Paint Job Update

Body parts, seats, dash, headlining, windows and stuff!

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rbgosling
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Paint Job Update

Post by rbgosling »

This post picks up from this one, but since that was more talking about the cost of a respray I thought the actual work deserved it's own thread.

To recap briefly:
  • After much searching, I found a painter I was happy with both his (apparent) knowledge of fibreglass and commitment to good work, and his price - £2,500-£3,000 estimate, with a promise that it will not exceed the upper estimate.
  • If anyone wants to try the same guy in the future, his name is Ray Lennon, he's near Walgrave in Northamptonshire, he has no website, but he has an email info@rlennonrepairs.co.uk and phone numbers 01604 780062 and 07736 255173
  • The car has been there for 3 weeks now, he had said it'd take a month but he looks a long way from being a week off finished!
  • I visited the car last week, but didn't bother with an update here, as frankly he hadn't done any more than a week previously apart from removing the bonnet.
So today I went for another visit. Since last week, apart from removing the front bumper, the only progress has been on the roof.

The issue with the small (0.5"-1.5") cracks in the paint on the trailing edge of the roof goes deeper than feared. In the photos below he's just wiped the surface with some panel wipe, which makes the cracks more visible as the panel wipe takes longer to evaporate. He's taken off all the paint, and the gel coat, and the cracks are still going down into the fibreglass below. He's reluctant, and I agree, to keep sanding down until the cracks vanish, as he might end up going through almost all the fibreglass. The plan is to go down as far as he dares, then build up again with fibreglass filler, which hopefully will give it enough strength to stop the cracks coming through, at least for another decade or two.

The other thing to note here are the little white dots. These are dots of gel coat, in the fibreglass. What seems to have happened is when the fibreglass was laid into the mould there would be some air bubbles trapped. When the fibreglass was removed the gel coat will have filled in where the bubbles were. So when you sand the gel coat off, you see these little white dots where the gel coat is sitting in the bubbles. These come out quite easily with a wire brush, so he'll remove them all (from the roof at least) prior to painting. There are more at the rear edge of the roof, but they are present over most of the roof.

This picture shows the rear edge of the roof - the dark lines are the little cracks, the white dots where the gelcoat sits in the bubbles:

Image

This picture shows the other side of the rear edge of the roof, where he's already wire-brushed through the dots of gelcoat:

Image

And lastly one showing the front bumper removed:

Image
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

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Alan_M
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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Alan_M »

The recommended repair method would not be to just use fibreglass filler, but to take it down and use fibreglass tissue over the cracks and a little beyond. This should stop the cracks reappearing. If he’s doing it with filler, is he giving any sort of guarantee?

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by rbgosling »

Another week, another update. A lot more progress this week.

He's taken the roof fibreglass down to get rid of all the cracks, and built it back up again. He's also sanded down the rest of the body, but mostly not to the gelcoat. He's found all sorts of historical info below, it seems various bits of the body have been re-painted at various different times with various different paints. Sometimes with base colour and lacquer, sometimes just single-layer paint, all just painted over what was there before, so you get base colour, lacquer, more paint on top, another layer of lacquer.... So it's all going down at least to the factory original colour before he starts painting.

He reckons it'll be ready for primer by the end of the week, so the primer will be applied at the start of next week, then he can leave that to cure while he gets started on the bumpers (which have an embarrassing number of cracks and knocks). He's not going to bake it to speed the curing, as that can unearth all sorts of unpleasantness like trapped air in fibreglass.

Here's the roof, with the new fibreglass on and smoothed down - the lighter colour is where new fibreglass has been added:

Image

The rest of the body has been sanded down too. The rail on the door that holds the side trim has snapped in a couple of places, but he reckons he can fix that.

Image

Image

This one shows one of the less-good touch-ups in the past, the top of the door is a very different shade!

Image

Image
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by MetBlue »

Looks like he's left the door top trim on both sides (between the panel and glass) and sanded up to them.
Bit surprised as mine virtually fell off on their own when I did a bit of paint repair last year.
They are not difficult to remove. I'd be tempted to ask him to take them off before masking up.

Otherwise, he's made a right mess of your car 😜😜😜. Going to be worth it in the end though.

Tony
What goes together.... Must come apart.

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Alan_M »

Photos not showing for me, just a no entry sign.

The carrier strips along the side of the door to hold the black door mouldings are still available - I have a pair arriving tomorrow from SJ. When reaffixing them it is advisable to use countersunk rivets - I think they were originally held by screws, but as these rust they cause bulges in the trim.

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Excel SA »

Pictures showing on my phone, but not on my pc.

The trim above the windows won't be easy to get off for me - the rear 3/4 glass needs to come out to get access to one or more of the screws holding it in place. I think it's something I'll have to do as mine is not bonded properly and does not sit as it should.

Better to be able to see what is being done to your car through the process - it appears a good deal of the fiberglass repairs to these cars have been done badly, and then painted poorly as well.

Neil.

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by rbgosling »

On the pictures - damn :x I thought it was set so all could see. I'm using Google photos, they should be visible to all but maybe it helps if you are signed into a Google account while looking? I don't know.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

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rbgosling
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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by rbgosling »

Tony - about the window seal - do you mean the drivers window, the rear window, or both? If the drivers window, do you need to remove the quarterlight (and so presumably the whole window frame) to fit a replacement? And how is the seal held on?
Last edited by rbgosling on Wed May 19, 2021 09:12, edited 1 time in total.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Lotus-e-Clan »

I can't see photos either and don't have a Google account (I don't like their tracking philosophy). :(
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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Ray-s »

:( Signed in to Google still can't see photos ..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ray...
Why is there always bits left over ?

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Excel SA »

To avoid confusion - the bit I was referring to is A003 below, highlighted in green. Needs screws and adhesive to keep it in place, but I can't get to some of the screws with a screwdriver as the fixed glass is in the way.....

Image

Neil.

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by rbgosling »

Hi Neil - those parts are staying in place for my respray, I don't see enough benefit to removing them to make it worth doing.
"Farmer" Richard

1990 Lotus Excel SE (Lilith)
2022 MG MG5 EV (not due to be a classic for quite a few years...)
2011 Nissan Leaf (Ragly - EV pioneer, must be due to be a classic one day)

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Excel SA »

Can't argue that - the glass removal thing is a concern for me! The other bits shown all come off comparatively easily.

Neil.

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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by MetBlue »

. The carrier strips along the side of the door to hold the black door mouldings are still available
Alan, are you referring here to the waistline trim?

Richard. I was referring to the black trim between the door top and the glass, and in my case, only on the door, not the rear quarter (but I guess the retention could be the same). Mine was simply pushed over the top lip of the fibre glass. There was no need to be removing the windows or frame. I did need to drill out a single rivet at the end cap (B post END). Having seen Alan's post though, I'm wondering if there should have been some barb type clips secured to the top edge of the fibre glass first though.

Ref pictures, I could see them last night when I posted, but they ain't there now!!! Just no entry signs.

Tony
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Re: Paint Job Update

Post by Alan_M »

MetBlue wrote:
Wed May 19, 2021 18:14
. The carrier strips along the side of the door to hold the black door mouldings are still available
Alan, are you referring here to the waistline trim?

Tony
Yes, the waistline trim carrier that the black waistline trim fixes onto on the door. Mine were broken and bits missing, although not obvious until trim lifted. This was based on this from Richard -“ The rail on the door that holds the side trim has snapped in a couple of places, but he reckons he can fix that.”

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