Yet another bodywork thread – Scott L sands and sands and sands some more…

[Scott L]

Could 2010 be the year of the builder /painter? Jon A, and STL Scott have inspired me to take the bodywork on myself. I got off to a rough start, but that was appropriate, because this is a rough body.

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231442

A late 2005 MKIII body, picked up in early 2006, it has every standard defect of its vintage – bad seams, lots of gelcoat defects, mold alignment issues, and really poor FFR body cutouts. Late last fall I ground out the seams and filled them with HSRF.



This cured over the winter, and I restarted the bodywork in earnest over Easter weekend. It’s time to start the Rage Gold. Put it on…



Sand it off…



Do this three or four time and it starts to look OK J

I am using the Breeze hidden hinges, and this will create its own body work issues in the future.



(continued…)

[Scott L]

After a couple sessions of spreading and sanding it is starting to look pretty good.









(continued…)

[Scott L]

The contour gauge seems to indicate that my fenders have their curve back. I think I am done with the fenders, at least until I need to fit the doors and trunk.







I just started rolling the cockpit edges.



I am pretty happy with my progress so far. Hopefully the warm weather will be back soon. Once the main body is finished and blocked out to 180, I will put the body back on to fit the panels. Any northeast (Metrowest MA) builders want to help when it is time to mount the body? J

[STL-Scott]

Ahhh, your a brave man! Looking good so far. Hope the (long) threads that Jon & I created help out.

How do you find the durablock sanders to use? I could never get a good feel for using them - as they are a bit too stiff. I have a Flexible sander that was pretty versitle. It's one of these from K-Block. You can also put the paper on the rounded back side which worked good for all of the contours.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/...emno=KUS+KB-16

Scott

[Matstng]

I always admire you guys for tackling the bodywork. I hope when my time comes I'm brave enough to take it on but it's kinda hard to not take advantage of DaBat being as close as he is.

Keep the pics coming

[5873]

I second the K-block. THe KB-16 has really good feel for sanding the curves. Your progress looks good.

[Scott L]

Thanks for the advice. I agree - the durablocks are a little stiff for some of the contours on the FFR. I just ordered a KB-16 for some of the bigger bends.

STL-Scott - I have copies of your thread, and Jon A's thread printed on the workbench. It is good to have an example or two to follow.

The painter is coming by today to check on my work. He will be spraying the FF2, Epoxy, and BC/CC over the body work. He is pretty excited about a job with no sanding, and no masking. Maybe it is the economy, but I had almost no problem finding a painter willing to paint over my bodywork at a resonable (cash) price.

While the bodywork is challenging, it really is fairly straight forward and I am enjoying it - there is a definite Zen to the sanding. I am shooting for primer by the end of June, and color by Labor Day. Hopefully this will be one of the first cars registered under SEMA in MA this fall. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Scott L

[jammin1]

Looks great. I realy enjoyed doing the body work. What town do you live in?

[Scott L]

Hi Jammin -

I am in Medfield, just southwest of the Rte 109 / 27 junction.

[Motorhead]

Are there any really detailed threads about how to do the body work?

[STL-Scott]

Originally Posted by blue_Cobra427

Are there any really detailed threads about how to do the body work?

Yes...

Here is my blog/follow along thread:
Started Body Work on #6583

Here is JonA's
Body Work Progress Photos

Originally Posted by Scott L

STL-Scott - I have copies of your thread, and Jon A's thread printed on the workbench. It is good to have an example or two to follow.

The painter is coming by today to check on my work. He will be spraying the FF2, Epoxy, and BC/CC over the body work. He is pretty excited about a job with no sanding, and no masking. Maybe it is the economy, but I had almost no problem finding a painter willing to paint over my bodywork at a resonable (cash) price.

I know what you mean...the painter I am using talked to me on the phone several times over the last month and is excited to do my job, and loves the idea of not having to do (a lot of) sanding. He is going to go over my work with one final pass and then hit it with epoxy sealer. Now...if I could just get my sanded body to him...I would be really happy. The booth he is working on using is not quite ready (the details of using it that is)...

Scott

[Motorhead]

Thanks Scott!

[Scott L]

Thought it was time for an update.

I tried the PVC pipe approach to spread the rage for the cockpit edges, but it just didn't work well for me. I decided to try to make a spreader with the right contour.



I found this worked pretty well.



I think I am done with the edges until the doors are mounted. I am sure I will need to rework the ends to mate up with the door edges.

On the advice of several other builders I ordered a KB16 block. This works much better on the some of the rounder portions of the fenders. I highly recommend it.



(continued)

[Scott L]

Started working on the hood today. First I had to block out the edges on the body. This was the last part of the main body to be sanded out with 80 grit.

(do you like my "five")



I also started blocking out the bottom of the hood.



I am just getting started on the hood extenson. I used several layers of mat and resin to make the filler piece for the hood extension.



Tomorrow I try to cut this to fit, and stiffen it up with some HSRF. Anyone have any advice on the best way to trim the fiberglass edges on the extension? I am thinking about a small cutting disk on a Dremel. How have other builders done this? Thanks -
Scott

[STL-Scott]

I traced the line I needed with a sharpie, and then did the cut with my bandsaw. Cut like butta! Then I just sanded the whole extension up with 80-grit and glassed it into the bottom side of the hood.

[Scott L]

If I only had a bandsaw...maybe the Bosch jigsaw will work.

[snakeboost]

and Im your dog when you need heavy lifting done.......I carry myself quite well
steve

[rponfick]

Steve, your comment reminds me of a T-shirt I saw on a young mover once. It said "I am not very smart, but I can lift heavy things".

Carry on.

Ralph.

[Scott L]

Hey Steve - I may stop by later this week. I actually think a coping saw will get the job done. Thanks for the offer, say hi to Mike for me.

Scott

[STL-Scott]

Scott - my only other suggestion is to use a tool that you can run the piece through, versus the other way around. I've seen some pretty nasty cuts when you try to use a big hand held power tool to cut a small flimsy piece of material.

A small cut-off wheel on a air grinder or dremel would also work. Clamp the fiberglass to a work bench and go at it. Only one edge needs to be nice and straight.

Scott

[Scott L]

Thanks Scott - I think I will try to stop by Fortes this week and use Mike's bandsaw. I haven't seen Steve since he came back east, and Mike can usually be bought off with some Dunkin coffee...

[JKleiner]

For cutting through 2 layers of cloth and resin I found that simpler tools worked just fine...



Looking good Scott!

Cheers,
Jeff

[Stinson Pilot]

Congrats on getting it done. I've got a great deal of mine done (including cutting the front off and bonding the hood). Once you get the feel for it, it's not too bad. I've actually been enjoying it.

Keep us posted.

[Scott L]

Thanks Doug - I am really impressed with your tilt nose, it looks great!

[snakeboost]

Originally Posted by rponfick

Steve, your comment reminds me of a T-shirt I saw on a young mover once. It said "I am not very smart, but I can lift heavy things".

Carry on.

Ralph.

You know my friends all say the same things..............mmmmmmmmmmm coffee tanks Scott

Steve

[Scott L]

After a week of cold, wet, windy weather we had a great day here in the peoples republic today – 70+ and sunny! I took off at lunch determined to make some progress on the sanding. So far I have managed to do most of the sanding outside and I have avoided trashing my garage and go-cart. There is nothing better than working on the car in the driveway on a sunny day!

Earlier in the week I stopped by Fortes. Mike was nice enough to let me use his band saw to cut out my hood extension.



I spread a thin layer of HSRF on the glass to stiffen it up. As STL-Scott said above, it cut like butter.

Before I mount the extension I wanted to clean up the underside of the hood. It took several layers of Rage Gold for me to get this done. I need to touch up a couple rough spots but it is getting there.



The extension seems to fit pretty well. Hopefully I will get it bonded on and filled / sanded this weekend.



I also spent an hour or two on the scoop opening. I am really happy with how this is coming out



The hood seems a little fussy / tedious from a bodywork perspective. This just isn’t as much fun as pushing the long boards over the fenders. All in all, it was a very good afternoon.

Scott

[STL-Scott]

Looks good Scott! Big power tools are always fun and make a small job go quickly!

You think it's slow going on the hood now, wait to you start to sand out the area you filled, and then go to block sand that area and the rolled areas of the hood after primer. Oh yeah, that was fun...not.

Good luck on bonding it in. I sanded my gel coat off the areas I bonded another layer of f/g to with the extension so that I was getting a true f/g to f/g bond, and not trying to rely on adhesion to the gel coat.

Scott

[Jon A]

Scott,

Looks great. I agree with Scott, sand that gel-coat away before bonding the extension.

Keep at it and you will be done in no time... and by no time, I mean a few hundred more hours!! It will be worth it in the end.

-Jon A.

[rponfick]

Scott L, you are smarter than me. I glassed in the scoop extension before finishing up the underside of the hood scoop area. It is a bit hard to sand and finish the area under the area the extension covers up. Fingers are about all that you can reach into the area. Ouch.

Good point for future builders.

Ralph.

[Scott L]

Didn't get as much time as I had hoped to work on the car this weekend, but I did manage to get the hood extension bonded on.



A single layer of mat created a really solid bond between the hood and the extension.



I spent some more time on the scoop opening as well.



Now I need to finish the bottom of the hood. I think I have miles to go before I sleep.



It still needs a lot of time, but I am happy I decided to do this. The extension really changes the look of the hood. Thanks again to Jon A, and STL Scott for providing me with a plan and great examples. I could not do this without thier detailed directions.