Patcon

What are you actually trying to figure out?

So I started to work on these panels. I tried to lay down the first bead and I was like "What the heck!" I know I am becoming senile but I thought I turned the gas on. Yeah went through that a couple times. Righty tighty-lefty loosy. All good... Maybe I bumped the regulator. I turned it way up. I can hear and feel the gas coming out the tip. Plenty of pressure in the bottle. Maybe it's a contaminant? I had a new piece of copper as a back up behind the hole. You can see it in one of the pictures. I took it out and it welded fine. Here is the catch. I had the "bright" idea to use a magnet to hold the copper piece in place. The magnet I have is a very strong rare earth magnet. You just about can't pull them off a surface with your fingers. So I held the copper back under there without the magnet and the welds were still fine. The magnetic field was doing that to the weld puddle. So it makes me wonder if my other magnetic holders affect the weld puddle too. I will have to keep an eye on that.

Yes, this is true!! My big buffer stand is two speed 2600/2800 rpm. The lower speed works great on plastic, but I am also finding, it is much easier and safer to buff delicate unobtanium at the lower speeds too. It takes a little longer, but better than getting hurt or "losing it" over crimping a beautiful piece of stainless

I still have the one on the car. We're all good!

I think you did excellent!!!! It is very challenging to paint in your garage where you are also sanding. You are making dust in the one space you don't want dust, the spray booth. I have shot plenty of panels and they look perfect. I come back in 15 minutes and there is all kinds of trash in them. Really frustrating!! I agree with Grannyknot, there are plenty of professional paint jobs out there that don't look half this good! You did really well and the next attempt at paint will turn out twice as good. In some of this, there is no replacement for hands on experience. You get a feel for what a smooth panel looks like and feels like and you get a feel for how much paint you are really laying on. Also a respray is far less work, just don't use any waxes in the mean time with silicone in them! Scuff the panels with guide coat. Fix the misc, tape and shoot. Man, I make that sound easy! ?

I blacked out my wheel wells because the car is yellow. The factory had them body color, but I figured they would show wear less if they were black. I ran rubberized undercoater. It worked ok, but I had some areas that didn't adhere. I think that was due to a cheap product. I would do it again. I shot lizard skin sound and heat on the inside of the roof panel. No problem adhering the headliner. BTW it is much easier to install the headline with the car on the rotisserie and upside down. The shop maybe be right about the panel gaps. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the chassis flexes significantly on the rotisserie

Pretty car!

Did some work on the rear end panels I want to close up the holes so I don't have the big puddle welds again. So I ma going to weld some of them smaller and some I am going to patch entirely then drill a new hole Here is the latest episode on ugly welds? It's not a gas issue and not a contamination issue. I figured it out, but anyone have any guesses? I took a grinding die and rounded out the holes and started making small metal patches. I would have finished today but I didn't do anything productive today. Cody had a great idea on how to make the patches. I took some light card stock and traced the hole onto. I cut that out then I cut a scrap of metal that is a little larger. Then I take a set of small nose welding clamps and clamp them together with the pattern on top. A 2" grinder with a 36 grit roloc and I trim them to shape. I made like nine of them late on Saturday. I have like 25 total to make!

Stripped two of the three finishers on Saturday This is the rust I am trying to deal with Especially under the trim Worked on the finisher trim Stripped the paint off of them first Then did some polishing with a hand held wheel and the buffing stand. It turned out really nice so far I was going to double check that the trim is stainless but my adult kids brought me some illness over Xmas, so I didn't spend any time in the shop today. ?

Here are some of the clips. Two halves and a whole. the whole one is cracked on top. They are difficult to get off. You have to bend the tab up some to get them off. I will prime them good before they go back on the car. Then readjust the welded tabs

Evidently this is difficult to source in the US. We would have to get it directly out of Japan. I did some looking and even some of the sources available from other countries are being drop shipped out of Japan.

I agree! I think they are a really nice variation on that wheel.

Nahh, just need to find a new project.

@Home Built by Jeff Jeff, Did you see any of the threads on the forum about dash repair? A number of people have had good results with filling the dash and using SEM products to recolor and texture the repairs

Could be a beautiful car, but will need lots of work. I think it would be harder to restore in a left hand drive market than a right hand drive market. I suspect there will be lots of little 432 specific parts that will be needed. Probably easier to restore it in japan than anywhere.

Actually I cut them off! I think I have it figured out. The rotors are on the car with the calipers rebuilt and set. Thanks for the offer though!

I agree they are not very noticeable below the finisher. I thought I might plate them to prevent them from rusting. I don't see being able to get them well painted if they are on the car. We'll see

I will work on them this weekend

That would be fabulous Jim!!! What is the original finish? Were they painted with the car? It seems like black chromate would be the right color for them...

I missed the second picture. I saw the first one with the correct dimension. I will keep my eyes open for them. What kind of shape do they need to be in?

It's an amber, did Jim have a thing for red heads?? I mean it's sort of difficult to know. He sort of liked all the women with a pulse. Blonde, brunette, green...

Did I miss something or were those the correct earlier door cards. I thought the later ones were more than 5 1/2" from the door edge? I'm so confused!!!

Excellent!!! Thanks Steve. I still need to come see you, if only to visit and see your progress

yes @JLPurcell

I found a part number for the clips 79907-E4101 Evidently NLA