RH nose, air dam, almost ready

My goal for the day was to duplicate on the right side what I had done on the left, namely bring the repairs to a close and put down a coat of real paint to block moisture as I continue working elsewhere. This does not mean the area is finished and ready for paint. More like ready to start wet sanding as prep for paint.

Well, I didn't get that far. There are some tricky spots remaining. Most notably a deep groove along the joint between the panel beneath the grill opening and the air dam, caused by a fiberglass patch. In the close-up pic it is below the black fiberglass patch in the center of the pic. I got as far as being ready to apply filler but was out of time. Hopefully I'll do that during the week.

posted from Bloggeroid

Spotting putty, upper grill opening flange

I went back to the NAPA paint center in Pearl City to pick up some wet/dry sandpaper and some spotting putty. Good news, one of the guys from the old Redline in Kalihi was working. Maybe things will work out after all. The bad news: out of anything near #100. The shop is much too small.

I am back to my short Saturday morning schedule. I really need to take some time off to make any progress. I think the Navy Seals were on the ground in Pakistan longer than I worked on the E9.

There is a series of small rust-through spots on the upper edge of both grill openings. More so on the LH side. I patched the LH side with fiberglass and POR Patch. This time I covered the metal with POR Patch and laid down the cloth, then stopped. Next time I'll saturate the cloth, maybe with POR paint. My goal is to avoid pulling the cloth out of position, especially pushing it through the holes.

Tried out the spotting putty on several places, worked well. Also bought a new can of primer, had the same aligator skin result. Could be incompatible with POR-15 Etching Primer. Next time I'll wipe the area with PPG thinner before spraying to see if that helps.

Spent more time on the LH lower front, just above the air dam. Almost there, finally.

posted from Bloggeroid

E9 nose patch continued, and Lotus lower links.

When I arrived at the shop yesterday my car cover, the new one, was as far off the car as the lock cable would allow. Meaning mostly on the ground. Sorry, no photo, but you can imagine. Then Carl tells me that on Friday a mini-tornado circled the building, spinning rubbish up into the air and blowing all the loose papers off his desk. Yet all this time it has been dead calm. Weird. At least the Lotus didn't go airborne.

I began by unpacking the Lotus parts shipment that arrived this week, two lower links and spindles for both sides. while they look good, one link, the front I think, is slightly bent. I am thinking there are no straight links left on the planet. I checked it with a straight edge, the bottom is perfect, the top is slightly concave. Much straighter than mine.

Next I turned to the E9. Ground last week's welds, checked for a tight weld, and wire brushed clean. I decided to apply filler at the end of the session, in case something else needed doing.

Next came the Lotus lower links. The outside had been wire brushed but the inside were still painted and funky so it was off to the media blaster for some glass bead action. After a wipe down with acetone I shot them with acid etching primer.

While the paint dried I applied POR-15 Epoxy Filler to the new E9 nose patch. After the second coat of primer was shot I used POR Patch to add a fiberglass patch the the small line of rust holes just inboard.

By next week I should have new inboard bushings to press in and the anti-roll bar drop links. Maybe I'll take a day off and do the whole lob in one session. We'll see.

posted from Bloggeroid

More lower nose

Another short day, had to pick up our Christmas tree this morning.

Last time I covered the welded patch with POR-15 Epoxy Putty. Today began with sanding it down. For starters I used my CP grinder, then switched to #50 paper on a sanding block. Tight spot, so it took longer than normal.

What this revealed was a low spot to the right (of the car) extending to the start of the vertical piece. I decided I had to fill this, too,but before that I had to patch a small hole with fiberglass and POR Patch. Too my surprise, my brand new tube had already kicked off. Well, I bought it a couple of months ago, I just opened it today. Still, that was a disappointment. What came out was really thick, but soft enough to work into the woven glass.

With the hole patched I opened up my new Epoxy Putty, which was still good, and filled in the low spot. Naturally I stuck my finger in the POR-15 and now have black finger tips.

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.

At last, back to patch making

After weeks of distraction I finally got to work on the E9 today. I did get a late start because I had to help my wife with her bike, and I am still constrained by short hours, but I did get something done. Even a little progress is better than no progress. What I need is more "visual progress," something dramatic. Like painting that car ... imagine that!

In the last E9 session I had started working on the next patch, on the lower edge of the LH grill opening. It was rough cut outline, still flat. Today was all about bending and trimming. Along the way I had to determine how much warp was in the body and work that out with a hammer and dolly. I got to where I was ready to weld, but experience has taught me two things: 1) do not weld at the end of a session when you are tired and rushed, and 2) with fresh eyes I will spot more places where the fit is off and needs a tweak. So, next time will begin with touch-up fitting and shaping, then move into welding.

As an aside, the places where I left steel naked along the top edge have still not started to rust. Naked, but treated with POR-15 prep. I see where they changed the name to Prep and Ready. Whatever they call it, it's great stuff.

Feeling better, worked hard on nose and new grill patch

At the end of last week's shortened session I did not apply any filler, so that is where I started today. In between filling and sanding I worked on the next patch, at the bottom of the LH grill opening.







I finally got the area around the right-front corner of the hood high enough, and the run towards the center smooth. It will take primer to see if it is still wavy. The area around the RH side of the center, forward facing, is a lot better now, but it will need several more rounds of sand-and-fill.



I took the patch as far as bending, saved that for next time. The tab at the upper left corner (as viewed) is to reinforce the grill bracket, which has almost rusted off.



Next Sunday is the Honolulu Century Ride, which I plan on doing as long as I feel like it. By then I think I'll be just good enough, which is all I need.

Happy July 4th

Actually July 4th was last Sunday, which is why I did not work on the car. Quit early today to attend a dinner party for the Red Hot Ladies, my wife's cycling club. Crazy weekend: Lance is out of contention in the TdF, Lotus had two cars run the entire race at Silverstone, and Spain beat Netherlands in the World Cup final game. Tweets coming thick and fast.

Most of the week it has been overcast with light rain. I've been riding my bike to work, and getting wet every day. Today it finally felt like July.

I checked the POR-15 paint applied two weeks ago. Found no ill effects of thinning with solvent.Even so I would not recommend that combination.

Applied POR-15 Epoxy Filler to the welded-in patches at the center and RH side of the nose, including the top of the center grill opening. When filling small holes I try to apply from behind, to create a rivet effect. If the back side is inaccessible I just press really hard to get the filler to squish out.

Filled three small rust-through holes with fiberglass and POR Patch. Managed to do it without getting any on me.

Used my CP grinder and disc sander to smooth out the fiberglass patch and filler applied several sessions ago on the LH side. I added a second layer of cloth after the first had set. Today I discovered that adhesion of the second layer was weak. Getting anything to stick to POR-15 is tricky.

That last thing I did was apply filler over the smoothed down fiberglass, because by design the cloth sags down a little into the hole.

Finish welding the nose

Today I finished welding the nose. By nose I mean just the top edge, there is more to be done lower down.

Last week I started working on a little patch to finish the center section. Today started with refining its fit and welding it in place. Tricky because it has so many twists and bends.

After lunch I whipped out the last patch, on the RH side. This one was relatively easy, just a little curve to match the original. Had enough room to slip in from underneath due to the doubler having rusted away there. I wanted a flange along the front but I had to scale it back due to the extra layers of sheet metal already there.

If finish up with some photos of the front as it looks now. To me it looks a lot better, but the condition compares well to that of an accident victim right after surgery. Next week I should be able to start filling these areas, and then it will begin to look like its old self. At the same time I can get started repairing some rust damage lower down, especially along the lower LH grill opening.

Just for fun, compare that last photo of the center grill and roundel section with these: