Rexanne - Gold s2 restoration project

[CHC (RIP)]

Shame about the work front but as you say more time to play - well okay do some graft where it is needed.
Wing looks very tidy Steve - nice one.  Does this imply you have a resource for Gold body panels?

[Steve-A]

\'Fraid not Cliff.

That is her original wing, Ross had taken it off to start working on the rot at the bottom of the wing and I\'ve only just got round to collecting it from him.

On the whole the paint work and condition of Rexanne is really good where she\'s not rusty, very few paint chips and fading.

Yeh I\'m gonna get my head down and make the most of this time to get this welding done.

[Steve-A]

Got a couple of hours in today.

Finally found some real metal in the sill. Was left with this:




Then I rebuilt the first layre of structure for the inside of the sill.



Started on the 2nd inner layre.



Then my light broke So its game over for today. The welding itself seems to be going a little better, I guess thats just practice for you! But the prep work is still very slow and painstaking.

Because I\'ve had the work project cancelled and I\'ve got plenty of time, I\'m really going for \'measure twice, cut once\' which is slowing me down even more haha.

[Ian65]

Steve,
I would seriously think about covering your old and new metal in weld-thru primer before welding it all up.
This stuff is zinc rich and will help protect all the hidden metalwork. As you know, one of the keys to mig welding is to get good clean shiney metal.... unfortunately this will start to rust up again the minute it comes into contact with the air so all your good work will start to undo itself before you\'ve even finished it.
U-Pol is about a tenner a tin from Halfords and is good for an aerosol....

http://www.classicsagogo.co.uk/acatalog/info_A32039.html

brush on weld-thru is cheaper though and allows you to get a good thick coat on before and after.

Your doing it right though.... no matter what a mare it is, all that rot has got to come out!

[CHC (RIP)]

Fully agree with Ian on this one Steve - you must coat bare metal with a primer of some description otherwise all your hard work will rust away in a few years time.
When I did \'JAZ\' I always treated the bare steel first, then primed, then fitted in replacement metal and primer coated again when welded.  Too be sure I\'ll be doing the same with \'Goldie\'.
Cliff

[Steve-A]

Thanks guys.
 
I was gonna ask about proecting the hidden metal/inside of the sills, but hadn\'t got round to it. I\'d read about weld through primser and it sounded like a good product, but I didn\'t know whether it would be one of these things that doesn\'t really work in the real world. I\'ll go buy some in the morning
 
 
Where would I be without you guys I owe you all a drink or three at brooklands/rotorstock :guinness

[Steve-A]

Today was good.

Over the past few weeks when I\'ve been doing this metal work on the car its just been torture if I\'m honest. It was such a steep learning curve, and nothing was ever easy.

Today it felt like I turned a corner a little. It\'s not like I\'m gonna claim to be any good but I did at least get through the day, and at a much faster rate of progress than before.

So pictures... I went and bought some weld through primer this morning, and covered everything in it.



Seems to do just what it says on the tin! Quite impressed Hopefully this will mean that all my hard work lasts.

So having painted stuff I made some card templates then put the 2nd layre of inner sill structure in.



That was fairly easy. Next up I made the more complex shape for the inside of the sill.



and welded in it, without drama !!



At which point it got dark, so I was huddled in the corner next to my little heater.



But I stayed out there for a little longer as I really wanted to get more of the sill done. This is how far I got:



Wooo

I\'m not looking forward to getting a nice finish on the outer sill though! Got the outer sill to do and to box in the inside of the wheel arch.

A couple of thing you guys might be able to help me out with... how do I replicate the bumpy finish to the paint thats standard on the lower portion of the sill?

Also what do most people do about getting hold of paint? Do you guys goto a body shop and get them to mix you up some specially to match the aged paintwork or is there somewhere I can get hold of pre-mixed mazda maya gold?

[CHC (RIP)]

This is coming along really good Steve - just take your time and don\'t try to rush it and it will all come together (as it is).
If you\'re using mild steel plate, it is a lot easier to fabricate an outer sill section in one piece. I have history with this type of thing so used stainless steel plate (which is somewhat harder to manipulate and weld) but the finished job is just the same.

The finish to the paint on the sills etc is achieved by using \'Stone Guard or Stone Chip\', then a top colour coat to finish off. It is a thicker protective layer that dries like \'orange peel\' and guards the bodywork with its\' rubberiesd like coating.

I have previously used a supplier in Chester (Brown Brothers Limited) who mix the paint to a specific mix from colour chip cards which are mainly based upon Ford/Mazda colour cards but due to changes in environmental requirements they no longer produce paint with oil based products. Nowadays as the oil based products are exhausted, they are replaced with water based products - the compositions are slightly different which can result in a noticable colour difference (well it was with JAZ) and you need to have the the paint overcoated with a clear lacquer to give it the gloss finish.
Obviously I haven\'t had the necessity to purchase Gold paint yet but will try Brown Borthers first before going to a body shop. I\'m interested to hear how you get on.

[Steve-A]

Thanks for the info Cliff

I wasn\'t sure whether to do the outer sill in 2 pieces to try and keep the original seam line that runs down from the bottom of the door corner? But if you say its better to do it as one I\'ll take your word for it!!

I shall have to pick up some stone chip at some stage then. There are so many paints/products to learn about as I\'m new to these old rusty cars

I have a local body shop who blew over the corner of my mx5 and did a damn good job of matching 14 year old faded red, so I\'m sure they could mix up the correct gold for me, but if an \'off the shelf\' rattle can option is available that would be easier. I\'ve reasonable experience with paining, did a panel on my mx5 and re-sprayed my motorbike so I\'m comparatively confident about that as long as I get the right colour paint!  

Rexanne\'s never gonna be a concourse winner but I\'d like her to at least look respectable!

If I can get the metal work on this sill finished over the next couple of days that would be nice. Then I think I\'ll have a little light relief in the form of seam sealer, filler and paint!

[CHC (RIP)]

One piece worked for me Steve but choose you own option - as long as you can manipulate it and are happy with the result and rigidity of the structure, go for it mate.

I too prefer rattle cans but never managed to achieve the finish of the spray shop without aging and polishing afterwards.  As I have said in my thread on Goldie, if I need to I\'ll get a full respray but will take it as it comes.

You\'re doing a good job on the body Steve from what I can see - it\'s patience that counts and wanting to get it right rather than bodging it up.
Keep up the good work.
Cliff
:Thumbs-up

[Steve-A]

Thanks mate, as much as I\'m excited to try and get her on the road, I\'m also in no rush and as I hope to take Rexanne to track days and alike I\'m focused on strength over everything else. As I said in the other post its all a big learning curve for me on the restoration side of things and being able to ask you guys that have done it before is invaluable!

I\'m hoping that I can get away without needing a full respray as most of the paint on Rexanne is great, the only dodgy bits are in the rusty areas which are mostly in slightly more hidden areas, like sills. The wheel arches will be a bit of a make or break point though. I\'m still waiting to see what I do about brakes/PCD adapters and how the wheels sit before I make any moves on the arches though.

The key I found with getting an anywhere near decent finish with rattle cans for me was:

flat surface to be painted with 400 grit wet
prime lightly, just enough to be opaque nothing more
3 or 4 good coats of main colour
flat with 1200 grit wet
2 or 3 coats of lacquer
flat with 1500 grit
polish.

A right paint in the arse, but I was happy with how my bike and number plate panel on the mx5 turned out with that process, just using cheapo halfords paint.

[Ian65]

I\'d be amazed if you ever got an off the shelf aerosol to match 27 year old paint.... I never have!
Even new cans of paint vary in shade from batch to batch.

If I\'m matching up to old paint, I usually take the petrol filler cap door off the car and drop it into my local auto paint specialists and they then mix the paint to the factory colour code and then tint it to match the car, which allows for the aging / fading of the colour.... they then put it into aerosols for me.
I\'ve used the same place for 20 years and they always get a perfect match. Their spray cans also have a better nozzle and spray better than the usual of the shelf stuff.Remember with stone chip that rust will bleed through it. You need a rust free, well primed surface first, underneath the stonechip.
The welding is coming on mate, good stuff!

[CHC (RIP)]

I\'d be amazed if you ever got an off the shelf aerosol to match 27 year old paint.... I never have!
Even new cans of paint vary in shade from batch to batch.
 
If I\'m matching up to old paint, I usually take the petrol filler cap door off the car and drop it into my local auto paint specialists and they then mix the paint to the factory colour code and then tint it to match the car, which allows for the aging / fading of the colour.... they then put it into aerosols for me.
I\'ve used the same place for 20 years and they always get a perfect match. Their spray cans also have a better nozzle and spray better than the usual of the shelf stuff.Remember with stone chip that rust will bleed through it. You need a rust free, well primed surface first, underneath the stonechip.
The welding is coming on mate, good stuff!

I agree Ian - my paint is always mixed and put into aerosols too.  Rattle cans are fine for smaller areas but then on in it really needs to be a body shop unless you are a very adept that is.  I did it back in the 80\'s when I sprayed the bottom half on my previous RX7 - you need a clean area, well prepared body panel(s), equipment, sufficient paint/thinners, extraction/heating facilities and most of all - time - to do a good job.

[Steve-A]

I\'ll see who I can find to match me some paint and put it in an aerosol then

Thanks for the info on stone chip Ian.

Gotta do some work on my taxreturn this morning, boooooo. But then I\'ll get back on it!

[David Nock (RIP)]

Watching your progress every post Steve....coming on great. Just \'cos I say \'nowt doesn\'t mean I\'m not fascinated by seeing Rexanne coming good.

(Though it\'s not my area of expertise at all. I can fibreglass a dent but not fold/weld and do all that bodywork that you guys can).

Maya Gold paint is code M5 is it not? You will know by the sticker above the battery. Not that it\'s any good now, but you might find the code has some use somewhere?