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Decided to try and customize my 76 C3....here is where I am.....and where I am stuck at...
Had the entire car soda blasted, scrubbed down with soap and water followed by a diluted vinegar wipedown...
Placed my flares and attempted to do my first fiberglass job....sanded both surfaces with 40 grit to give the glass a place to bite...coated the surfaces with tigerhair and riveted into place....applied another layer of tigerhair over the seam, followed by a 3 inch piece of mat then more tigerhair on top.....plan to do the same to the underside. Now don't be too hard on me but here are the pics of the rough in....will explain my problem in the next post.
That Tigerhair is some nasty S%&T!!!! There is no brushing it on, there is no using a spreader to smooth it, all I could do was grab a handful and smear!!!! I know it looks rough but after aan hour of heartfelt sanding I started to get it to take shape and smooth out...some. I gave it a second coat...this time I used a brush to try and smooth it a bit without much more success. A hell of a lot of sanding later I have it fairly smoothed within about 1/8th of an inch from the shape I want....But....I have these "potholes" in it. Not deep, maybe about 1/16th of an inch. I plan to use Rage Ultra for the finish coat. Should I be worried about these "potholes"? The Rage can be applied up to 1/4 inch thick. Is there another way to apply the tigerhair to get a better result than the pics before sanding? It seems to be good stuff, it's like the flares are welded on but I am leary of a 3rd coat if I am just going to get the same result.......HELP!!!!
I think your plan is sound, trying to use tiger/kitty hair to do finish bodywork in is a slow/annoying process. I've used the rage product line before and its nice to work with, sands easy and applies nice. I'd add that its probably a good idea to make sure the "potholes" are roughed up to help the filler stick and Id shoot a couple thick coats of poly primer over the repair for the final surfacing.
I have the same aci flares, but to start with I am doing mine "panic" style, and then later mold them in...
The potholes will likely be okay, and now that the tiger hair is there leave it, it is mean strong stuff, and no, it does "work" easy just as you learned far more finishing sanding, the other thing is be sure has you sand that curve and radious you can wrap the paper on an old radiator hose and pop from side to side to be sure they match, I saw a car at old town the owner had to point out from the rare the flarers didnt come close to matching...
WELL....thats a little better. The more I worked with that Tigerhair the better I got. After applying multiple coats and sanding my bells off with 40 grit I finally got it in the rough shape that I needed. Finished it off with Rage Ultra at about 1/4 inch thick and gave it a wide spread so I could get the feather down. BATS....thank you so much for the suggesting of the radiator hose for shaping....what a great tool for a car that has not one body panel without a curve!!!! This has become my favorite sanding block. I don't think it came out too bad for someone who has never done bodywork before. I am satisfied with the supplies I chose, that Rage Ultra is some pretty good stuff with no sagging or pin holes.
I have one thing to say about Tiger Hair. Whoever developed it should be shot ! In my 25+ years of running my restoration shop I spent more time grinding that nasty stuff out of bad repairs and repairing it the right way.
I have the same aci flares, but to start with I am doing mine "panic" style, and then later mold them in...
The potholes will likely be okay, and now that the tiger hair is there leave it, it is mean strong stuff, and no, it does "work" easy just as you learned far more finishing sanding, the other thing is be sure has you sand that curve and radious you can wrap the paper on an old radiator hose and pop from side to side to be sure they match, I saw a car at old town the owner had to point out from the rare the flarers didnt come close to matching...
Looks good Bats. I would leave it the way it is . Your car has come a long way.
I have one thing to say about Tiger Hair. Whoever developed it should be shot ! In my 25+ years of running my restoration shop I spent more time grinding that nasty stuff out of bad repairs and repairing it the right way.
Hello, I am about to start bodywork on a '70 C3. What would you recommend for patches, etc?
I would really appreciate the benefit of your experience so I don't have to learn the hard way.
Thank You
sorry to hijack your thread IndianRiver
BTW you might cut out a few bucks from cardboard/card stock to check each sides profile against one another so they match perfectly
Looks good Bats. I would leave it the way it is . Your car has come a long way.
That's not my car...it's "panics", actually my car is done but the shop owner will not give me a date I can get it...
My car has a long way to go...
I plan to run wet sanded black primer not satin paint, no front flares to start and the tilt front clip...etc etc...
I have one thing to say about Tiger Hair. Whoever developed it should be shot ! In my 25+ years of running my restoration shop I spent more time grinding that nasty stuff out of bad repairs and repairing it the right way.
Well...if you had to grind it out I obviously picked the right stuff to add structure...got to admit it is hard to work with and takes a lot of time to shape....but I am satisfied with it. Got the other side done today and will now take a break to go fishing. The next step for me is the sanding in prep for primer. I have decided to go with HOK products and will be using the KD3000 grey high build primer/sealer.
First vette project...
