the Finessed Fake
The fender is ready to prime save i want to do one more complete thin spread on extreme inner lip, what's a bonus is that the same mix that stands up a paint in a small pile..and hangs vertically in a blob, that builds when applied nice, also can be spread in thin sheets...and it's all of structural integrity....this the Cab-o-Sil mix, which is a standard material, in glass boat industry.
i'll tape the edge , end to end, down sides, spread the lip, pull tape at beginning of kick when soft, block it down. then i will take and block whole fender with 120, radius the new edge to desired fatness.....shoot some urethane primer on....i said i was Using AXIS, correction, we're using a Canadian urethane, Brand name Pro-Form. As said, urethane or poly prime unreduced makes a nice spot filler thin wipes to to fill pins, pits, errant scratches . So that's that for a while....the glass in 120 is incredibly smooth...actually presents a gloss on the crowns.
I've more than likely been through a 100 paint facilities in my life between cars, aircraft & boats......production bodywork is NOT metal finishing...i don't care if it's a Benz. Bently, Lambo, Porsche etc, if it's an insurance job....the easily fallible materials are going to be used to facillitate said repair.....i know the game intimately....it's hard to fade experience. So in a production world i had to figure out how to use those materials in a finessed approach....i am into symmetry...# 1 rule in prod bdywk is one can not look at both sides at same time. Not good enough for me,,,so i had to learn how to fake the geometries...and each car is different shape and each distortion to overcome is different....just because it's plastik, doesn't mean it's easy!! It is sculpture plain & simple I DO BOTH if You haven't seen my aluminum sculpture ( Blades Ego thread), mechanics are not sculptors mechanics is more in line with exact science, which bodywork and the materials are APPLIED science....so unpredictable in nature @ times. I've wrenched all my life too....doesn't mean i think that that's something accomplished with a hand tied behind back....it just means i know the difference.
So beyond the idea that i am experimenting with a material, the procedures i'm using are along my normal approach....i do metal finish,,,,sometimes a metal repair can be faster than a fill repair... i can lead, but i sure wouldn't waste my time with it on my own stuff. HEAVY pain in the *** to do and it checks just like old fill will,,,& moves......Long Hair chop is resillient stuff...get your metal within an 1/8", don't need long hair...short will be plenty adequate....work in progressive coats...keep surface decontaminated with occassional solvent wipes(acetone because of evap rate)...don't saturate. but generously wet..it works great for picking up the tack/sticky on a fresh spread, so you don't clog up expensive sandpaper) wet followed by clean dry) if You try the tape, watch the imparted glue, never cover that, when sanding to tape edge, don't tear it up, your just sanding tape glue into filler. Using store bought materials, after short chop Dura/Dyna glass, for bondo type filler, mix the duraglass, with two part polyester finishing putty to desired consistency...MIX THEM THOROUGHLY BEFORE adding creme hardener....this will make a decent intermediate fill.....for finishing thin wipes...use unreduced poly or urethane primer, w/ their respective catalyst. EVERYTHING WATERPROOF!!!! low moisture and debris traps, work cancer from back side. BONDOE is NOT WATERPROOF CHECK IT....with a waterproof fill against a spot rotting from back side, the plastik.. is going to refuse entry to moisture...car will litterally deteriorate around the plastik..
Any time you sand a material on surface, whether it's fill or old paint, it is material that can be used to advantage, in leveling, as a guide coat if accurately blocked to read the hi and lo spots in surface.....The way to look at this.....80% is all about how you sand....the biggest factor in Your final results.....Faking nice can be costly as hell, to do a restoration in all metal is totally unrealistic anymore ...it's going to run no less than 50.00 an hour on an open clock
747 pro-touring resto-mod documented a very clean repair repair He had to do on his rockers...pretty much full lenght on both sides from what i can tell.....He doesn't have as much plastik any where i don't think as what i have built close to the edge on this jeep fender. look @ His work, well orchestrated...this finesse fake of mine is also pragmatically orchestrated.
Benefits:
1. cost....epoxy resin is 80.00 a gal...mat is reasonable in cost... so a qt. of chop can be made for 20.00 or less...the intermediate fill is the Cab-o-Sil. haven't priced it yet but it's probably something like 5.00 a lb.
2. the spreadablity and working time. i worked spreads for better than 10 minutes without it drying out on me, could spread smooth right to initial heat.
3. Waterproof
4 tough as nails, can't dig thumbnail in...and it holds shape easier as You work, definitions are more easily established and retained.
5. like modeling clay...You can mold it onto a vertical surface with your hands and it will not fall off....it's almost the consistency of cool whip. so learning how to get it on to full benefit will take a minute.
6the feather against all mediums is superb, not a hint of sharpness in feather edge from glass resin.....i feel that this fender will develop other problems before any problem with the sculpture....i'd do it to mine. There's a million stories in the naked city...this is one
i'll get the pics up sometime in a couple weeks i hope. Meanwhile anyone with trix..., technical info, material/labor related, any questions, fire away.
Thought that maybe this could be a think tank
the GTO was approached withe tape and build approach...is a rotiss, had aftermkt qtrs(not AMD{before me])..all wheel arches were built in sections as described with kitty, duraglass, ,, duraglas/finish putty combo. it's mini-tubbed, so there was a lot of blending arches with new wheelhouses. Have photos from car on jig to a rough assembly if anyone wants to see them. jimi
