Another Cordite Is Born ...

[Paul L]

Mister Towed - Sorry our posts crossed and you have summed it up nicely.

I absolutely want to paint the car myself and am happy to give it a go with a brush.

The fact is that my car is far from prefect as it is, so I can live with imperfect paint too.

The key will be that it will still stand out from the crowd when I bring it to the local supermarket car park.
( For that other traditional photo shoot. )

Cheers, Paul.

[Mister Towed]

Glad you're going to paint it yourself, Paul, you won't regret it.

Funnily enough, I'm just reading about the unrestored C Type Jag in Octane that's got at least four different paint colours showing through the stone chips in the paint, all of which add to its authenticity and value.

Keep up the good work and you'll be on the road before you know it.

[Roadster]

Glad that your continuing the build soon , I miss your updates.

I painted the roadster by hand and I was happy with my finish but if I was to do it again I think a roller would have been better.
I helped painting a commercial vehicle with the Jawel synthetic paint and the rollered finish was superior to that of my brushed enamel.

[Tribute Automotive]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

It's tempting to get seduced by a £2k 2k professional paint job - blemish free, mirror shiny and obviously gunned on by a pro using bodyshop equipment and a spray booth/oven, and quite a number of the Tribute Ferrari style car customers have gone down that route.

That will certainly get you the Pebble Beach concours d'elegance, never, ever driven trailer queen look, but with these earlier fifties race style cars they wouldn't have been painted that well when they were new. That gives the enthusiastic amateur builder the ideal opportunity to do it yourself on the cheap and, rather satisfyingly as it happens, have it turn out looking more authentic than if you'd spent ten times as much cash letting someone else have all the fun.

Painting your own car is all part of the Sammio challenge. Enjoy!

I think most people are aware that this side of Pebble Beach is more my bag:

http://oily-rag.net/oil-on-the-pebbles/

Best of luck with your painting Paul. I used to change the colour of my old Wolseley 1500 Kustom every 6 months using a brush and silk emulsion, which was actually fairly water proof once it dried. Daily driven between bouts of modifications. Those were the days:

[hurnleft]

I rather liked the old Wolseley, and the times when we could build that sort of stuff. I didn't realise it was yours Chris.

[Paul L]

Mr T & Roadster - Thanks chaps, I hope to return to car build updates soon.

Hurnleft - Nice photos Bob and see the comment below too.

Tribute - Hi Chris and a very warm welcome to my build thread.

I must confess it is the hand painted cars on "Rods 'n' Sods" that are giving me hope.

I've posted this photo before, but at a total cost of £35 (including the brushes) it is worth repeating.



Although while I'm looking forward to the painting, I am not looking forward to all the prep. work.

Take care, Paul.

[deni]

Hi Paul,

I have been following your thread for a while now and enjoyed every page. I am looking forward reading it further and hope you will continue your build soon (good luck with the dentist...).
I have a question; I have noticed that you have used Hammerite Kurust to treat your metal parts. After the Kurust dried, did you clean the metal surface before painting it with primer, or did you just paint over the dried Kurust layer?

Cheers, Deni

[Paul L]

Deni - Welcome to my build thread.

I think I did all of the above with the Kurust.

So sometimes it was primed then painted, other times it was just given a coat of Hammerite.

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The Short Good Friday - Part 1:
Given the weather forecast & other Easter stuff going on, today was going to be only realistic chance of doing some car work.

Unfortunately, my, self imposed, "be nice to the neighbours" policy, means no noisy "toys" before midday.

So I started with a bit of manoeuvring (by hand), so the car when from here, in the middle of the drive…



To a spot closer to the house, which gave me better access to the rear, driver's side, wheel arch.



Given that the covers haven't been off since before Christmas, it was nice to see the old girl again.

I then spent ages trying to work out the impact my sloping drive was having on the wheel to wheel arch gaps.

I finally settled on a difference of 1cm between sides due to the different suspension loadings.



So I need the template to sit a little higher than it did before and hope it all settles down properly on the flat.



I still take on board Mr T's very valid point about the fact the wheel may move within the arch after alignment.

But I've spent a lot of time convincing myself that I could live with "non centralised" rear wheels (if required).

Which also ties back into the previous debate about paint, as this car is never going to be perfect.

Obviously, having gone through this process once before on the passenger side was a big help.

Started with the "Before" shot.



Then marked up the section of the existing lip that needed to be removed.



Thankfully I remembered to cover up the cockpit before generating clouds of dust.



Used my jigsaw to remove the lip.



But there isn't enough room for the lip to re-attached without further cutting.



End of Part 1...

[Paul L]

The Short Good Friday - Part 2:
So I marked up then next cutting line and increased the size of the "hole".







This time, I chamfered the outside edges of both the body shell and lip.
( Which will hopefully make it easier to add the matting to the 'Sunny Side' later on. )





With the template was fixed into position, the lip was cut into sections & put back together.



Although, as you can see, I came up a bit short.



So I will have to do a bit of extra work to fill in these gaps.

But I decided to start with the other sections and come back to that another day.

Still, at least I now had my "During" photo.



Then I could remove the template, jack the car up & remove the wheel.

Next I put some parcel tape across gaps & held it in position with more tape like so.



Then I completed the first round of adding lots of small fibreglass matting strips on the inside to hold the pieces together.

This a really a pain to reach as the brake drum keeps hitting my head/back as I try to see what I am doing.

Then it was time to tidy all my stuff away and leave that to set.

Last job of the day was to cover everything back up again.



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Adele:
We went on a family trip to see Adele on Tuesday night, absolutely amazing.

Shame I didn't bring my proper camera, as my photos are poor.





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Anyway, it feels good to be back working on the car again after over 3 months away.

Happy Easter, Paul.

[swifty]

Nice to see you back Paul and i hope the wheel arch mods goes well, looking good so far.

[deni]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your reply regarding Kurust - I hope it meant that you've painted over the layer of dried Kurust without cleaning it first, because that's what I did....
Good to see you are working on your car again, and to be honest your car looks great. Good luck with wheel arches. Cheers, Deni.

[Paul L]

Swifty - Cheers.

It is funny how the debate about painting the car has helped me focus on finishing this build.

The fact is, if I can get this car on the road, in any way, shape, or form, I will have done well.

So what, if the finished car is not going to be one of the highest standards of Sammio builds?

Given my limited experience and facilities, the best I can do will be good enough for me.

Even if they are not perfect, the rear arches should still look better "After" than "Before".

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Misty Morning:
Initially, it looked like I might be able to get a bit of car time in-between the rain promised today.

Unfortunately, whilst it looked dry from inside the house, there was a very fine mist in the air when I got outside.

But, as I had my work clothes on, I took a sneak peak under the covers and yesterday's matting has set solid.

I thought I should at least try to get a photo of the work, but this poor effort has reminded me why I didn't bother yesterday.



So rather than remove the brackets and add more matting on the inside, I'm going to leave everything as it is for now.

With the clocks going forward tomorrow, I might be able to sneak that job in one night after work next week.

So until then, take care, Paul.

[Paul L]

Deni - Sorry I missed your post while I was "copying & pasting".

I certainly didn't "clean" the surface after using Kurust.

I figured that the multicoloured look if left on the metal I treated was part of the protection it offered.

Thanks for the kind words about the car.

Which ties in with my reply to Swifty.

My car will stand out compared to most cars on the road, which is part of its appeal.

I think that the fact that there are other "real" classics & kit cars out there at a higher standard is missing the point.

Cheers, Paul.

[Roadster]

Paul we build cars for ourselves not others approval.
When I first saw the job your were undertaking and you confessed you had limited experience I could never have dreamed how it looks now.

When you get behind the wheel and you head out to the country lanes neither you or any on lookers will think of the journey you took to get there.

Im confident you will exceed your expectations when you paint it.

[deni]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for a clarification regarding the use of Kurust.
Good luck finishing your car, it will be a great achievement and, I am pretty sure, a great looking car too.

[WelshOne]

Stumbled upon this site and build thread a few days ago. I was searching for pictures the the Rover BRM and haven't left since.

I've completely gone throw this thread and I am very very impressed on your attitude and resourcefulness of everything you've done. Not everything done right first time but shows with determinations comes great reward.

As for painting it yourself, it has it be done. You've done all this work yourself so far you can't hand it over to someone else to do one of the final touches.

Well done Sir I commend you.

[Paul L]

Roadster & Deni - Thanks for the kind words.

The thought of finally being able to drive the car is now a big motivational factor for me.

As there was a time when I really thought I would never be able to put all back together.

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WelshOne - Welcome to my build thread and I remember Scottie22 posting a photo of a BRM Rover.
( It had an orange band painted around its grille opening and I am planning a yellow one around my car's nose. )

As you have read, I've learnt a lot over the last few years and had a lot of help from people on this forum.

So I will definitely be painting the car myself and doing my best to get a decent finish.

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Monday Morning:
Didn't had a great night's sleep with storm Katie lashing our loft bedroom and we had hailstones yesterday!

With more family stuff due later on, I grabbed a few minutes outside this morning.

Although it didn't start very well, as I moved a wheelie bin and water poured off the top into my foot.

Still, I peeled away just enough of the covers to get at the arch.



Then used a screwdriver to quietly remove some of the brackets.



As always, I am still pleasantly surprised that the various sections now form a, solid, single unit.



Unfortunately, there are a couple of areas that need to be ground away and redone due to the fibreglass "ballooning".
( So those brackets have been left in place for now. )



I also started preparation for bridging the gaps from the 'sunny side, as access from the rear is so restricted.



Note: These areas will still be strengthened from behind as well.

The wind was still blowing quite strongly which meant that I couldn't do any fibreglass work.
( As the wind blows all the bit of fibreglass matting around the driveway / into the street. )

Depending on how other things go, I might be able to do the noisy grinding work later on.

Until then, take care, Paul.

[jones]

Welcome back Paul, glad to see you back on the car and fighting the elements again. Good luck!

[Paul L]

Jones - Cheers.

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Monday Afternoon:
A slight change in family plans gave me another opportunity to edge forward a little bit more.

So out came my cheap Dremel look-a-like tool.



Which is great for trimming excess fibreglass matting from around the bracket screw holes.





My angle grinder also came out to play as I tidied up the rest of the wheel arch.



Including removing the small sections that had "ballooned", ready to re-do them.



I also tidied up some of the joins on the sunny side.



I then used a couple of wheelie bins to form a bit of a wind break for the fibreglass work.



Note: Spookily, the old newspaper I was using included a review of Bowie's last album, just days before he died.

I used an excess of fibreglass matting all around the two big gaps I needed to bridge.



This should allow me to remove the brackets and add extra matting to the inside edges, before sanding down the outside edges.

Actually, there will be quite a bit of work to do before I am left with a smooth arch.



But at least this was another step in the right direction.

I will now leave that to set a bit more before getting the covers back on again for the night.

Until next time, take care, Paul.

[DaveP]

Looking good so far Paul. Well done for going out in the gales

Dave