Dave--



I can just imagine the feeling/shock/adrenaline flowing through the veins when you hit base!!! Way to recover and get it back to looking sweet...

Make sure no one is around when you try to put the head light assemblies in... No way would I try that after painting... Maybe your front end is easy to slide them into place versus a '73 with the bumper attached... Couple of PITAs...

How much clear did you use overall, not counting the redo??? The clear I'm using mixes to "6 quarts"... Think I can get 3 good coats on my vert with 6 quarts???

Looking good bud...

Rogman

 

Looks great brother!!!!

 

Roger, I used about a quart of my old stuff, and I've probably got over a quart of the new stuff left over,so IMO if you buy six quarts of clear you'll have lots left over. Basically figure 1 gallon clear+1 quart hardener+1 quart reducer=6 quarts of material. I could easily shoot three more coats over the entire car with what I've got left here...
As far as installing the light doors,I'm gonna put the door+frame away.'s back into the front end THEN assemble them the rest of the way once they're installed and adjusted...fingers crossed.

 

Thanks Dave... Mine are crossed for you as well!!!

Rogman

 

Gotta Make this quick cuz the Goodwood Revival's on Speed in a few minutes and I don't want to miss too much...

Finished PROPERLY polishing all the loose parts today....re- polished the wiper door and driver's door, both of which turned out spectacular after going the 1000-1200-1500-2000-trizact route. Ignatz, the Trizact makes all the difference. I'm so used to buffing out lacquer by hand after sanding it to 2000 that I had no idea what a huge difference this makes, but it really is the trick.

Also, while on a work trip last week near beautiful Camarillo, CA, I stopped at Harbor Freight Intergalactic headquarters and picked up a REAL polisher, digital speed control, etc. to replace the old Black & Decker POS that I've been fighting with for years...what a difference!!! With this baby you just set the speed and you can really bear down on the pad and make the compound work, where with the other one you could barely control the speed. Torque makes all the difference...
New Toy...


Wiper Door...

Driver's Door...


Close up of Driver's door corner where clearcoat was sanded through...

Re-polished Hood...haze is completely GONE...


...FINALLY now I can move onto the main body of the car. I now have the equipment I need and the correct process figured out. Should be a breeze, eh??

 

Great work! Maybe someday I will get to start a thread like yours!!! Hahaha beautiful car!

 

Looks real good Dave... Your heart must have recovered since the sanding through expedition, I take it... Are you using both 3000 and 5000 trizacts???

Rogman

 

That is turning out beautiful. Can't wait to see the finished product. Keep up the good work.

 

Glas the Trizact worked out for you, birdsmith. I've heard tell that there was an even finer grit than the 3000, but didn't seek it out, had no call to use it.

Kinda fun from afar watching all your angst and progress. The pictures look really spectacular. I can't guess what an equivalent job like this would have cost. Like mine, the man hours just add up like crazy plus you lie in bed at night thinking about what to do and what not the next day. $15K maybe, maybe more, or maybe the pros just automatically get it right with ease.

At the end though you forget all that went on and just admire your work and the fact that you did it all yourself. Nice work, now don't scratch anything!

 

5000?? Wouldn't that make it "Pentazact"? Actually I just bought one sheet of Trizact a few days ago and it has lasted through the hood, both doors, roof panels, wiper/headlight doors, and all the other small parts, so one or two more sheets should be adequate to finish the rest of the car. I didn't even know about this stuff until about three weeks ago, and now ther's 5000 too? Does this mean I gotta stop and do everything over AGAIN??

 

Nope, sorry Dave!!! Did some research after you decided to go with 3000... Guess a lot of guys out there (at least on the internet which means it is true) are using 5000... Most go 1500, 3000, and then 5000 on a DA... From their reports, the clear "almost" starts to shine after the 5000 and the buffing time is cut way down...

Those few sheets of trizacts are pretty expensive... Still don't know if I'll have the cojones to use a DA to color sand the clear, but thinking about it...

Rogman

 

If you do use a DA you want to use an interface pad. Also make sure the DA is a palm grip so it doesn't bounce like some do.

Use plenty of water and keep it far away from edges. It sure is a time saver and does a great job.

I have never used Trizact without a DA and the and the thought never crossed my mind until I read it here.

 

nice colors

 

I have a friend who does very high quality show car detailing. A couple of years ago, I had sold him an air powered Mirka da sander that I owned. He began offering color sanding services to some of his clients.

Recently he purchased a couple of these electric Mirka's(they have differing occolation paths,,,is that a proper word). They are really great and very quiet,,,,compared to air.

http://www.abglovesandabrasives.com/...CV-5%22/Detail

Quite expensive at 500 bucks, but likely would bring more than 400 bucks if sold once you are done with it.

I recently used 3000 grit Trizact to sand out some type of water spot damage on my Jag,,,that just would not buff out with even heavy duty Menzerna polishing compound using a rotary buffer. This Trizact did a great job, left an excellent finish and just followed up with Menzerna's Super Intensive polish to great results. Love Menzerna's line of polishes. Google it for more info if not familiar.

Also check out the Flex 3401 orbital buffer,,,,you likely will throw away all the others that you may have been using. They now have a newer very high quality rotary that is also excellent,,,I've basically pitched my old Milwaukee and DeWalts. Somewhat expensive but one's time is too and they can turn an excellent effort into a perfect one.

 

pretty cool tools! looks like they can take the weekend hack and maybe let them achieve a true professional's results.
Birdsmith had orange peel out the ying yang when he started and now its looking like a show car.

 

Sxrxrnr, thanks for the input. After about a month or so of experimenting, though, I have arrived at a combination that does the job to my satisfaction and think I'll stick with it. "If it works...", you know the rest.

BTW, is that one of the Moffett hangars in your avatar? that was my first duty station back in '75-'76. Fun place back in the day!

Oh, I think the word you were searching for was "oscillation"

 

This was shot at the Livermore Airport.

Back in the early and mid-70's I lived in an apt on Cypress Point Drive, just off Moffett Blvd in Mtn. View.

My upstairs neighbor for several years who became a great friend, was Al Worden who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 15 moonshot. He lived there while assigned to NASA at Moffett. One duty was to fly visiting scientists on, I can't remember if it was SR 51's or Blackbirds or some such super planes. Would relate many tales to us of his Astronaut days and the various men he served with,,,,some quite humorous. He also drove a white 72 Corvette that had been presented to him by GM,,,I already owned my current 71 then,,,we parked next to each other in our complex's covered parking stalls. We were quite popular with the ladies of our very large complex,,,oh so many years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Worden

http://silodrome.com/apollo-15-corvettes/

Yes, your spelling is what I meant,,,I think.

 

is that your wife 20 years younger then you in the avatar? haha

 

Interesting...I was stationed at Moffett from '75-'76, NASA had a U-2 that would launch (and I do mean LAUNCH!) from there every few days or so...what a sight. The takeoff roll was only about 500 feet and then nearly straight up until it was gone...waayyy cool.

 

The landings are even better!!!

Rogman