Now I'm starting to think that what I want is a Kobra with a 250 SWB front end

The bonnet narrowing is possible as per my Z300S in Short-nose configuration. Check with Chris...

:eusa_clap: Well done. I probably still prefer the hairdresser green though.

Excellent, I think the Z3 hard top works with the kobra back end configuration. Probably, sub-consciously I am re-building a Minari (or a Capuccino) on a Z3.:eyebrows:

Not sure how the whole thing would look, but I think the 250 SWB front wings have enough volume to carry the Kobra rear. I am thinking this is going to be a Maria, but it could be a Mrs Brown. I have no experience or track record of good taste here.

I found your thread, very interesting, I'll contact Chris. Thanks

With shiny bits....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...eflections.jpg

Long nose
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1582/...3d633482_c.jpg20150510_171408 by WCA!, on Flickr

Short nose
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7489/...8c24a472_c.jpg20160508_094341 by WCA!, on Flickr

I rather like the yellow ...

Is there any merit in getting a coloured gelcoat if you plan to paint later? Apart from having something that looks a bit more attractive whilst build and fettling happens, does it help disguise stone chips to paintwork or is it substantially lost when prepping for painting?

ps this forum is great and a real boon for novice builders like me.

No advantage in the finished product but having a white gel coat is very hard to see the imperfections, I would think a darker colour would be easier for prep.

The Tribute gel coat isn't a " finished " finish , which is a shame really on a £5k panel kit.
The likes of DNA , Ultima and Westfield are a few that have well sorted molds that allow a genuine gel coat finish right out of the mold.

...that will always look exactly like a gel coat finish. Only damaged where you've scraped it while fitting the panels.

Go for a gel coat 'finish', even from an expensive manufacturer, and you'll forever be explaining to onlookers that when it's properly polished it'll look every bit as good as paint, no, really it will. They won't believe it and you won't either, deep down. Pay to have it sprayed, spray it yourself or paint it with a brush, but paint and polish it. Gel coat is for Jet Skis, not cars.

This was by far the best Gel coat finish I have seen, it would be a pity to paint it, I genuinely thought it had been painted it looked that good.
http://i63.tinypic.com/eq562s.jpg
[http://i63.tinypic.com/2u4qw0k.jpg
IMG]http://i68.tinypic.com/amw234.jpg[/IMG]

Yes, it will polish up nicely. But, given a month in the sun, another re-polish will be needed.

Jeff, with respect, that's a very good example of what I mean.

There's no depth to the shine - you should be able to see a crisp reflection of the hall lighting in the surface, not just shapeless blobs of light. It has a matt dullness to it that'll bug you for years if you don't paint over it.

Compare that with this 250GT Pinin Farina Cabriolet under similar lighting -

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...psakbf1bko.jpg

You can clearly see the structure of the ceiling above the car in the bonnet and it just has that shine to it that you'll never achieve with gel coat, no matter how expensive the body was.

I know that the Ferrari I've used as an example is a multi-million pound show car, but I just tried to find the price of the Ultima body to compare with Tribute and others. I think someone else has already claimed the 'if you have to ask...' quote as they don't publish their prices, but I found one source that suggested it was something of a bargain at $59,000 U.S., and that was without an engine. Ouch. Gel coat is a very practical and durable finish on a canoe, but I still maintain that there's no place for it on a car.

A friend of mine had an old Pilgrim Buldog . It was about 10 years old when he got it. The previous owner had never given it a polish, never even cleaned it really. The gel coat was faded badly and I offered to sort out the bodywork. To be honest it was an easy task , I washed it down , went over it with 1200 wet and dry used wet. Then went over it with T Cut then polished it up with colour match polish. It went from a dull oxidised rough finish to a glass like , highly reflective finish with just a few hours work. It stayed like that until he sold it on two years later.

Very true , but you can factor in another £5k on your build for a top paint job. The Ultima is also a good example of a Gel finish in as much as the panel gaps are properly sorted so you don't need to trim and fettle them for a good fit. Any such work will nullify a gel coat finish anyway , that's why the Tribute cars aren't at that level yet.

Gelcoats especially red yellow and orange suffer from fading from UV.

That's why most grp yachts are white.

My Jago is bright red- under the bonnet. Before I painted it, the outer was a dull brick red.

Again, with all due respect Lucky, it's probably not a fair comparison to make between a Tribute panel kit that you bolt onto an old Z3 and a unitary body made to fit on a bespoke chassis to build a car that competes in the same price range as a brand new Porsche Cayman.

Much as I love kit cars I know which of those two I'd rather have if I had £40k+ burning a hole in my other trousers for a hobby car, and it comes from the manufacturer fully painted. And wearing 'Porsche' badges in case anyone wasn't sure which one I meant.

As for having to spend £5k for a top paint job, how about doing it yourself for a tenth of that price plus a fortnights spare time, enjoying the challenge immensely and achieving a finish in the 'as good as the real thing was when Moss/Fangio/Ascari drove it on the track' class rather than the 'never driven, never enjoyed but very shiny trailer queen' class.

I spent way less than five hundred quid to spray mine myself, and that included the compressor, two guns, five litres each of silver cellulose paint, high build primer, standard thinners and high-gloss thinners, all the filler, knifing putty, wet'n'dry paper, a mopping machine, G3 compound, finishing liquid, gloves, mask, disposable overalls, five hundred tea bags and a gallon of milk. Everything needed to spray a car in a domestic garage in fact. And the finish isn't too shabby if I say so myself.

I suspect Phil J spent even less and I know he achieved an even better finish on the two cars he's completed -

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...psibjv4mvj.jpg

Go on, have a go. You never know, you might just enjoy it!

I've paid extra for a (cream) coloured gel coat for the following reasons:
1. It will look good 'from the off'
2. I'm using a cream primer (although I haven't looked at it yet), so stone chips should not be so apparent
3. And this is the best bit - I shouldn't have to paint the inside of the bonnet and boot lid.

Well that's the theory anyway. I'm planning on doing a build thread at some stage - so watch out for it! (Nubodi fitting the panels, and I'm going to attempt the prep and paint).