Roaring Forties # 61

[Allan T Knight]

Wow the photos of your colours came up great,and what a great contrast up against Andrews front clip,keep them coming Bill,and no more poking me with sticks either. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nono.gif[/img]
Allan Knight

[Andrew E]

Bill,

Great colour scheme choice! I am sure Allan will do a great job for you. Keep posting photos as the painting progresses.

Andrew East

[Bill Hara]

Thanks Andrew
I know that your car has to be close to being on the road! Your colours are pretty wild too. I think it is a testament to Allan's abilities that no matter how impatient the customer is (that means me! ) he makes sure he goes over every millimetre of the car (many times over) to get it right.
My car has now been fully primed (except for the nostril - I think), with the sill panels and mirrors already painted. Today's weather was pretty good, so everything has been baking in the sun and things look on track for colour at the end of this week.
I'll put a few more photos on here over the next couple of days, showing the next phase of my build (starting about a year ago) right through the paint process. Hopefully I'll be up to date with photos in time for the latest shots of the colour on the car by the end of the week.

[ChrisL]

The pics of the colour came out great Bill but I guess its one of those colours that looks best in real life. Andrew, the colour you chose is great too. One of the better yellows that I have seen, and I am saying that after having seen it in life too (at Allan's). Pictures just do some colours jutice [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Pete.]

Looks Fantastic Bill.

[TimOz40]

Go Bill! You must be getting jumpy now. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img]

[Bill Hara]

I can tell you Tim that I am probably nowhere near as jumpy as you are - and I am JUMPY!
Thanks guys for the kind sentiments, you have experienced this stage (Tim IS experiencing this stage now)and can probably tell me some wise words, like it is worth the wait.... I know it is....
Chris, you are right about the colour looking better in real life than in photos. I am sure this has been said before on the forum. Andrew's colour in particular is miles better in person than in photos.
I'll put one more colour shot up before giong back to my build progress photos.

[Bill Hara]

Well before I was having my sills painted, I was trying to decide if I should get Halibrands or BRMS. A friend had some Cobra Halibrands so I put them on to see how they looked.

[Bill Hara]

another one..

[Bill Hara]

This is an overhead shot and shows just how good the panel fit was with the fiberglass unmolested (ie. no cutting or filling - other than the spider front apron to fit the clip in).
It was around this time however that I decided to get RF to help me with the body fit. I was travelling overseas for a month and wanted the car to progress...

[Allan T Knight]

Hey Bill is that a Cobra I see in the background.
Allan Knight

[Bill Hara]

We try not to use the C word here [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
Yes it is a Cobra (and quite a beautiful one at that). That's Lee the owner of "Daisy" sitting on the ground - obviously he enjoys the lower seating position of the 40...

I forgot to mention in the last series of shots that I didn't particularly like the 3 piece rims, although they make the car look good even in such an unfinished state. To get the look I want, I need to use BRMs so hopefully Robert can bring me back some of those 17s he showed us in one of his South African posts.....

[Allan T Knight]

Maybe he's paying his respects to the GT40 by praying in front of it [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flehan.gif[/img]

[Bill Hara]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif[/img] good one Al.

[Bill Hara]

Back to the build [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
I sent the car to RF while I was away lazing on Mediteranian beaches for a month so that the doors & sills could be fitted properly - including latches, locks etc.
Great work again by RF, here are some shots:-

[Bill Hara]

body fit #2

[Bill Hara]

and this is how it looked when it arrived at Allan's paintshop, prior to any paint work being done.

[Bill Hara]

I was reading Chris Liokos' build page before and noted a question about the difficulty of preparing and painting a fibreglass bodied car. Chris' reply was that the prep work has to be done right as the symptoms of an ill prepared car will only show up a year or two after the paint job. This is a scary thought, I know it scared me when I read it back in 2004 and it also helped me to decide NOT to do the paint and prep work myself.
I wonder how many forum members have got cars, 2+ years old that are showing signs of paintwork cracking?
Having spent a little time around Chris' car, I can assure you it looks just as good today as it did when he got it from the painters! There are a number of ways to "skin a cat" as the saying goes, and I am no paint expert, however it is a known fact that "aged" glass is much better to paint than fresh glass. Also fibreglass flexes and stresses with time and heat and this movement manifests itself most at high stress points, such as the joint seams. This is where most people have problems in later years, where their paintwork cracks and crazes along or near a seam joint.
Another comment I read in Chris' build post suggested painting the car in primer and leaving it for a year so that all the movement and surprises occur on the primed surface. This may not be a bad solution, as long as the prep work under the primer has been done properly, and if you can handle waiting a year........

[Pete.]

Waiting a year would be the hardest part. I agree with you Bill that letting the glass cure as long as possible is a good idea. Having said that, I have not had anything built of glass that the paint over time didn't craze at the stress points.Gives you an excuse for a new colour scheme in ten years or so. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banana.gif[/img]
Speaking of paint, that colour looks fantastic, does it have a touch of green in it? And did you mix it yourself or is it an "off the shelf" colour?

[Hershal Byrd]

Guys,
It is true that the more heat exposure your panels get before the paint the better. Here in Arizona I used the biggest oven in the world and set my panels out in the bright sun for a few months until it was time to start the painting process. Even if you don't get the chance to leave the panels in the heat you still don't need to prime and leave it that way for a year. The reason is technology. The new primer sealers are so good that they actually inhibit crackin