jamesinc Rotors came from FCP (fronts) and DVS (rear + OE pads). Disappointingly @AshDVS didn't include sweet DVS stickers for me :(
jamesinc So this weekend I tore down the front calipers and the front hubs. The hubs seemed okay but I have never done a hub before and thought, hell, why not see how it is done now while the car isn't going anywhere soon. Quite simple really. One of the hard lines to the brake caliper on the driver's side was damaged when we removed it, as the fitting had well and truly seized. It took a ridiculous amount of effort to back the thread out.
jamesinc I started cleaning up the bonnet, which is the last panel on the car to be as yet unprepped. There was a lot of rust under the leading edge of the bonnet, so I ground it out and put some galvaniser on it. I FINALLY took out the air distribution box. The A/C condenser looks like it's had it, there's rust all over the fins at the bottom. I don't really want to pay $250 for a new one, so I might hunt a used air box from a system where the A/C was known to hold charge.
jamesinc I rebuilt the front hub assemblies this evening. In the process I created a punch for driving in the recessed outer races of the bearings. I used one of the old strut insert retainer nuts and turned out some of the thread using the lathe. This thing made it so trivial to insert the races. You put it in one way to do the larger diameter race, and then flip it around to do the other.
jamesinc So last night I re-packed the wheel bearings (totally uneventful) and rebuilt the struts. I need to get a 24mm deep impact socket to finish driving on the strut top nut.
jamesinc Yesterday was absolutely perfect for painting. 25 degrees, no wind. I started painting the door fiddlyareas and the underside of the boot and bonnet (though I didn't get onto the bonnet in the end). The process this time was one coat of high opacity white acrylic followed immediately after flashing with two coats of yellow. The results are phenomenal. It took I think seven coats to get the same yellow in the engine bay without the white basecoat. Also, the larger compressor and gun pressure regulator are making this so easy. (this is untreated - no buffing - no clearcoat)
jamesinc The boot lid is infuriatingly not-quite-perfect. I think it may have been shunted at some point in its life and then gone to a panel beater and been repaired. It's really close, but the curve of the lid on the passenger side doesn't quite match the curve of the quarter panel, even when lined up at the fore and aft edges of the boot lid. It matched it for about half the length, then the boot lid seems to flatten off a bit. Oh well, I can live with it. If I find a nicer boot lid at a later date I can always paint it up separately.
jamesinc Shot of the doors: I was lazy with the overspray so the latch mechanisms have paint on them now.
Ex850R Ask panel shop how they line up panels like that . I had a mate who used to smoke whilst spray painting so consequently ( or not ) died too soon. He could line up a car that no one else could. Magic hands that Bloke.
jamesinc @Ex850R the only way I can think of is to bend the boot lid over a big radius of some sort to give it its original curve back. This diagram, while exaggerated, illustrates what I mean:
Ex850R Yeah , i think they may play with rubber mallets too but dont do it on fresh paint , i think you are supposed to line it all up bfore paint ...Sorry to say :-( GT PAUL is an ace panel / paint man , ask him ? Yes bending over a wooden block or pushing down between two blocks on the area can work. I had to do lots of it over the years as a metalworker , never on cars though....
Ex850R Should work out with a bit of pushing over the blocks covered with some paint protective soft stuff , do it warm , warm it up with heat gun so as not to crack paint. Show us the how to pics!!!??? Edit - missed the key...blind old bastard index= 5...
YLD244 Looks like the paint is getting better mate. Shouldn't be too much coverage difference between painting over white or grey primer. Are you sure you didn't have it too thin before? Cause in the earlier pics, it looks a lot 'dryer', which is often when the paint is too thin also.
