Overview

This blog is intended to document the build of my Gardner Douglas Mk4 Cobra; partly as IVA evidence, bit primarily to help others learn from my mistakes and/or successes.

I will endeavour to post as often as possible, with a view to entering a single post for a particular element of the build process, however inevitably some things may not be completed in one go. All posts will be tagged so it should be easy enough to find the information you seek.

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Showing posts with label flash lines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flash lines. Show all posts

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

Flash lines part 2

After removing the worst of the flash lines all around with a Stanley blade, the rear offside quarter panel was sanded with P400, P800, P1200 and P2000 which left a matt finish.  At that point I had no polisher so I didn't want to di any more until that arrived and I proved to myself that it would polish up ok.

The polisher along with some G3 and G10 arrived so I set to it. Most people have said how much mess it makes, but after watching the 'how to' video on the Farecla website I didn't seem to have too much trouble. It basically says to dampen the mop (rather than wet it), apply a small amount of compound to the edge of the mop then spread it over the area to be polished. The key here is to do a small area at a time.

After the G3, the rear quarter panel looked much better so I continued on rubbing down the rest of the flash lines. I used plenty of water and a combination of a cork block and rubber block for the larger flatter areas and a piece of closed cell foam for the small awkwards areas, primarily around the doors.

Once finished with the wet and dry I washed everything down with clean water then out came the polisher and G3 again. I  have only polished the areas that were sanded as yet with G3, I will do the whole car again later.

I can't say I particularly enjoyed the process as it is slow and laborious so I tackled it in manageable chunks, interspersed with other more interesting bits. It is very rewarding though to see those lines disappear and the shine return.

There are quite a few gel repairs to be done but that will have to wait for another day... 

Rear quarter panel after G3

Front wing after G3

Thursday, 10 March 2016

Flash lines part 1

I managed to grab a couple of hours to have a go at some flash lines tonight. I haven't been looking forward to this at all, but I can't put it off forever. Other people have done an area from start to finish but I've decided to do the whole car 1 stage at a time.

I started by masking off about 5mm either side of the flash lines all round and then carefully 'shaved' the worst of it all off by drawing a Stanley blade backwards at right angles to the flash line. This gets all but the thickness of the tape off.

I removed all the tape and started with the rear offside quarter panel with some P400 wet & dry (I used 3M paper as I've heard that quality and consistency was far superior to other brands) on a rubber sanding block and plenty of water from a spray bottle. I sanded in the direction of the line and was pleasantly surprised to see it come up quite well fairly easily. The rubber block works well over larger flat or slightly convex areas, but I used a small piece of closed cell foam to get in to the tighter corners and around the radius of the cockpit.

Although I can see that this will take some time, I'm more at ease than I was with the process and the results. I'm still not sure about the engine bay seam though, may even fill it and paint it black.

Near side rear quarter panel as it was out of the mould

Removing most of the flash line from offside quarter panel with Stanley blade 

Offside quarter panel after Stanley blade

I started with the rear light panel as this will mostly be covered so mattered less if I cocked it up! 

Nearside quarter panel after Stanley blade

Offside quarter panel after P400 wet & dry
Dash return after P400 wet & dry