Papa's MKIV Roadster Build - #9115 (Post Grad) - One million + views!!!

[Papa]

I haven't had much to talk about for the last few weeks, but as my foot recovers from surgery I was able to get into the shop and look at a few things today. I've driven the car about 400 miles now and it was a good opportunity to get it up on the lift today. The first thing that caught my eye is how poorly the spray on bed liner is holding up to the "slash" the snow plows spread on the roads when it snows. My soft NiCop brake line is right in the line of fire for the rocks that the tires are throwing at it. From the union rearward, I used armor (gravel guard), but the front is exposed from the union forward until the line enters the foot box. Obviously this will eventually fail, so I decided to make a miniature skid plate to protect the vulnerable line.



And after powder coat:



At some point, I'm going to need to do something with the panels that are getting chewed up. I'll likely go back to the roll-on bed liner, which is not showing any signs of wear on the splash guards.

Finally, I had a guy come by today to look at doing a polish and ceramic protection on the paint. He's going to start on Tuesday and thinks it will take him a couple of days. He'll be doing the work in my shop. I'll post pics when he's done. I'm still waiting to see if the state approved my personalized plates, or which of the three choices I put down gets approved.

[cv2065]

Great idea Dave. I was thinking the same thing a while back but never did anything about it. Now I'll have to Thanks!

[TMartinLVNV]

Hmm, my brake line pops out at near the same location. I'll have to do something about this too. Thanks for the heads up Dave.

[Papa]

The paint polishing is underway and the difference is astounding! Here is a photo showing the pre-polished surface next to an area he has completed step one of his process on.



The lighting he is using shows every flaw and makes it look way worse than the human eye will see in normal light, but the difference is clear!

[Papa]

Here are a few more pictures of the polishing work in progress:

[The Halligan]

Wow! Great build..beautiful color selection. Top notch all around!

[Papa]

One more photo from yesterday...



He's just needs to get the right front fender and passenger side of the hood and then on to the next step in his process. The weather looks better today, so if he finishes, I'll get some pictures of the car out in the sun.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Tell him “Thanks!” for making me look good

Jeff

[Papa]

Tell him “Thanks!” for making me look good

Jeff

No need Jeff -- The foundation was there all along. He is just really good at getting the best out of what was already there.

Dave

[Papa]

And finished …

[shark92651]

Looks great!

[GoDadGo]

Jeff Really Kills The Paint & Bodywork Like Nobody's Business!
.Definitely Picture Of The Month Material!

[PeteMeindl]

Wow! Looks awesome, Dave! Man, you've done a great job!

[Papa]

Looks great!

Jeff Really Kills The Paint & Bodywork Like Nobody's Business!
.Definitely Picture Of The Month Material!

Wow! Looks awesome, Dave! Man, you've done a great job!

Thanks fellas. I still can't believe it's mine sometimes. Looking forward to warmer weather and clear, dry roads to get out and enjoy it.

Dave

[VAHokie]

Looks great, Dave, and thanks for the callout on the brake lines taking a beating. Just finished running mine without the gravel guard but I may reconsider getting some type of protection on there.

[GTBradley]

That's fantastic, Dave! Thanks for getting me to think I'm still not done.

[Papa]

That's fantastic, Dave! Thanks for getting me to think I'm still not done.

Come on now Badley. You know these cars are never done!

Dave

[ydousurf]

You get my vote! But you gotta promise us a pic with the golden Aspens in bloom in the future? Roadster looks absolutely amazing, Dave!

Dj

[GTBradley]

Come on now Badley. You know these cars are never done!

Dave

Yeah, I know, but how do I break that news to my lovely, and so far, very patient wife?

[Papa]

Resolved a couple of my initial kinks this weekend. First, did a better check on my transmission fluid level and found it was fine. Fluid level was right at the fill plug.

Next, I removed the very first part I installed on the car and replaced it with what was there to start with. That was my diff cover. The pretty one I installed was hitting my FFMetal battery box after setting my 5" ride height. After swapping covers, all is quiet again.

I still have a bit of vibration at highway speed and need to get the car up on jack stands so the rear end is at a normal level and see what I need to do with the pinion angle.

Other than that, the car has about 400 miles on it and my wife even went on a quick cruise with me. It was her first time in the car since the go cart stage and I think she likes it. She wanted to know when we were going to do a longer drive.

[Tex2131]

The paint polishing is underway and the difference is astounding! Here is a photo showing the pre-polished surface next to an area he has completed step one of his process on.



The lighting he is using shows every flaw and makes it look way worse than the human eye will see in normal light, but the difference is clear!

It looks great Dave. Where did you get the spats for thr rear fenders?

[Papa]

It looks great Dave. Where did you get the spats for thr rear fenders?

The spats are from one of our vendors:

http://www.verycoolparts.com/

Dave

[Papa]

After a lengthy delay, my plates finally arrived. I want to thank Badasp427 (Carl) for the inspiration. I honestly thought there would be no way the state would approve this plate:

[Pat427]

Wow! Looks awesome Dave!

Carl (BadAsp427) is a great guy and has been a huge help for me during my build.

[Rsnake]

Car looks amazing!

[GTBradley]

That's a BAD ASP car you have there!

[Papa]

That's a BAD ASP car you have there!

Thanks, Bradley. I can't wait to get it up into the mountains someday, hopefully this summer. Stay safe.

Dave

[Papa]

Wow! Looks awesome Dave!

Carl (BadAsp427) is a great guy and has been a huge help for me during my build.

Car looks amazing!

Thanks, guys!

[BadAsp427]

Awww Shucks...

[Kmcallahan]

Dave,

Car looks Awesome. I can't wait to get mine on the road.

[KDubU]

What’s it doing in the garage? Shiny is nice but driving is nicer.

She’s a beaut!

[Papa]

What’s it doing in the garage? Shiny is nice but driving is nicer.

She’s a beaut!

I had the car out over the weekend. I needed to go pick up an "essential" item and figured it didn't matter what car I used to do that with. I actually placed my order on-line for an item at Home Depot and then drove in and used curb-side pickup to get my item and head back home.

[Papa]

I added a Table of Contents to post #1 to make it easier to find the specific parts of the build you are interested in. I tried to add hyper links to the post numbers, but quickly exceeded the maximum number of characters allowed in a post and decided to remove the links.

[PeteMeindl]

I added a Table of Contents to post #1 to make it easier to find the specific parts of the build you are interested in. I tried to add hyper links to the post numbers, but quickly exceeded the maximum number of characters allowed in a post and decided to remove the links.

Thank you, Dave! You're always helping all of us out.

[Papa]

I took the car in to a local Big-O that the Mile-Hi Cobra Club endorses for alignment work and they posted a couple of pictures up on their Facebook page:

[ydousurf]

Very cool, Dave. I'm sure them and the emission folks must get a BIG SMILE when these gems come their way! Hey, once this social distancing stuff wanes, hopefully later this summer, I still want to come down and meet ya. I figure I'll bring some parts to powder coat if you're still interested in doing that? I'd rather pay someone like yourself to do mine and at the going rate of course. I'm not looking for bargains or deals, more so, to give you some extra buxs to help offset your past cost for investment into being able to do that work. You no doubt did an excellent job on your stuff. Anyway, I hope your family is safe and healthy!

Dj

[Papa]

Very cool, Dave. I'm sure them and the emission folks must get a BIG SMILE when these gems come their way! Hey, once this social distancing stuff wanes, hopefully later this summer, I still want to come down and meet ya. I figure I'll bring some parts to powder coat if you're still interested in doing that? I'd rather pay someone like yourself to do mine and at the going rate of course. I'm not looking for bargains or deals, more so, to give you some extra buxs to help offset your past cost for investment into being able to do that work. You no doubt did an excellent job on your stuff. Anyway, I hope your family is safe and healthy!

Dj

Hi Dj,

I'm definitely hopeful that we are back to some level of normal by summer. I'm looking forward to meeting you and others in the area. I'd be happy to help you with powder coating. I can't do large parts, but it's all the small stuff that racks up the bills at the local shops just do to the time.

Dave

[ydousurf]

Hey Dave, yeah, this has been a weird deal for everyone for sure. I'm ready for "normal" again, although I feel the new normal will be not the same and just as 9/11 changed us, I fear this will too. Maybe in some ways for the better, but surely in other ways it will not, unfortunately. But once we have movement and more confidence, I'll plan to stop on by and meet ya. As for the powder parts, I just need the smaller stuff done. Do I need to do any prep work? I figure I can somewhat take the edge down and if necessary sand them too. If it can save you that work, just advise. Anyway, stay safe and I do look forward to seeing you and your beautiful car in the future...

All the best,
Dj

[Papa]

Hey Dave, yeah, this has been a weird deal for everyone for sure. I'm ready for "normal" again, although I feel the new normal will be not the same and just as 9/11 changed us, I fear this will too. Maybe in some ways for the better, but surely in other ways it will not, unfortunately. But once we have movement and more confidence, I'll plan to stop on by and meet ya. As for the powder parts, I just need the smaller stuff done. Do I need to do any prep work? I figure I can somewhat take the edge down and if necessary sand them too. If it can save you that work, just advise. Anyway, stay safe and I do look forward to seeing you and your beautiful car in the future...

All the best,
Dj

Dj,

I have everything here to prep the parts, so no need to do anything before bringing them down. What color/finish are you thinking about? I don't stockpile powder, so if you want to order what you plan to use and bring it with you, that would be great. I assumed you'd want to do the parts while we talked and you could take them home with you. I don't charge people for helping them out, so just bring the parts and the powder and we'll get you taken care of. It takes about 25-30 minutes per batch to bake/cure the stuff. I've had really good results using Sherwin Williams powder, and it isn't very expensive to buy.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Let me know what you had in mind.

Dave

[ydousurf]

Hey Dave, thanks for the suggestion, I'll definitely buy some PC and most likely will go with a gloss or satin black. I want to do the front body hangers (if that's what they're called) and the trunk & hood hindges and if possible, the brake assembly parts and any smaller parts to avoid rust of course. I'm going to order a firewall forward kit and can get that done at another shop with a larger oven. As for payment, nah, no freebies. I think the last thing left we have for free is the sunshine, since water and oxygen are now bottled for sale. I'll pay ya! I know that time and tools are and investment to us all, so that's all good. Hey, if anything, the buxs can go into the cobra finesse fund to make future improvements to your baby. Anyway, I'll be in touch with ya in the future and do appreciate your help with the PC parts, not to mention I still will take some expert guidance, that and I definitely want to see your car up close. I am looking forward to meeting ya soon. Take care and enjoy this wonderful CO sunshine! Woohoo! I'm sooooo ready for Spring & Summer!

Dj