Sean d progress thread

[Daz3]

Looks great Sean did you do all the sanding with a grinder upto 3000 or did you do the finer grades by hand? I'm interested as I'm looking at splitting mine and maybe polishing the rims. Thanks

 

[Dino D]

Thanks Conrad, yes I will be clear coating them with a lecleur product that is designed to stick to almost anything, even glass apparently.

I don't know much about laquer and rims except that on mine, especially the rears the laquer continuously got chipped away by flying grit from the road and then started a wonderful series of corrosion spots that looked like miniature snails were under the clear coat leaving horrible trails(!).
So when I redid them I left the lips bare aluminum and just polish them periodically instead.

 

[Sean d]

Looks great Sean did you do all the sanding with a grinder upto 3000 or did you do the finer grades by hand? I'm interested as I'm looking at splitting mine and maybe polishing the rims. Thanks

I only used the grinder with a strip and clean disc, the rest was done by hand, however today I used an orbital sander which is a lot faster, the green is acid etch primer

 

[Sean d]

I don't know much about laquer and rims except that on mine, especially the rears the laquer continuously got chipped away by flying grit from the road and then started a wonderful series of corrosion spots that looked like miniature snails were under the clear coat leaving horrible trails(!).
So when I redid them I left the lips bare aluminum and just polish them periodically instead.

Thanks for that Dino, I am considering just leaving them un-coated.

 

[Sean d]

Just to give you an idea what I am up against, I recon I am looking at bout six-seven hours per wheel, they are now in etch primer, they now need filler primer and painting of course.

 

[Conrad]

WOW!! That's serious work and patience. Love the results and can't wait to see the finished product. Will definitely be something to be proud of.

 

[andyglym]

Well I surprised myself today, I really fancied having the rims on the 108s polished rather than painted but they are heavily curbed so I got stuck in with a hand grinder with a strip and clean disc, this quickly removed the ally back enough to get rid of the curb marks but left its own damage, so I started with 120 grit and worked my way down to 3000, then used g3 compound, it looked polished but just lacked sharpness, had a dig in the cupboard and found some autosol, gave it a go and it now looks like chrome, I'm really impressed as its the look I want to go with the gold inner,
its time consuming but well worth it, View attachment 27872 View attachment 27873 View attachment 27874 View attachment 27875 View attachment 27876 View attachment 27877

That's a good transformation mate, hope all goes well.

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

It doesn't matter how long you take to refinish your wheels Sean, whats important is that you are making a really good job of them. I can't wait to see your Zed when you've finished it, It'll look amazing.

Mike

 

[bessieblue]

Hi Sean ,just read through the whole thread in one go, very impressed at the skill & detail that you've put into this project. cant wait to see it in the flesh. love blue in sports cars .

 

[Sean d]

Started one of the rear wheels today, what a nightmare !!, 2 of the double hex bolts where seized and I rounded them, only way to get them out was to drill the heads off, easy I thought until I started drilling, they are titanium, In total it took me 3 hours from start to getting them split and the stud out, its now in primer, on the up side I split the pther 2 with no issues at all, took ten mins to do them.

 

[DavidM]

Your keen, Sean! What a job!

 

[Sean d]

Your keen, Sean! What a job!

I get a buzz out of restoring old stuff, I found an old lock knife in my shed a few months ago, it was all corroded and seized, I spent about 5 hours in total sorting it out and for the life of me, I havn't got a clue where it is now

 

[Conrad]

Dude,
You are my hero

 

[Sean d]

Not gold, tried this today, its charcoal with course flake, should go well with the polished rim and look modern

 

[hard top]

Like that....

 

[5harp3y]

Much better than gold and a more modern look

 

[Conrad]

With the titanium bolts, that's going to look fierce!!

 

[Sean d]

Back to the drawing board, got to work this morning and really don;t like it, just too dark, so I need to find something a bit lighter, more of an anthracite and then I can tie in my gills and mirrors

 

[5harp3y]

What about bmw sparking graphite?

 

[Sean d]

What about bmw sparking graphite?

Good thinking, I was considering that as a body colour at one point, I could do it with a mat finish