

[LCD Gauges]

It's so clear, it almost looks like a printed wrap. Very nice indeed.

I can't wait for the day my car is ready for paint; it seems like it will never happen.

You should be all buttoned up for the 2017 season!

[Aceflo]

I had to take a second look at the picture, because I couldn't tell what I was looking at. LOL

At first, I was like ...what the hell is that sticking out of the fender? Then I realized that it was a reflection of the ductwork in the ceiling.

That's going to be gorgeous.

[dallas_]

Wow, that is simply stunning.
Can't wait to see the finished product.

[beeman]

Just a matter of time now! Better box up all your t-ball trophies to make room for new ones in the display case!

[The Stig]

More teasers... Oh Man, Oh Man, Oh Man!


Polished.

The paint looks wet.


It looks like some new aluminum has been fitted into the nose, in order to close up the opening around the radiator. My panels were powder coated black. These don't appear to be...

A coat of wax has been applied to the paint. I can't believe the shine that is coming through.



Wow... Wow.

I don't know whether or not this is the final cut and buff. I'm guessing that if he put wax on the hood, he must be calling it done.



Another step closer. Tony says that the rest of the body will be polished and waxed by the end of the week.

The shop will be closed this coming week while Tony takes the guys to SEMA.

And then we'll see where we are with the doors and the hatch, and the rear spoiler.

It will be nice to see the car with these parts painted and re-assembled. We're still making some progress, so that's a good thing.

Mike

[VD2021]

Mike,
Beautiful.... Much deserved Congratulations.

[The Stig]

Vidal...!

It's great to see you here. It's been a while.

Thank you for the compliment. Truly appreciated. ��

How are YOU doing? And how's the build coming?

Mike

[Kempo]

LOOKING GOOD Mike!!!!! cant wait to see the finished product.

[JL1958]

Beautiful!

[The Stig]

Hello. I stopped by the shop today to see what progress might have been made on Pandora since Tony and crew returned back from a week in Nashville TN (Gearz), and a week in Las Vegas (SEMA). Here's the picture...



It's easy to see that the paint looks good. Very clear reflection. Tony mentioned that this is the result of the first pass. Not sure if the entire car will be cut with a finer grit and polished again, or if he's planning to use a polishing compound to do the final work. The hood, fenders, half of the roof, the drivers rear fender and some of the rear facia has been buffed. So roughly 3/4 of the car has been worked on since the wet sanding was completed. But not much has been done this week. The car is covered in a heavy layer of dust from the past couple of weeks, except for the front drivers side fender. I guess he figured that I would stop by and cleaned it up.

We were talking about painting the brake calipers. But now it looks like we'll be sending them out to be stripped and re-powder coated a nice medium gray metalic (Ferrari-ish). Some company that Stacey David (Gearz) uses that apparently does pretty nice work. No idea who they are. The calipers will need to be completely disassembled in order to be acid washed to get rid of the current powder coating.
According to Tony, we can send them out and get them back reasonably quick. But keep in mind, with Pandora, the term "quick" is definitely a relative term. 1 year could be quick in many circumstances. So we'll see what they belive "quick" means in their world.

I don't want the calipers to have that "in your face" look. My goal is for a subtle look that blends with the rest of the car instead of fighting for attention with other parts of the car. So my thought is that with the carbon black metalic paint, and highly polished wheels, the medium gray metalic calipers should look pretty nice.

I guess we'll find out.

Mike

[Taz Rules]

You should have them put little "sad" emoticons on the calipers...after all, it's always sad to have to slow down!

[The Stig]

You should have them put little "sad" emoticons on the calipers...after all, it's always sad to have to slow down!

I was thinking of having a set of Chrome Silver text "Factory Five Racing" stickers made that would fit the front and rear calipers.

I haven't decided yet whether I want to do that or not.

I've also thought of having "Pandora" put on them... for about 15 seconds...

The only thing left is to have some side-panels made that will cover the open areas of the engine bay, and make it look much cleaner.

Then she's done. (I think).

By the way, I guess you can see, she won't be finished in time to have any pictures made that could be used in this year's calendar.

Mike

[WIS89]

Mike-

Pandora looks all kinds of sexy!! I cannot express how awesome she looks. What an amazing job they did to get that extraordinary paint job!

I have to think they came awful close to your vision for her! I know you must be really ecstatic with how it all turned out.

It won't be too much longer before she's back home with you. There's still plenty of good driving weather left before the real cold sets in. I can't wait to see her all buttoned up.

Congratulations again on getting her to this point, and what an awesome paint job!!

Regards,

Steve

[beeman]

Mike, have you planned Pandora's 2017 US tour yet? Any events we can look forward to seeing her (and you as well I suppose ) at?

[The Stig]

Mike, have you planned Pandora's 2017 US tour yet? Any events we can look forward to seeing her (and you as well I suppose ) at?

Every time I try to put a stake in the ground, and say that I'll have the car at any specific show, it comes back to bite me in the rear. And the reason for that has ALWAYS been that the commitments that had been given to me that work that was being done to my car, would be finished in time for me to wrap everything up and make the dates. Obviously that hasn't happened.

But with that being said, when Pandora is "finished":

- She will prepped for professional photos to do as much as possible to highlight the work that has been done inside and out. (Mainly because I just want some professional level shots to document the build).

- There is a potential "Kit Car track day comparison" that may take place: (Television). But I haven't really decided whether or not I want to put the car on the track, and screw up what I've just spent another $20,000 and another two years to achieve.

- The HB Cruise-In has always been a bucket list goal for me. Not necessarily for the show itself, as much as being able to see west coast friends. It would also be nice to meet people that I've only been able to speak to on the phone or via the forums. So I hope to have her at the 2017 Huntington Beach show. I'm also hoping to try to make a drive down the west coast (PCH) with Pam.

- I may take her (Pandora) to Carlyle if it makes sense logistically.

- I may take her to the Factory Five Open House in Wareham, but for personal reasons I haven't decided if I'm going to commit to that one or not.

- I will probably have her at the Charlotte Auto Fair this spring because I think it would be fun to show her at a local show and see what sort of response she gets.

- For the longest time, I had hoped to show the car at SEMA. But I'm learning that that's more than likely out of reach, for me. Apparently there is a game that has to be played in order to be considered, and I'm not much for those types of games. But you never know.

- Charlotte Cars & Coffee is sounding pretty good; as well as Cars and Cappuccino...

- My reasons for taking her anywhere at all, is purely to prove that that "the build that never ends", finally ended... And to hopefully see my forum friends and hang out with them for a while.

Other than that... not much.

As I sit here writing the response to your question, it's becoming more obvious to me that I'm really pretty much over it all. There was a point during this year's SEMA show where a switch inside me was simply turned off. So I honestly can't tell you with any certainty that I'll definitely be at any one place. But Huntington Beach, and/or The Factory Five Open House are the two most likely places that we might travel to.


Mike

[The Stig]

I got an update from Tony this afternoon to let me know that he has finished the buff/polish of the body.
He didn't send a picture. Sorry.

We're still anticipating the doors, rear hatch, and spoiler being sprayed with primer and prepped for paint. But I'm sure that is just around the corner.

The brake calipers are are being sent out this week to be re-coated. They told Tony to expect a 1 week turn around, so we'll see how that goes. They should look much better when we get them back on the car.

The glass was picked up today in order to be prepped for installation tomorrow.

Undercoating for the wheel wells and under-body will take place next week, I think.

Progress is progress!

Mike

[The Stig]

The main body section and hood is finished.

Tony sent a text to let me know that the body was finished with being buffed/polished, along with a couple of pictures.





These guys simply do Amazing work.


She's back on the lift to re-install the carbon fiber splitter, and rockers. The Diffuser will need to wait until next week.


Steve Kurzman (Custom Stitching) interior guy is scheduled to come to the shop to pull the halo and a-pillar covers to make adjustments (so I can see out); as well as make a couple of changes in the seat cushions and seat back angle. When he's done with that, the windshield can go back in. Hopefully, we aren't looking at an excessive amount of time there.

A few odds and ends will be taken care of while that is taking place. Like the doors, and the hatch, mesh/grill installation and the spoiler.



It looks like we're actually going to see it finished before THIS Chrismas (2016).

Who would have thought?

Mike

[crash]

Absolutely Beautiful! Keep the pictures coming!

[cgundermann]

Beautiful!

[Roger Reid]

... It looks like we're actually going to see it finished before THIS Chrismas (2016).

Who would have thought?

Mike

That's great news Mike. Another quote from the A Team, "I love it when a plan comes together".

[The Stig]

I made a trip up to North Charlotte, and spent an hour with Tony, "the boss", Kevin, and Kenny. Pandora is really coming together.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, pictures just don't do her the justice that she and the guys deserve.

Tony is polishing the wheels, and OMG do they look good...!



Here she is guys!



When I saw her, all I could do was drool... all the right curves, in all the right places.



I wanted to take a picture to show the contrast between the paint, and the interior color.



Man O Man O Man O Man...!



Piece by piece, she going back together.



We were standing around talking about the current status of Pandora. Kevin looked at Tony and said, " If we can get the other intake runner polished, we can get it installed and then get her fired up. I've never heard it with the exhaust installed." So they polished it up and put it on, and then fired her up. And OMG did she ever sound great. I don't know if it was just that I hadn't heard her running in a VERY long time, and her Kooks headers and exhaust sounded freakin's awesome. I think Kevin thought so too. Kevin asked me a couple of time whether or not I would like to make a video, of Pandora starting up, and listening to her run. I decided to not do that just yet. There will be a professional video made that will show off her sublty as well as her strength.

Mike

[The Stig]

The Rear Quarter windows are back in, and and they fit PERFECTLY!!!!!!!!! The surfaces are absolutely flush with the adjacent panels. The rear door pillars fit perfectly flush. So when the doors are installed, you'll be able to see how flush all of the panels have been made to fit from front to back. It will look like a flat panel from front to rear.








The exhaust tips look SO GOOD next to the Carbon Black Metallic paint.







I bought a new set of fuel filler caps, and had them chromed and polished.

With the paint finish and the chrome, the polished aluminum wheels, and the interior, Pandora is coming together so well.

What do you think?



Cool Stuff!!!

Mike

[T4Twins]

thXTDFVRUZ.jpg

I made a trip up to North Charlotte, and spent an hour with Tony, "the boss", Kevin, and Kenny. Pandora is really coming together.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, pictures just don't do her the justice that she and the guys deserve.

Tony is polishing the wheels, and OMG do they look good...!



Here she is guys. Be sure and tip the waitresses well...!



When I saw her, all I could do was drool... all the right curves, in all the right places.



I wanted to take a picture to show the contrast between the paint, and the interior color.



Man O Man O Man O Man...!



Piece by piece, she going back together.



We were standing around talking about the current status of Pandora. Kevin looked at Tony and said, " I we can get the other intake runner polished, we can get it installed and then get her fired up. "I've never heard it with the exhaust installed. So they polished it up and put it on, and then fired her up. And OMG did she ever sound great. I don't know if it was just that I hadn't heard her running in a VERY long time, and her Kooks headers and exhaust sounded freakin's awesome. I think Kevin thought so too. Kevein asked me a couple of time whether or not I would like to make a video, of Pandora starting up, and listening to her run. I decided to not do that just yet. There will be a professional video made that will show off her sublty as well as her strength.

Mike

[T4Twins]

I made a trip up to North Charlotte, and spent an hour with Tony, "the boss", Kevin, and Kenny. Pandora is really coming together.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, pictures just don't do her the justice that she and the guys deserve.

Tony is polishing the wheels, and OMG do they look good...!



Here she is guys. Be sure and tip the waitresses well...!



When I saw her, all I could do was drool... all the right curves, in all the right places.



I wanted to take a picture to show the contrast between the paint, and the interior color.



Man O Man O Man O Man...!



Piece by piece, she going back together.



We were standing around talking about the current status of Pandora. Kevin looked at Tony and said, " I we can get the other intake runner polished, we can get it installed and then get her fired up. "I've never heard it with the exhaust installed. So they polished it up and put it on, and then fired her up. And OMG did she ever sound great. I don't know if it was just that I hadn't heard her running in a VERY long time, and her Kooks headers and exhaust sounded freakin's awesome. I think Kevin thought so too. Kevein asked me a couple of time whether or not I would like to make a video, of Pandora starting up, and listening to her run. I decided to not do that just yet. There will be a professional video made that will show off her sublty as well as her strength.

Mike

thXTDFVRUZ.jpg

[WIS89]

Mike-

Oh......my......goodness!! I cannot believe just how good she looks. I cannot imagine how excited you are.

Congratulations on seeing her to this point. I look forward to the final pictures here in a few weeks.

You and Pam must be over the moon happy to have her finally at this point. Well done Sir!

Regards,

Steve

[T4Twins]

Look awesome Mike. Wish I never saw these pictures since I told myself I would wait till after the holidays to start up my build and now I'm having a change of heart lol. I'm shocked not seeing a sleeping tent in the backround while waiting for her. Hopefully with the holidays around it will help make time fly and before you know it will be styling out of the shop on the road.

[JL1958]

Caffeine and Octane in Atlanta has gotten so big that Velocity channel has been coming and is going to film 8 editions with people and their cars. If anyone deserves to be featured, you and Pandora do! Please bring her to ATL sometime. I would love to see this car in person. She is beautiful.

[The Stig]

Caffeine and Octane in Atlanta has gotten so big that Velocity channel has been coming and is going to film 8 editions with people and their cars. If anyone deserves to be featured, you and Pandora do! Please bring her to ATL sometime. I would love to see this car in person. She is beautiful.

Sounds fun to me. My brother and his family live in Sandy Springs. So I could put it together.

I would imagine that we could make that happen.

Mike

[LCD Gauges]

The paint looks like a wet mirror! Beautiful job for sure… and that interior.

[Taz Rules]

DAMN!

Nothing else to say.

[The Stig]

The Hatch was sprayed with smooth under-coating. The guys really paid attention to the seams on the underside to make everything smooth and to give it a very OEM look & feel.



The wheel wells were coated as well.





The underside of the car will be sprayed as well.

Man I'm lovin' it.

Mike

[cgundermann]

Looks my killer!

[beeman]

What undercoating is that? Looks really nice. Any concerns with it cooking by the exhaust?
Keep the pics coming! Beautiful!

[Roger Reid]

Looking really good Mike.

[Steven K]

Wow!!!!

[The Stig]

The "Belly Pan" has been coated.



It really cleans up the look of the suspension in the Wheel Wells.





Stepping back for a better view...





The calipers come off on Monday (after Thanksgiving), and will be sent to Nashville TN to be powder-coated. He says that once he has them, he can turn them around in 1 week.

That would be about the quickest that anyone has ever done anything to this car. Some sort of world record or something.

Mike

[The Stig]

The doors have been sprayed with primer and blocked. Tony says that he wants to spray them once more and then do the final sanding before paint.

There has been a TON of hours put into these doors. Kevin and Tony have shaped and tweaked and shaped and tweaked and shaped and tweaked some more...

They are doing everything they can do to make them fit the car, feel and sound solid, seal to the body, and look great.

So I said... Ok.

[The Stig]

There will be a cover made the fit over the door latch, to clean that up a little. It will be painted the body color as well.



She's coming along. Before you know it, she'll be finished and everyone will say, "Wow that was fast"...


Just kidding. They won't be saying that.

But hopefully, they will be talking about the fact that everything was done right.

For that, I am extremely happy and proud.

I just can't say enough good things about these guys.

Mike

[The Stig]

What undercoating is that? Looks really nice. Any concerns with it cooking by the exhaust?
Keep the pics coming! Beautiful!

I believe that Tony called it "Raptor" bed liner.

http://www.raptorliner.com.au/



I think it looks really good when sprayed on smooth.

Mike

[The Stig]

The CCW Aluminum Wheels have been polished to a fine shine. Pandora is ready to rock...! The wheel are back on, and she's ready to come down off the lift.

The Carbon Fiber Splitter, Rocker Panels, and Diffuser have been sprayed with 3 coats of clear, and polished. They'll be put back on next week... or the week after... or the week after... but before Christmas of 2016.

She's getting there! Life is good!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mike