250 SWB Bumpers fabricated by Bonville Panelcraft - Page 4

Jaguartvr · #62 22nd April 2016, 10:09

Look on the bright side, you choose a colour thats easy to match!

Looking at your old bumper shock mounts, I'm intending to cap them with a heavy bit of steel with a large nut welded behind. Should work as a tow point with the bonnet open and will stop water ingress.

smash · #63 22nd April 2016, 10:13

Thing is the car needs to be detailed for Stoneleigh - the GRP grille covers 99% of damage. I just need to decide what the hell to do post show - the alloy mouth is 99% there but will need cutting of the reliefs in the body mouth to make right. On the other hand I don't really want freshly detailed paint back in the workshop...

Jaguartvr · #64 22nd April 2016, 10:19

If the grill covers most of it don't worry. A fat black felt tip will cover any temporary paint damage for Stoneleigh, you can always out up a rope barrier to keep them back from the car to stop them getting to close.

Some bastards bound to point it out though (me

)

smash · #65 22nd April 2016, 13:04

Lol - I think the thing is because it hasn't been in an oven it's gonna take a lot longer to harden.

Ultimately I knew it was risky to have a go so kind of my fault partly but the surface scratches round the rest if the body and Matt patches where people have rubbed up against it when it's been covered in dust are his fault.

And actually the air bubbles are entirely Chris fault due to grp lay up so he should really contribute to sorting that bit.

Tribute Automotive · #66 22nd April 2016, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by smash

And actually the air bubbles are entirely Chris fault due to grp lay up so he should really contribute to sorting that bit.

Smash, I don't tend to shy away from my customer's problems, so please give me a call on 07901 544241 to discuss yours.

smash · #67 22nd April 2016, 20:29

Tribute Automotive · #68 22nd April 2016, 20:34

Happy to discuss, call me tomorrow.

Roadster · #69 22nd April 2016, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by smash

Just to be clear Nubodi are pulling out all the stops to sort bits (including my fuck ups of which I am all too aware) - just thought the cost of rectifying the air pockets was probably a shared responsibility twixt the two of you. There are now 5 air pockets across the rear deck spanning the width of the hood.

Have you a pic of the bubbles smash?

This is the before shot

Paul L · #70 23rd April 2016, 07:18

Smash – Sorry to hear you are having so many problems with blisters in your body shell.

I could be wrong (again), but I think it is rare for sunshine to find air pockets that the heat gun didn’t.

But I’m glad to hear you are keeping the faith, as your car is going to be very special in the end.

Good luck, Paul.

Mister Towed · #71 23rd April 2016, 08:06

It's a shame your paint is causing problems, the black really suits the car.

As for the bubbles coming out of the GRP, that could be a warning to those who go with dark colours to make sure extra care is taken to find and dig out any voids in the body before paint prep.

I say that because I'm aware of one or two Sammio Spyder owners who suffered similar issues on their dark coloured cars, while my silver car hasn't had any problems at all. The Sammio bodies were very cheap to buy - about £800 as I recall - and the quality of the GRP matched the low price. That's not a criticism, they were the best value for money 'kits' I've ever come across in 35 years + as a kit car enthusiast, but the bodies needed far more work to get right than anything Chris and Dan have produced.

The laws of physics dictate that silver cars are cooler - both physically and stylistically as far as I'm concerned

- as they reflect the energy from the sun instead of absorbing it like a dark coloured car does. White comes a close second to silver in the heat reflection stakes btw, but I'm not over keen on white cars myself. Sniff.

http://phys.org/news/2011-10-silver-...rs-cooler.html

The american tv series 'Myth Busters' covered this in episode 38 and found a 10 degree difference in interior temperature between otherwise identical black and white cars left out in the California sunshine.

Good luck with the bumpers and grille, they're looking fantastic, and best of luck getting the paint fixed. I'd be negotiating with the sprayer to sort out the bubbles at the same time as they sort out the surface finish, foc unless they fancy a trip to the small claims court of course...

lancelot link · #72 23rd April 2016, 08:58

I tend to agree with the majority opinion on this one...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul L

Smash

I could be wrong (again), but I think it is rare for sunshine to find air pockets that the heat gun didn’t.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

I'd be negotiating with the sprayer to sort out the bubbles at the same time as they sort out the surface finish

I have 30 years experience around fibreglass and have over the years with various ventures used different levels of laminator , budget dependent and product related usually ...my view on this is that all the laminators I have ever used and all the kit manufacturers I have spoken to and experienced products from , cannot guarantee that there won't be any air bubble issues .
I have built cars using some very expensive , gel finish , no paint needed parts and from some very reputable , higher end suppliers like Rodline , Chesil , GTD Developments , UVA etc over here and Gibbon , Chevrolet and a Manta Montage kit from the U.S.A. amongst other stuff ..they have all needed a lot of preparation prior to paint.

An experienced painter will know this .

The painter Richard uses is , in his words , an experienced guy he helped set up years ago ...I am sure he is well qualified and able to paint cars of this nature . In his defence , you are only as good as your hired help if you employ others , regardless of personal ability ..and I would not want to be involved in the paint industry nowadays , ever ....there are too many factors that can contribute to paint issues nowadays , product failure , contaminants in the air or airline , climate issues , time scales , customer expectations etc etc etc...

I admire anybody who does paint full time for customers ...

I would agree that black is a bastard colour to get right ...Its always a brave choice , but if bubbles have appeared in the body at this time of the year with the temperatures as they are at present , my view is they were missed in the prep. stage ...preppers or painters error ...

If the car is having other paint issues as I read earlier , then this is the perfect time to rectify it and , thankfully , caught early , will not be a problem later on and the expense of rectification is diluted by the other works being done .......how crap would it have been to come to light in a few months time after paint rectifications ?

smash · #73 23rd April 2016, 10:09

Pointless

Paul L · #74 23rd April 2016, 10:27

Sorry I'm heading out the door so I have got to be quick...

I just want to clarify that by "rare" I meant Smash was unlucky to have this problem come up after the heat gun treatment, as that usually catches them.

I was not trying to apportion blame in any way.

Cheers, Paul.

smash · #75 23rd April 2016, 10:35

Very disappointed with the condition of the car upon return after partial grille fabrication. lots of superficial paint scratches that will need a complete mop to sort and a spinner has been tightened with "inappropriate" implement

Safe to say things have not been going entirely well over last couple of weeks!

Jaguartvr · #76 23rd April 2016, 12:33

Spinners. Always a problem, I have tried, lead ,copper and hide hammers and all mark the spinners. I then tried the wooden tool that you hit instead of the spinner, normally last for about 6 removals, then it splinters and breaks. There is a long metal tool which is better but the metal edge still marks the spinner where it comes in contact.
I now have an alloy tool that was made to fit my spinner, takes the spinner off without marking it. Made to order from a chap from Ebay for less than £40. He does the for hex , two eared and I believe 3 eared spinners. If anyone wants his details I will have a hunt for them.

As for the layup bubbles, It's very hard to lay up GRP to eliminate all the bubbles, I think its just one of those unfortunate things that can happen. It doesn't seem to have been a problem brought up with any of Tribute's kits before.

As for the scratches,in black you just have to get used to them. I had a black BMW with original factory paint. You could mop it and polish it so that it looked like liquid glass. 2 weeks later it would look exactly like the pictures above, soul destroying. Sold the car mainly because of the colour, bought a silver one, you could not clean it for months and it still looked clean and you really would have to look for scratches.
Maybe painting mine dark blue might not be such a good idea.

smash · #77 23rd April 2016, 13:33

Spinners- if I'd have done that fine, for someone else to do that to 1.5k's worth if brand new wires and fail to mention it - unacceptable. I actually used the lead mallet supplied on the damaged ear to see what it did and it didn't actually mark it. It's taken an incredible amount of force and sharp edges tool to do this damage. All other spinners remain mint despite tightening and wheel removal.

Scratches - well all I can say is I've had the car a month, used it washed it, it remained mint. 5 days in a workshop it's looking a bit tired. Just disappointing the treatment it's had.

IanA · #78 23rd April 2016, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

... The laws of physics dictate that silver cars are cooler - both physically and stylistically as far as I'm concerned

- as they reflect the energy from the sun instead of absorbing it like a dark coloured car does. White comes a close second to silver in the heat reflection stakes btw, but I'm not over keen on white cars myself. Sniff. ...

My Z300S is about to start its 3rd summer in white gelcoat and red stick-on stripes and I've had no problems- it lives outside as well.

I have also had thirtymumble years experience of grp bodied cars and not seen anything like this except... the bonnet hinge area at the front of Rochdale Olympics from the 60s started to dip and crater about 6 or 8 years ago. It happened on both neglected and fastidiously owned cars.

That paint looks far too soft and no way should you be able to peel it away like that. The lacquer should not pick up scratches like that until carelessly washed. Yes I own a black car as well.

I've used all sorts of paint on grp- cellulose and acrylic with suitable primers and even yacht enamel straight onto a sanded gel coat. The standard of finish has always reflected the time spent in preparation but it has always stuck to the car!!!

Spinners- again a fair number of years experience. I'd never use anything harder than a copper faced hammer. Stands to reason that anything with a harder surface will mark the softer one. I currently have a "wooden spanner" and it's holding up well.

molleur · #79 23rd April 2016, 14:04

It appears to be a painting issue and not a glass fiber one to me.
Incompatible primer and top coats perhaps.

lancelot link · #80 23rd April 2016, 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by molleur

It appears to be a painting issue and not a glass fiber one to me.
Incompatible primer and top coats perhaps.

That's a valid point , actually , thinking back I have had similar bubbles come up on a car that had the wrong primer/topcoat combination , I can't remember the exact details but something my painter used reacted with something and we had the soft and lifting paint issues ..... Wish I could remember what it was ...we had to scrape pretty much it all off and start again ...