Re: Exterior restoration/modifications.

Not a great deal to report here, so far just like the other thread more will follow in time.

Previous owner commented in the eBay ad that the car looked good from twenty foot. Being cellulose meant some of the imperfections could be addressed by simple polishing by hand. These two products along with various grades of micro fibres and a polishing pad have helped improve the paint work.



Here the drivers door has been worked on and the rear quarter has not, the difference was definitely noticeable. The reflection of the quarter was terrible, many swirls, burrs and scratches were present.

After using compound and polish the results were as follows...



...now a good definition in the reflection...

Not a hundred percent about the car's re-spray (originally a silver car) certain areas needed addressing and will be attended to in due course. What I do like is the lack or orange peel in the finish, really does make a difference

It's far from perfect, for a start the iPhone camera hides real details and the photos weren't taken in direct sunlight. Overall though I'm happy enough to avoid a bare metal re-spray for the time being

nice work dude, that is shiny enough for me
good stuff meguiars

Impressive

nice work

Thanks gentlemen As said it's FAR from perfect, but it's acceptable.

i would be happy with that finish

thirdgen wrote:i would be happy with that finish

Thanks I'm sure you'll see it in the flesh one day and judge for yourself. It's cellulose, it's 17 years old or thereabouts, it's seen a fair few sunny days, it's the best it's gonna be. I think the main issue is that since it isn't clear over base it lacks that really wet look.

Looks nice

The Z'eer wrote:

thirdgen wrote:i would be happy with that finish

Thanks I'm sure you'll see it in the flesh one day and judge for yourself. It's cellulose, it's 17 years old or thereabouts, it's seen a fair few sunny days, it's the best it's gonna be. I think the main issue is that since it isn't clear over base it lacks that really wet look.

look forward to it

SUPERCHARGEDGTA wrote:

The Z'eer wrote:

thirdgen wrote:i would be happy with that finish

Thanks I'm sure you'll see it in the flesh one day and judge for yourself. It's cellulose, it's 17 years old or thereabouts, it's seen a fair few sunny days, it's the best it's gonna be. I think the main issue is that since it isn't clear over base it lacks that really wet look.

look forward to it

...thanks me too!

The ignition module failed a few months back and as such and excessive amount of fuel ended up in the drivers side muffler...BANG! the can exploded and as such ended up removing the muffler.

One thing leads to another and pretty soon the whole exhaust system was removed, headers n' all for a refurb. Despite cleaning and removal of corrosion I went a little further and decided to learn the technique of metal polishing.

What a time consuming job, but eons later and the end result was a pleasing one

Before and after...

Using these...







...gave a good reflection, but sadly there's still minute hairline scratches despite the softest of mops, cloths and polishes. Probably a result of the metal being mild steel.

While the exhaust was off I decided to refurb the underside. The tank was removed and thankfully the boot floor has only suffered surface rust over it's 36 years of life.

After mechanical abrasion...



Shot blasting isn't really an option for me so the alternative was repeated application of home brewed citric acid gel, mechanical abrasion and phosphoric acid. After finishing with Phos Kleen B...







...the steel is clean, integrity is good.

nice work dude

nice

Impressive work mate

top job

Thank you gentlemen, much appreciated and thank you Kev for showing myself and my Dad your Firebird a truly wonderful resto/mod you have there

Been working on the underside for the past few months now. The removal of underseal was probably the worst task I've encountered in all of my years of motoring Thankfully it's all gone now and the surface corrosion is has been dealt with via citric acid gel and mechanical abrasion.

Currently in the process of applying the initial coat of paint to the underside...

...and to do that I chose an epoxy mastic as opposed to the likes of POR 15 based on the it being more durable and longevity, not to mention this epoxy mastic being far more resistant to corrosion. Very similar (or possibly identical to Rustbuster's 121) this is Jotun 87 Aluminium, mixed by weight...



...and then applied by roller...

Top job