I'm just about done with the hood scoop. I put the first coat of Rage Gold on last night. This moring I sanded that down and put on a secont layer. Tomorrow I'll sand that down and put a final finish layer of 3M Platinum.m And that should do it.
Recall the previous post about the LH quick Jack holes being mis-drilled from FFR. I was going to just fill the small gap left after the grommets were in, but decided to do it right and start from scratch. I filled in both the LH holes and I'll re-cut them where they belong.
I put on the 3M Platinum around the outside seam last night. This morning I sanded that down. On the bottom side of the scoop it has the same rough finish as the inside of the body. This will show when the hood is open so I sanded that down and put a coat of 3M on it. Tomorrow I'll sand it down and do one more final coat of 3M. Then its on to primer.
I also started the windshield install. IMPORTANT NOTE: on both sides of the windshield the second screw down was mis-drilled. I had to file open both the holes in the supports order to start those screws. Also both supports were not bent correctly. I had to increase the curve at the top of both side frames. The RH support required slight trimming at the very top in order to fit the windshield. Both supports are slightly splayed out to the outboard sides as they initially engage the body slots. The RH side was slightly splayed inwards, the LH was cut straight. I had to open up both slots quite a bit in order to start the windshield in the slots. I hope the support fairings will cover the openings if not more fiberglass work.
I have the hood scoop done as much as it will be for now. Only pinor paint prep left to do on it. I also finished the LH Quick Jack hole repair. I found the 3/4" stainless tubes that fit the quick jack grommets at McMaster Carr.
After getting the FFR windshield slots opened up to receive the windshield it was time to fit the windshield. I made two straps that would pick up the upper windshield support attachment screws and lodge into the door jamb corner with 27" spacing. I also made a wood center support for safety.
Lance (aka F500guy) stopped by to help with the installation. (THANK YOU LANCE!) Everything was going fine till we stuck the windshield on and discovered that the windshield support angles dont match the angles of the welded in support brackets. Those brackets were off by 15'. (see pics below). Does FFR actually use a jig to install those brackets or just "wing" it? Fortunately Lance mentioned he read a thread where someone else had this issue and chucked up the supports in a bench vice and twisted the lower supports with an extra large adjustable wrench to the an angle that would match the FFR supports. I did that. Fortunately I have aluminum soft jaws and some brass shim stock so I did not screw up the chrome finish on the supports. Windshield now fits! I removed the windshield and took off the supports for drilling and tapping in the morning.
I got the windshield supports drilled and tapped to 1/2-13. I reinstalled the windshield with the above tools. all four attach point took 2 washers each, 1 thick and one thin on both top holes, and two thick washers on both bottom holes. End result is the windshield is centered and level and has 27 inches from the body rear door corner to the top screw on both sides. Gonna call this a win.
I started fitting the Breeze roll bars. I went accross the street to the fabrication shop and bought 4 feet of 1.75" round stock to make a tool/jig to open up the roll bar pre-drilled holes to take the larger Breeze roll bars. I only needed one section of 1 foot and one section of 2 inches. The rest will be stock for any future needs. I temporarily installed the roll bars to see if I could attach the rear slider tube to the main rear tube with one bolt. There is not enough clearance, so I will be welding in two coupling nuts per side in the front end of the rear slider that can attach a couple 5/16 high strenth steel bolts from underneath. More on that tomorrow.
OK! VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: For anyone installing the BREEZE Roll Bars. The rear diagonal bar that Breeze supplies is to long! IT MUST BE CUT TO THE CORRECT LENTH in order to fit inside the Mike Everson Grommets. I know this because I cut the hole to match the stock lenth rear bar, and guess what? Now the hole is too long for the grommet!. So... the fix. I put the grommet on the rear bar then slid the roll bar assembly down till the lip of the rear bar was BELOW the body. I put the grommet in place and marked where it would allow the rear bar to fit, and cover the gap between the body and bar. I marked that. Then I slid in the rear slider almost all the way in and marked that where I wanted to bevel it. Results were that I needed to cut 3/4" off of the rear bars and bevel the slider by 3/8". This will alow the roll bar assembly to drop in place and the grommet to cover the gaps.
Because of the shortning of the rear bar I had to re-drill the front slider rear bar attach hole. I drilled two 5/16 holes where I could access them from the trunk. I installed and pinned both roll bars with the sliders pinned to the rear holes as well. Then marked where the two hole needed to be drilled in the sliders. I removed everything and drilled the 4 holes and welded in two coupling nuts on the front end of each slider tube. Then beveled the rear of the sliders by 3/8. Cleaned up and re-assembled. Everything now fits and the grommets cover the holes. Now I just need to repair/fill in the un-needed large holes in the body I made. One final NOTE: Mike Bray tried to warn me about this, but I'm a bit slow and did not get the whole "grommet" issue. I was just trying to make a hole that would allow the roll bars to fit!......oooooooopps!
I forgot to add the bit about opening up the FFR cut roll bar holes to fit the larger diameter Breeze bars. 1st: I took one of the rear sliders, they are 1.5" diameter and match the 1.5" of the stub fitting that the vertical bars slide over, and set it on each bar mount and shined a flash light down the hole. I opened up the body holes till the 1.5" bars matched. 2nd: I took a 15/16 deep well 1/2 drive socket with 12 inches of extensions on it and put that inside the vertical mount stubs. the socket fits nicely inside the slider. 3rd: I lowered the slider over the socket. Now I had 1.5" extension of the mounting stubs. 4th: I used a 2" section of 1.75" round bar to drop over the 1.5" slider, then marked the area I wanted to cut out. Repeat #4 till I was happy. 5th: remove everything and test fit with a foot long lenth of 1.75" round bar and the Mike Everson grommets.....Happy Trails!
When I opened up the rear roll bar holes I cut them out with a Blair 2" hole saw and my pnumatic 1/4" reciprocating saw. I trimmed the pieces I wanted to re-install and fiberglassed them back in place after beveling all the edges and leaving 1/8 gaps. I used heavy duty aluminum tape to support things where they needed to be. When that dried I applied some NAPA short strand fiberglass filler. When that was dry I sanded it all down and put a coat of 3M Platinum filler on it. I'll sand that down in the morning and spray some polyester primer on it.
I started mounting the RH door today as well. I have it mostly fit. That is, it fits in the hole nicely. I will still need to fine tune the gaps. I'll also need to fill a bit on the top front of the door and body to get a matching fit. Pretty typical there. Everything else looks pretty good.
I started the RH door yesterday. I finished the door gaps except for the top front, where I'm going to blend it in with the body lines. I needed to raise the line and taper it into the door. I also extended the point to more closely follow the body lines. I used my heavy duty aluminum tape to make a scaffold while the filler dried. I roughed it out with my die grinder then had to add a bit more on the point. Tomorrow I'll sand off everything that dos'nt look like a door, then add a layer of Rage Gold.
Well, it took two and a half days of work but I have the RH door fit. It took a lot of massaging to get the upper inside corner to match the body, but it's done and I think it will be worth it. The below pics show the new RH door corner and the last two show the un-modified LH door corner that I'll start on tomorrow.
I put a layer of Rage Gold over the corner and the body area where they meet. When thats dry in the morning I'll sand it down and prime it.
I wrapped up the RH door this morning. I just had to sand down the Rage Gold and shoot the worked areas with the polyester primer. So other than installing a latch the RH door is fit!
After wrapping up the RH door I got a good jump on the LH door today. I got the door in the hole with all the gaps very close. I'll fine tune them when the rest of the fitting is done. As far as the fit goes, I started with pulling out the body to the end of the slot I made for the rear lower attach bolt and pushing in the front all the way to the end of that slot. That brought the fit as close as I will get it. I will have two areas to add filler. First, the area directly above the door hinge. I'll need to fill a bit of the body about half way up, then near the top I'll need to fill the door. Second will be the rear directly above the latch. I'll need to extend the inner bead about 3/8 of an inch and add some filler to the body on the top gap. I have the first layer of NAPA short strand filler on the point and front top of the door, and some on the rear seam/gap area. That will dry overnight. I'll post the results after sanding tomorrow.
I decided to go with the FFR new style door latches. They came with the kit and work well and look a bit better than the Breeze units. I mounted the RH door latch today.
I sanded down the first batch of filler on the LH door and reset the gaps. The area directly above the latch looks pretty good, and I will go with what I have there with a thin layer of Rage Gold added. The front area above the hinge also looks good except for the point. I added another layer of filler to make the LH match the RH point area where it meets the body lip. I'll form/sand that in the morning.
SUPPRIZE ! No work on the Roadster today. We're taking our 47 Merc Coupe to the Wheels and Waves Car Show in Seaside Oregon. Its a three day show, so I'll be gone till Sunday. I'll be back to work on the Roadster on Monday. Below are a few gratuitus pics of the 47 Merc. I did a comlete rotiserie restoration on it in my shop. I even did the paint. (dont look to close!)
SUPPRIZE ! No work on the Roadster today. We're taking our 47 Merc Coupe to the Wheels and Waves Car Show in Seaside Oregon. Its a three day show, so I'll be gone till Sunday. I'll be back to work on the Roadster on Monday. Below are a few gratuitus pics of the 47 Merc. I did a comlete rotiserie restoration on it in my shop. I even did the paint. (dont look to close!)
Back to work today. Finaly got the point to blend with the body lip on the LH door. Its not perfect yet, but will fine tune with Rage Gold. I had to sand and reaply the filler three times to get it right. I also used AArons method of using packing tape on the body joint painted with liquid wax then applied filler and closed the door! (perfect fit!)
While waiting for the various filler applications to dry I fitted the head light buckets, gas cap, tail lights, turn lights, & liesence plate bracket. All those will come off tomorrow and boxed up till after paint.
I found another issue with the doors. Seems if you line up the inside rear of the door with the rear body bead, the outside of the door will not come close to matching the step that is cast into the body. If you line the door up with the step there is a 3/8 mis-alignment of the inner door jamb and nothing else on the door lines up. My solution was to make both doors match the rear inside body bead, and feather out that step. This also had the effect of allowing the lower rear of the doors to be adjusted within the slot cut in the lower body to frame mount. Both doors are now fit and gapped. Once I have the deck lid and hood properly set and fine tuned the gaps, I'll start the matching filler for the high and low spots on all four panels.
As mentioned yesterday, today's festivities included filling all the low spots on both doors and the deck lid. I put the first layer of Rage Gold on all the low spots I could find. I should get two layers on tomorrow. Suppriseingly the hood has a great fit and has no low spots, go figure!
After sanding down the Rage Gold I but a second coat of filler (3M Platinum) on the low areas. When that was dry I sanded the panels down, first with 80 grit then a 180 grit finish. I re-attached the doors and deck lid to check the fit. None of the low area's were more that 1/16 off from perfect. I can add that with a couple extra coats of polyester primer so I'm calling these done untill final block sanding.
Today I took off the doors, deck lid, and hood, as I'm done with the fitting. I mocked up the exhaust pipes to get a start on the cut outs. The LH opening was cut just fine, a bit small but exactly centered where is should be. The RH side, not so much. I bought the FFR 351W Headers. Where the header meets the body cut out was not even close. They cut way to much of the body out just behind the wheel lip. I did not trim the forward edge at all. With the exhaust fitted there is almost an inch of clearance between the exhaust and body panel behind the RH wheel lip. I had to trim quite a bit off the rear and top of the opening, but I now have a half inch clearance on the top and back of the RH opening and 1/2 inch all around on the LH. Just a bit anoyed about the one inch gap on the RH side. I'm still considering fiberglassing that gap and re-cuting it to the correct 1/2 inch.
I had to call Mark at Breeze to get a pair of tapered shims ordered. I need 1/8" on the LH rear seam to bring the pipe tip outboard. On the RH side I need a 1/4" shim on the front seam to swing the pipe tip inboard. Mark got right on it and will get the shims and Gaskets out this weekend.
I cleaned up the side vent openings and did the layout for the louver install. Everything looks good. I have 8 bond-on studs that will get bonded to the inside of the body. Then I removed everything that holds the body on and got ready to remove it.
On another build thread from Jim in Texas and a post here from J.K. I double checked the hood scoop alignment and centering. It was time to take the body off and put it back on the buck for sanding, prep and paint. Before I did, I took a close look at J.K.'s pic on Jim's Build thread and followed his instructions. I put the deck lid back on and pulled the windshield off then taped a string to the center of the liecence plate light housing. I found the center of the nose and marked it then pulled the line down and taped it. Seems the front of the scoop is spot on in the center and only off by 1/8 inch on the rear of the scoop! My scoop is 11 inches wide. I have 5.5" on each side of the center line. The battery went dead on my camera as I was taking the LH side pic. But its centered! Thats a win! maybe FFR fixed the off center scoop issue???
Sorry, no pics today. All I did was remove the hood, deck lid, doors and body from the car. I did a few clean up details. I trimmed about 3/16th off the dash right above the glove box as it was extending above the hoop that much. I had to remove the dash to do that but its no big deal now the way I have it mounted. I'm using close tolerance carbon steel pip pins to attach the roll bars, so I added retainer lanyards to them so they will never get miss-placed. I drilled and tapped the four bottom body bolts but have decided to install rivnuts instead for a better grip and easier body removal and installation in the future. I replaced the firewall seal with one that had the correct grip dimensions (.125) after I ordered it from McMaster Carr. I also installed a 3/16" foam seal on the top of the dash hoop. I added an additional layer of rubber hose to the lower radiator mounts to relieve any stress on the 5 upper radiator isolator mounts.
I dont know how much I'll get posted in the next few weeks as I'll be block sanding the entire car. No one will want to hear my complaining about loosing my finger prints or my whining about how sore I am. So I'll buck up and get'er done. I'll post again when I've done something intersting or less boring than sanding.
Allyn
I got the doors, deck lid and hood sanded with 180 grit to get everything flat and even prior to primer. While sanding I noticed several pin holes and gaps on th edges of all four panels. After sanding I put some filler on the edges and will get those smooth in the morning. After that I mounted the studs to attach the louvers. I have a carbon fiber battery cover in the trunk and both the fuel sender and pickup covers are carbon fiber so I figured it was a good idea to make the cover for the licence plate light fitting access hole to be carbon fiber as well.
Tomorrow after sanding down the panel edges I'll sand down all the edges on the body. Thats why its setting upside down now. I also plan to do a bit of fibergalss reinforcing in the areas that I sanded down behind the doors and the repair to the LH quick jack holes.
The doors, deck lid, and hood are ready for primer. I raised the body with the lift to get it to a good working hieght then lowered it on my body panel supports. So now its upside down and stable at the perfect hight to get all the edges trimed where required and radiused. I also started the block sanding on the lower nose area. I also fiberglassed a few areas mentioned yesterday.
Slow day today. Golf!
I managed to get all the edges sanded as well as block sanding the lower half of the body. (top as its upside down!) Before I finish the block sanding I'll need to flip the body over. Before I do that I need to paint the inner body shell with Raptor Bed Liner tinted grey. So I masked off all the edges and openings. Hopefully after cleaning with acetone I'll get it sprayed in the morning.
Shot the Raptor Liner today. After a couple hours I unmasked it and fliped the body back over, then put it back on the body buck. I made lower rocker braces to stabilize the sides for sanding. Tomorrow.....more sanding.... Yea!
I started this morning by cutting the openings for the defroster vents. The openings now exactly match the inside dimensions of the outlet vent covers. I had to epoxy the defroster defuser split line in order to shape them to the underside of the cowl. The rest of the day was spent sanding with 180 grit. I got the front of the body done to the front of the door jambs. Tomorrow should see the 180 grit blocking done. Then fill all the pin holes before primer.
Allyn,
I go to 80 prior to high build polyester. 3 coats will bury the 80 scratch and it gives more “tooth” for it to bite. But there’s more than one way to skin these cats Either way it’s a whole bunch of sanding…and then there’s more of the same after the high build…and then again after the 2K urethane. It seems to never end!
I finished the primary sanding this morning. In one of the Roadster Forum posts, someone mentioned you get a better "feel" for the low spots if you put a paper towel under your hand. Seemed like B.S. untill I tried it. What a Great idea! That showed me I had to check a couple areas that I used filler on the doors. Using a straight edge and strong flashlight I could see the light so to speak. So I added a bit more filler on the LH forward door edge (extended the ramp) and did the same with the RH rear door top that needed filler. Then I used glazing compound to fill about 50 pin holes, dents and scratches. There were a few areas on the front oil cooler inlet and LH door openings where I found "pockets" that I had to grind out and fill with short strand fiberglass filler. I expect about an hour left to sand then on to primer.
Today I cleaned up all the glazing compound and sanded down the two door areas that I added more filler to. Last night I watched a couple of AAron's older You Tube vids about his paint and prep. I really liked his door, hood, and deck lid paint jig. I copied it with just stuff I had laying around the shop. My paint booth is good enough for primer. I plan to have the car shot with HOK Kandy Brandywine. I have a freind that has a bodyshop with a great paint booth. He'll be doing the top coat. So I made that jig so I could prime it then take it to the painters when I deliver the car to him at the end of the month.
That HoK kandy is going to be spectacular, I know my blue is. Everyone, and I mean everyone, comments about our color. One guy said he could hear it before he saw it lol. IMO no one has colors like HoK candy or pigment. The paint shop I used tried to match my HoK color with another brand and never got close. Even the HoK white for the stripes is something else. Depending on the lighting and angle it shifts form white to gray to silver.
From hard experience remember to stick with HoK all the way through, don't try to mix brands like my guy did. It wasn't pretty.
Are you going to put a color under the Brandywine? We did spray outs of our blue over different color primers and it was "okay" but when it went over a silver it really popped. We were amazed at the difference it made.
That HoK kandy is going to be spectacular, I know my blue is. Everyone, and I mean everyone, comments about our color. One guy said he could hear it before he saw it lol. IMO no one has colors like HoK candy or pigment. The paint shop I used tried to match my HoK color with another brand and never got close. Even the HoK white for the stripes is something else. Depending on the lighting and angle it shifts form white to gray to silver.
From hard experience remember to stick with HoK all the way through, don't try to mix brands like my guy did. It wasn't pretty.
Are you going to put a color under the Brandywine? We did spray outs of our blue over different color primers and it was "okay" but when it went over a silver it really popped. We were amazed at the difference it made.
Can't wait to see it!
Mike
I built a 1964 Fairlane into a Thunderbolt. Had all The mods. 427FE, Open Headers, Dual quads, Top Loader, the full deal. In the 6 years I had it, it won 48 awards, eight of which were either peoples choice or best in show. It was HOK Kandy Brandywine over a silver metal flake base. It was stunning! I plan to have it shot by the same painter in the same color with the silver metalflake base as the stripes. He will be over to my shop near the end of the month to "inspect" my body work as he will just be doing Top coat and cut and buff. If he gives me the thumbs up its off to his shop.
This morning I shot the polyester primer on the removable panels. (3 coats) pluss a few extra passes on all the sharp edges and corners. Then it was off to Aloha to help Lance re-install his body on the chassis. All went well. It was nice to jawbone about the Roadster for an hour or so. He always has some cool mods to share. The body is now in the paint booth and the first cleaning (with acetone) is done. I'll wipe it down with prepsol and tack cloth first thing in the morning then shoot the body.
For those keeping score at home I swiped another of AArons's cool ideas. The panel hangar! All made from stuff I had laying around the shop.
Big milestone today. Three coats of Evercoat polyester primer with two or three extra coats on all the edges and high points. Five hours of painting and no runs! Thats a huge win! My philosophy when painting any helicopter or airplane was that if it had no runs I did'nt put enough paint on it. Ha! But that was Imeron, a whole nother animal. All the curves are straight! That is, when you sight down the tops of all four fenders the top radius is in alignment. I was concerned all the seam sanding might throw off those lines, but those are sweet! I'll have a few pin holes to hit with glazing compound in the morning. After that dries I'll shoot some more primer with the touch up gun. Monday morning should see me start to sand in a good finish for the guy who will be painting it.
Two days of sanding has yielded good progress, 180 grit to remove all the orange peel out of the primer, then 220 grit to remove all the 180 scratches. I put extra primer on all the edges but I managed to sand though in about a dozen spots. The large area just forward of the gas cap was a damaged area that came with the body. I did not feel the high spot before primer....ooopps. The yellow area on the left rear above the tail light was about a dozen pin holes in the seam, some of pretty good size that I just used the 3M Platinum to fill. Tomorrow will be 320 till its done. Then 400 wet.
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Originally Posted by Rebostar
Either way it’s a whole bunch of sanding…and then there’s more of the same after the high build…and then again after the 2K urethane. It seems to never end!