58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[Don C]

Keep it going Justin, there's light at the end of the tunnel!

[356JAGER]

Justin,
Love this thread and the tale it weaves of you and your car.
Best to you
Joel

[JTR70]

Thanks Don, As of this evening I think I am seeing a pin hole of light out in the distance.

Joel, thank you! That was really nice to read and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to go through all of this.
Thanks once again you guys! Justin
3/26/14


As of this evening I think I finally got that nagging rolling low spot leveled out where it holds the reflection a lot more consistently with the door. There is still a touch of distortion here but another round of primer and paint should bridge those gaps after blocking.

No more filler added back here; I just continued to long stroke this entire side as a whole now. High spots off filler from several generations ago are coming through as I get these panels just "that much" straighter. I am of course talking of just fractions better but improvement none the less.

Another primer coat to sit over night before I left. A block sand and another work coat tomorrow. God, I remember thinking this was going to be the easier side because the original front fender and door had never been hit or badly damaged. Proved wrong again by this old car. She still continues fight me...

Sorry if you feel like you seen the same photos over and over again for the past few weeks but I just want to illustrate what it takes (at least in my world)or rather what it took to get this old beater as dead nuts straight as I could down its sides. Thanks again for reading all of this! Justin

[Pat]

Justin

I am really impressed with your desire for perfection! Want to do my car, next? Thanks for the great photos.

It reminds me of a pre A bent window coupe that a friend was restoring--after all the body work was done on a rotisserie, the fairing of the doors and fenders took a lot of work to get the reflections correct. Unfortunately, my friend never finished the project as he passed away before it was complete. The car had been painted by Randall Yow in North Carolina and my friend Ernie sold him an almost complete job just before he died. The car ended up in Europe--sigh!

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

Those gaps just look like pencil lines on a drawing!!!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks a lot Pat! Allowing myself to get obsessed with these waves has created several very frustrating sessions over the last few weeks. I tell myself okay its enough just leave it but on the other hand what I'd be leaving is so slight that I'd be full of regret for not chasing it just a little bit further; a vicious cycle at the moment. As I said before I will see all of its flaws after final paint so I am just trying to minimize them so I don't go crazy later on.
Your friends story is my biggest motivator! I just don't want to be that guy who had this old car his whole life and never got to enjoy it or see it as a finished vehicle.

Hey Roy, they are pencil thin because they are full of sanding guck. I've got a bit of shaping and cleaning to do after I get this side to a level that I can live with.. Thanks again you guys!!! Justin

getting into some real finesse type blocking to get this damn area behind the door to transition smoothly. I have been over this a hundred time already and I just can't get it to behave! I changed gears today and used my square stick of titanium (super ridged block stage) to chase out this subtle but stubborn high spot (creating a wave)just before the door. I held the block square to the door skin and skimmed only this high spot. I would not allow the block to leave the door skin entirely as it was the guide. This was the break through I needed. You can see this high ridge coming down just past the door. With some water on it this area was finally giving me the smooth transition I've been after this whole time. I've chased here about as far as I can. Islands of steel are popping up on the door. I'll primer it yet again and see where it still needs improving.

More of the same tomorrow... Thanks for looking! Justin

[merbesfield]

Justin, can you show the blocks you are using and the motion or technique u are using? I want to get a sense of how you are moving over the panels. Hope that makes sense. Thx

[JTR70]

Hey Mark, here are some shots and my best explaination of what I'm doing.

I switched to my surfaced length of Titanium to give me the ridgedity I needed to true and wear down this high spot just after the door which was bending the reflection causing it to jump.

Since the reflection across the door was consistent it was my guide for this block. This is about as far as I'd travel on the sanding stroke and I kept the block intact with the door staying careful not to let it contour or break with the rear fender as the photo above shows. As sanding progressed the high spot clearly made it self known so I continued to chase it down.

Even my go to piece of plexy was to "soft" and would fall into these irregularities. Where my finger is pointing appeared to be still low but I knew it was not because the reflection there back was pretty nice. By switching to that piece of metal I both thinned out the door and that high ridge at the jamb all the while bringing them both in line with the area I'm pointing to. I am truly splitting hairs here, these irregularities cannot be detected by feel they can only be seen in the painted or wet reflection. I hope some of this made sense. Thanks again for reading this! Justin

[gkw]

Justin, How coarse is the paper you are using there?
Thanks,Gordon

[JTR70]

Hey Gordon,
I'm using good old fashioned-middle of the road 220 Wetordry.

4/10/14

At long last I finally turned the corner on this damn rear fender to door transition!

The reflection finally carries over the door to the rear fender in smooth consistent manner. From here on in its just block-sanding a maybe a coat or two more just to get it "that much better". But, the heavy lifting is finally done here. My last hurdle is small irregularity at the front fender to the door transition. Once I have that dialed I am technically done with the bodywork phase! working on that next! Thanks for stopping by! Justin

[Phil Planck]

Great work Justin. I am so far away from that stage it seems. And to think, I am planning on black outer finish. Maybe light cream would be better.

Phil

[JTR70]

5/13/14
Another decision from past threatens to bite me in the ass!

Its been a while since I've updated this thread frankly because I'm in the middle of yet another redo and was too embarrassed and depressed to rehash it in a post update. I thought seriously about not even mentioning it and was going to just pretend like it didn't happen but I've been fully honest about everything I've had to do so far and who knows maybe this mistake might help someone else along with their journey.

The root of this new dilemma is with this white base paint I applied back in '99. I shot it right over a sealer coat of off-brand epoxy primer my dad had sent me to try. All my top coats seemed to adhere to it especially the silver; there have been absolutely no issues what so ever with the silver I used. This white however I soon learned the truth about.

As I was correcting this last area of trouble at the door to front fender a couple of weeks ago I was noticing the white coming off a little too eagerly as I blocked. A quick check with a razorblade soon confirmed my worst fear; the paint wasn't bonded well enough! I had just built my latest bodywork effort on sand! I would say it was mildly secure but nowhere near what it should have been like. SHIT! Through all of my efforts over the last few years this fender is the only area that was left unstripped since '99. Everything else has been redone with DP and paint that I know and trust. With that in my mind I thought seriously about gambling and leaving it alone but I thought better about risking it. Especially when I considered that its localized to the fender only and half of the nose.

The other saving grace is that its my collision free fender which will require very little re-bodywork. My wire wheel made short work of getting it back down to bare metal. Another nasty set back. So the moral of this story is be very careful about the compatibility of the primers and paints that you use. Having to destroy hours of effort because the paint didn't stick will really take your morale into the basement.

After a very dusty session I had the entire area that was coated in that white back down to the metal.

After some hand prep the fender was sealed back up in DP40. Again this isn't my first issue with paint adhesion troubles which is why I only trust PPG DP40 and/or Dupont's Vari-prime enamel based primer. My top coats stick to these. No more experimenting with cheaper alternatives; as you can see its not worth it in the end! Thanks for reading this! Justin

[roy mawbey]

Justin,

I put a 'thankyou' on but decided it needs more than that. Being honest, can help so many sometimes on work of this nature. As I have mentioned more than once, I only wish I had the knowledge now in my head when I last resprayed mine. I am sort of convinced for certain now the only way to get perfect results is to bare metal it and put on the best quality primer etc. I brought my car down to bare metal in the 70's when I leaded many area's but,not totally. Then in the late eighties I rubbed it down carefully for the second repaint I have given it. I was careful, I did use the special soaked cleaning pads before spraying but.. the base paint was twelve years old.

Now every year that passes (now well over twenty), the 'rash' under the paint slowly increases. Its not evident till you get close but micro blisters are a real pain in the arse for sure you can't polish them out.

Its all my fault, there is no rust under the affected areas only a base surface that does not like my last spray products.

Justin again, you made the right decision get it all off. Also I think very kind to put that all in print. Someone reading your experience will now note down the products you mention like I have just done ready for when I have to bite the bullet and do something about it

Roy

[Phil Planck]

Good move Justin. Thanks for sharing. Set backs - the story of our restorations.
Phil

[gkw]

You made the right choice Justin. In the total scheme of things
it did not take that long to make it right. It gives you a lot peace of mind in the end.
It is the things you missed that come back to haunt you, take it from me.

Your car is fantastic, Gordon