Rebody Another 507 build

[jaguartvr]

I also changed to Nightbreakers and there was a small improvement but still useless. I know DaveP also got rid of his for the same reason.
Anyone else have good or bad feed back on them?

 

[Piran]

How was the mould for your headlight surround. My offside was fine but my near side was 15mm out of plumb, meaning that it was pointing upwards slightly. I ended up cutting 5mm back to retain the bezel and building the top out.

Had a nightmare with the karmann ghia indicators. Mine was the prototype so i think is a slightly different shape to Dans. When offering them up they pointed downwards. I've had recess them to get them looking straight.

Wow. I haven't got as afar as checking the headlight bowls for that - I foolishly expected them to be correct, I guess given how much work I'm having to do on the gel coat I should have not assumed that.
This is definitely a very different experience with fibreglass to my previous kit car.

With the gelcoat, when you have an area without gelcoat or with a different colour of gel coat do you file it down a bit before applying the new gel coat or do you try to build up the area?

 

[Duncodin]

Wow. I haven't got as afar as checking the headlight bowls for that - I foolishly expected them to be correct, I guess given how much work I'm having to do on the gel coat I should have not assumed that.
This is definitely a very different experience with fibreglass to my previous kit car.

With the gelcoat, when you have an area without gelcoat or with a different colour of gel coat do you file it down a bit before applying the new gel coat or do you try to build up the area?

The color of the gelcoat would only be important if you were hoping to buff up the gelcoat and live with it for a while before painting. I'm hoping to live with mine for a while before deciding what color to finally paint the car.

But if you have any exposed glass fibres you need to grind that back below where your finished surface is going to be. The glass fibres need to be covered completely with a goodly layer of resin

 

[Piran]

The color of the gelcoat would only be important if you were hoping to buff up the gelcoat and live with it for a while before painting. I'm hoping to live with mine for a while before deciding what color to finally paint the car.

But if you have any exposed glass fibres you need to grind that back below where your finished surface is going to be. The glass fibres need to be covered completely with a goodly layer of resin

Yes the intention was to keep this colour for a while and then spray it Silberblau, but there's currently bits with no gel coat or gel coat of a different colour (a bit of black or red) as well as the little holes or ridges.
This is where I fall down - I cover it, sand it smooth and go too far so do it again , well at least I'll have plenty of practice.

 

[Duncodin]

Yes the intention was to keep this colour for a while and then spray it Silberblau, but there's currently bits with no gel coat or gel coat of a different colour (a bit of black or red) as well as the little holes or ridges.
This is where I fall down - I cover it, sand it smooth and go too far so do it again , well at least I'll have plenty of practice.

I've never done a 'kit car' or any other kind of rebody so unfortunately (Fortunately) I have nothing to compare the kit quality to. So I'm really happy with my kit - warts and all - and I see all these dings, misshapes, no-fits etc as all part of the fun.

Although I've never done a 'kit car' I have more than my fair share of experience working on cars with fibreglass body (Matra Bagheera of which I've had more than my fair share) Even though the Bagheeras were a proper production car they were so badly made that the need to chop and grind this Tribute kit into shape is something I'm actually enjoying. Bring it on.

 

[Piran]

I've never done a 'kit car' or any other kind of rebody so unfortunately (Fortunately) I have nothing to compare the kit quality to. So I'm really happy with my kit - warts and all - and I see all these dings, misshapes, no-fits etc as all part of the fun.

Although I've never done a 'kit car' I have more than my fair share of experience working on cars with fibreglass body (Matra Bagheera of which I've had more than my fair share) Even though the Bagheeras were a proper production car they were so badly made that the need to chop and grind this Tribute kit into shape is something I'm actually enjoying. Bring it on.

The kit car I did was a very different set of problems, with lots to work out, aluminium to cut and shape and mechanicals, but the fibreglass bits were spot on, high gloss with no seam lines, so I never had to worry about those bits

 

[Duncodin]

I've attached some pics.

I fitted the headlight bowl to make the cut section more stable, then used packers to get it right, then a bit of fiberglass filler dotted around to hold it in place, removed the packers, fibreglassed the inside and fibreglass filler on the outside.

What headlights are you using? Where did you get them? Thanks.

 

[Piran]

Working through the grades of sandpaper on the bonnect 60, 80 120, now upto 240 ! a long way to go and trying to work out how far to go before I start padding or sticking on more gel-coat to fill the dips and holes, still need to grind out the bits with the no/wrong gel-coat so that I can apply the correct stuff.
Haven't got any further looking at the passenger side headlight but it doesn't look straight so that looks like it'll be cutting it out - I'll pore over the photos posted earlier

 

[Dxbolton]

Working through the grades of sandpaper on the bonnect 60, 80 120, now upto 240 ! a long way to go and trying to work out how far to go before I start padding or sticking on more gel-coat to fill the dips and holes, still need to grind out the bits with the no/wrong gel-coat so that I can apply the correct stuff.
Haven't got any further looking at the passenger side headlight but it doesn't look straight so that looks like it'll be cutting it out - I'll pore over the photos posted earlier

Nearside headlight is proving an issue for everyone.
I recall using 320/500/1000 grit then swapped over to buffing with G3 & G10

 

[Piran]

Nearside headlight is proving an issue for everyone.
I recall using 320/500/1000 grit then swapped over to buffing with G3 & G10

Yes, with the ripples and runs in the gelcoat I've had to start much lower, but I also need to grind out the areas that don't have any gelcoat not sure what to do with the bubbles whether to make them a bit bigger to get the gel coat in or to ignore them until I look to do a full respray.
Not looking forward to the nearside headlight problem but something has come up so It'll be at least another week before I get back to it.

 

[jaguartvr]

Grind any bubbles out or they will cause problems later. I was lucky and had a spay oven available so the car was left cooking overnight and then any bubbles that appeared were ground out. You can get the same effect using a hot air paint stripping gun.

If you can run the car over the summer and hope for good weather before painting, it allows any defects to appear and they can be delt with before paint.

 

[Piran]

Grind any bubbles out or they will cause problems later. I was lucky and had a spay oven available so the car was left cooking overnight and then any bubbles that appeared were ground out. You can get the same effect using a hot air paint stripping gun.

If you can run the car over the summer and hope for good weather before painting, it allows any defects to appear and they can be delt with before paint.

What I'm finding is that as I sand out the ripples I'm left with bubble that were there, I'd been planning on leaving it in the gel-coat for a year to let the defects develop before painting but it looks like I'll be filling them in sooner than anticipated.

 

[jaguartvr]

Good plan.
Before painting you want to paint it in Upol Reface. This is a thick 2 pack primer/undercoat. It stops shrinkage and will fill pinholes. Buy a small tin from eBay and apply it with a small gloss roller, then flat it back. Leave it on for a few months and report back.

 

[Piran]

Spent the afternoon putting the plugs on for the headlights and trying to sort the wiring out for the lights before putting the bonnet back on.
Just realised that I 7 core cable isn't going to be enough - I'd forgotten the sidelights so now I need more cable and to try to fit it down the conduits on the bonnet.

 

[DaveP]

Spent the afternoon putting the plugs on for the headlights and trying to sort the wiring out for the lights before putting the bonnet back on.
Just realised that I 7 core cable isn't going to be enough - I'd forgotten the sidelights so now I need more cable and to try to fit it down the conduits on the bonnet.

Have you front fogs taking up the remaining wires ? I used 7 core and don't recall running out

 

[Piran]

Have you front fogs taking up the remaining wires ? I used 7 core and don't recall running out

1 each side for low beam
1 each side for main beam
2 indicators
1 earth makes all 7

 

[Dxbolton]

1 each side for low beam
1 each side for main beam
2 indicators
1 earth makes all 7

That’s only 5.
I have two spares tucked away as only needed 5
Or have you only used one cable? I ran a cable to each side

 

[DaveP]

1 each side for low beam
1 each side for main beam
2 indicators
1 earth makes all

Ahh I used a 7 core each side so had enough. And used the wiring for the side repeaters that appear under the front winglets. I drew a diagram as I went and kept for future use. You are welcome to a copy if that's any help.

Dave

 

[Pingu]

Am I being thick? Why do you need an earth to be one of the seven? I would expect you to need side lights supply wires, though.

 

[Piran]

1 each side for low beam
1 each side for main beam
2 indicators
1 earth makes all 7

Haven't fitted fogs

That’s only 5.
I have two spares tucked away as only needed 5
Or have you only used one cable? I ran a cable to each side

That's 7, 1 each side for the low beam (that's 2), 1 each side for the high beam (that's 4) 2 indicators (6) and the earth (7)