703 replies to this topic

[hanra]

Oh man that sux.....

[lxsstorana]

Congratulations on the new car Anton.

Good to see work progressing on the SLR, as the body work is a pain in the arrrsss..... (you know),

Cheers Mick.

Edited by lxsstorana, 18 November 2011 - 01:59 PM.

[notna]

I'm baaaaaack!!!

Amazing what a TV show can do for motivation!

Yesterday I caught an episode of Monster Garage by chance. I wouldn't normally be home or watching TV at that particular time of day, however.... I was. The episode was this one





where they seriously chopped a 54 Chevy. Those old guys know their stuff... I was very impressed.

Anyway, I whipped the cover off my SL/R and blew off the cobwebs.... broke out the paint stripper and got into it. Bloody messy and smelly stuff that paint stripper, but I can't afford blasting for this project and I definitely want it bare metal. Got one guard back to metal.... it was a killer. Someone had sprayed some wicked primer on it, and it took a few goes with the stripper to remove it.

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More to come... but you get the idea right!

Edited by notna, 17 March 2012 - 05:21 PM.

[hanra]

Excellent!!!!! Best news I've heard all week!!! Hook in Anton! Good to see you back at it!

[notna]

Inspired by yesterday's progress... the first in what, 6 months??... I took to the other front guard today for a bit of the same.

Unlike the driver side guard, which was a $50 eBay special, the passenger side guard is the original, but with a few more layers of paint.

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Amazing what you find lurking under paint. This not so pretty repair done some time ago will need tidying up!

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And here are both guards fully stripped. Yes, I took to the driver side guard again today to make sure it was 100% right. Both came up as clean as if they were blasted. Very pleased with the result.

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I tell you what though.... paint stripper is damn nasty stuff! I didn't realise, but while I was working I must have got some on my arm. When I was cleaning up, I thought..... damn my arm hurts, and I found this nice burn....

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That's enough for now.... maybe more next weekend. The 4 doors I have all came off a donor car. They are mint, and original (thin) paint.... so should be much easier to strip!

[notna]

Oi! That's not MY repair!!! I'd never show that to anyone if I did it!!!!

[lxsstorana]

Good to see you're back into it.

You've done more than me in the last 6 months.

[notna]

Looks like someone slapped a band-aid on it! I could probably pick it off and check out the wound underneath

Edited by notna, 18 March 2012 - 08:34 PM.

[308 Sunbird]

Glad to see you back Anton. I was wondering how long you could resist the Torana temptation!
6 months- not a bad effort.

[notna]

mmhmm... and now I have the itch again... and not just from that nasty paint stripper burn!!

[hanra]

Is that Americas Greatest Superhero in your picture? Who could it beee.... believe it or not its just me....

[notna]

Greatest American Hero.... lol... so bad it's good!!

[hanra]

Man that show is so old...!!! Surprising it's not back on tv?

[notna]

A little more progress this weekend.

I have decided to take a different approach to this resto. I like to do things right. Perfection is a personality trait that I enjoy applying to things that I love. Sometimes though, it can be a real PAIN IN THE ASS, because my constant quest for making things right seems to play on my mind continuously, and it gets to me. Rather than look at the whole car, and dwell on everything that needs the resto treatment, I am now taking much smaller areas and turning them into mini-restos. Once I have completed a mini-resto, I can move onto the next with a sense of satisfaction.

The current mini-resto is the front guards. You would have seen that I stripped them bare already, and now I am finishing them off to a high level of detail. The driver's side was first. A small rust repair, some minor panel work, file finishing, etc.... Then when I have more time, etch prime, prime, blocking back and prime again, ready for colour. Hopefully that can be done next weekend.

First the rust hole.

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I cut out the small section...

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...and also the small support piece below ir. You can see there it is RS...

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Then I once again took my trusty old Mini Clubman door, and cut some decent metal out for my repair sections.

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I bent a piece to the right shape and reformed the support piece on the under / back of the guard.

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Then welded in the repair section on top, and underneath.

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Ground it back, and will have to skim fill that one unfortunately.

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Then I gave the rest of the guard a file finish. There was a small dent in the wheel arch, right on the crease actually, but I tapped it out really nicely and file finished it flat. I gave the whole guard a hit with the file, and was really interested to see all the very minor high and low spots.

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I haven't done a whole lot of file finishing in the past, but after reading some really inspirational threads on this forum, I am picking up some great skills and tips.

Hopefully over easter I can do the same to the other guard, and get them primed. Stay tuned....

[torana_nick]

great project you have going mate, i am enjoying watching some of the repairs you do. keep it up cant wait for more updates.


cheers nick

[notna]

Thanks Nick and thanks to everyone else who comments also. A few encouraging words go a long way.

[hanra]

The way I approached my build was to start at the rear and work my way forward. Completing section by section.

[notna]

Thanks Fonzie All your mods will be telling you to "sit on it" I'd say

Brad, I have tried that approach, but found myself chopping and changing and bouncing all over on different things. A Mini resto is fine because it's so small, but this Torrie is proving to be quite different.

Edited by notna, 01 April 2012 - 06:53 PM.