I've been owing an update to my build for a while. The bodywork stuff has really been kicking me in the posterior. I think if I had the time to really focus and get things perfect it's something I might enjoy more. I think you could get real zen-like with this stuff. Instead, I'm sweating buckets in this crazy hot summer and the fun is over.
To be fair, a lot of the work is due to me modifying the body. I've hacked up and added a bunch of stuff and it's mostly this that I've been focused on making look good. Here's a couple of shots - not much bondo use except for where I've placed my hands
Most of the bondo was focused on the rear wheel recontour and modification of the side intakes.
There were a few issues, the most serious was a few cracks close to the base of the windshield. I pulled the dremel out and started opening up the cracks ... uungh ...
The passenger side wasn't quite as bad but also had some voids to deal with. I'm sure there are other cracks and voids I've missed - one of the reasons I'm glad I've decided to go with plastidip instead of doing a "real" paint job.
My father-in-law Bob really helped me out in a huge way. I don't know how to paint a car and he volunteered to help me with the prep work, priming, and paint.
After priming the bodywork I added black to the underside of each body panel. I also topped it with 2 layers of U-Pol Raptor bedliner.
I applied the bedliner using a 1/2" nap roller. The finish is really nice - not as smooth as applied with the supplied gun but I think I prefer this more textured finish.
We then converted the garage to a temporary paint booth. A bit ghetto but it worked well.
I painted my interior with black base coat then followed up with the Alsa soft touch paint. That stuff is EXPENSIVE! and they just bumped the price up by quite a bit. I purchased the 2 quart kit and used just about every drop.
Here's a closeup of the soft touch paint. It's pretty hard and feels rubbery - very grippy.
I had a real deadline to work toward. Bob was getting ready to take off for a 5-week vacation and I really wanted him to help with installing the windshield. So the next real push was to get the body secured for windshield installation.
Before I could do that I had to flesh out the sound and heat blockers for the spider. The exterior side pods got a treatment of sound damper and Luxury Liner Pro.
On the ceiling, I used sound damper and a product called Mega'Zorbe. It's an adhesive mounted sound absorber/heat blocker meant for applications like ceilings. It's light and works well for this application but it's pretty pricey. I would have preferred to use something like LLP but it doesn't work well for a ceiling application due to its weight (which ironically is what makes it a good sound absorber).
With all the sound and heat stuff taken care of it was time to drop the spider onto the chassis!
We had a really intense hour of playing with the urethane but we got it installed without issue. I decided to not place ANY stress on the windshield while the urethane cured. I had about 1/8 to 1/4" of gap at the lower corners but decided I'd rather live with a slightly ill fitting windshield than to risk breaking it - seems like this is some kind of rite of passage I didn't want to experience.
BOOM. Did it!
As always - more discussion and pics on my blog.
44. Body building