Bad shoulder brings me back to nose

On Friday I had an acupuncture session on my shoulder to treat an old issue that was aggravated by the century ride. That meant I was resting, so no hard efforts or heavy lifting. I decided to put off working on the left door and instead returned to the nose.

After my Friday appointment I stopped by BMW of Honolulu to walk the lot and get a price quote on rubber bits for the doors. Saw a super clean used 3 series wagon, too new, too expensive, and a great looking new Mini Cooper Coupe. Not what I need. The quote came to $2,000. The expensive pieces are the door seals at $400 and change each side. Seems excessive, but what can you do? Still no word from the guys in England.

My goal for Saturday was to get a coat of etching primer and a coat of enamel on at least the LH side, including the bumper mount and the top side of the air dam. I would have made it were it not for the car in the bay next to mine -- late model, pure white -- and wind -- not blowing away from that bay. I plan on going back Wednesday long enough to shoot it. I did do the POR-15 wash anf prep drill.



Since I had a little time I decided to get started on the LH door by removing the outer window trim piece. It just lifts of, no screws. Between the rusty clips and the rusty sheetmetal underneath, it was a bit of a fight. Previously I left the RH piece alone, but my curiosity got the netter of me so I tried to remove the part with the fabric and fuzzy stuff that rubs against the glass. Turns out it bends really easily. That, and the lack of rust, suggests it is made of aluminum. I wonder where I can source that felt fabric?

I spent Sunday afternoon shopping for a car to replace my van. Stopped by Servo to look at a 328IS (I am really looking for a wagon) and the salesman turned out to be my old friend Eddie Higa. What a small town. Also checked out a private party 5 series wagon, turned out the mechanic is a cycling buddy. Might be the perfect car. I'll call him Monday.

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Bad paint

When I arrived at the shop this morning the door to my stall was open. No doubt this was because of the heat we have had the past few days, but since it has probably been a year since the last time it was open, the sight of the exposed rear end was a bit of a shock. It made me realize that I did a lot of nice work back there, but I moved to the front long before the back was anywhere close to finished. Now at the front, my progress has slowed because I am trying to achieve "paint ready." I did not go that far in the rear because I was worried about my ability to repair the nose.

The only real challenge left is the doors. Everything else is time and money. Replacing doors skins sounds straightforward, but since I have never done one it remains a challenge. Right now the challenge consists of finding them -- nobody I have contacted by mail had replied.

I spent some time today on the lower front panels, sanding and filling small voids with putty. Very close to paint ready.

The last part of the session was spent fixing the alligator skin primer on the LH corner. I wet sanded it smooth with #150, and went a little deeper just to be sure. I thought perhaps the problem was a layer of oil from sitting in the shop so long, so before painting I scrubbed the area well with Marine Clean, then treated the exposed metal with Metal Prep. When that was dry I shot it with POR-15 Etching Primer, because beneath this area is a fiberglass patch. I thought the poor adhesion may have been due to the POR-15, even though the bad paint covered a much wider area. The result looked good, but I had to go before it was completely dry.

A couple of notes. First, I don't think it is a good idea to paint directly over an application of Metal Prep. A better method would be to rub the dried surface with Scotch Brite, to improve adhesion. Second, in places like this where oily dust may have settled on the surface, wash it with Marine Clean and use Scotch Brite rather than just a brush.

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Still on the nose, regret the loss of Redline

Took Friday off and spent much of it on the E9. Stopped off at what used to be Redline in Kalihi for a wedge shaped sanding block and some wet paper. The paint section looked worse than ever, and still no new Redline oil. I asked about the block and was told to try the "paint center" in Pearl City. Since I had the whole day I decided to undertake the adventure.

Turns out Redline is no more, bought out by NAPA. The paint center does have PPG paint, but the situation with my sanding block is cause for concern. I was told that since it is not a NAPA item it would be 6-8 weeks before it came in, if ever. So what used to be the only professional automotive paint store in Honolulu is now just another NAPA. What a shame. On balance, NAPA is the only store I trust with repair components for average cars, like my van -- water pumps and such. The others sell nothing but junk. For me it is factory original, or NAPA. Anything else is a waste of time. For specialized cars like my E9 and my Lotus there are reputable sources, just nowhere near Honolulu.

Just for fun I decided to locate the new store on Google Maps. Check the comments ... my feelings exactly. The exact opposite of the old Redline.

My Saturday session was longer due to no Gamelan rehearsal. Over the two days I got a lot done, but not much "visual progress." Sanding, a little more filler, another coat of primer. Tweaks everywhere. One place that is taking a lot of time is the area below the grill opening on the LH side. Trying to even out some old impact damage and deal with the acute angle at the joint with the air dam.

Exposed a new spot under the LH side light. Not rusted, just pitted, like old damage. Wire brushed, POR-15 clean and prep, filled with Technifill.

One new thing I did was to start grinding out some rusty spots in the underside of the hood and near the windshield opening. Nothing big. Looks like I'll have to weld a patch along the corner of the water gutter, just like the rear trunk opening. Gave all of the exposed areas the POR-15 clean and prep treatment.

I exchanged mail with Coupe King concerning door skins. Apparently he has steel for one side and aluminum (CSL style) for the other. Guess I'll keep looking. I'd like to add one of his air dams, but I'm sure I'd knock it off at the first parking lot.

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Lotus lower links, part 3

I'm calling this part three because last week counts as part two.

During the week I got two more parts shipments, a nice set of anti-roll bar drop links from a Lotus Europa list member and four new bushings from Dave Bean Engineering. I also purchased front brake lines from Bean, having done the rear when I replaced the hub bearings.

On Thursday I stopped by the shop after work to spray the links with black Rustoleum. On Friday I went back for a second coat even though it was raining. For whatever reason -- I suspect the humidity -- I got runs. Oh well, the links are not out in the open.

All I did to the Lotus was replace the bushings and touch up the paint. Even that consumed most of my time slot. I plan on taking at least one day off to do the whole job.

After that I sanded down the filler applied to the E9 nose last week. In the process I exposed a joint where the lower nose section is joined to the upper. This could be from the factory, as these panels would be difficult to form in one piece. I spent the last thirty minutes treating the exposed metal with POR-15 Metal Ready and filling with Technifill. I did not have time to get a last picture.

Still not quite winter

I am writing this on Sunday because Saturday was too crazy. But I did work on the E9.

Started off sanding down the POR-15 Epoxy Putty applied last week to fill in the welded patch. Not much to say except it takes time, even with #40 paper. Tough stuff. Eventually I could see I had some low spots, so I decided to use TECHNIFILL, because I didn't need much thickness, and it sets fast.

What I finally concluded is that the hardener has, well, hardened. After a lot of kneading it still came out a thin blue liquid, when it used to look like blue toothpaste. But I could feel a big lump in the tube. And, like the last couple batches, it was slow to harden.

While waiting for the filler to set I used my CP grinder to expose the rust damage along the lower RH grill opening. One spot might need a welded patch. After that I worked on the top of the center grill opening, getting the opening equal on both sides. I discovered the the RH side needed to be built out a little more, so I mixed up what was supposed to be a hot batch of TECHNILL and put some on top of what was still not set. Hopefully next time will not begin with removing a bunch of half-dry filler.

The LH column of the center grill opening is pushed back a little. I tried bending and hammering, but the "U"-shaped cross sections makes this difficult. Rather than risk distorting or breaking this delicate piece I decided to try building it out with Epoxy Putty. After that I treated all the newly exposed areas with Marine Clean and Metal Prep.

Patch welded and filled

From time to time an interesting car turns up at the shop. Today it was a very clean 1967 Ford Mustang, driven by a guy about my sons' age. I hope he did not get tired of me yakking about it reminding me of my youth. I was a senior in high school when that car was first sold.

I replaced the battery in the E-9 wall clock, and in my Miller welding helmet. Both were a success. I also changed the bulb in my work light, but it still does not light up. How much can go wrong with a halogen light? Time for a new one already?

With the helmet working I got right to welding. Everything went perfectly except for the grill mounting tab. I had to do it three times before it stuck to the patch, drilling and grinding through the bad weld each time. Must have wasted thirty minutes on that one spot weld. It did end up rock solid.

After grinding I wire brushed everything, especially the exposed weld-thru primer, then just as a precaution applied a generous coat of POR-15 Prep and Ready. When that was dry I filled everything in with POR-15 Epoxy Putty, as usual.

Next week we have a gamelan performance, so I may not make it to the shop.