243 replies to this topic

[Cook]

Great job Daniel.  Laurie beat me to it but I was going to say, how did you get the tags looking like new? Cheers Ron

[Shiney005]

 Starting with HQ the chassis number went on right at the end of the assembly plant. So they added a sequence number to the firewall just under the LH windscreen squirter pipe. It remained this way until about the middle of 1978 when Commodore came along

Have you got a photo of a sequence number on the firewall? I take it that it was much smaller than the chassis numbers that had been stamped on the firewall previously?

[yel327]

Same size. Elizabeth bodies had it up on the cowl for a while in HQ but all Pagewood bodies had it from the start of HQ right through to VB Commodore volume production. It was in the middle initially but moved over under the LH squirter soon after HQ volume production at Pagewood.

 

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Early Elizabeth:

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Edited by yel327, 19 March 2021 - 01:52 PM.

[SHEEL]

That's some interesting points about the body tags! On my car they were not painted so I simply cleaned them and put them back how I found them!

 

I brushed them by hand with a fine steel wire brush, then hit them with a steel wool (fine) soap pad to really finish them off. Did it all across the plate horizontally so the brush marks look tidy.  

[SHEEL]

Not a very exciting update today, Sanded the Passenger side Door Jams and Etched then High Filled.

 

 

 

 

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[SHEEL]

Here comes a big, exciting and disappointing update... lots of emotions!

 

So, I set out to spray just the shell. Plan is to get the Chassis back under it over winter, Then paint doors and front clip later in the year after winter.

 

Had everything prepped, masked ready to go. 

 

Laid down some colour. I found the gun was struggling a bit. It was holding paint back in the pot due to vacuum inside the pot, the little breather in the lid was blocked I think?

I overcame this by simply leaving the lid a bit loose so it could draw in air. 

Got 3 nice coats of colour on , plus a drop coat on the roof and rear quarters to ensure even coverage with no tracks in the metalic.

 

it was looking good as you will see in the progress pics.

 

Then it was time for some clear. I knew that the clear comes out of the gun a bit easier so I need to move quicker to avoid runs. Unfortunately, I didn't move quick enough, plain misjudgement and lack of experience / feel for the gun.

Results on the Passenger rear quarter, lower sill and rear beaver panel are catastrophic, to say the least. 

 

Roof, door jams, and the entire Driver side are still ok. 

 

I stopped after one coat of clear, not sure if that was the right choice but it's done now.

 

My plan is block back the runs, scuff over the whole car with maybe 1200 then add more clear.

 

I might even need to re-shoot some colour on the bad parts if I run the the clear which is highly likely.

 

anyway - enjoy some colour shots:

more:

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[Heath]

It's just paint! I'm sure it was emotional, but nothing you haven't got the skills to overcome.

 

Just like any day working on project car, not every 'paint day' goes perfectly smoothly.

Main thing is having clear everywhere. Try your best to cut it back with a very hard block and hopefully you can just re-clear.

 

It looks marvelous where it hasn't run. Awesome colour, and the metallic seems to have sat down nice and evenly?

[I'm a Red Motor fiend]

Unfortunately you won't chop that down without going through.
You will have to re-base.
Pull the gun back a little, move faster and overlap tighter when u clear next.

[claysummers]

I agree you would have to be very careful to get some of those runs out without going through but worth a try. What size nozzle did you use? Maybe try 1.4 or 1.2 even. If you step back as suggested will need more thinners to prevent dusting.

early Holden nut

[Heath]

Ah... shit. Sorry for the bum steer. I guess given there's only a coat of clear on there, it might be a bit unrealistic.

[SHEEL]

Unfortunately you won't chop that down without going through.
You will have to re-base.
Pull the gun back a little, move faster and overlap tighter when u clear next.

 

what do you mean by overlap tighter?

 

I was doing about 50% overlap

I agree you would have to be very careful to get some of those runs out without going through but worth a try. What size nozzle did you use? Maybe try 1.4 or 1.2 even. If you step back as suggested will need more thinners to prevent dusting.

early Holden nut

 

was using a 1.4

 

I've got a 1.8 which I think I'll use next time on the base. 1.4 should be ok with the clear if I dial down the Flow adjustment I think

[SHEEL]

Ah... shit. Sorry for the bum steer. I guess given there's only a coat of clear on there, it might be a bit unrealistic.

I wonder if in future I get a run on the first coat, should I put more coats on top with a view to having a thick layer of clear that I can block back...

 

I did think about it but didn't want to waste paint if that was the wrong choice...so I chose not to. hard to tell what the right move should have been .

[I'm a Red Motor fiend]

Overlap 75%. Don't use a 1.8! 1.3 I would recommend.

[SHEEL]

ok, leave the 1.4 in it (that's the smallest I have), gun back a bit, move faster, more overlap. 

 

that all sounds good, I reckon it'll be a big help. Thanks!

 

I was only suggesting the 1.8 for the base, the base didn't seem to come out with the 1.4 anywhere near as easily...

[SHEEL]

Sorry no updates for a while, been busy adulting and winter time isn't very easy to get motivated to go into a freezing cold garage. It's not warm enough to get back into painting yet so I've been focusing on some other jobs.

 

Made some stands / castors to support the Chassis whilst I strip the front end off.

Went on a spending spree and bought a full body rubber and front end rebuild kits from Resto Country.

Rebuilt and refurbished the steering column and Handbrake lever

Sourced a Power Steering setup with box / pump / intermediate shaft and steering arms

pulled the engine off the chassis and stripped the chassis bare

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Edited by SHEEL, 10 September 2021 - 11:22 AM.

[SHEEL]

Chassis Refurb time 

 

I've started cleaning up all the ugly welds and spatter.

I'm not going completely smooth on the chassis, let's called it "a bit smoother then stock"

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[Shiney005]

I don't know if the factory measurements are easy to find, but those H series crossmembers have a habit of bending if the cars has ever been driven hard.

[SHEEL]

they also are known for cracking, particularly in pre-rts cars. But this one was a 202 column shifted auto so I doubt it was driven hard.

[SHEEL]

More progress, Finished stripping the whole Chassis back to bare metal. Etched and painted in Spray on KBS. I ran out of KBS so I've only done one coat on the top side. I'll re-stock and finish it off soon. I'm looking forward to putting the chassis back under the car. It's going to look so clean!

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[SHEEL]

more pics

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[SHEEL]

Stripped all the control arms and stubs ready for paint. Also smoothed out a few rough spots as you can see just to make them present a bit nicer.

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[Redslur]

Nice work. Pretty much did the same thing with my HQ.

[SHEEL]

Had a good bit of progress over the weekend. Finished painting and assembling the control arms, I bought a universal ball joint / bush removal tool which has been invaluable. Made this an enjoyable job having the right tools.

 

fitted control arms, springs, shocks, spindles, discs all back onto the Chassis. as you can see it has come up a million bucks! Very happy.

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[SHEEL]

Brake calipers fully rebuilt. Brand new everything!

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[Heath]

That's awesome progress. You must be feeling great putting those bits together!