I finished fitting the under door aluminum. I also made a couple of seals for the body gaps in the front of the rear wheel well. When that was done I broke all the new peices down for paint. I'll be removing the body again in the morning. It has to go to the paint shop early Tuesday morning.
Its been a few days since I posted. Been doing all the little things prior to installing the body for the last time. Small things like adding rubber bumpers to the top front long square tubes as they are about a half inch below the body. Repositioning the passenger seat closer to the tunnel to get the seat away from the body corner. Mounting the filler plate on the left of the dash. And about a half dozen small issues none of which I took a pic of....sorry about that.
I also loaded the body and panels back into my trailer and delivered it all to the painter. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll get it back fully painted and ready to install a week from this coming Monday. The roll bars will be back from the chrome shop on the 18th. So looking at wrapping this project up by Jan 1st.
After delivering the body to the paint shop yesterday, this morning I started mocking up the oil cooler and all the associated plumming. I allready had the oil cooler mount sorted, so I just needed to route the -10 oil hose. I used two 30' AN-10 fillings per side off the oil cooler. I also used 2 AN-10 90' bulkhead fittings to go through the side panels. I got the oil filter adapter from Breeze with the internal thermal switch. Off that I used two 90' AN-10 fittings and plummed to fit. Then just clamped everything down to make it all secure.
I have all the panels laid out for prep and paint. The splash panels will get grey Raptor Bed Liner on both sides. All the front inlet panels will have the same on the down and outsides and Summit Carbon Fiber Metalic on the "show" sides.
Today I installed all the rivnuts that will attach all 4 of the splash shields and the two filler plates on the forward side of the rear wheel well. I did not want them rivited on. They will attach with 8-32 screws so they can be removed for body R&R. I also scotch brited all the remaining panels then etched them, then primed them with eurathane primer. Tomorrow will see the splash shields painted with Grey tinted Raptor Bed Liner and the nose section panels painted Carbon Fiber Metalic. I also painted my "bug" screen primer grey.
Today I decided to see if I could fit the Metco Drive Shaft Loop using an alternate mounting method. I saw AAron use the webs on the rear of the 4" tube and I wanted to do something similar. I started with a light cardboard cut out to see what would fit. Then I transfered that to 3/16" steel. I bent the first set of angles with a vice and torch. For the second angle I cut off the section and welded it back on at the correct angle. So now I had a base to attach the hoop to that would bolt to those angle webs. Then I mocked up the hoop and cut off the mount section that I needed. I clamped that in place to make sure everything would clear. Then I welded that section onto the previous piece. Looks like it will clear all the E-brake cables and pulley. Tomorrow I will drill the mounting holes to attach it to the car. I will weld on a pair of nuts on the inside of the upper flanges so It can be un-bolted. I'm sure this has been done a few times but on the other Metco thread I did not see or hear anything about it except what I posted about AArons installation.
I forgot to metion that I got all the splash shields painted with Raptor Bed Liner and the nose pieces and several interior pieces Carbon Fiber Metalic
This mornings festivities included finishing up the Metco driveshaft hoop. I put the reat axle on jack stands and worked the rear suspension system to make sure everything would clear. It does. So break down and primed and painted the new piece. I'll leave the hoop itself black powder coated. I also got some of the painted pieces installed. I slid the seat belt eschutchens on the belts. I have to remove the seats to drill out the mounting holes. I'll get that done tomorow. But the trim looks great painted the Summit Carbon Fiber Metalic. I also painted the E-brake handle. I dont want any chrome or brushed/polished aluminum anywhere in the cockpit. I installed the two side nose peices and attached the oil cooler hoses, then installed the upper filler plate, which I'll have to remove in order to install the bug and rock screens. Tomorrow I'll be painting the center section and spokes of the steering wheel.
Detail, details, details, Seems like they never end. Because I want to be able to remove the splash shields, I cannot seal them. So I have some adhiesive backed 1/8" rubber strips I got from West Coast Classic Cougar and made some gaskets that would allow space for the rivnuts that hold them on and be water proof. A real Pain in the A** punching out all those holes. Then I needed to attach all the bulb seal. So now I have removable splash shields.
I got the steering wheel and hub painted its gonna look great with the Tony Branda Cobra center logo. I'll post pic tomorrow. I also spent the time to add an axle vent line. Because I have lots of leftover AN-6 stuff I decide to use it. I know its overkill but its better than letting all those parts collect dust.
The bummer for the day was the Chrome shop wont have my roll bars till next Monday....a week late, but at least I called first before driving an hour over there.
I've plum run outta stuff to do!! Well here is a pic of my overkill axle vent line as prosmised. I added 5 gallons of gas and calibrated my "Fuel Link" per the Classic Instruments manual, so I now have an accurate fuel gauge. I replaced a leaking steel oil plug in the Canton Pan with a brass one. Hopefully that stops the weeping. I installed the leather E-Brake boot I got from Poland. ( Very nice and well made, thank you for the tip Lance! ). I got the shoulder belt trim pieces drilled and screwed on. Oh yea, I drilled out the "air" hole in the steering wheel hub to allow air to escape when I install the Cobra Emblem, then I reassembled and installed the steering wheel. One small tid bit I added a few inches of heat shrink between the outer steering shaft bearing and the steering wheel hub so the 3/4 steel shaft wont rust. And lastly I added a quick disconect to the Liecence plate light wire.
Now I'm stuck till I get the body back from paint. Guess I'll work on my Studebaker engine (331 Ford Stroker actually), but it will power the 57 Studebaker Silver Hawk I'm building.
Seems I've run out of ideas to keep working on the MK4. Ive read through the entire build manual and I've done everything I can without the body which is still at the paint shop. Seems like I was promised one thing but am getting another. That is, I delivered the body to the paint shop on the 12th and was told it would be done after this weekend. I have yet to see a spray out. Much less having anything done on the car. So I've been condemmed to "paint jail".
I was not totaly overjoyed with the way the oil cooler in and out lines came out. They kinda looked like an after thought. So I made another pair and changed the routing and color of the fittings. I like the new lines better.
As the oil cooler lines were all I could think of to do, I decided to put my 331 stroker back on the run stand as it was given the boot when I built the 427W thats in the car now. So I rolled it out of storage and put it back on my run stand. I have it partialy connected and will wrap that up tomorrow. Its supposed to rain here for the next week, but they are promising a break over Thanksgiving so I should get a run in then.
Damb, I'm bored!! Looking for stuff to do. I'm still in "Paint Jail". I decided to make a cover for the wiring that is on the back side of the rear switch panel that has the seat heaters and vent blower control switches. I just did not want moisture, dirt and crud on the back side of those switches. Fortunately I have a supply of bread and muffin tins that I scored from the Goodwill for a buck apiece. I usually use them for hardware storage when disassemling something. But today one of the old fasion bread pans is now my inside cover for the rear switch panel. I had to shorten it an inch and weld a flange on each side to mount it to the 3/4 tubes, then weld on the shortened end after making clearance for the wire bundles that run through the area. Primed and painted ready to install tomorrow when the paint is dry! Then cut some anti-chafe strip to protect the wires.
Here is the finished product after painting and edge protection. I also installed some 1/8" self adhesive anti chafe strip on the mounting flanges.
Happy trails!
I just wanted to give an update on the paint job. ( I know your all waiting with baited breath! ). It seems House of Kolor was a few weeks late in shipping out the secret "additive" that makes the Shimmerin II Brandywine pop. My friend Pedro plans to shoot the body this weekend. I hope to get it back after next weekend. He will need time for the paint to cure and a few days to cut and buff. I'll post again when I get more info or my car body back.
I just got the bad news from the painter. More bulls*#t excuses. No paint job. Hence the term "paint jail"! I got off the phone with a couple of other local body shops. They were obviously smoking crack, asking 15K for a top coat and cut & buff. That comes out to $2500. a day for 6 days work. Or $312. per hour. I guess I'll wait! I have a Studebaker Silver Hawk to resto-mod as I while away the hours and days.
Looks great. What's the strip color or are you going solid color?
This color is HOK Brandywine. The stripes will be HOK Galaxy Grey Metalic (-05 the darkest shade). Though I plan to check it out after he finishes the body but before the stripes go on. I'm not yet fully commited to the stripes, though I did buy the paint for them. I chose the dark grey to tie the body into the grey highlites in the interior.
Amazing. I saw a Cobra this color at a car show this summer. Even took pictures of it. It's the color I chose as well. Although when I looked at HOK, they had several Brandywine tints. I'd be interested in what your stripes end up looking like...if you do stripes. I haven't decided on stripes yet either.
That's going to look spectacular! IMO you can't beat HOK for wow colors. We went with an HOK candy blue over silver and when the paint shop screwed it up they wanted to redo it using their brand of paint instead of HOK. Fortunately we still had the original spray out so my wife runs out to the truck and gets it. We told them we didn't care what brand of paint but here's the color. The new painter they had hired, who I actually knew and is quite capable, had a real "oh crap" look on his face when he saw the spray out. Six weeks later he threw in the towel and admitted he couldn't match the HOK color.
I still have the spray out hanging on the wall in my office.
That's going to look spectacular! IMO you can't beat HOK for wow colors. We went with an HOK candy blue over silver and when the paint shop screwed it up they wanted to redo it using their brand of paint instead of HOK. Fortunately we still had the original spray out so my wife runs out to the truck and gets it. We told them we didn't care what brand of paint but here's the color. The new painter they had hired, who I actually knew and is quite capable, had a real "oh crap" look on his face when he saw the spray out. Six weeks later he threw in the towel and admitted he couldn't match the HOK color.
I still have the spray out hanging on the wall in my office.
My painter friend did my 64 Fairlane Thunderbolt clone in this exact color (Brandywine). It was the Shimerin I, Kandy over a silver metalflake base. This new HOK is Shimerin II over a black base. All the shinny bits and secret sauce is added to the base paint. Pedro says he can repair/blend this newer HOK paint, whereas with the old Shimerin I he would have had to re-shoot the whole car if it was ever damaged.
Hot dam Maynord! I just received these pics from my friend Pedro who's doing the top coat for me in his auto body shop. Thats HOK Brandywine. I assume it has clear coat on it as thats the usual procedure. It has to cure before the stripes go on. I will stop by his shop tomorrow to give a thumbs up or down on the stripes depending on how it looks now without them and what kind of tone contrast the HOK Galaxy Grey Metalic has.
I'll take some better pics and post them tomorrow.
As promised above I went to look over the paint top coat. Below are the pics. After shooting the HOK Shimmerin II Brandywine, Pedro shot a light coat of "Intercoat" to protect the paint while he masked off and shot the stripes. So it does not have any HOK clearcoat on it. Pedro say's he will wet sand the intercoat with 1000 grit then shoot at least 2 maybe 3 coats of HOK Clearcoat. After that dried for a few days or a week or so he'll cut and buff it. Then it's back home for final assembly.
After looking over the paint, and seeing the amount of pearl and metalflake in it I'm thinking that the HOK Galaxy Grey stripes would be a distraction. What do you think? I'll post a question on the roadster general topic forum. Please chime in.
Thanks
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Wow...that's beautiful. Reminds me a little of that Soul Red. The sunlight is going to light that color up! I looked at that Galaxy Grey and its stunning as well, but I see what you are saying. Maybe a ghost stripe would be better? Did the painter do a sample draw down of both colors together?
That red is outstanding, and I love the glassed-in hood scoop. I wouldn't worry about stripes taking away from that color... I don't think it's possible!
Wow...that's beautiful. Reminds me a little of that Soul Red. The sunlight is going to light that color up! I looked at that Galaxy Grey and its stunning as well, but I see what you are saying. Maybe a ghost stripe would be better? Did the painter do a sample draw down of both colors together?
Yes sir. He did a spray out of both colors together. The Brandywine overpowers the Grey a lot, and the pics I have are in direct sun light that does not show the pearl in the Brandywine. If the Grey had some pearl in it that might be different, but who knows. Not sure I want to "experiment".
I have a buddy that runs Classic Recreations where they build very high end "new" 68 Mustangs and other cars. I've seen them put vinyl stripes on cars when the customer can't decide on stripes/no stripes or the stripe color. He told me one car they did 6-8 times before the customer decided.
I have a buddy that runs Classic Recreations where they build very high end "new" 68 Mustangs and other cars. I've seen them put vinyl stripes on cars when the customer can't decide on stripes/no stripes or the stripe color. He told me one car they did 6-8 times before the customer decided.
Yea Mike I know what you mean. I know I'm a bit anal, with me only once or twice, maybe 3 times, but 6 or 8.....I'm not "that" anal! This being said I have been thinking about vinyl "carbon fiber" stripes to match the dash and console. Somewhere down the road if I dont go with the HOK Galaxy Grey.
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). It seems House of Kolor was a few weeks late in shipping out the secret "additive" that makes the Shimmerin II Brandywine pop. My friend Pedro plans to shoot the body this weekend. I hope to get it back after next weekend. He will need time for the paint to cure and a few days to cut and buff. I'll post again when I get more info or my car body back.
Originally Posted by Blitzboy54
