Early Javelin Restoration

[Grumpy Northener]

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Two of the brackets were dead on the salvaged grille so these were replaced by two from the original grille

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All the painted metal brackets were shot blasted & primed

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Whilst all the chromed sections were taped together ready for delivery to the chromer - I just hope that they are returned in as straight of a condition to that in which I sent them

[vulgalour]

That's quite a project with a lot of care and attention going in to details nobody will ever realise when it's all together and in paint. Since you're getting items chromed now does that mean thoughts of what the final colour will be has been decided? the fern metallic you uncovered looks like it would be a very flattering colour on what is quite a handsome car.

[Richard Moss]

Epic is a word that gets used too often - but in this case it is justified.

[Grumpy Northener]

Epic is a word that gets used too often - but in this case it is justified.

That's certainly put a smile on my face

That's quite a project with a lot of care and attention going in to details nobody will ever realise when it's all together and in paint. Since you're getting items chromed now does that mean thoughts of what the final colour will be has been decided? the fern metallic you uncovered looks like it would be a very flattering colour on what is quite a handsome car.

Peter - The cars owner would like the car finished in two tone paint and yes green for lower half appears favourite but unsure on how dark the green will be at present it's between a fern green metallic or Jaguars Opalescent Metallic British Racing Green, the upper half will be a off white - but where to split the top & bottom colours has been the subject of much research. Looks like we shall split through the chrome side trim - going behind the door handles and following the wing beading down the rear wings - thus the roof, boot, rear panel and above the chrome trim on the doors will be in off white with the white coming down the A pillars and terminating on the bulkhead panel leaving the bonnet and the lower panels in green - this will give the car quite a American style feel - Peter loves the unique (ish) British styling of the car but would like to put a twist to the looks of the car - a few Javelins did leave the factory in two tone after all.

[vulgalour]

Rather like this one but the other way up with the colours, if you follow.

[Grumpy Northener]

Rather like this one but the other way up with the colours, if you follow.

Me too - further to this we had not planned to do the bonnet in the upper colour thinking that it would look quite odd but looking at the image that you've posted it does not look that bad at all - all food for thought - I think we are going to have sit at the computer for a couple of hours and play about with the colour scheme

[kevin]

further to my post about buffing/cutting back paintwork, do you use cellulose on your gorgeous builds and how do you polish the new paint up?
it occurs to me that i have 2 options, machine or elbow grease, how do you produce great results by hand?

kev

[Grumpy Northener]

Kev - I only use cellulose paints, if fresh paint it really needs to stand for several weeks (at least 3 weeks as a minimum) prior to polishing - I then flat back with P1500 wet & dry with soap and always use a block on the flat / large panel areas - I always flat the primer in one direction front to the rear of the car, likewise with flatting the colour coats - polishing again always in the same direction - I use a G3 compound and in areas of no more than 300mm x 400mm at a time - towards the completion of the compounding I add a little clean water to the cloth to thin the paste - once the panel is complete I go back over it with a finer polish such as T cut - again always in the front to back direction and again adding a little water to the cloth as I complete the process - once complete apply a good quality hard shell wax (The autoglym products are a good starting point)

Couple of tips - On existing / original paint - I would not flat it unless the finish is really bad, take care not rub through on edges & swaging lines and you can temporary protect these by applying masking tape over them - do not use more polish than you need to - take care not let compounds / pastes or waxes build up behind trims / screen rubbers etc as it takes great effort to clean / detail areas like this once you have a build up of polish behind them (or on them) Never rub polish or wax in circles - it will just leave swirl marks that are very hard work to loose. Do any touching in of paint before waxing.

Polishing by hand can be very hard work if you make it hard work - but if you take your time - tackle the car on a panel by panel basis it can be very satisfying with rewarding results

Good luck, Chris

[Grumpy Northener]

Pushing on with the front O/S wing

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Welding up of the repair section, once complete I unbolted the wing then dressed the flange up

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Cleaned back - little fettling now required to ensure the correct gapping between door & wing, the old aerial hole was also welded up

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Whilst the wing was off any missing / broken captive nuts were replaced

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[Grumpy Northener]

With the wing off a previous repair became obvious

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Looks like a split in the wing had been welded up but then a metal patch with open sides and rust forming between the original wing and the patch

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Paint removed to expose body solder

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Solder removed to expose the split welded neatly along it's length with the exception of this area of brass which held the rust harbouring repair patch underside