billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

[billybunter]

the day started with both left side wheels off and a clean up underneath he wheel arches for the odd bit of overspray and then attach the body moldings.

after that the house aircon system as the inside filters were choked in red paint

[billybunter]

after that was out of the way it was close on 30C and under the verandah more like 40C -way too hot to apply the vinyl dye to the soft top so I pushed the car into the garage and let the top cool down for 30 minutes.

followed that up with a good wipe over x 3 on the vinyl roof to get rid of any grease and grime. I just used grease and wax remover. apply with one micro fibre cloth and dry with the other.

then masked it up to avoid over spray on the red paint and gave it one light coat and waited about 10 minutes and gave another 2 more coats. used almost the can on the roof and the end results were very pleasing to the eye and well worth the trouble. actually looks brand new.

[billybunter]

rear shot

[KevGoat]

Will be interesting to see how well the roof dye stands up to conditions.

I was disappointed when you decided to change the car's colour from white, but it's turning out really well. Great write ups too.

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[billybunter]

who knows......one day I might do a re-spray how to paint a red car white

[billybunter]

today I decided I would cut back the rear wing and see what type of a shine I could get on the car. surprisingly I did apply the paint pretty well so its already smooth to the touch BUT it could easily look a lot better

using Norton 1500 wet/dry sandpaper a bit of warm water and a few drops of washing up detergent added. apart from that a foam block to wrap the paper around and I just get my As into it. I usually pre-wet the area and as I rub with one hand wash the same area with clean water as I go.

at first you feel a bit of resistance when the sandpaper touches the surface which is normal as it starting to do its job and smooth out the whole work area surface. remember too -it's the sandpapers job to smooth out the surface -not yours. you are the guide only so gentle pressure!

saying that and using the foam block as the work horse your paper is divided into 4 bits and the idea is once you get the feel of things on a panel you know when the sandpaper is tired. at 30 cent a quarter sheet - is good for a small panel. well in most cases and that depends upon the surface of the work area

once you go over the panel wipe it over with a clean dry rag and let it dry. then take a look. what you are looking for is a a total matte/flat surface. if you see any shiny bits they are imperfection. some you can get away with and some you can totally eliminate or improve by another rub down. try that particular surface with a new quarter of paper.

you can see where I've been and what I mean in these attached photos

[billybunter]

after that I was pretty happy on the rub down and had plans to try a buffer to polish it. I had a bit of a go with it but I didn't go much on it and I know I could stuff the paint job pretty quick if I made mistakes.

I used Farecla G3 rubbing compound and in reality it only took a few minutes to cut it back as the surface was well prepared. I have a bit of time on my hands so I think I will stick to this method.

followed by a hit of mirror glaze polish suitable for clear coat. now the big question what is the finish like.

well it's as smooth as running your fingers over a glass showcase and you might not be able to see it in the photo but has a shine to match. that's why I don't want to stuff it up and will hand polish the lot

[Mr Morlock]

Page 86 headlamp lenses. These are hard costed at time of manufacture. If you rub the hardcoat off it means there is no real UV protection for the PC lenses and that will limit the life of the lense. Brasso is crazy- -who knows what it will do - its for brass and Silvo is for silver etc A light polish will work or use the kits made by people like Philips. When the PC lenses were first introduced in Aust there was a trial done a year or two before - lenses with and without hard coat and the latter lenses deteriorated very quickly. Even our eye glasses have hard coat on them.

[ralt]

Hi,
Morlock you don't know what you are talking about. Before all the fancy products brasso was the choice for plastic fairings on open wheelers and perspex windscreens. It was the only product that cleaned polished and did not scratch. You should always keep and open mind, you learn things.

[billybunter]

all it need now is a cut polish and wheel colour change

[smy0003]

Colour is fantastic, good job not listening to us lot ;)

[billybunter]

thanks. I was actually planning on taking those photos again as I thought it didn't live up to the blood red colour it shows under cover. here it is back under the verandah.

I also had the chance to take a better photo of the cut polished rear spoiler compare to the untouched boot lid

[Gladiator]

Great colour. Red in some lights , but orange in others.


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[93_Clubman]

Spoiler comes up well. Wheels don't look as bad as I thought, but still too 1980s for me.

[Mr Morlock]

Ralt in the old days people used all sorts of products that were not fit for certain purposes because specialist products were not readily available.long before the days of warning and safety data sheets. We used lead in paints and red lead to undercoat etc. We polished plastic at work and used a light car polish. Another one was using boot polish on soft tops or toothpaste to rub out scratches- there are much better solutions. If people want to use products that they are not really sure are suitable thats their choice. Same for the paint on the car- always use the right products.