Wednesday 30 May 2007

Door edge return


This had to be one of the most time consuming bits for me.
The inside edge is rough and I didn't realise it had to be ground back and filled with black gel coat filler. This took a while to figure out, then fill, file back, refill, file back, re..... you get the picture. The problem I had was getting the radius to follow the top edge. I eventually cut out a shape out of a plastic Evostick spreader and as I filled the gel coal I used it to form a continuous round edge.
I didn't get any pics as I was too focused on getting the bloody thing correct.

One tip for anyone, don't tackle this first like I did, do some smaller things with gel coat to get used to it. Mixing a large amount of gel I found near impossible not to get air bubbles trapped, which lead to pin holes as you sand and polish! :(

EDIT: (2012) A good tip someone on the club just mentioned was to get the correct combination of hardener - gel before attempting any repairs! e.g 1 teaspoon of gel, tested with 3, 4, 5 or 6 drops to find the correct mixture, allowing to set over night each time.

Trimming the boot & door edges


The edges are rough cut from GD so needed to be tidied up.
I used 2 bits of wood, top edge to run along the boot sill and a screw to score the line to be cut.
Similar was done to the door areas but with the bottom edge of the wood on the sill.

Tuesday 15 May 2007

Front vent holes

The 3 oval holes at the front for oil cooler and brake vents were cut out with a Dremel. Cutting this way makes the cut edge facing in towards the body and well hidden.
Keep hold of the cut outs!
If you want to add a mesh behind the holes at a later date, you can use them to bend the mesh around. ;)