My Major Project - Stage 1 Completion!

[leeroy_25]

Hi guys\',
Some of you may have been following progress on my build. So this is just an update on my current progress. Others may not. If you wish to read from the start please check out this link:
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42539
So. I had a little break from the Mazda as I had plenty of othe jobs to sort out! I started back on it a few weeks ago now and progress felt slow at first but it seems to have finally come together. Mainly I have been trying to sort out some small mechanical niggles I have and oils leaks, getting there with that! My end aim was to complete the Exterior.

Last off the car was pretty much done on the exterior but there were some fine details to be completed and my AD9 bonnet to paint and fit. So first off I tackled the smaller parts. Easy bit was to fit the front bumper mesh.. I ended up getting some neat little plastic cable tie guides and bonding these inside the bumper around the opening so there are no visible fixings for the mesh and it is easily removable if need be!



Next my Veilside rims needed much attention to the centre caps. I have planned to get some new ones machined but even as a favour it was working out quite expensive. So I opted to modify and polish up the old ones!
Okay so the cap started life like this..

Very sorry for itself!
After a bit of a mod (because I think the centre nut looks hidious!) and a quick polish we had this:

and after some more elbow grease we had these!

Then completed with some nice stainless cap head bolts to replace the tasteless gold ones!
.
So now the centre was looking a little bare..


Hmm.. I know what would look quite nice there. A little carbon badge! Lucky for me we had some perfect off cuts of UD carbon sheet at work from a project! Also I figured a logo would really be needed on the caps. After much thought and various options I decided I would have a go at engraving the simple \'Veilside\' logo into the caps using a fine diamond point on a pencil grinder. I printed off some appropriately sized logo\'s and spray glues them to the carbon sheet and then simply ground through along the letter. I did a test piece first:

After that I cut some more circles for the cabron sheet and engraved these in the same way. To add to the contrast I decided to paint over them in silver and then flat them off to leave the silver paint in the engraving before giving it a good coat of lacquer.

Also while I was at it I decided to make a new surround for my radio seeing as it didn\'t have one!


Then with a flat and a polish.. Voila!

And here they are finally fitted to the car..




Hope you like the finishing touches!

I Think I\'ll break here for a bit and continue with the update later or tomorrow!

Thanks for looking
Lee

[Ada7]

Top skills mate. Those are some really nice touches
Fancy giving a little more detail about you bumper mesh fitment/fittings. Want to put some on mine over the winter

Adam

[S3TH]

Leeroy... You have skills! That\'s an understatement... :cool:King.

[gyles18]

i saw you in bognor the other week filling up at the esso garage on the chichester road... looks pretty sweet!

[StormBleeder]

Leeroy very nice work mate, looks really good. :King

Where did you get your bumper mesh from as I am currently in need of some?

Also will have to come and say hi at some point as I\'m only just down the road in Southampton. :chat

[leeroy_25]

Thanks guys.. Hoping to do a nice big post with lots of pics tonight if I have time..

S3th.. Thanks for the thumbs up!

Gyles.. what car do you have? I have seen a green, black and candy red RX7 around bognor! The other week was before I had out all these finishing touches on! Well the mesh was fitted and the blank centre caps in.. but also it was in need of compound and polish again as after my first quick job doing this the shine had died down a bit!

Stormbleeder.. Are you the guy who was doing the rebuild on the 200sx forum? Dan\'s mate?

I got my mesh from ebay I think.. ages ago.. I had it in my garage left over from my last car.. do be careful which one you get as some meshes on there are rubbish!

Regarding the mesh fixings I got Ada7 asked about.. these also came from trusty ebay! I will try and get a listing for them tonight. The other way you can do it is how my bonnet was done.. fibre glass some thin steel strips to the inside that you can bend through the mesh and over to look it into place. I would have done it that way but didn\'t have any thing suitable to hand.
The clips I used are intended to be screwed on.. but you can just bond them in place or use a nice csk rivet which I did up under where the number plate sits.. so you cannot see them anyway.

[fil_auto]

superb work bud - well done!

Wheels are looking filthy now #;o)

[leeroy_25]

Right, So where was I? Arh yes. The final finishing touch! (in my eyes anyway!) That would be the bonnet then! Sadly I did not get any prep and prime pictrues as my battery went on my camera that day.. But nothing interesting to see there! First off I had some problems with the base coat. Initially I thought it was a paint reaction or solvent pop but then discovered it was actually some very fine pin holes in the gel coat of the FRP bonnet that had decided to come through. They hadn\'t shown up when it was primed for some reason. Probably due to the flat nature of the primer. But they showed up real bad in the base coat.. millions of them all over the surface! I tried a number of coats to cover them and slightly less thinners in the base coat but they still kept coming up... After talking to the paint supplier and a friendly painter it was decided I had two choices, start again and flat the whole thing back and seal and primer again or try and see if I could loose the pin holes with a few coats of 2k lacquer which has a lot more guts to it than the base coat.. I decided I might as well give the lacquer a go! Once I had pleased myself there was definately no primer showing up thrugh the pin holes I started with the lacquer and luckily after about 4 or 5 coats it was pretty much sweet.. Just a few fine pin holes to fill by hand and flat out. SO it looked a little like this:


Now I had plenty of paint to flat and polish to get a nice glassy finish! So down through the grade like I did with the rest of the car..

Then some serious compounding and a fine finish polish:
Those vents are a real cow to get in! But look the nuts! Sorry, but I love the AD9!! :Thumbsup! Somehow sleek yet agressive!?! Really it\'s the only reason I bought the car! I wanted to fit the bonnet! :Giggle
Once it was all polished up I then fitted my mesh and bonnet catches back in which you can just see in this pic:


I had planned to fit some aerocatches but partly due to the holes already being in the bonnet for these catches and my balls not being big enough to cut a big hole in my bonnet I am running with these for now! Might fit the aerocatches at a later date.

Okay.. I am of for a bite to eat and then possibly I will complete this Thread with some finished pictures of the exterior! Bonnet fitted and polished up!

[RobMatthews]

Very nice same bonnet going on my track car to!good choice :Thumbsup!

[leeroy_25]

Okay guy\'s now for the biggy! I think I might have got a it carried away with the camera! It was just so shiny! it kept calling me! Plus the weather kept changing! one minute it was cloudy then the sun came out so I just had to go for a drive!! I won\'t right much!! Just lots of pics to see! I hope you like the end (1st stage complete!) Result?!
Starting with some of the bonnet fitted just as I finished late Saturday!



I really must get a bigger flash! Lets try that with some morning light!





Right so light still improving lets get a few more general shots starting at the back and working forwards!

Does my bum look big in this?!


Oh no.. it\'s just my camera lense that is a little too small!


Moving around some more just as the drizzle starts to set in!





Okay. pause for quick very light shower...

Now.. from the front!





Oh is that sun I see.. Time for a drive to find a suitable photo location! Hmm that quiet spot at the side of the road will have to do!








And finally no thread would be complete without a picture of the proud threadie! Not that I am really pleased or anything!!:rolleyes:


Umm no dear just a little more to the left. That\'s my bad side!

Super and just one more round to the right!


Well, there it is as she stands today.. Thank you again for all the help, support and words of encouragement along the way. The project will be on going for sometime yet.. I need to sort out the rear oil seal and change the clutch which I may or may not post pics of which wil have me off the road and tied up for a weekend or two once I get the parts!
Then I hope to return in a few weeks with a new thread aimed at my interior build and or a single turbo conversion! Stages 2 and 3.

[leeroy_25]

Ohh. And just for a quick reminder can I just post this!?!

September 2007



A partially empty tatty shell on my parents driveway! What have I let myself in for?!

[od404]

Stunning!  You\'ve put a lot of effort into that car and it definitely shows!

Nicely done

[Ada7]

Get some better pictures if you can mate. Dont think your doing it and yourself for all your efforts enough justice

Adam

[StormBleeder]

Stormbleeder.. Are you the guy who was doing the rebuild on the 200sx forum? Dan\'s mate?

I am indeed mate. :yes

[leeroy_25]

Okay Ada7, I\'ll see what I can do!!

I was planning to try and use our work camera on Friday if the weather is okay. My camera is not that great to be fair although it does a reasonable job.. And not being a professional photographer myself I just have to make do! Also I find personally that you cannot get accross in pictures what you can when you physically see something?? Maybe that\'s just me..

but I will try and do some good pics at some point. Actually the Hampshire Jap car club photographer had offered to do some for me.. I might have to darken his door step!

Stormbleeder.. Would definately be worth hooking up.. Be interested to see you motor and hear about your rebuild experiences. I am planning to pull apart a secondhand motor I have soon!