Laughing Coyote Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 Oh my. You will need to get that MG done so you will have room for all those machines. The table looks really good. You've been finding some nice machines. Stuff like that is hard to find out here. So cool. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 17, 2020 Author Share Posted August 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said: Oh my. You will need to get that MG done so you will have room for all those machines. The table looks really good. You've been finding some nice machines. Stuff like that is hard to find out here. So cool. I certainly didn't need more motivation to get the MG done... but it does add to it. I have plans for reworking that back third of the shop (25'x12') to make it a machine shop. That will involve moving the air compressor and dust collection system into a separate building outside. I'll also need to expand the shop some more to add storage for materials such as wood and steel. I do think, however, with those changes I'll be able to have all the room I need for future adventures. As per the machines I've gotten the last couple of years I've been very lucky. I've certainly put in the effort to find them but it still takes a lot of luck to get it all to work out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JV Puleo Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 That is a great planer Jeff, just the right size. I've yet to get mine operational but looking forward to using it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 Using a dry guide coat I went over the doors and tub again and found a few more spots that needed a little filler. Today I shot another 3 coats of 2K primer and will, hopefully, do final block sand and guide coat check. If all turns out well then I'll shoot a sealer coat of epoxy primer, base coat and clear coat. I'll need to assemble my paint booth and work out the fan mounting and filter bank. Awhile back I made all the panels but I haven't had everything together and the fan in place yet. Probably will take a few days. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 I've already block sanded the door and tub and I'm thrilled with the flatness. I found 3 spots on the tub that I want to address and that will be it. The doors were even better with zero spots on the outside. Unfortunately I forgot about parts on the inside edge and top and I'll need to address those. I might need to shoot them again in 2K after that work but since it is just the doors it should quite easy to do. I think I should be able to get the booth fitted out next week and then shoot base and clear over the weekend. I'm very excited to finally get to this stage. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 That's great news. I wish I was at that point. I am making some changes to my back property to where I can get the Mercury into the roll up door on the back side of the paint shop. Then I can do all my body stuff in a building and not outside. I just have to cut down a tree and remove some desert plants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said: I just have to cut down a tree and remove some desert plants. lol. oh man we must be brothers or something. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Congrats Jeff, almost there! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted August 31, 2020 Author Share Posted August 31, 2020 (edited) Still clunking along. I went ahead and did another couple of coats of sanding primer and blocked it down again. When I was getting ready for the sealer coat during the week I noticed a couple small spots and some areas on the door sides I didn't like. Once those were fixed I felt like another round of 2K primer was the best bet. That blocked down very quickly and very nicely. I then shot the sealer coat of epoxy primer and wet sanded it with 600. I think it is ready for color!! I started putting the booth together this evening and it has gone very smoothly. There is a little bit more to do than I thought because somehow I remembered mounting all the panels to the hangers but that didn't actually happen. I will also need to modify how I'm going to hold the filters in place but I have a great solution for that and it shouldn't take too much time. I have a busy week at work so I'm not sure how much I'll get done but I do think, again, that I might be shooting color next weekend! ruh roh... looks like the updated bbs doesn't like my image linking. I'll try to get that fixed. I've found a workaround but the images are smaller and I'm not sure I like that. I'll try to get with Peter and figure out what is up. Edited August 31, 2020 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) Got the filter bank installed and built a shroud to connect the fan. The shroud ended up being huge.. 82"x40"x24" out of 3/4" plywood and it weighs a ton. I gave up trying to find a clever way of connecting the fan to the filter bank and just went with the basics. The panels are screwed into the shroud and the fan sits into the other end. Once I cranked up the fan I was glad that I went stout. While there is nearly 23 sq ft of filter it still provides a significant flow restriction. The fan is 36" blades swung by a 1/2HP motor so it more than provide the force to deliver a big volume of air. I think if it wasn't 3/4" plywood tying the panels to the fan it would have either blown the panels out or the shroud apart. The air filters are visibly bowed out when the fan is running. The air flow seems about right though it may be a touch too much. That's a good problem to have. The tub is masked off, plastic is on the floor and tomorrow I'll give it a final cleanup and wipe down with wax and grease remover. After a light tack I'll be ready to shoot the base!! Edited September 6, 2020 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 (edited) Can you put a strip of wood or metal going from top to bottom in the middle of the filters so they don't bow out so much. Hate to have one fail and go flying into the new paint job. I'm sure you now how things go. Looking good. Edited September 6, 2020 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 5 minutes ago, Laughing Coyote said: Can you put a strip of wood or metal going from top to bottom in the middle of the filters so they don't bow out so much. Hate to have you fail and go flying into the new paint job. I'm sure you now how things go. Looking good. Yeah, that's a good idea. A strip of wood or heavy gauge wire across would do the trick. The fan is a beast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Jeff, after you have finished the painting you can rent it out as a wind tunnel. 😉 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursst Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Jeff, looking great! Can't wait to see how it turns out. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 First two coats of base are on!! I will wait until tomorrow to see if any correction work (nibs, orange peel, etc) needs to be done and then I will do two more coats. If things go well I will be shooting clear on Tuesday. The paint booth is great! It definitely exceeds my expectations. There is probably a little too much air flow but I was able to move the tub toward the front wall (ie; at the garage door away from the fan) and it wasn't as bad. I think adding the vanes in the shroud will help and probably get it just about perfect. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Would putting a smaller pulley on the fan shaft slow it some? Looking good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said: Would putting a smaller pulley on the fan shaft slow it some? Looking good. Smaller pulley on fan shaft would make it go faster. A smaller pulley on motor shaft would make it go slower but it is already as small as possible. Bigger pulley on fan shaft would work and if the vanes don't get things perfect then that's what I'll do. It is certainly the right problem to have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 50 minutes ago, Luv2Wrench said: Smaller pulley on fan shaft would make it go faster. A smaller pulley on motor shaft would make it go slower I always get it mixed up. Paint is looking nice. Laid down nice. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Laughing Coyote said: I always get it mixed up. Paint is looking nice. Laid down nice. I always think back to my 10 speed bike. Biggest gear on the wheel was the slowest but easiest gear. I'm really impressed with the base. It is Motobase from Automotive Art Paints. It covered great and was trivial to get it to lay flat. It is dark so I guess that helps coverage. Will definitely use this base again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 Wet sand some problem areas with 600 and then went over whole tub with 800. Shot two more coats of base. Went as well as I could possibly have hoped for. If I have time, tomorrow I will wet sand with 800-1000 and then clear. I'm probably not going to have time until next weekend... but we'll see. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 Tub has been wet sanded with 800 and is ready for clear. As I thought, this week hasn't been conducive to spraying 5 coats of clear waiting 30 minutes between each so I'll be waiting until Saturday. I bumped up the air pressure to 25 (from 22) for the last two coats of base and the resulting "orange peel" is very fine to the point of really only being visible once you "cut" with 800. If I should be lucky enough to get the clear to do about the same thing it would certainly save me some time. One thing to note... I mixed the base with a slow urethane reducer as advised by SPI. I can see a big difference in the way the base laid down and flowed out. When I did my daughter's car door the base was drying before it flowed out. I didn't know that at the time of course and just saw the normal orange peel that you see on any car you'd buy today. I'll be mixing the clear with a slow activator as well and hope that I get the same results. The downside to the slower reducer and activator is longer flash time and longer time to "dust free". My booth is working well so I wasn't worried with trash getting in the drying paint. I mention this to those doing this as more of a hobby and don't have the skill and/or the equipment of the pros. The slow reducer really helps get the paint to flow out better. Highly recommended. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 With hotter temps the slow activator is the way to go. Medium when the temps cools down and fast when it's even cooler. I use a slow with the heat we have out here until around mid October when it cools and then use medium. I bet your humidity there plays a big part of it too. You will get it dialed in and it will look great. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 I just read through this entire thread, and all I can say is... Amazing. When I think that I have skills when it comes to restoring cars, I read threads like this which remind me that I am essentially... a hack. What a wonderful restoration project. A huge thanks to the OP for taking the time to share this with us. Joe 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 12, 2020 Author Share Posted September 12, 2020 (edited) 12 hours ago, Joe West said: I just read through this entire thread, and all I can say is... Amazing. When I think that I have skills when it comes to restoring cars, I read threads like this which remind me that I am essentially... a hack. What a wonderful restoration project. A huge thanks to the OP for taking the time to share this with us. Joe Thanks, I appreciate that. Don't let the pretty pictures fool you, I'm hacking along just figuring it out. I see you're from Laurinburg NC, I spent about two years there at Saint Andrews Presbyterian College. Great place to play golf with Deercroft and Pinehurst nearby. Edited September 13, 2020 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 I started thinking this morning that maybe I wasn't supposed to wet sand before the clear. I talked to Barry at SPI and sure enough, while you can do that with a solid base, it isn't the best idea. So I shot a wet coat of base this morning and then got 4 coats of clear on it. I ended up with some dry spots in the first and second clear coats because I really didn't have enough light to check my overlap and settings. I shot the next two coats with a headlamp and that helped a lot. I'm reasonable happy with the finish. There will be a good bit of work in the cut and buff to get out the texture and get the mirror finish I want. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 I was going to ask you about the base not being cleared right away. The stuff I'm using states that you have so much time that you can let the base sit without clearing it. Looks really good. Do a cut and buff and it will be perfect. Job well done. I see little things here and there on my front fenders, but once I cut and buff it will look good. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 13, 2020 Author Share Posted September 13, 2020 21 minutes ago, Laughing Coyote said: I was going to ask you about the base not being cleared right away. The stuff I'm using states that you have so much time that you can let the base sit without clearing it. Looks really good. Do a cut and buff and it will be perfect. Job well done. I see little things here and there on my front fenders, but once I cut and buff it will look good. Yep, I just read it wrong. For this base, and since it is dark green, it should sit overnight before clear... but it shouldn't have been wet sanded because if a little too much came off there could be some color variation that might not be seen until it was cleared. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Zimmermann Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 I was almost sure that the base should not be sanded, at least it was told to me years ago. I was thinking "well, things may change" but at the end, they don't. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 Jeff, the M.G. has come a long way! I love the color, and the body work is really nice and straight. Thanks, John 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 Who can guess what I started doing to the MG this evening? 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Wow! That is nice. Came out great. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Wow... Nice. Only it might like living in CT better... 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 3 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said: Wow... Nice. Only it might like living in CT better... 😁 It would love CT... and will be for sale after its first show. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 Finished the driver's side tonight. I'm very pleased with the results and happily surprised by how little (relatively speaking) time it takes to get it the way I want it. I have had some minor heart attacks with finding "flaws" as it has gotten to the point it is reflective enough that the "flaws" are really things in the shop. This picture is a perfect example. I sent it to my brother to show him the progress and then freaked out at the problems along the bottom. Actually went out to the shop to double check... and yes, it is the flakes in the epoxy on the floor. lol. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Great work! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 Finished wet sanding the rest of the tub and it looks fantastic EXCEPT for one spot. One little 1/4" spot that didn't get enough base/clear. It is on the inside of the scuttle towards the middle. It is an area I've had a bit of difficulty reaching and apparently I just didn't get enough on it. I'll be bothering SPI once again tomorrow to find out what my options are but I think the scuttle will need two coats of base and 5 coats of clear... the good news is that the scuttle is probably the only place on the tub that could be masked off and shot separately. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to sand the clear and base off or just scuff it but I'm sure they'll have some answers for me tomorrow. The spot will probably be hidden by the piping that goes between the dash and the scuttle and if I were keeping the car I might just touch it up and let it slide. Ya live and ya learn. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 (edited) OK, quick update. Turns out I have a couple of options. Since the paint is fresh I can blend in base over the area and do 3 wet coats clear. I can do roughly the same but as I blend end up basing all of the scuttle and then 3 clear. I'm going to do the latter as it involves the least amount of risk. I put the paint booth back in and that went very smoothly. It takes about 75 minutes to transport it from the garage to the shop, put the fan in place, shroud, rear wall, first two wall panels (so I can see where each side will be), cover the floor with plastic, tape the sides and install remaining wall panels. I would imagine that as I do this more it will probably be under and hour... but still, that's a trivial amount of time to have a fully functional paint booth that takes up no space in my shop. I'm going to add another stub panel along the back that will nearly touch the garage door when it is in the raised position. Obviously it can't actually touch the garage door or I wouldn't be able to open the door when the paint booth walls are not there. It turns out that I can have about 1/4" clearance between the two that should be plenty close enough to keep air from looping back around to the fan. I've also made some extensions for each of the end panels that can swing open and then intersect the door when raised. This turned out to be a really simple solution and I'm glad I waited until I figured it out rather than hacking something in there. Now.. the bonus. The original plan was to shoot the tub and the two doors. Once everything was cut and buffed I would put the tub on the chassis and assemble all of the car sans the fenders and hood. That would mean the interior, floor boards, carpet, wire harness, dash, etc. I changed my mind on this because I didn't feel comfortable shooting the tub and the doors at the same time given a) it was my first time in the booth and b) the booth is a little tight and I couldn't figure a way to do it without worrying with overspray. Now that I'm reshooting just the scuttle, I'll have the opportunity to shoot the doors. The vast majority of the tub will be masked and I don't need to walk down both sides so it can be out of the way and free up room for the doors. So... in the end, all of this is a great turn of events. I'll be able to continue with my original plan and get the car completely together and then *drive* it out of the shop and work on the fenders, hood, gas tank and other items. Another fun item is that I committed to the burl veneer for the dash. Yes... I know... that's not original and I can hear the judges now docking points, but I think the future owner of the car is going to love the look. Attached is a sample of a book match with the burl I selected. I've also included a composite of how I think I'll position the dash over the book matched veneer. Obviously this is subject to change once I get the veneer but it sure is fun to have computer power to play around with mapping a veneer to and object!!! Edited September 18, 2020 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Macartney Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Jeff, for me, I think the veneered dash would put me off buying the car, rather OTT. Perhaps that look is popular in the USA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike "Hubbie" Stearns Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Jeff, I’m not familiar with the mg. What should the dash look like? I usually think of burl as an ascent in woodworking and high end cars. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv2Wrench Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 (edited) From the factory, the MG TD dash was covered with the same vinyl used on the door panels. In the case of this car, biscuit vinyl. I certainly understand on this site that changing a car from its factory condition is not approved of. The reality is that I'll be selling the car and if you search sales of MG TD that have fetched over $25K you'll find they have an upgraded dash. A purist could easily spray some glue on that and wrap it in vinyl if they'd like. I'll be happy to do it for them or include a length of the interior vinyl for them. Edited September 18, 2020 by Luv2Wrench (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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