1970 SRL311 Resto-mod - SR20DET (Lucy)

[beebo]

For the fiberglass, I just use goggles, rubber gloves, and a dust mask. The epoxy resin I'm using is nowhere near as bad as some of the polyester resins that are used in some fiberglass in terms of fumes. I know my PPE is minimal, but I design large fiberglass ducts as part of my job, and it always surprises me to see the lack of PPE being used when I go visit the fabricators shop for QC visits.

[RustyBucket]

Good thing your being Smart !!
Love to watch your progress !!

[beebo]

Hi all, I've got more progress to report!!!

A couple weeks ago, I took the entire week off and spent a few days working on the car. The bodywork finally got to a point where I was ready to cover it up. My plan was to do a roll-on single stage paint job using automotive paints instead of the traditional cheap stuff that typically gets used for roll on paint jobs. I started out with TCP Global's epoxy primer in white. It rolled on pretty good, and self-leveled really nice. However, the automotive products are a bit more aggressive than, say, Rustoleum, and would begin to break down the foam on the rollers after a while. I was able to get several good coats on though. After letting it cure, I block sanded it all flat to prepare it for the paint.

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I'm breaking this up into multiple posts due to attachment limits.

Cheers,
Wade

[beebo]

For the paint, I have mixed up a 50/50 mix between two different TCP Global "Restoration Shop acrylic enamel" paints, and then added their acrylic hardener. I used "Diamond Blue" and "Glacier Blue", and it came out exactly what I was looking for. A bit different than the original Sora Blue. Due to the issues with their primer messing up the rollers, I decided to try my hand at just spraying it. There were a couple days where my neighbors were out of town (they work from home and have two young kids and are outside almost all day everyday), so I covered the driveway with plastic, and pushed the car out. I tested it all out on the trunk by mixing up some of the left over grey POR15 and getting the feel for spraying. Turned out alright. On to the rest of the car...or most of it anyways. I got a decent amount of paint onto the car with only a few drips, but some pretty gnarly orange peel in some spots. I'm fine with it because I think I can wetsand it all smooth and end up with a good enough finish.

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Cheers,
Wade

[beebo]

I painted all of the hinges for the door, trunk, and hood, and installed them onto the car. The trunk and fenders still have quite a bit of work needed, so I am saving those for a later date when I'm in the mood for doing more bodywork. I planned on finishing out the inside of the trunk where I did all the fiberglassing with some 3M rubberized undercoating, but the cans that I though I had somehow disappeared haha.

Now that the car has been painted up underneath the dash and everything, I can start actually installing some stuff instead of just mocking it up. I painted the dash skeleton as well, and got it bolted up. I'm thinking of doing a brushed finish on the dash face cover by sanding it to 1000 grit, then hitting it horizontally again with 400. There is a good amount of tub space in the dash skeleton. This is where all of the fuses and relays will go to keep them hidden. Should be enough room.

Anyways, this is where the car is right now. My focus for the next couple of months is to start painting and finishing all of the miscellaneous little brackets and braces, and getting things actually installed into the car (Fuel tank, battery mount, dash, gauges, pedals, master cylinders and reservoirs, maybe even the start of some wiring. After I get certain little things complete, I may be in the mood for more bodywork and either start sanding the paint smooth, or finishing the bodywork on the fenders and trunk. I'm getting really excited about this project again!

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Cheers,
Wade

[RustyBucket]

WOW YOU HAVE REALLY COME ALONG WITH THE REHAB !!

I feel like a total slacker now

[beebo]

no no, I'm still an alcoh.. Oh you meant the car... Why thank you!

[RustyBucket]

It really looks great and you managed not to paint the driveway Blue too!!

My older brother painted a one of the irate econoline ford vands with red enamel paint back in 1971 in our drive way.
He soon learned that over spray in laquer turn to dust in mid air, not the case for enamel.


We had a red driveway for 3 years until it wore away

[beebo]

Haha I would have probably chose lacquer paint if I had known that. My wife is starting to notice a light blue dusting on random things around the area.

[RustyBucket]

Well the car looks great! You have done an incredible job with the whole conversion from a mild little Japanese putt putt car to a Hell-bent Ninja Screamer !!

[Mattk]

Looking good Wade!

[beebo]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

I spent a bit of time working on the dash today. The aluminum dash face got cleaned up with an 80 grit disk on a random orbital sander and then the edges were covered with some textured edge grip trim. It is then attached to the dash frame by the clamping action of the gauges as well as some double sided tape. Even though the dash top will be getting redone, I decided to throw it on there to see how it looks. I'm not sure if I want to add a little rocker switch panel below it or just hide that to keep it clean.

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Cheers,
Wade

[RustyBucket]

The dashboard looks great! Looks like your custom dash board provides increased knee room too !

At your current speed, you should be road ready by next month !

[beebo]

I think you Jinxed me there Cam. After that last post, It's been one thing after another. Between the baby getting sick over and over, lack of sleep, unexpected home issues, and Covid, I haven't been able to even look at the car in a couple months. I did start welding together a harness bar that will get tied into the rear shock mounts. It will finally replace those temporary rectangular tubes that the shocks are currently mounted to. I hope to soon be able to make enough progress to add to a new post.

Cheers,
Wade

[RustyBucket]

DUDE - SORRY ABOUT THAT !!
Hope the Family is on the mend now!!