ALMOST got to play with the second Comet this weekend - sunny and warm and that yellow pollen dusting on my red car tells me Spring is finally sprunging.... Just noticed this areas fer projects, so I'll backtrack with earlier pics before snow collapsed the canopy. My plan is convert to "Grabber Green" and replace the chewed out brown interior with black. I'll make up the 'over the trunk' Maverick stripe (I used to be a sign maker) like on the other car. A few laffed at the 'Shelby' valve covers so - what the hey - 90% of car nuts wouldn't know the difference, 9% would be impressed - and only the 1% Mav/Comet experts HERE would know the truth - I'll B.S. and tell 'em - "Yessir, it's a Shelby Comet - pretty rare." since I'm a guy and we ALL a little at car meets. Besides - the important thing is *I* like 'em. Gotta find some of them old pics and start this thread... This was the day I got it home after 2 months of saving every dollar and harassing a buddy with a car trailer... interior was full off all the parts that are missing from the car.
Front end and engine detailing started Late last year consisted of painting and installing gas tank and cleaning out the trunk, and removing and straightening panels on the front end. I removed the bent hood to repair the mangled hinges and more easily hammer the crooked front end panels. Took the opportunity to start the colour conversion. Paint didn't stick since it was near freezing at the time. Painted some engine parts "Ford Blue" and they turned white because of the cold. Better stop working in cold cold weather... Need to work on my bodywork skills... bought a hammer/dolly set to learn how to straighten panels the old fashioned way. I used rattle cans to see how the colour looks under the hood. Would be nice to get the engine out and do a better job...
But the snow... This was my "Christmas Present" from Gaia (mother earth). GLobAL WaRMing, eh? We had more snow this year than I can ever remember - and I've lived here 30 years. Took a month for the snow to stop, then another month for the ice to melt. 2 months looking at this mess that seemed longer than the 2 months waiting to bring it home last year. Wrecked the mags, but FORTUNATELY - a packing blanket sitting on the windshield (there's a car cover under there) prevented the canopy perch from hitting the car and causing any damage. Whew!
And now it's time to start again... THIS YEAR I hope the wooden subframe lasts longer than the flimsy poles. It's not quite as straight as it was before. Hard to rebuild a canopy when you can't move the car inside... took all weekend. Bought a cheap hammer & dolly set to learn how to beat panels back into shape. A good hammer "rings" when you find the dolly - theses cheap ones don't so it's literally hit and miss. Made in China for $20.00... but it's a start. I have one good hammer that "rings" and the better quality steel definitely shapes metal better. I guess the heat and vibration from good steel are as important as placement of the dolly so you don't create more ripples and damage than before (like I used to do it...). I practised on a door panel from my van before attacking the rear valence which was pretty out of shape. I'll go after other dents later - but this was a good lesson in practice and patience before smoothing it with filler. Since they flex so much I want to re-mount it on the car before putting on the bondo.
The snow was so pretty at first, wasn't it? People forget that BC houses are made of wood, not brick - it almost split our rear sundeck roof. At least your Mav looks cozy - and dry.
SPRING WEATHER--- finally got to test an 'El Cheapo' paint process After a lotta reading about the $50.00 "roller paint jobs" using Tremclad I decided there was something inherently wrong with the whole idea... (sanding off the gloss between coats doesn't sound like a durable waterproof paint job to me - and 8x painting and 4x sanding sounds like wa-a-ay too much work). Tremclad also has a "fixed palette" of colours... CIL Marine Enamel can be tinted to ANY colour. ... but I'm broke - and have to be cheap... so I'm trying out another paint process - bought some CIL Marine Enamel (high gloss enamel - guy in the paint shop at Rona ALMOST got the tint exactly right with the Grabber Green). It can be thinned with anything - which saves even more money. The paint needs more yellow, but for $15.00 a pint this was a test using the primer, paint, dilution ratio for spraying, Turpensol (cheap, low odour paint thinner - doesn't attract as many insects) and $10 Binford detail spray gun. My compressor can't handle the bigger paint gun, so I tried this little 6oz gravity feed and it worked GREAT... TEDIOUS because it's like airbrushing a paint job on a full sized car... but the design uses a constant "air leak" - to maintain pressure - which allowed me to blow away dirt and bugs as I painted. The compressor kept up with the little gun, almost no moisture at the tip (I still haven't got a water trap yet), and 200ml (8 oz) of paint did two full but very light coats. I also test-painted the rear valence, which I am *STILL* beating back into shape with the hammer and dollies... it's a good, fun practice piece and it's looking better each time. Soon I'll just stick it back on the car. I'll test polish the valence this week before more hammering and painting. The spray called for 10% dilution for primer and 10% for the paint. Both were too thick for gravity to feed the gun properly, so I will try 15% for the primer and 20% on the paint next time. The fine paint jet doesn't stink and barely wasted any paint at all. 2 cups (200ml) did two complete coats on 4 wheels and one side of the valence and I have paint left over... THAT is BEING STINGY with paint... last time I botched painting the gas tank - it all dumped out at once and only did 1/2 the gas tank before dripping all over the place. So today's experiment cost less than $10.00 to paint four rims: about $3.00 worth of primer and $4.00 worth of paint and some supplies - I will buy a gallon and paint the whole car. It will - perhaps - wind up being a $65.00 paint job if this works!!!
