Practically Classics Forum

Cracked on and flatted polished the painted panels -
my polishing process is 5 stage -
1: Wet flat 2000 & soap
2: Machine polish with a medium compound
3: Machine polish with a polymer compound
4: Machine polish with a polymer glaze
5: Hand wax

I normally get everything to stage 3 and complete stages 4 & 5 once the car is fully fitted up - with the shell being exhibited I will complete 4 & 5 prior to the car arriving at the show

Brought the car back into the workshop and removed the bootlid in preparation to repaint tomorrow

Fitted the nearside rear wing prior to flatting & polishing it - then refitted the nearside doors - these just require the check straps fitting in the morning and that gets the nearside to within 90% complete for the show

Fitted the offside doors and then spent a fair few hours sorting the check straps out - had to custom make the clevis pins - everything ready made was too long for the strap aperture in the doors. Spent a couple of hours polishing the front wings & bonnet to stage 3 - then put the car outside whilst I sorted the wheels.

Got the tyres taken off the rims which had been shot blasted & repainted in the last few thousand miles - but the paint was a little thin and of the wrong colour - prepped 4 of them up but when I started on the fifth one I noticed a stress crack in the rim that was circa 200mm long

I cleaned the area up and drilled a hole at each end of the crack - then turned the juice up on the mig and welded both sides up prior cleaning the welds up (Did not want to take too much off the welds but then again did not want to end up with a row of wheel balance weights on the opposite side either) - I spent a fair while carefully cleaning the weld up on the inner of the rim - the tyres run with tubes and the last thing I want is anything that will abrade against the tube - I will get these into primer this morning and hopefully basecoat & lacquer late afternoon along with the bootlid which all being well will be the last of the refinish work with the green (still have the interior trim to do in Old English White yet) Getting there but still a mountain to climb

Prepped the metal trims for the interior then hung these up along with the wheel rims ready for painting with a 2 pack wet on wet primer

Bootlid & one of the rear lamp housing were sprayed with a isolating primer just has a preventative measure against reactions - these had both been basecoat & lacquered but I was unhappy with the finish so wanted to refinish them - then got them into basecoat

Followed by the lacquer - net result - still a mountain to climb but getting there - then again so is Wednesday when I need to be loading the car

Wet flatted all the metal trim for the interior and got it painted into Old English White