Thread: Project Sebring GT Spyder

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Originally Posted by Hotrod46

I really hope that doesn't pi## folks off and I hope it doesn't get flagged as political.

Nah. I'd doubt it as the majority here think the same. I wanted to say so much more but that would drag us in a direction that won't change anything so I'll keep my pie hole shut!

But I will say thanks for the tool review again. I wouldn't have considered them otherwise.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

I do hate buying Chinese stuff because I don't like their politics, but if the American brands are going to move their production to China and layoff American workers, why should I pay them big money? All it does is go in the company pockets and doesn't really help create American jobs. Whether I buy Irwin brand Vice Grips or the HF version, China is still going to get the money. They look and work exactly the same and I can buy twice as many for the same money. If the American companies start losing money because they are selling Chinese made stuff and not providing jobs for Americans, maybe they will move production back here. You have to hit them on the bottom line before they will pay attention.

I really hope that doesn't pi## folks off and I hope it doesn't get flagged as political.

I couldn't agree more and if the truth p####s them off they are very narrow minded. And besides "the truth will set you free"
I. too, do not want to turn this into a political discussion as Bill (Mr Mustang) has been very clear on the consequences of engaging in political discussion on this forum and I respect that.
On the other hand, my grandson has purchased a few of their Ikon brand and so far he is very happy with them.

yep , free speech does not exist on the net . all it takes is one whiny snowflake crying and stuff gets shut down . life is much easier when your not offended by opinions . i try to pass on anything chinese .

Originally Posted by shine

yep , free speech does not exist on the net . all it takes is one whiny snowflake crying and stuff gets shut down . life is much easier when your not offended by opinions . i try to pass on anything chinese .

No, all it takes is for one person to not take the rules they agreed to abide by when they signed up for a specific forum seriously to get them, their posts, or a thread shut down forever.

Enough said.

Bill S.

Repairing someone else's fiberglass work often presents so many opportunities for improvement! The tailights are perfect, the grille must have been a ton of work but the end result definitely justifies all the effort! I've been watching this build, first rate all the way, well done!

Thanks, Dave. I'm really glad my experienced peers are liking this.

The final job on the doors wasn’t a repair. It was a custom modification. I have never liked the Chevette door handles on these cars. They look too bulky and stick out, visually, to me. The original Healey handles were thinner. I decided early on in the build that I would rather shave the handles and go with an electric actuator. The main issue was access to the inside of the door to glass over the backside. After some thought, I came up with what I think is a far easier solution than trying to lay glass through a small hole in the inner door. This is the handle and lock recess.



I started the shaving job by making a couple of fiberglass patches. I spread aluminum foil over the section of the door just forward of the handle opening and taped it down smooth. The door skin has a fairly heavy curve in this area and I wanted my patches to start out more or less curved. Then I laid glass over the foil to form a large patch. The glass naturally took on the curve of the door.



Next, I sawed out and ground a couple of filler plates to fit the handle openings. I also used a hole saw to cut a couple of plugs for the old key holes out of the scrap form the handle plates.





I used a carbide burr on in a die grinder to remove the gel coat in the handle and key recesses to get back to the fiberglass. You don’t want to bond anything to gel coat. Sorry, this picture is reversed form the rest in this post because I forgot to take a picture of the side I was working on at the time.



Using the Fusor T21 epoxy I glued the patches in and let the epoxy set up overnight.



Then, I ground everything down to the base fiberglass and cut out some heavy mat. This was glassed over the patches and tied into the door skin. I made sure to grind the new glass down below the surface of the existing gel coat.









A new layer of gel coat was next. It’s not too pretty, but that wasn’t my goal. I just wanted a consistent gel coat surface to lay filler on. The black color is sandable primer I use as a guide coat.





Next came some fiberglass filler and polyester glazing putty.









I couldn’t resist hitting it with some primer just to see what it will look like. I’m satisfied with it. I hope it holds up and doesn’t cause printing issues with the paint.



Oh, just in case you’re curious about how I intend to open the doors. I plan to use the car with top down most of the time, or with the top up and no side curtains. I have installed inner door handles intended for street rods near the top front of the inner door. These can be reached easily from the inside or outside. They are mechanical handles since I don’t want to rely on electric latches for exit in case of an emergency. For times when the top is up (or the hard top is on) and the side curtains are installed, I plan to hide a small button on the bottom of the “bullet” style door mirrors to actuate the electric door release. This is my tribute to the TVR, another British sports car. Many TVR’s use a button under the mirror to open the door.

As to security, there is not much real security in a car with a cloth top held on with snaps, but I plan to have a limited range RFID interrupter on the main power relay in the car. The RFID key fob will be in my pocket and when I walk away, the power to the whole car, including the doors, will be dead. Of course, there will be another way to access, but you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t tell all my secrets.

Having vast experience with the same basic composition while working on Factory Five products when I owned my shop, I'd say yours is a valiant effort. You are going to want to sand the primer off though and allow the panel to bake in the direct sunlight for at least 2-3 days. This will allow you to see any "solvent pop" from the products uneven drying and outgassing. In addition, once that is done, before you do anything else, get yourself a powerful light and place it behind the patch job after the sun sets, as this will allow you to view any air bubbles or voids that will need to be addressed before the primer goes back on. Been following the thread since it's inception and I am truly impressed with your progress, now that you are here, prep will be key to a flawless finish (as flawless as you can get an old Sebring body that is). Dewaxer and degreaser must be used on the rest of the body, do that now, as anything else you do to it may create minor imperfections from the old gelcoat release agents (yes, even now), a simple wipe down is all that is required. Keep up the great work.

Sincerely,

Bill S.

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Having vast experience with the same basic composition while working on Factory Five products when I owned my shop, I'd say yours is a valiant effort. You are going to want to sand the primer off though and allow the panel to bake in the direct sunlight for at least 2-3 days. This will allow you to see any "solvent pop" from the products uneven drying and outgassing. In addition, once that is done, before you do anything else, get yourself a powerful light and place it behind the patch job after the sun sets, as this will allow you to view any air bubbles or voids that will need to be addressed before the primer goes back on. Been following the thread since it's inception and I am truly impressed with your progress, now that you are here, prep will be key to a flawless finish (as flawless as you can get an old Sebring body that is). Dewaxer and degreaser must be used on the rest of the body, do that now, as anything else you do to it may create minor imperfections from the old gelcoat release agents (yes, even now), a simple wipe down is all that is required. Keep up the great work.

Sincerely,

Bill S.

Bill, did you ever try using one of the UV drying lights on 'glass repairs? I picked one up at a sale and wondering if it would do the same as sunshine on repairs?

Wow Mike, you've come a long way since the last time I've checked in. Seems like the site is working better now so hopefully I can stop by more often! It's fun seeing your car get back together, you're right, it seems like this thing's been a fighter for you !

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Bill, did you ever try using one of the UV drying lights on 'glass repairs? I picked one up at a sale and wondering if it would do the same as sunshine on repairs?

I bought one the year before I got rid of the shop, did it work, yes. Did I bother to use it often, no, too much trouble to move it around the car vs letting it out gas and dry normally. Besides, nothing beats baking a fiberglass body in the sun for 10 hours. Heats up everything and then some.
Bill

Thanks Bill. Glad that you are following and I really appreciate the advice. I will definitely check for air pockets. I have been careful about opening them up when I found them, so I'm hoping I don't find any more. I'll sand the primer off and try to get the doors in the sun this weekend, too, now that we seem to actually be getting sunshine.

I'm hoping to get the car sealed with epoxy, primed soon with hi build and let it sit for a couple if months to shrink and out gas before I do the final block sanding. During that time I will wheel the parts to the doors so that they can get sun, too. I have about that much mechanical and electrical work to do before I can get the body back on. Any thoughts on this plan? Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Hotrod46

Thanks Bill. Glad that you are following and I really appreciate the advice. I will definitely check for air pockets. I have been careful about opening them up when I found them, so I'm hoping I don't find any more. I'll sand the primer off and try to get the doors in the sun this weekend, too, now that we seem to actually be getting sunshine.

I'm hoping to get the car sealed with epoxy, primed soon with hi build and let it sit for a couple if months to shrink and out gas before I do the final block sanding. During that time I will wheel the parts to the doors so that they can get sun, too. I have about that much mechanical and electrical work to do before I can get the body back on. Any thoughts on this plan? Thanks again.

Once you bury things in primer, baking them in the sun may or may not allow voids and bubbles to surface. Do that before the sealer and hi build primer, then again, you'll find spot putty your friend for most of the smaller voids, all before priming and sealing. Take a 100W light bulb on an inspection light behind the entire body and look for items you missed. I had a sharp ice pick I used to use on the 1-3rd generation of FFR body (Contemporary, ERA, Unique, A&C, EM rare, but they happen), used to go around stabbing at the voids and air bubbles with a passion, my employees thought I was crazy, gave me a wide berth till they saw what I was digging out and exposing. Getting a body perfect, or close to perfect is all about taking the time to look at the bigger picture. So far, your logic is sound, I'm just guiding you down the side path you did not realize was there. Once you start the block sanding with guide coats will you see what is left to do, after your high build prime of course. Take your time, one panel at a time, and it will come out looking fantastic. Only other advice for now, once primed, keep out of the weather, as primer will absorb moisture if rained on, you'll then need to remove it and start from scratch, even on fiberglass.

Hope this to is helpful.

Bill S.

One more quick question about keeping it out of the weather. Will covering it with a tarp after it's primed cause any problems? My shop roof leaks occasionally in hard rain and would want to cover it when I'm not there, just in case. Of course I would uncover it and allow it to sit in the sun when I'm there. Tarps are cheap enough that I could get a couple to dedicate for that purpose and not allow them to be contaminated with oil or grease. Also, in the summer with the doors closed, it gets pretty hot in my metal building, so I'm thinking that should help bake it, but not as much as direct sunlight. Thanks again.

Personally I'm not a fan of tarping, particularly fresh, catalyzed paint of any kind, but especially a more porous product like primer or sealer. I envision (without hard proof) it interfering with off gassing that progresses over time, and if it gets some wet in the area from leaks in the roof there's the danger of entrapping moisture under the tarp that will get into the primer layer. Tenting, where you allow airflow would be better..........more effort, but that's not a problem for you.

I agree with Uncle Bob. My first thought when you mentioned tarping was condensation being trapped and collecting on the underside of the tarp. My barn floor will sometimes sweat, like with weather changes. Tenting would eliminate that problem.

I'd heard before that primer can absorb moisture, and have seen primed steel bodies surface rusting when a guy would prime and drive (especially the old light gray stuff) but I'd never heard before that the primer that gets wet needs to come off and be reapplied before painting. I don't doubt it at all, but that's harsh!

I wish I'd read all of this stuff before doing any work on my cars! I'm about ready to grab the belt sander....