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TR4/4A Your thoughts/value of this TR4

What a great job you are doing. It is an education to watch, thanks for posting. It is nice seeing what my cars looks like when taken apart.
 
I wouldn't say you have to learn from a pro (especially these days when there's a YouTube vid for anything) but it's all about experience. I have dabbled in bodywork off and on for 30 years but I'm honestly still a hack compared to a pro. But in the end, after I cut and buff this thing, I'll have a 9/10ths paint job at a 1/20th price.

The key is all the work leading up to the paint. A paint job is 95% preparation and 5% application.

When you said in your recent post that you were bored of all the sanding, what were you sanding? Bondo? Glazing? Primer?

Also, when I see these guys sanding with high powered disc sanders, I wonder how the surface could possibly be left smooth and uniform. Do the power tools make things easier?

I know that's a wide open question.
 
When you said in your recent post that you were bored of all the sanding, what were you sanding? Bondo? Glazing? Primer?

At various stages in the is process, yes.

Also, when I see these guys sanding with high powered disc sanders, I wonder how the surface could possibly be left smooth and uniform. Do the power tools make things easier?

I know that's a wide open question.

Bodywork is an iterative process. I use air tools on the initial sanding and bodywork, but for final blocking and finishing, I do it by hand. Ideally, your layers of finish would look something like this: Metal>2K epoxy primer>surfacer (if needed)>sealer (if needed)>topcoat. On the hood and trunk lid I used 2K epoxy becuase I took them to bare metal. On other parts of the car where I didn't go all the way to metal, I just used surfacer.

So in my case, either the epoxy primer or existing paint gets sanded down with 180 until I lay on the surfacer, followed by a guide coat (black mist coat). Then I switch to hand blocks with 220. The idea is to sand away the black guide coat exposing low spots/high spots. Once you fix these, you may need to go through another round of surfacer/block sanding (I did). Once you have blocked the whole thing with 220 and you're happy with it, give the entire thing a sanding with 400 or 600 (depending on your topcoat's requirement). Took me about 2 full months of evenings/weekends.
 
Today I shot the fenders and loosely hung them on the shell. Just the hood/trunk/doors left!


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Hope my constant posts aren't an annoyance.

Doors are done.

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Definitely not, as I love seeing this! Looks great.

Scott
 
Mink, you have to be happy with that results. Beautiful!
You remind me of the guy I learned most of what I know about painting, he said "there has never been a perfect paint job".

I'm anal but he was over the top.
Anyway great job, enjoy watching you work. LOL

Wayne
 
Wow, great job! I've got to read this entire thread in prep for my resto.
Rut
 
Incredible. Awesome. You're doing a great service to a great marque. It's a resurrection. It'll be a collector's dream.
 
Trunk lid and underside of the hood are done. Just need to flip the hood and paint the top of it and I'll be done painting. Can't wait - getting really burned out on body and paint.


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And this paint job is done! I'll probably take a week off and then start color sanding and buffing.

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It's been a couple of weeks, so update time. Wish I had more exciting pics to share, but I am plugging away at it. I'm waiting for a couple of large parts orders to arrive, so I have busied myself with reinstalling the trunk lid, the fuel tank and piping, servicing the diff (new pinion seal and cover gasket) and of course a lot of polishing. A couple of progress pics, I'm fairly happy with the paint job.

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Now that is as good as it gets. I know how much work that was, well done.

Wayne
 
Nice work indeed!

BTW, I think the 'ear' on the gas cap is usually positioned to point towards the driver's side...

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At least you don't have it pointed straight back - that would be very bad (contacts the raised boot lid).
 
Nice work indeed!

BTW, I think the 'ear' on the gas cap is usually positioned to point towards the driver's side...

At least you don't have it pointed straight back - that would be very bad (contacts the raised boot lid).

You know, as I was installing it I was wondering if I was orienting it correctly. I'll swap it. Thanks!
 
Mink, a couple of questions. First off, Thanks for everything! I mean EVERYTHING! What paint system are you using for your top coat? As for your booth, did you ventilate it? What kind of temperatures are you dealing with? It's 5 below here and I cant justify heating my shop to 60 above to get anything done at all. Problem here (Northern Michigan) is when it gets warm enough to start working on my car again, I've got a garden to plant, yard work up the wazoo, and preparation for a couple of months in our old Roadtrek out west to visit 6 grand children. Sometimes I feel as if I'm never going to finish.
 
What paint system are you using for your top coat?
It's PPG Delfleet Essentials. It's a fleet paint that I was frankly pretty wary of using, but this stuff is awesome. It covers beautifully, lays out flat and is not expensive. The guys at the paint shop said I'd love it and they were right. Great stuff, great price. It's a 3-part Polyurethane enamel (color, hardener, activator/reducer) mixed 6:1:1. https://www.bapspaint.com/docs/psheets/PPG/Commercial/Delfleet_Essential/DFE20.pdf

As for your booth, did you ventilate it?
Yes, I used a pair of box fans at the base of the garage door and used the man door on the side of the garage as the inlet. I covered the door opening with a large furnace filter and cardboard so that any air coming in had to pass through the filter.

What kind of temperatures are you dealing with? It's 5 below here and I cant justify heating my shop to 60 above to get anything done at all.
I painted mostly in the low 60s-low 70s (I know, brutal California winters!). The activator/reducer part of the paint you change based on the ambient temp. The lowest range they sell for Essentials is for 50-60 degrees so you could conceivably paint as low as 50 degrees.
 
Who wouldn't be happy with that paint job? It looks great. I have not seen the paint you are using. Being a polyurethane I am assuming it is good for color sanding and buffing? I always liked the PPG Delstar line.
 
I got my Moss Motors Triumph TR2, 3 and 4 Parts & Accessories book today and thought WOW, Mink has really made progress! But I then realized it was the photo of a blue TR4A. However, it is from the same state.
 
I got my Moss Motors Triumph TR2, 3 and 4 Parts & Accessories book today and thought WOW, Mink has really made progress! But I then realized it was the photo of a blue TR4A. However, it is from the same state.

I'll have to check that out. This month's Hemmings Sports & Exotics has an article on its identical twin!

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