Chips Away

Hi

Been a bit busy lately so not much done and the weather has been great so what time I had available was used to get the car outside and start on the paintwork repairs, I am a total amateur at this in fact it is my first time at chip repair but I have a fall back plan of taking it back to Ant's paint shop and getting my mess sorted.

When sorting thru my bills for the agreed valuation I came across a Panther brooch I bought quite a bit ago while combing thru eBay I also found the bill for it which was £37 wow a bit expensive I think now but it is very well made and looks great on the grill. I had to modify it a little by cutting of the brooch locking pin and gluing on a bolt.

I have around 6 repairs to do to the paint work and thought I would start in the most inconspicuous place in the door jamb, the damage was caused when I was trying to lift the door in position, just me and Lynne and it touched the paint.

I arranged all of the gear 

which is quite a bit.

You need a-

Pot of water for you paper grades I worked with 600 800 and 1500 grits and kept them wet all of the time. 

High build 2k primer, I have found early on that when using a tin of spray primer then using a solvent paint causes problems where the edges lift off which does not happen with a 2k primer. 

Solvent for thinning and paint prep for cleaning plus a tack rag for the dusting off.

Your paint coded for the car.

Small mixing pots which I get from Asda and are disposable shot glasses.

2K Lacquer and hardener, I used the same hardener used for the primer.

Filler 

Air brush with fine spray pattern, I have a number of air brushes from the Badger type bottle suction to the 2 stage top feed, this is the preferred one as it gives a very fine spray and is fully adjustable.

Polish machine and cutting compounds.

Masking tape & paper

The damage to the door jamb was around 8mm wide and was just the top coat but once I rubbed it down it still required a little primer.

First job was to mask up rub it down with a piece of 800 to feather the edges.

I then mixed up a small amount of primer and air brushed it on.

Then cut back with the 800 and carefully rubbed it smooth and level.

Then I mixed up the base coat with thinners and airbrushed, extending the area a little.

Then the lacquer was air brush  on.

Once dry I rubbed it down with 1500 and polished

So for a first attempt I was rather pleased

Just below this one on the rear wing was a deep chip, no idea how this happened but with things so tight in the garage I am very surprised I have a paint job left.

I rubbed out the sharpness and feathered the edges.

Instead of using filler I thought I would try a few coats of high build.

I rubbed down between each coat until happy with the level.

Then airbrushed on the base coat.

You can see the edges of the paint so I rubbed this down with 800 and give it another coat but this time allowing the pattern to go a little wider.

I then lacquered and rubbed and polished.

The worst chip was a deep one right on the front of the wing, I remember this one as the wing was next to the work bench and a tool or nut or something rolled off and hit it.

This one needed a little filler, so I cleaned with thinners and filled.

I used 600 to rub this down and primed.

Next was the base coat and lacquer.

This photo is before I polished but you can see the line of lacquer at the top so this one is going to be done again, the chip is invisible but the finish is poor.

Another failure is in front of the wind screen mount, this happened when fitting the screen by myself and it went a little astray.

Again I rubbed it down to feather the edges .

Then a coat of primer.

Then the base coat.

And lastly the lacquer.

It was all going so well until I got a little impatient and started sanding before it was fully cured which made a little bit of a mess, its really just a colour shade difference but will need re-doing.

Not to bad for a beginner but once on the road I shall take it to the paint shop and have them go through it checking and polishing.

When buying the front registration plate I asked the guy there about a reliable mechanic who would be more interested in the car than making a quick buck and he put me onto the guy across the road, so of I went and could not believe my luck. He knew Panthers from old and Cologne engines and was more than happy to take the car in and go over it with me. Time is not a problem as he will keep the car when I am away and go through all of the requirements for the MOT and set up every thing I want doing.

One job we got onto straight away was the inability of the battery to charge, I knew I was having problems but not to sure what it was so I bought a new alternator and fit that thinking this was the problem, but I still had no charging readings.

I had the car picked up on Tuesday and on Wednesday we got started and straight away found that the  lamp on the battery indicator was out and also it was a 24volt we changed the lamp to complete the circuit and still had a problem in that it would charge then stop when something was moved. The problem was traced to the blue wire from the alternator to the lamp so I disconnected this wire and ran a new one and the problem was instantly solved. I have also found a 24 volt lamp in the headlight indicator so all 24 volt have been replaced with 12 volt.

We also got set up on the headlight angle machine and found that I had mixed up the drivers side wiring from Low and high beam, I got on and changed the wires around then did a test and tightened into position all perfect.

The owner of the garage Tony positioning the lamp.

So I shall be going down to the garage trying to learn a little more but more than likely it will be done when I am away as it is a very busy place.

I have also been a bit of a bad boy again and spent some of my time car hunting.

I fell in love with the BMW Z4 Sdrive when I first saw one a couple of years ago so I pick mine up on Saturday, its a 2013 plate only 10 months old with 3120 miles on the clock in Orange with a fantastic black and orange leather interior. It's the 1.8i M sport with 19" alloys I was going to go for the 2.0i but age, low miles and 2 years warranty won me over to the 1.8

Might seem a strange colour but it looks fantastic, can't wait till Saturday.

See ya Paul

Grill and Steering Wheel

Hi

We have had a few days of nice weather so we have been out and about but today I got some work done. I still have not found the Log book for the car so have had to bite the bullet and pay out the £25 for a new V5C so just waiting for it to arrive.

I now have the car insured and tried a few insurance companies but none could beat Lancaster Insurance which is advertised in the club magazine.

I got Fully Comprehensive with Breakdown, Legal plus agreed valuation and a host of other things for £184  and because I was a club member I also got £30 discount so £154, cheapest I have ever had.

While waiting for the V5 to arrive I thought I would get on with things I was going to wait for so yesterday morning I called Bruno and at 0930 this morning a new shiny grill arrived.

I first had to remove the original chip cutter grill and the 2 brackets riveted to the sides.

After offering it up I realised that the grill is just a basic shape and needs a few tweaks to get it to fit or maybe its perfect and just my grill hole thats a little out (most likely) anyway didn't take long and I had it reshaped to fit pretty perfect.

I decided where the brackets should go and slotted them into position first.

I then offered it up and marked the bottom hole and drilled it for a 5mm bolt, I then bolted it in position and was able to mark one of the side brackets for drilling.

Things went pretty smoothly and only ended up with one scratch to the paint work.

Still like the chip cutter but he stainless does look good.

I said when I found that the TVR seats did not work for me that at least I had learnt how to colour leather well today that training proved itself as I thought I would have a go at the steering wheel.

The colour just didn't match at all.

So I started by masking off the red.

I had to thin down the colorant as it had thickened up a lot and I have found out an important tip since doing the seats that instead of using water to thin the colorant I should use the gloss final coat as this lends a toughness to the colour that water does not.

I prepped the leather surface by first cleaning it then using a solvent I removed the old surface finish and then sanding the leather with 800 before giving it a light misting with the colorant.

I dried each coat and checked the finish to see if any more sanding was required but all seemed ok so carried on.

I dried between each coat until I thought it was close then tried it in place.

It looked just about right so I stopped there and gave it 3 coats of satin sealer.

The centre piece had the badge removed and the same treatment.

I removed all of the masking and cleaned of the bits of colour that got through the masking and it looked great.

Bit of a difference.

I fit it to the car but shall fit the centre badge tomorrow as it takes a bit of a knock to position it so I shall let it harden off a bit longer.

Great match.
Now I have the air brush out I will start on the scratches I have managed to collect by working in such cramped conditions for so long.

See ya Paul

Drivers Door Card

Hi

Managed to get some busy in until rain stopped play but it was mostly things we have looked at in the past so just really a progress report.

The door card was pretty straight forward as I knew what I was doing and the problem I had of finding the screw holes for the door lock was solved by lining up with rivets first to make location easier.

I managed to slacken off the passenger door locking mechanism and lined these holes up then screwed on the cover plate.

The cheek plate went in and I found out I had cut the rubber door seal about 20mm short, doubt anyone but me would notice.

I have fitted the ashtray but run out of the chrome screw cover so have ordered another pack.

Strange thing with the steering wheel in that I am sure it was a lot lighter when I bought it as I had the colour coding taken from it, lot darker than I remember it being. I still have a lot of the leather stain left so may try changing the colour.

I also got out the wash bucket and gave it its first clean since the paint job, I have kept it under cover but it had still picked up a lot of dirt.

The aerial went on to have a look, it is still to long for my tastes and shall try and trace a small bee sting.

Starting to look good and is ready for its MOT unfortunately as with every thing else in this house the log book has disappeared, looks like I shall have to fork out £25 for a new one then next week it will miraculously turn up.

I also remembered the rearview mirror, not that I can see much out of it but if I remember correctly there is a mod that can be done to get more rear vision.

Been round to the local garage and they are happy to set things up for me, I need tracking, head light alignment, clutch setup and engine set up and carb tuning plus of course the MOT so still lots to do.

See ya Paul