Preparing For Dallara Body Kit

Reshot the fender flares, the hood, the rocker trim & the trunk lid with 15% reducer mix Clear coat after some more fine wet sanding this morning.

I'm done with this. I need to get it back together. I do still need to wetsand & clear the doors, but besides that there is a bunch of cleanup & fix/paint on a bunch of the trim & misc parts needed to get this back togther & looking good.

I assume I should leave the paint a couple/few days again to fully harden before I start final sanding & polish procedure?


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Yes, let it cure for as much as you can.
I would say 2-3 weeks, some materials need to evaporate.
Looks good and after wet sanding it will be great.
 
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That sheeit it looksa niiiice... (just say it phonetically, its somewhat less offensive that way. OK maybe not.)

It is definitely going to look great. I would give it a few days. Assuming these are catalyzed they need less cure and outgas time but giving it a few days would definitely be to your advantage.

What, is the whole school starting thing making you a bit itchy? :) I am sure you are deep into the whole just get it done and enjoy the thing mode. I know I would be.

Before you start driving it make sure you have upped the value on your insurance lest some moron ruin your work and your pocketbook.

I can’t wait to see it completed but don’t put it back together until its all sanded and polished, it gets harder when you are trying to work around all the other parts.
 
After I checked out Ann's 500 (no) start issue, I wet sanded (1000grit, then 1500) the hood & doors. Took a couple hours to get all (almost all) the orange peel out. The door bottom edges went through to primer in spots, so I had to reshoot some base, then prep for the final clear.

Shot them (hood & doors) with clear with 15% reduction, two light coats. About 18oz of mixed Clear, + the reducer was enough for this session. Have to sand the dust out, but otherwise looking pretty good.

Sanded & shot a final coat of clear on the targa top bar also.

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Put the hood and trunk lid on after hours of frustration on the Fiat 500 no start issue.

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Have to trim the underside of the spoiler extensions, when I filled them, I didn't think to check clearance for the 1/4 tops

Strut tower forward area is original paint. Same with Frunk. Pretty close color, it turns out. Looks closer in photos.
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(new seal, too short, MWB sending replacement)
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Colour sanding. You can colour sand anytime after the paint hardens as per manufactures instructions. On my Son's car we left if for 3 months, used 1000 to start then 1500 by hand, then used a jitter bug with 2000 and then 4000 wet Aberlon pads, buffed with G3 rubbing compound. The initial cut because the paint was so well cured took a lot longer. Body shops normally will not wait this long as time is money and hard paint takes longer to cut. The nice thing is that you can put the car together and then take your time and do a panel at a time. If you have never done this before ( cut and buff) put masking tape over your edges as 1, the paint is thinner on the edges and 2 the tendency to sand the edge more than required will cause you to sand through the clear and you are back to repainting that panel. To do it right expect to spend about 20 to 30 hours colour sanding the car when the paint is less than 1 week old. Add another 10 hours if you wait longer than that.

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando Florida.
 
Colour sanding. You can colour sand anytime after the paint hardens as per manufactures instructions. On my Son's car we left if for 3 months, used 1000 to start then 1500 by hand, then used a jitter bug with 2000 and then 4000 wet Aberlon pads, buffed with G3 rubbing compound. The initial cut because the paint was so well cured took a lot longer. Body shops normally will not wait this long as time is money and hard paint takes longer to cut. The nice thing is that you can put the car together and then take your time and do a panel at a time. If you have never done this before ( cut and buff) put masking tape over your edges as 1, the paint is thinner on the edges and 2 the tendency to sand the edge more than required will cause you to sand through the clear and you are back to repainting that panel. To do it right expect to spend about 20 to 30 hours colour sanding the car when the paint is less than 1 week old. Add another 10 hours if you wait longer than that.

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando Florida.

What do you mean by color sanding? I'm confused, or is that just the term for final sanding? SInce I'm only sanding the clear, it's got me confused. :D

EDIT - what brand sander to use with those Abralon pads? They don't say what OD they are :( Looking up 'jitterbugs" they all seem to have rectangular pads.
 
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Colour sanding/cut and buff is the same. Obital sander/jitter bug the same, air powered and is used wet. The sander also has a vacuum pick up for dry applications, not needed here. 4" pads purchased on ebay because local supplier didn't have any. Saves a lot of time for the final buff and the pads are soft and spongy. Just watch your edges.

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando.
 
Colour sanding/cut and buff is the same. Obital sander/jitter bug the same, air powered and is used wet. The sander also has a vacuum pick up for dry applications, not needed here. 4" pads purchased on ebay because local supplier didn't have any. Saves a lot of time for the final buff and the pads are soft and spongy. Just watch your edges.

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando.

Hey Tony not having any success finding Abralon pads smaller than 6", assuming sander is also 4". Do you have a specific model or brand / item number I can look up for the foam pads and sander?
 
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Hey Tony not having any success finding Abralon pads smaller than 6", assuming sander is also 4". Do you have a specific model or brand / item number I can look up for the foam pads and sander?
Hussein sorry it is a 6" sander with a Velcro hook pad on the base. I am at FFO will see if I can find a sander on line. I have limited access to stuff with my old travel computer, will look for a model number.

Try this link. I am hoping you can see this sander, simple cheap and has variable speed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FIXKIT-6-A...905120&hash=item2145f22607:g:RRgAAOSw6QpbS1Fo

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando.
 
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Hussein sorry it is a 6" sander with a Velcro hook pad on the base. I am at FFO will see if I can find a sander on line. I have limited access to stuff with my old travel computer, will look for a model number.

Try this link. I am hoping you can see this sander, simple cheap and has variable speed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FIXKIT-6-A...905120&hash=item2145f22607:g:RRgAAOSw6QpbS1Fo

TonyK.

At FFO 2018 Orlando.

Thanks Tony. Hope you are enjoying the FFO!

Found a lower CFM version of that - my compressor can't support 12CFM, if I'm reading it right.

Put the doors on today with the support of the Mrs.

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and then hand wet sanded the DS 1/4, sill & front fender with 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000 then 7000 grit. After that I used the (Chemical Guys) medium cutting compound, their cutting polish and finally the finishing polish. That took most of the day. Door will be later.

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looks a little dull next to the door, which hasn't been cut yet.

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after that I put xpel film on the sill cap, and then installed the DS rocker trim

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Put the wheels back on (after fixing the undercoat in the wheel arches) & put it on the ground. Have to turn it around to work on the PS tomorrow, after I do the Windscreen install & nose cut/polish.

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Thanks Ladies and Gents! :D

I'm happy with it overall. There are little defects all over that are hard to photgraph, but nothing significant enough to get me to repaint any panels :D .

Today was a royal pain. I installed the windscreen (with the help of the Mrs), but didn't mask off the cowl, so I ended up with urethane all over the place. Took me three hours to remove the excess, and nicked the paint in several spots along the edge. I sanded the cowl with 1000 grit, and touched up the nicks with base. I'm going to try reshooting the clear, I really don't want to redo the whole cowl over. The whole point was to NOT have a paint edge over the urethane. Started wet sanding the nose at the end of the day, just to help me feel a little more productive.

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Reshot the windshield frame edge today. Farted around with the winsdhield trim. The plastic coating was chipped/flaking in spots & I tried to paint it without much success. Sanded the right front fender with 2000 grit. Futzed with other small items.

Separated the engine cover again & sanded / prepped the lid an the insert. Also the mirrors, and door handles.
Shot with primer, and later with base coat.

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Cleaned the door fixed glass frames & prepped the rusted areas for epoxy.

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Cleaned up the Bertone trim for the sail panels. I'll clear coat them.

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